George Soros, non-Israeli Jew, supports those chanting for Hamas

Soros is in every nook and cranny. TD

 Unmasking the pro-Palestinian movement - Robyn Dolgin

"All things considered, Patel and her group-think protestors are sterling examples of the end result of wokeness. It’s as if they were primed at the pump of college indoctrination -- being taught to hate their own societies -- making them moral Muppets whose strings are being pulled by uniquely cruel and malevolent societies."  Robyn Dolgin

George Soros' work in our streets.

 Unmasking the pro-Palestinian movement - Robyn Dolgin  "It came as a shock to Ms. Patel when the council did make a decision, but not the one she had in mind. Her intimidation tactics -- including a reference to bringing back the “guillotine to kill all you mother#ckers” ” (presumably legislators) -- resulted in her arrest in council chambers. The young radical lost her bluster at the time of pre-trail booking and was filmed dissolving into uncontrollable sobbing. She is facing 18 felony counts, and bail is set at $1 million (later reduced).

"The problem is that Patel thought she had a free pass to use the ugliest tactics, never thinking she would be held accountable. Perhaps she pushed the council members to their limit by suggesting: “We’ll (protestors) see you at your house,” and leaving nothing to the imagination added: “We’ll murder you.” . . .  George Soros can turn out rioters to support her.

 NY Post: Soros Funneled $15 M-Plus to Groups Rallying for Hamas  "Far-left billionaire kingmaker George Soros has funneled more than $15 million since 2016 to groups behind this month’s pro-Palestine protests, where demonstrators openly cheered Hamas militants’ craven terrorist attacks on Israel.

Soros.

"A Post examination of Open Society Foundations records shows Soros’ grant-making network gave $13.7 million of the money through Tides Center, a deep-pocketed lefty advocacy group that sponsors several nonprofits who’ve justified Hamas’ bloody attacks while claiming Palestinians obsessed with the eradication of the Jewish state are the real victims." . . .

Open Society Foundations gave $60,000 in 2018 to the Arab American Association of New York, a group co-founded by politically connected activist Linda Sarsour that helped plan a hate-filled “Flood Brooklyn for Palestine” protest in Bay Ridge on Oct. 21, where protestors called for the eradication of Israel and held a sign of the Israeli flag in a trash basket that read “Please keep the world clean!”

. . ." Other Soros-backed, Palestinian advocacy groups whose members have been spewing hate at rallies since the massacre include Jewish Voice for Peace and If Not Now, which received $650,000 and $400,000, respectively." . . .

We Are Jews Against Soros | Opinion (newsweek.com) "George Soros is an evil man. In fact, he is one of the most evil men currently shaping American and Western politics, and global events more generally."

  . . ."For years, whenever conservatives, nationalists, and traditionalists have criticized the absolutely sprawling influence of George Soros and his left-wing Open Society Foundations umbrella network, Soros' praetorian guard in the elected official class and corporate press invariably shriek, "That's antisemitism! You can't say that!" What utter tripe.

Pro-Palestine rally sponsors raked in $9M in city funds    . . ."Tides Center — an advocacy group heavily funded by far-left billionaire kingmaker George Soros that sponsored some nonprofits who’ve justified Hamas’ bloody attacks — earned more than $1.2 million through contracts at the Department of Education and other city agencies. The nonprofit still does business with the city, but a bulk of its contracts were awarded over a decade ago." . . .

George Soros, the most dangerous man in the world   . . ."George Soros was born George Schwartz, a Hungarian Jew. At age 14, his parents bought him a new identity with a Christian family, where he helped Germans confiscate Jewish possessions. For a man who wants to be the conscience of the world, he said, “I felt no sense of guilt.” He added, “It was not difficult to do.” The German occupation was, “…an exhilarating experience and the happiest years of his life.” He admitted that, “…anti-Semitism is part of his psyche…”

George Soros pledged $1 million to ‘Hamas propaganda’ organization linked to terrorism - Washington Examiner  . . ."In its own telling, the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights exists “to promote respect for and protection of human rights,” particularly in Palestinian territories. Public records tell another story: Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, which is accusing Israel of genocide for retaliating against Hamas after its Oct. 7 attack last year and calling on the United Nations and other bodies to investigate the Jewish state, hosts events with terrorists and is led by people with sprawling connections to Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

"But to Soros, these ties do not appear to pose an issue. His $25 billion left-wing Open Society Foundations grantmaking network “is proud to be among the many international funders of Al Mezan, alongside the European Union and governments including Sweden and the Netherlands,” OSF spokesman Jonathan Kaplan told the Washington Examiner." . . .

Incidentally, Soros' district attorneys are in the mold of Hamas: George Soros spent $40M getting lefty district attorneys, officials elected all over the country (nypost.com)  Basically, the man is pure evil.  

Soros-Funded Fake News Network Hires Journalist Who Offered To Give Bill Clinton a Blowjob (freebeacon.com)   . . ."But the former Obama aide". . . 

Former Soros Foundation Official Accused of Indoctrinating Columbia Students To Hate Israel (freebeacon.com)

Soros-Backed California Lieutenant Governor Calls on Elections Official To Block Trump From Ballot (freebeacon.com)   "California lieutenant governor Eleni Kounalakis (D.), the George Soros-backed candidate for governor in 2026, on Wednesday urged the state's elections official to "explore every legal option" to boot former president Donald Trump from the primary ballot." . . .

We're All Paying A Deadly Price For Obama's Foreign Policy; And now it’s Joe Biden’s legacy too.

 David Harsanyi (thefederalist.com)

"Democrats blamed their strawman, Benjamin Netanyahu, not Hamas or Iran, for trying to “drag” the world into war. The New York Times’ Tom Friedman, perhaps the wrongest person ever to tread on this planet, theorized that the prime minister wanted “a war to shore up his own crumbling political base.' ”

"If a belligerent state launched 186 explosive drones, 36 cruise missiles, and 110 surface-to-surface missiles from three fronts against civilian targets within the United States, would Joe Biden call it a “win”?

"Would the president tell us that the best thing we can do now is show “restraint”? What if that same terror state’s proxy armies had recently helped murder, rape, and kidnap more than 1,000 American men, women, and children? What if this terror state were trying to obtain nuclear weapons so it could continue to agitate without any consequences?

"This is what Joe Biden and the Barack Obama acolytes, Iranian dupes, and Israel antagonists he’s surrounded himself with demand of Jewish State.

"And by “Iranian dupes,” I don’t only mean the Jake Sullivans and Antony Blinkens of the world, who worked to elevate the mullahs over Sunni allies and the Israelis, or even a Hamas-bestie like Rob Malley or Israel-hater like Maher Bitar. I mean assets of the Islamic State who promised the Iranian government to help out in any way possible.

"Their worldview is a cancer that’s metastasized within the Democratic Party. To these people, Israel will always be the villain. And if the Iranian regime’s murder of more than 600 American servicemen couldn’t cool that bromance, 1,300 dead Jews certainly aren’t going to do the trick.

"To begin with, Jared Kushner’s Middle East policy efforts were, by every measure, more successful than not only Obama’s efforts but the decades of Brookings Institute-endorsed failures the region has endured. The Trump administration undercut Palestinian terror efforts, stifled Iranian ambitions, and created space for the Gulf States and Israel to enhance ties." . . .

. . ."But to truly comprehend how demented our foreign policy has become, consider this: Iran reportedly informed Turkey in advance of its planned operation against Israel, and the U.S. told Iran through Ankara that the attack should be “within certain limits.” This is a longtime ally of the United States we’re talking about — and a foe that’s murdered and kidnapped Americans for decades."...

Iran Insanity; "Remember when Democrats said Donald Trump was too uncouth to carry out diplomacy? Right."

 Power Line (powerlineblog.com)   "Two friends of mine comment on the Obama/Biden administration’s bizarre partiality toward Iran. In the New York Post, Glenn Reynolds writes:

Post-[Iran’s] attack [on Israel]— going further yet beyond parody — the Biden administration’s chief effort has been aimed at demanding Israel not retaliate.

That’s right. Israel has had more than a thousand of its citizens raped, tortured, murdered and kidnapped, it’s been subjected to a massive missile attack, and it’s being told to exercise “restraint.”

The Biden administration even organized G7 leaders to demand that Israel not respond.

Is this ineptitude, or is it corruption?

As the girl in the taco commercials says, “Why not both?”

"I would like to see Biden endorse massive retaliation by Israel with a view toward trying to bring about regime change in Iran. But, as I wrote here, I will be satisfied if Biden stays out of Israel’s way. And I assume Israel’s leaders will ignore pro forma calls for “restraint.” I hope so, anyway." . . .

US Government Paid for Iran’s Attack on Israel | The Epoch Times

A good argument can be made that President Barack Obama’s and then President Joe Biden’s relaxation of or disregard for sanctions against Iran that netted the Islamic Republic billions in oil revenue and outright gifts created all the recent mayhem in the Middle East from Hezbollah to Hamas to the Houthis to, now, Iran’s attack on Israel.

"Biden would say, “We didn’t give them those dollars. We gave them different dollars.” And who knows? Democratic Party voters might be dumb enough to buy it." . . .

The grueling process to find five more impartial Trump jurors

 Inside the unforgiving selection that saw a bookseller who listens to NPR in the shower dismissed for being too political | Daily Mail Online 

Of the first batch of 96 prospective jurors, more than half had put up their hands on Monday to say they did not think they could be impartial.  

   "Prosecutor Josh Steinglass asked each of the 18 prospective jurors in front of him to look across at Donald Trump and then take a long look inside themselves and decide whether they were up to the job of deciding guilt or innocence.

" 'You have to be able to come back from your deliberations and look the defendant in the eye and say "guilty.'

" 'And only you can know that.'

" The defendant knew exactly where to look. He wrenched his body around to the right facing them, and delivered a penetrating glare as each in turn answered 'yes.'

"It made for a dramatic moment on day two of Trump's hush money trial. The former president went eye-to-eye with some of the Manhattan men and women who will deliver one of the most important verdicts in history." . . . 

KANGAROO COURT: Jesse Watters Reviews First Seven NYC Jurors in Trump's Rigged Criminal Case - And It's Just What We Expected  . . ."Merchan’s daughter is a top activist for Democrats and Joe Biden campaign.  Merchan is pushing charges against Trump that are not a crime.  He needs jurors who believe like he does that President Trump is guilty of a crime because he is still breathing.

"Jesse Watters reviewed the first seven jurors selected for Trump’s criminal trial in Merchan’s kangaroo court.

"They all get their news from the far-left New York Times. No one who takes the reporting and nonsense published at the NYT seriously is even slightly conservative. The trial is rigged.

Jesse Watters: Over half of the jury has already been selected. We already know a lot about them, and it is hysterical. Before we tell you about them, remember that this is a Manhattan jury. It went 87% for Biden. The judge who’s overseeing the selection process is a Biden donor whose family was paid by the Biden campaign. Yesterday, 50 white women wearing masks fled the courtroom, claiming they couldn’t be fair to Trump. Anyone wearing a mask at this point is not an impartial juror…

…Show me a juror who says they can be unbiased towards Trump, and I’ll show you a liar. That’s why we don’t have political trials in America. Fairness is impossible. Trump’s legal team was given the names of potential jurors, and after googling them, discovered there were undercover activists trying to sneak onto the jury. One juror couldn’t recall any anti-Trump feeling, but when the defense showed him the receipts, he admitted he’d posted on social media, Donald Trump should be locked up. Another juror said he didn’t remember posting anything bad about Trump. Then when shown the evidence, conceded to He’s posting a picture that says, Trump invites Thai boys to the White House. Thai boys request to return to cage. Those two radical liberals got caught lying to the court and were almost seated on the jury. This is what Trump has to deal with. Yesterday, Clay Travis was criticized for suggesting Trump supporters get on the jury.

So far, seven jurors have been seated. Here’s what we know about them." . . . More here

Texas High Schoolers Chant ‘From the River to the Sea’ During Anti-Israel Walkout

  Mary Chastain (legalinsurrection.com)

The school gave the poorly-educated kids an excused absence, too.

"We saw San Francisco students walking out of school yelling, “From the river to the sea.”

"McMillen High School’s Muslim Student Association (MSA), located in Plano, TX, also staged a massive walkout.

"The students also chanted, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”

"The school even gave the students an excused absence. I wonder if the school would give the students an excused absence if they participated in a pro-Israel rally.

"Parents, if your kid is singing “From the river to the sea,” you have a major problem." . . .

Hamas supporters on campus.

When your students have no original thoughts of their own, a simple non-stop chant will do for any lack of knowledge. The Tunnel Dweller

Hamas supporters on truck bed

More here: Texas High Schoolers Chant ‘From the River to the Sea’ During Anti-Israel Walkout (legalinsurrection.com)  

Below:  "We're with you, McMillen High School"!

UPDATE: Dark Money Group Funding Hamas Protests – HotAir 

"Of course it is George Soros who is funding the Pro-Hamas protests that shut down major highways yesterday. 

"It's almost as if the guy enjoys being considered a supervillain even more than he wants to destroy Western culture.. . .

. . ."I have never understood Soros' hatred for the West. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he was all about "Open Societies," and early on I assumed he would be a good guy despite his rather nasty way of making his money. 

"Boy, was I wrong. Admittedly, I caught onto his shtick pretty quickly, but I am still ashamed that I never thought nice things about him. 

"These days, Soros has his fingers in every poisonous pie, working diligently to destroy all that is good.

That billionaires are funding the closure of our cities tells us everything you need to know about the sickness enervating our culture. Our Elite has chosen a side, which isn't you or me.  They may come to regret that choice, but if and when they do it will be too late. 

 Full article here.

David Strom is a reformed academic, which means he has a modicum of common sense. He has been a political and policy advisor as well as a speechwriter in 3 gubernatorial campaigns, several Congressional campaigns, and a US Senate campaign. He has also advised numerous state legislative candidates on policy issues. Over the past 25 years he still hasn’t figured out that Minnesota is a terrible place to be a conservative. 

Black Women in Charge - Ann Coulter

Why can we not have more in Congress like Ben Carson, Condoleezza Rice, Bernice King, Harris Faulkner, Kevin Corke, Lawrence Jones (who was told to "pick cotton" by an "anti-Trump liberal"), Tim Scott, and Larry Elder, to barely scratch the surface? TD

 "I think we’re all on board with the idea that one shouldn’t be denied a job because of his race or sex. What we’re learning the hard way is that no one should be given a job for these characteristics, either." Ann Coulter 

“The powerful Jews are my enemy,” declared Farrakhan, who once
 openly praised Adolf Hitler. Maxine Waters embraces him here.

Ann Coulter     "The Claudine Gay affair reminds me that we need a reckoning on how the “intersectionality” project is going.

"The idea was that after centuries of being kept down by racism and sexism — although that didn’t seem to hurt accomplished black women like Barbara Jordan, Condi Rice, Jessye Norman, Zora Neale Hurston and on and on — black women would finally be given a fair shot. Think of all that untapped talent!

"But so far, intersectionality has mostly placed a lot of black women in high-profile jobs far beyond their abilities. Or as the former Harvard president once said, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

"This will be the first in a series of columns I will issue periodically reflecting on the accomplishments of those at the top of the “intersectionality” heap. We’ll start with two heroic black lady prosecutors.

"Marilyn Mosby started the trend of fabulous black women saving America by becoming prosecutors. One of her first cases involved a notorious Baltimore heroin dealer, Freddie Gray, who sustained fatal injuries while being transported in the back of a police van. A mere 10 days later, Mosby charged all six officers involved (three black and three white) with crimes up to murder and manslaughter, after summarily blowing off the police investigation, but without having completed her own investigation first.

"For this, Mosby was instantly acclaimed as a national hero! She was photographed by Annie Leibovitz for Vogue, invited onstage at a Prince benefit concert, featured on the “Today” show, named the 2015 Junius W. Williams Young Lawyer of the Year by the National Bar Association, given a Woman of Courage Award from the National Women’s Political Caucus that same year, and chosen as 2016 Newsmaker of the Year, among the nonstop accolades." . . .

Katie Couric is a prime example of the 'rot' in the liberal media: Gutfeld

  FOX (msn.com)

" 'The Five' co-hosts discuss former TV anchor Katie Couric's criticism of the MAGA base and NPR suspending a veteran editor who exposed the liberal bias at the outlet."

When Biden says "Don't", they all do.

 

AfterMath - Home (terrellaftermath.com)

Nothing Is Going to Bump Jill Biden From the Elder-Abuse Train     ". . .yes, this is another discussion about joe biden being addled, embarrassing, and a detriment to the security of the country. these are tough to avoid because joe biden is, after all, addled, embarrassing, and a detriment to the security of the country. 

"I'm going a little easy on him there. He's actually a detriment to the security of a lot of people all over the world. 

"Joe Biden had already mentally lost a step or three thousand when he got into office in 2021. He was never the sharpest tool in anyone's shed in the first place, so the drop-off was disturbing once it was paired with access to the launch codes." . . .

Republicans slam Biden’s ‘Don’t’ deterrence: ‘Every time he says Don’t, they do’     . . ."Biden’s "Don’t" comment was slammed by former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo even before the Iranian attack, with the former Trump administration official arguing that Biden’s response was "really dangerous" during an appearance on Fox News.

"Well, he said, ‘Don’t’ multiple times, and ‘Don’t’ isn’t a national security policy," Pompeo said. "It’s not even a deterrent.". . .

Megyn Kelly Destroys Jeffrey Toobin With Perfect Response When He Goes After Clarence Thomas Over Jan. 6

 Nick Arama – RedState  "We've seen Democrats push a lot of craziness over the years to attack folks on the right. 

"But one of the worst is the effort to try to somehow attack Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas over the riot on Jan. 6. 

"Case in point? This ridiculous smear from CNN's Jeffrey Toobin. How does anyone want to have anything to do with this guy?" 

In oral argument today, Justice Thomas is minimizing the severity of the 1/6 insurrection at the Capitol. Perhaps that's because his wife was part of the conspiracy. What a disgrace that he's sitting on this case. #SCOTUS

— Jeffrey Toobin (@JeffreyToobin) April 16, 2024

 "In oral argument today, Justice Thomas is minimizing the severity of the 1/6 insurrection at the Capitol," he claimed. 

"Perhaps that's because his wife was part of the conspiracy. What a disgrace that he's sitting on this case. #SCOTUS."

"First, there was no insurrection, and second, there was no evidence that Thomas' wife Ginni was involved in the riot. This is just a liberal conspiracy talking point. And it's disgusting that they do this. 

"But hey, why should Toobin let facts get in the way? 

"Far from a "disgrace," Thomas has served for years, adhering to the Constitution despite the virulent hatred and attacks from the left since he was nominated. But they have ramped up the attacks even more under Joe Biden. 

Toobin obviously didn't want anyone to reply to his post since he cut off regular replies to his tweet. Of course, that doesn't stop people from quote-tweeting replies, and as many people pointed out, perhaps Toobin should be the last one to talk about anyone else being a "disgrace." 

"Now, you had to know the replies to his post were lit. Megyn Kelly had the perfect response, speaking for the rest of us. 

Warning for graphic language: https://twitter.com/megynkelly/status/1780257362432966781

"Kelly was referencing the incident where Toobin was on camera during a Zoom call. After that, he should have just slunk away and hid himself, because that's not something people are ever going to forget. That's if he has any shame at all, which clearly he doesn't. And it says so much about CNN that after that, they are still somehow having him back on their network. A report last month said that he was a "guest" still at that point. He's made several appearances since the beginning of the year. But who can look at him and hold him in any kind of respect after that? Maybe he should handle his own affairs and put his own house in order." . . . 

‘This Seems to Be a Major Strategic Error on the Part of Iran’ -

 Michael Hirsh - POLITICO

“I like to quote Napoleon’s dictum: When your enemies are making a big mistake, don’t interrupt them,” he says. “Iran interrupted its enemy at a time when Israel was increasingly isolated and on the defensive, both internationally and in its relationship with the U.S.”

"Like many Americans, Richard Haass is still trying to understand why Iran decided to attack Israel directly over the weekend with a barrage of more than 300 missiles and drones, most of which were shot down. The attack was a retaliation for an airstrike by Israel earlier this month that killed a top general with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Damascus. But Haass believes Tehran has miscalculated and will come to regret its decision to shift from its longtime strategy of using proxy forces in places like Syria and Iraq into launching a direct attack on civilian areas in Israel, which has only rekindled sympathy for Israelis.

"'The Iranians have lost control of the narrative,” Haass says.

"Haass, the author of multiple books about foreign policy, retired as president of the Council on Foreign Relations last year after nearly 20 years. Previously he was director of policy planning at the State Department under Secretary of State Colin Powell in the run-up to the Iraq invasion in 2003. Today Haass publishes a weekly substack called “Home & Away.”

"The question for the Middle East now is whether Iran’s miscalculation will be followed by an Israeli one." . . .

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

. . ."The principal strategic beneficiary of the Iraq war was none other than Iran. And one of the things that struck me the other day when the missiles and drones were being shot at Israel was, look where they were coming from. They were coming not just from Iran but also from Yemen and Iraq. This is the new Middle East. This is the Greater Iran. And to me, that was a reminder of how the Iraq war so imbalanced the region in Iran’s direction. So yes, we are and will continue to pay a real price for the strategic blunder that was the Iraq War." . . .

Here's the REAL Reason the Soros-Bought NYC Prosecutor Put Trump on Trial. Try Not to Laugh.

 Victoria Taft - PJ Media

Why aren't the cases of black men punching white women in the face on New York streets prosecuted as "hate" crimes? Bragg's office actually freed one of those suspects, who then committed more assaults. 

Tony Branco

  "There's nothing at all funny about putting a former president of the United States of America on trial for misdemeanor record-keeping offenses and turning those into felonies through a badly done magic trick. The underlying reason why the George Soros-selected prosecutor put Donald Trump on trial starting Monday, however, is yet another reason why this case should be laughed out of court. 

"The avowed Trump-hating prosecutor, Alvin Bragg, is part of the effort by the left to tie up the former president in court so he can't campaign for president. Additionally, they hope that by ringing up all manner of charges against Trump, they'll smear his reputation. Indeed, Marc Elias, 65 Project, Media Matters, and all of David Brock's smear machines, with the consent of the Biden Justice Department, have been put into service to get Trump. 

"There are many problems with Bragg's case, among them the statute of limitations issues, the unethical way he stacked the indictments, duct-taping a federal statute onto these New York misdemeanors to create a "criminal" case, the fact that non-disclosure agreements are legal instruments unless they attempt to cover up a crime, and reporting that work done by Trump's attorney, Michael Cohen, was laid out as work done by an attorney. 

"Quick! Get the cops! 

"But wait, Bragg doesn't want the cops involved in any misdemeanors (or felonies, for that matter) because, as a Soros DA, there's almost no crime he's willing to prosecute. Note the illegal alien thugs who recently beat up New York cops and walked out free men within hours. This is the kind of prosecutor we're dealing with here." . . . 

Joe Biden’s Wars

 

Issues & Insights (issuesinsights.com)  

And when thinking about terrorism and the Middle East, never forget that Biden, according to Obama, “weighed in against the raid” that killed Osama bin Laden.

Toon added by TD

"It’s long been known around Washington, as former Defense Secretary Robert Gates once said, that Joe Biden “has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four” – now five – “decades.”

So the conflicts raging around the world and forecasts of World War III should have been expected.

But, hey, at least we didn’t elect in 2020 the guy who sent impetuous tweets that upset elites and snowflakes.

"As president, Biden has projected American weakness in a Carter-esque fashion, starting with his chaotic and deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan, which a State Department report said suffered from “constantly changing policy guidance,” and a top general described as a “strategic failure.”

"He’s been no Ronald Reagan. He’s not even been a Donald Trump. So it’s no coincidence that Russia invaded Ukraine a little more than two years after Biden took office. And we all knew it was coming, because three months after Biden stumbled into the Oval Office, Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, as Sen. Tom Cotton noted just before the invasion, “sent tens of thousands of soldiers, tanks, and munitions to the Ukrainian border.”

"In response, Biden proposed a presidential summit in Geneva, which, says Cotton, elevated “Russia in the eyes of the world” and “allowed the image-obsessed Putin to strut on the international stage and pretend that Russia was once again an equal to the United States.” Apparently, the hotline between Washington and Moscow was soon thereafter cut. Putin recently said he hadn’t spoken to Biden in two years, according to Richard Grenell, acting director of national intelligence for the Trump administration." . . .