Teaching The Pre Schoolers Socialism

Originally from Drudge

L'Eggo My Lego

Some Seattle school children are being told to be skeptical of private property rights. This lesson is being taught by banning Legos.


A ban was initiated at the Hilltop Children's Center in Seattle. According to an article in the winter 2006-07 issue of "Rethinking Schools" magazine, the teachers at the private school wanted their students to learn that private property ownership is evil.


According to the article, the students had been building an elaborate "Legotown," but it was accidentally demolished. The teachers decided its destruction was an opportunity to explore "the inequities of private ownership." According to the teachers, "Our intention was to promote a contrasting set of values: collectivity, collaboration, resource-sharing, and full democratic participation."


The children were allegedly incorporating into Legotown "their assumptions about ownership and the social power it conveys." These assumptions "mirrored those of a class-based, capitalist society -- a society that we teachers believe to be unjust and oppressive."


They claimed as their role shaping the children's "social and political understandings of ownership and economic equity ... from a perspective of social justice."
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At the end of that time, Legos returned to the classroom after the children agreed to several guiding principles framed by the teachers, including that "All structures are public structures" and "All structures will be standard sizes." The teachers quote the children:


"A house is good because it is a community house."


"We should have equal houses. They should be standard sizes."

"It's important to have the same amount of power as other people over your building."

Only in Seattle.

Are You A Regular American?

I was hanging out at the bus stop with my kid this morning making small talk with a small group of elementary school kids, between the ages of about 7 and maybe 10 and somehow we got talking about cousins and one of the kids was talking about his cousin who is adopted and happens to be African American but the mom, whom I know, is a single white female. The specific quote was "my cousin is African American but his Mom is a regular American."

Reminded me of something I heard long ago when the term African American first started to take hold. Not an exact quote but along the lines of "you can not expect to be treated like an American when you insist on being called something other than an American".

Pakistani Kite Festival Turns Violent

Originally from Ace. Something is seriously backwards here.

At least 11 people died and more than 100 people were injured at an annual spring festival in eastern Pakistan celebrated with the flying of thousands of colorful kites, officials said Monday.

The deaths and injuries were caused by stray bullets, sharpened kite-strings, electrocution and people falling off rooftops on Sunday at the conclusion of the two-day Basant festival, said Ruqia Bano, spokeswoman for the emergency services in the city of Lahore.

The festival is regularly marred by casualties caused by sharp kite strings or celebratory gunshots fired into the air. Kite flyers often use strings made of wire or coated with ground glass to try to cross and cut a rival's string or damage the other kite, often after betting on the outcome

Compared to this:

Hamas gunmen opened fire at a large political rally by the rival Fatah movement earlier Sunday, wounding three people, Palestinian security officials said. An estimated 100,000 Fatah supporters were participating in the rally.

Saw Two Things For The First Time On A Golf Course This Weekend

Warning: Occasional golf content.

Went to the local course early Sunday morning. Was waiting around for the guy I normally play with to show and two guys tee off in front of me. One of the guys is an older guy who is a really solid player that I played with one time before. I ended up going out on my own, caught the two of them on #4, asked if I could play with them and they said sure. On #5, about 125 yards, the older guy hits a PW right at the flag, hits, rolls, disappears into the cup. First time I have witnessed a hole in one. It was his 6th. Next thing I had never seen... to celebrate, he decided to "smoke a bowl".

I seriously need to upgrade my choice of golf courses.

Former ACLU Chapter President Arrested For Hardcore Child Rape-Porn

Originally from Ace. Seems a former President of an ACLU chapter, who in the past had argued against any limitations on internet access in public libraries is into hard core child porn. Just do not expect to see or hear much about this on CBS, NBC, CNN, the NYT, etc. Surprise, surprise.

The ACLU gets beat up often by the right and that is because, well, they deserve it. Here are some quotes from Roger Nash Baldwin, the founder of the ACLU,

I have continued directing the unpopular fight for the rights of agitation, as director of the American Civil Liberties Union.... I am for socialism, disarmament and ultimately for abolishing the state itself as an instrument of violence and compulsion. I seek the social ownership of property, the abolition of the propertied class and sole control by those who produce wealth. Communism is, of course, the goal.

I believe in non-violent methods of struggle as most effective in the long run for building up successful working class power. Where they cannot be followed or where they are not even permitted by the ruling class, obviously only violent tactics remain. I champion civil liberty as the best of the non-violent means of building the power on which workers rule must be based. If I aid the reactionaries to get free speech now and then, if I go outside the class struggle to fight against censorship, it is only because those liberties help to create a more hospitable atmosphere for working class liberties. The class struggle is the central conflict of the world; all others are incidental.

When that power of the working class is once achieved, as it has been only in the Soviet Union, I am for maintaining it by any means whatever. Dictatorship is the obvious means in a world of enemies at home and abroad. I dislike it in principle as dangerous to its own objects. But the Soviet Union has already created liberties far greater than exist elsewhere in the world. They are liberties that most closely affect the lives of the people — power in the trade unions, in peasant organizations, in the cultural life of nationalities, freedom of women in public and private life, and a tremendous development of education for adults and children.

I saw in the Soviet Union many opponents of the regime. I visited a dozen prisons — the political sections among them. I saw considerable of the work of the OGPU. I heard a good many stories of severity, even of brutality, and many of them from the victims. While I sympathized with personal distress I just could not bring myself to get excited over the suppression of opposition when I stacked it up against what I saw of fresh, vigorous expressions of free living by workers and peasants all over the land. And further, no champion of a socialist society could fail to see that some suppression was necessary to achieve it. It could not all be done by persuasion.

[I]f American champions of civil liberty could all think in terms of economic freedom as the goal of their labors, they too would accept "workers' democracy" as far superior to what the capitalist world offers to any but a small minority. Yes, and they would accept — regretfully, of course — the necessity of dictatorship while the job of reorganizing society on a socialist basis is being done.

And that, boys and girls, is why the ACLU is often called the American Communists Legal Unit.

Rep. Murtha Wants To Cut Off Funds To Them.

Originally from Orbusmax,

U.S. Rep. John Murtha, a leading congressional opponent of the war in Iraq, on Thursday said his plans for placing conditions on how President George W. Bush can spend $93.4 billion in new combat funds would effectively stop an American troop buildup.

"They won't be able to continue. They won't be able to do the deployment. They won't have the equipment, they don't have the training and they won't be able to do the work. There's no question in my mind," the Pennsylvania Democrat said.

Who does he mean by "They"?

New French Military Weapon, What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Originally from Hot Air. Feel free to skip the first 50 seconds.

Senator Patty Murray, Just Not Anti War Enough

The liberal left seems to be getting upset with Senator Murray for not being anti war enough. David Postman's blog states:

Chad (The Left) Shue see two wildly divergent views surfacing about Sen. Patty Murray's anti-war efforts. Locally, Shue points to this post by Noemie Maxwell at WashBlog. Maxwell says of recent tough talk by Murray, about President Bush's Iraq plan, "it looks to me like political cover for your failure to take meaningful action."

There'll be a demonstration outside Murray's Seattle office Wednesday by anti-war activists, who Maxwell said have been "trying to get her to pledge a vote against Bush's supplemental to the budget." Murray voted against the initial war authorization resolution but that has lost some currency with anti-war forces.

and goes on to say

Shue says it's Murray as seen through "bi-coastal lenses." And where does he fall on the question?

I completely agree that Murray has been totally ineffective in helping to stop the occupation in Iraq. Since her vote against the IWR she has done a pretty good job of playing duck and cover over the entire Iraq issue except where she can shield herself behind the veterans.

another local liberal added:

The people chose you due to your opposition to Bush's policy in Iraq, but it appears that you are marching with him to the same abyss.

Oh wait... my bad... that was not a Seattle liberal complaining about Senator Murray, that was al Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri complaining about the Democrat controlled Congress. Sometimes it is hard to differentiate between the two.

Tips to Orbusmax and Opinion Journal.

Seattle City Council Defines Equality

An email I received earlier today from Seattle City Councilman Richard McIver contained the following:

American society is still short of offering full equality to women, people of color, sexual minorities, and the disabled.

In unrelated news, by way of Sound Politics, the Seattle PI has an article titles If it's under $241,000, Seattle's a no-bid city, which contains the following from... wait for it.. Councilman McIver:

Thanks to Seattle's relatively loose rules governing who gets several hundred million dollars in contracts each year, McIver needed only the council president's blessing to grant the contract to his allies.

He didn't have to advertise the opportunity, didn't have to allow others to compete for it and didn't have to comply with a voter-approved ban against giving special preference to firms owned by racial minorities.

"They can do the job well. And I wanted to use a minority (-owned) firm,"

I guess it all depends on how you define "full equality".

Rub Of The Green

Occasional golf content warning!

I was listening to golf over the internet late last week while at work. That was not a typo. The PGA Tour website had "Live @ 7" streaming video of the action on the 7th hole at Pebble Beach during this last weeks AT&T pro am. I would listen, with headphones on and if something interesting was happening, would watch the video. So this group comes through and the first amateur to hit is a 2 handicap, so he is a solid golfer. He hits his shot a little long over the green, not the place to miss with the pin in the back. It is going to be an impossible up and down from there. The other amateur is an 18 handicap which means... his game could use some work. Now the hole is just over 100 yards, and has a drop of about 35 feet from tee to green. The problem is the ocean is right there next to the green and there is usually a significant wind to deal with. Now since this guy is an 18, he gets a stroke on the hole since this is the #18 handicap hole. At that point in the broadcast, this is the first time a player gets a stroke on #7 so I decide to see how, "not good" he is and he fulfills all expectations. The ball never gets into the air, hits some rocks, bounces around and of course he ends up in the middle of the green. Two putts later he has a net birdie. That was just not fair.

So I am playing the 9 hole par 28 course on Saturday and the first hole is the one and only par 4. I hit what may have been my best tee shot ever on that hole with a fairway wood and leave myself less than 60 yards to a pin that is right in the middle, right where I want to see it. My 2nd shot I hit just a little too crisp and I end up a good 25 or 30 feet past the hole which leaves me with a downhill right to left putt and of course I three putt for a bogey. Skip ahead to later in the day, my 3rd trip around the course and I hit another great tee shot, almost as nice as the first. Hit a real nice 2nd that leaves me maybe 12 feet to the hole, straight uphill. Miss it left, tap in par. Rewind to the 2nd time around, I mishit my drive, pop it up and am left with a reasonably long 2nd, at least for that hole. I mishit my second, caught it thin and it ends up 8 feet from the hole. Sink the putt for birdie. So the two times I hit great drives and solid approaches, I end up playing the hole in 1 over par. The time I hit a horrible drive and mishit my 2nd, I play the hole in 1 under par.

I did shoot an even par round on Sunday, made par on all 9 holes, hit 8 of the 9 greens. Never once came close to making a birdie during the round and only once all day did I even think one was going to fall even though I hit a ton of greens. Oh well, always next week.

Rudy Wows Them in California

Contrary to what at least one who reads this thinks that he can not win outside of The Bronx, and you know who you are, this maybe a tad early but I am adding 55 more electoral votes to Rudy's column.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani turned in an impressive performance in his luncheon keynote address today at the California Republican Party convention in Sacramento. There in the ballroom of the Hyatt Regency at Capitol Park, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s state capital residence, as it happens, Giuliani received a much more rousing response than did Schwarzenegger last night at the convention’s opening banquet. Giuliani’s nearly 50-minute address was interrupted several times by standing ovations.

Issue number 1, national security.
Issue number 2, there is no other issue.

Stock Market Investing

Here is something I thought I should pass on to my, apparently 5 readers. Last summer I changed the way I invest in the stock market from holding very, very few companies, 3 or 4, that I knew something about, knew people who worked there, etc. and hopefully were local, for a very long time, kind of the Peter Lynch school of investing, to a theory that was more Graham Dodd, Warren Buffet, by investment guru Joel Greenblatt, I first heard about on a weekend radio show on KVI 570 called Sound Investing. You can download the exact show I listed to, Feb. 3rd 2006, as an MP3 file here. Mr. Greenblatt is a well know investor who has done remarkably well. I would strongly suggest you read his Wikipedia bio.

Here is the 2 minute version of the theory. Buy good companies when they are cheap. The whole theory is laid out in an unbelievably easy to read book by Mr. Greenblatt. According to the theory, over the long haul, the market is efficient and companies are priced correctly but over shorter periods of time, the market is not as efficient. If you buy good companies that for now are cheap and you buy enough of them and hold them for a year, the market will recognize most of the inefficiencies and you will make money, better than normal market averages. So what defines a good company and a cheap company? 2 stats, earning yield (cheap) and return on capital (good). So you rank all of the companies by these two stats and pick stocks that have the highest rankings for both. Sounds like a lot of research… well it would be if someone had not already done it for you…. A list of the stocks, already ranked, is waiting for you, free of charge, at least for now, on a web site.

So let’s cut to the chase, how well does this work? A 17 year backtesting showed returns around 30% a year. That was not a typo. While the market in general did something like 11% for that same time period. So… let’s say that you took 2 portfolios of $10,000 and invested one in something that averaged 30% a year and the other in something that averaged 11% a year. What would be the value of those portfolios after 20 years? The 11% portfolio would have $80,623, the 30% portfolio would have $1,900,496. That is not a typo. The 30% portfolio is 23.5 times as large. That is not a type. Now understand that backtesting is simply how would this have worked in the past. There is NOTHING THAT SAYS THIS WILL CONTINUE TO HAPPEN. Please read that again.

So what are the nuts and bolts of what you do? Buy 20 – 30 stocks spread out over the course of a year, putting equal amounts into each stock. When a stock’s 1 year anniversary comes up, sell the stock and buy another on the list. That is about it. Seriously. I am not kidding. Well actually there are some minor details such as sell any losing stocks right before 1 year and winners right after 1 year for tax purposes. There are other issues that come up such as what to do if one of your stocks is bought out or what do you do if after one year the stock is still on the list. Like I said, minor details. Spend the 2 hours to read the book.

So I decided to buy 20 stocks, 5 each quarter. I started in July of 2006 and as of now have 3 groups of 5, 15 stocks in total. As of right now, the performance is as such, my July 2006 stocks are up 20.68%, My Oct. 2006 stocks are down 7.34%, my January 2007 stock are up 2.8%. Those are actual, not annualized numbers. The January 2007 stocks were bought in the last week of January so I have had them for less than 2 weeks. The other two groups were bought the first week or two of the month. I think my early returns and the fact that they vary so much kind of answers the next obvious question…

Why has this theory not caught on like wildfire? Because sometimes the returns are not that great for a significant time period and most of us are not patient enough to withstand the down periods. As Joel Greenblatt recently said:

Here comes the bad news. It is difficult for emotional human beings to execute a strict formula with patience and persistence. In a recent talk at a New York Barnes & Noble bookstore, Joel Greenblatt warned a crowd of about 300 fans seeking his autograph, "The magic formula is not that magic because it can underperform for a number of years in a row. Most people quit something that doesn't work for one or two years. It is tough to stick with a formula. And even if you would stick with it, you customers won't, especially after it failed to work for two years. Not many professionals and individuals can pull it off."

Yes, the results of the formula are amazing over a long period of time. But...there are still 1, 2 and even 3 year periods when the formula doesn't work at all! Most people just don't have the patience or the discipline to stick to it through the tough periods. And for those who do, the reward over the long term could be substantial.

A word of warning… for me, the one big shock is how turbulent some of these stocks are. Much more than I was use to but not a big problem for me since I am fairly risk tolerant. Also not as big a deal once you own more than a handful of these stocks if you are looking at the total portfolio values and not just that one or two stocks that are way up or way down. For example, in November, 1 month after I purchased my Oct. stocks, my July portfolio was losing money yet my Oct. portfolio was up almost 10%. Not the case today. These stocks can move, a lot, in a hurry. For this to work you need to be willing to ride the waves, both up and down and to be honest, I have actually enjoyed the excitement of volatility.

Why Your Child Can Not Do Basic Math

This YouTube video featuring Seattle area Meteorologist M.J. McDermott, was passed on to me by a Seattle area, not Seattle School District, teacher whose district uses the same TERC textbooks mentioned in the video and confirmed how ineffective they really are. Here is the money quote:

The authors of Everyday Mathematics do not believe it is worth the students' time and effort to fully develop highly efficient paper and pencil algorithms for all possible whole number, fraction and decimal division problems. Mastery of the intricacies of such algorithms is a huge endeavor, one that experience tells us is doomed to failure for many students. It is simply counter productive to invest many hours of precious class time on such algorithms. The mathematical payoff is not worth the cost, particularly because the quotients can be found quickly and accurately with a calculator.

In related news, I hear that most good books are eventually made into movies.

Watch the video.

Rudy Is In!

As I emailed someone I know earlier today, as of right now, and it is way too early, Rudy is my choice. My one and only issue, national security. I do not see anyone who I believe would do as good a job on this issue as he would. My 2nd choice, there is no second choice. Rudy will have problems with the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy over some social issues which may cause him a problem getting the nomination. For the most part, I can not get excited about these issues because for the most part I am libertarian. The one that concerns me, gun control.

An Open Letter to One of My Three Readers

Dear You Know Who You Are,

Sorry about your Bears taking the gas pipe during the Super Bowl the other day. Was Rick Mirer not available to play QB? I feel your pain, well actually I do not since my team, the 5 time world champion San Francisco 49ers have never lost a Super Bowl. Of course the Bears are not really “your team” are they? They are just one of a couple of teams whose bandwagon you jump on when they happen to have a good year once every 20 years or so, along with the Seahawks and Cowboys. I would not know what that is like since I do not have a backup favorite team. I have stuck with the 49ers through thick and then when Steve Deberg was the QB and when Dennis Erickson… ok, maybe not then, even I have my limits of fan loyalty. So this is your official warning, come next year when Super Bowl XVLMQ or whatever letters they are on, comes around, do not even think of jumping on the 49ers bandwagon. Do not ask me to move over and make some room because I am bringing the Lazy Boy and putting it in the full recline position.

P.S., love the new company website, much better than the old one but get a haircut you hippie!

Hillary's Impersonation of Bill

I heard this on the way into work the other morning, not sure if it was Kirby Wilbur on KVI or Sytman and Boze on KTTH but I sure did not hear or see anything on it from any of the MSM.

The story is Hillary Clinton was asked about her vote to authorize military force in Iraq and here is a good recap of what she said but the main response was:

She said she was misled by President Bush about the resolution. "He said at the time he was going to the United Nations to put inspectors back into Iraq, to figure out whether they still had any WMD," she said, adding, "He took the authority that others and I gave him and he misused it."

The problem for Hillary is the resolution was titled "Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against Iraq." It was not titled Authorization for the Use of Weapons Inspectors in Iraq.

This reminded me of a comedy bit by Lewis Black who was talking about the Monica Lewinsky scandal when then President Clinton tried to claim that oral sex was not in fact sex. As Lewis Black said, they way you can tell that it is in fact sex is that the word sex is part of the name.

Another problem for Hillary was a resolution for an amendment requiring the United Nations Security Council approval for an invasion that Hillary voted against. In addition, Hillary's speech on the Senate floor before the vote can be found here and includes such things as this:

In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including Al Qaeda members, though there is apparently no evidence of his involvement in the terrible events of September 11, 2001.

It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons. Should he succeed in that endeavor, he could alter the political and security landscape of the Middle East, which as we know all too well affects American security.

More information on the Iraq War Resolution can be found here, including a list of Democrats that voted to authorize the use of military force in Iraq, such as:
Joe Biden
Maria Cantwell
Tom Daschle
John Edwards
Dianne Feinstein
John Kerry
Harry Reid
Chuck Schumer

The Indocrtination Is Complete

On the drive home from my parents house recently, I had the following conversation with 7 year old Andrew:

Andrew: Dad, can we listen to Misty Mountain Hop?

AndrewsDad: Why yes we can.



When, not if, the video goes away, go to You Tube and search on Misty Mountain Hop, look for any videos from Madison Square Garden 1973.

AndrewsDad Reviews The Olympic Sculpture Park, Part II

Continuing my review of the Olympic Sculpture Park...

Next up is "Eagle" by Alexander Calder

It rests on the ground yet manages to convey an aspiration to flight. It's a wake you up, abstracted tribute to a rare heavyweight capable of landing lightly, its massive wings still flared before folding.

ok... maybe... but when I was looking at it, I did not hear the word "eagle" from anyone but I did hear two kids say "I think it is a whale". Now if your piece of art that is suppose to be an eagle is mistaken for a whale...
Verdict: Not art.

Next is "Accident Waiting to Happen", by SAM Planners
Put a family oriented park where the kids and dogs can run around right next to a couple of sets of busy railroad tracks. Can't wait to hear what the first wrongful death lawsuit is going to cost the taxpayers.

Next is "Typewriter Eraser, Scale X" by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van BruggenEven the Seattle P.I. can not explain the deeper meaning to this. Let me try... Typewriter Eraser, which is on loan from Microsoft co founder Paul Allen, proves that some people have so much money, they have run out of ways to spend it.
Verdict: Is this even necessary?

Next is "Competing Receptacles", artist unknownSo how is a giant eraser considered art and two garbage cans next to each other not? I am serious.
Verdict: Could be art.

Next, "Riviera" by Anthony Caro

It asserts it vision of the landscape with flat verticals locked into a horizontal line: elegant and full of its own understated muscle.

Possibly the best example of "not art" in the entire park. I am willing to bet anyone $100 that if given the needed materials and tools, in one week I can create something similar enough so that at least one third of random people off of the street could not determine which was created by Sir Anthony Caro who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth for his artwork and which one was created by this local Seattle blogger. Any takers?
Verdict: Not a chance this is art.

Next is "Behind Schedule" by SAM ContractorsNot listed in the official P.I. guide. Very realistic, I kind of enjoyed it.
Verdict: Art!

Finally, "Bunyon's Chess" by Mark di Suvero

Exuberantly raw,... Bunyon refers to Paul Bunyan, the mythical lumberjack playing chess with a chainsaw.

I stand corrected Sir Anthony Caro, "Riviera" is not the "best example of not art" in the park, please accept my apology. Good lord.
Verdict: I can not believe someone paid money for this.


And that concludes my review of the Olympic Sculpture Park, click here to see a slide show from someone who appears to appreciate the art more than I.

The Racists in Canada Do Not Want To let You Publicly Beat or Burn Alive A Women.

What kind of fascist state has Canada become? Originally from, I am not sure where, but a good link can be found at Atlas Shrugged. Here is a quick recap:

Almost everyone living in Quebec's tiny town of Herouxville is white, French-speaking and Catholic. But that didn't stop local officials from adopting a rule of conduct for immigrants.

Included in the code: women should be able to show their faces in public (aside from costumes worn on Halloween), and they should also be permitted to drive and write cheques. Women should also not be killed in public beatings or burned alive. Critics call the code ridiculous and xenophobic..."

This is an issue that hits almost all of my hot points. If some 3rd world crap hole of a country where 95 percent of the people are illiterate wants to outlaw the Bible and make Christianity a crime, that is their choice, just do not expect me to contribute any tourist dollars to the economy anytime soon. Also do not start throwing around the racist tag when another country decides it is not ok to BEAT AND BURN WOMEN IN PUBLIC. As a commentator on Atlas Shrugs notes,

Racist is a term that is overused and misused. What 'race' are Muslims? What 'race' are Christians or Jews? Answer? You can be ANY race and be any one of those religions. A person's religiosity doesn't affect their religion except in some cases (Hinduism and Shinto come to mind... but I'm not an expert by any stretch).

These polished turds like the spokesman of the Muslim Council of Montreal know exactly what they are doing by using the word 'racist'. They are unjustly using a word that most people find powerful and negative. For most people, to be called a racist would cause them to stop what they are doing.

The other part of the statement that is interesting is the use of the word 'xenophobia'. Webster's defines the word this way: "fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign"

I don't find it at all unreasonable for people to fear or hate customs like burning, beating or stoning women to death. It is repellent behavior, and Herouxville has stated that it would not be tolerated.

How is this unreasonable?

Personally I think these immigrants should spend a little less time lighting Mom on fire for exposing a little too much ankle and spending a little more time praying to Allah for indoor plumbing for family and friends back in the homeland.

This SNL clip, by way of Hot Air, kind of sums up my feelings on the issue.