Dow is down. You know what they say, Buy on the rumor, sell on the news.
DAILY UPDATE 10/3/08
1. Check out Puma PAC’s DAILY ALERT for today — all the links and info you need to get busy, HERE! (Have I mentioned today how utterly AWESOME dwp, tt, go, and bo are? They are AWESOME.
2. Join Puma PAC today and be a part of the largest, most organized Citizens Action Network in the Pumasphere. It’s Free, Easy, and Fun! You will receive all of our Super Secret PROWLS, and we NEVER EVER spam you, bug you for money, or share your information. Never, ever. Join us HERE!
3. Write a letter to the editor of your local paper today. Tell them what you thought of last night’s debate. Post your letter here after you mail it. Use the handy, dandy guide in our ACTION CENTER for links and tips.
4. Call Terri Lynn Land, the Michigan Secretary of State. Ask her if she is aware of THIS. Ask her what is she going to DO about ACORN’s voter fraud in Michigan. Quote Bill Clinton to her. Say, “Tell me how, and be specific.” Department of State Information Center toll-free number: (888) SOS-MICH; (888) 767-6424
5. Contribute if you can to Puma PAC, so we can keep the lights on. Donations accepted HERE, and THANK you!
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
“Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it.”
“People of Berlin – people of the world – this is our moment. This is our time.”
“It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything.”
1. Check out Puma PAC’s DAILY ALERT for today — all the links and info you need to get busy, HERE!
2. Call your Senators and Reps today and tell them where you stand on the Bailout Bill. Click HERE for contact info.
3. Join Puma PAC today and be a part of the largest, most organized Citizens Action Network in the Pumasphere. It’s Free, Easy, and Fun! You will receive all of our Super Secret PROWLS, and we NEVER EVER spam you, bug you for money, or share your information. Never, ever. Join us HERE!
4. Make Heidi Li’s new Denver Group viral. Send it far and wide. Post links to it everywhere you go on the intertubes. Contribute a few bucks to it if you can. Click HERE to watch the ad and get the link.
5. Contribute if you can to Puma PAC, so we can keep the lights on. Donations accepted HERE, and THANK you!
6. Let PBS know how you feel about hopelessly biased Gwen Ifill moderating tomorrow night’s VP debate. Comment HERE (be sure to type www.blog.pumapac.org into your comment so they know we’re not republicans), and contact PBS, DEMANDING a replacement for Ifill.
Call PBS today: Michael Getler: 703-739-5290
Oh, and in case you might be wondering if Gwen Ifill is, in fact, biased against Sarah Palin, check this out (thanks to votermom at the Confluence)
The failure of a proposed Wall Street bailout Monday underscored that America is suffering not just from a financial crisis, but also from a crisis of political leadership.
“This has been a bad day for Washington and a bad day for American politics,” said Harold Ford, a former Democratic congressman from Tennessee. “What happened today was an embarrassment for the country.”
None of the country’s political leaders, Republican or Democrat, has proved able to navigate the treacherous politics of the moment and secure an agreement to bail out the country’s financial system and restore confidence in the marketplace.
President Bush is a largely discredited lame duck. He’s not trusted by his own party and was unable to bend the Congress to his will even as he warned of a catastrophe if lawmakers rebelled.
Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and his party’s congressional leaders control the Congress and agreed with Bush’s urgency, but they couldn’t deliver a majority, either.
. . . snip
When Obama, the party’s new leader, learned of the plan’s rejection, he spoke about Washington almost as if he weren’t a member of Congress.
“Democrats and Republicans in Washington have a responsibility to make sure that an emergency rescue package is put forward that can at least stop the immediate problems we have so we can begin to plan for the future,” he said.
He didn’t say how he might lead or what role he’d play. “Step up to the plate,” he told Congress. “Get it done.”
Meanwhile, NICE Prowling today Puma PAC! We stood up to the creeping Police State tactics of the Obama Movement and FORCED A RETRACTION. They BACKED OFF! This is what it’s all about Folks! Nicely done.
Here’s a quote from our new friend, Sheriff Glenn Boyer of Jefferson County, Missouri. I give him credit for being a straight talker, and pretty witty too:
Jefferson County Sheriff Oliver “Glenn” Boyer, who was also named Gov. Blunt’s statement, told WND that not only had he never agreed to join the “Truth Squad,” but also that it “infuriated” him that anyone would think he’d use his office to squash others’ freedom of speech.
“I’m a small, Democratic sheriff in rural Missouri,” Boyer told WND. “I haven’t even seen the original interview with Jennifer Joyce and Bob McCulloch. … All I know is, I came into my office on Monday morning unaware of any of this. I had a fundraiser Saturday, when all this started, of my own. I came into my office Monday morning, and I’ve got 500 emails and 19 nasty phone calls calling me a communist pig! I think, ‘Man, I thought it was a pretty good fundraiser.’”
Y’all are a bunch of racist, disgusting, despicable morons.
McCain is a senile douch who has picked a running mate that charged women for rape kits. You think Hillary is happy about that?! McBush is tanking, Obama 08!!!
Although Nitwit doesn’t know how to spell “douche,” I have a feeling he knows EXACTLY what it means and savors using it to degrade people. Isn’t the liberal underbelly pretty?
In other news, the Billionaires’ Bailout heads to the House this morning. GWB was up EARLY this morning talking to reporters and warning the Congress and the country to wake up and smell the $80-dollar a pound coffee. Heckuva job, Bushie!
Watch this ONE MINUTE SMACK-DOWN in the House! woo-hoo! (thanks to Jawbone at Corrente)
Krugman gives Obama tepid support for NOT GETTING IN THE WAY (inspired yet?), and hammers McCain for being reckless and misguided. The next 24-48 hours will be VERY interesting — watch for both sides to be scrambling to both claim credit for AND reject the plan. Obama called the current plan “an outrage, an outrage” and then said he’d vote for it on Wednesday. Huh? McCain is regrouping. Which means he’s losing ground. It’s the Independents who matter to the candidates this week. The basic question for them is:
Who do you trust more to rescue and grow the economy? Barack Obama or John McCain?
David Sirota has a good primer on why the plan stinks, HERE (thanks to Lambert at Corrente). Obama loses this one politically if he appears to be out of his league and/or uninterested (he is both). McCain loses this one politically if he appears short-fused and blustery.
Bottom line for us: HARRY THE DEMOCRATS! We need to call, call, call our reps in Congress and tell them to STOP THE BAILOUT!! Call Obama’s Campaign and insist that he impose safeguards for homeowners.
Our job is to try to force Obama’s lofty hand. It’s not that we don’t want him to pull another FISA on us. In fact, we want to force him to pull another FISA. He must stand up and lead or step OUT OF THE WAY.
Read the full text of the Billionairz’ Bailout bill HERE (The Sunlight Foundation from our lovely ACTION Center). Call Congress now! Repeatedly!
Call one of these Toll Free Capitol Hill switchboard #’s:
I just read what I think is an extremely insightful point in an email. The writer, a very smart guy with a LONG memory says,
“ We need to identify ourselves as from the Clinton wing of the party, and continually point out that we represent the base. As writer Michael Lind points out, the Northern “liberal” wing [of the Democratic Party] has Ivy League leadership mills. But populist economic Democrats are nearly WITHOUT LEADERS, except for the random exceptions like and Bill and Hillary. Except for the fluke of skin color, we’d have close to 2/3 of the party on our side this time — even though most of the party leadership defines itself in opposition to us.”
(emphasis mine)
Here’s the thing — the Obama Movement started a civil war in our party. Led by elitists from the “Ivy League leadership mills” (love that phrase), they systematically identified those blocs resistant to their message (that’d be us) and excised them one by one. The idea was that they’d secure the nomination with the SLIMMEST of majorities and then worry about the consequences after. Rural whites? Out! Women over 35? Out! Florida and Michigan? Out! Basically it boils down to Donna Brazile’s famous line: “Message to the base: Stay home.”
The upside to a scorched earth primary strategy was that the Obama message would be unequivocally left-wing and progressive. Hard core opposed to the war; staunch opposition to FISA; resolute opposition to “politics as usual.” Yes, yes, WE know that it was all hooey and that Obama himself contradicted and betrayed his base as soon as Hillary was effectively knee-capped and had to hobble off the field. But, by then it was too late. Obama’s followers were in for the long haul. There is no looking back for the Blogger Boiz, the Ivy Leaguers, and the rest of Whole Foods Nation. Those he persuaded with his message were REALLY, REALLY persuaded. They became his most loyal and permanent followers (think Markos and Josh and Olbermann).
The downside, the danger Obama courted by using a Divide and Conquer strategy, was that he might seriously alienate millions of Democrats whose votes he’d need in November to win. But that was a gamble they made. Their belief was that we’d come around. Women would be sufficiently subdued with the Roe bat to pull the lever for Obama on Election Day. Rural and lower working class whites would be sufficiently afraid of the economic threats of recession, foreclosure, and layoffs to vote against the Republicans and their dismal record. In other words, we’d have nowhere else to go. Of course we’d come around.
But here’s the thing, and it’s why I always say we are the ones no one was expecting: the Obama Movement was both right about us AND wrong. At the same time. They’re right, WE HAVE NOWHERE ELSE TO GO! We will NOT vote for Barack Obama, BUT we know the Republican Party is not our home — it’s not even a nice vacation cottage. That’s the main reason we Pumas are so out of sorts and discouraged lately. We really AREN’T closet Republicans (Message to the Republicans: Stay on your side of the yard! Just kidding. Sort of.) For some of us, voting against the DONC and Obama by voting in protest for McCain is as easy as pie. These are the moderate-to-conservative Democrats for whom the tenets of Whole Foods Nation are anathema. But for another huge part of our Puma base, voting for McCain is an excruciatingly difficult thing to do — so hard that many of us just won’t be able to do it. These are the moderate-to-liberal Democrats for whom the tenets of Whole Foods Nation are pretty much a-okay! But they’re still not voting for McCain — Pumas in this camp will vote third party or write-in or stay home.
It is more important than ever that we stay united as Pumas. Remember what my email friend said: “Populist economic Democrats are nearly WITHOUT LEADERS”! We know who we are. We know it in our bones that Obama is wrong for our country and even more wrong for our Party. But we DON’T know who’s in charge. Hillary’s back in the Senate, sidelined from national leadership. Bill’s direct influence is limited on all official sides by the DONC, which wants above all else to KEEP BILL CLINTON CONTAINED! So, if we feel rudderless, it’s because we are. This is what the Obama Movement was wrong about. We know we have nowhere else to go, but we also know just as sure as can be that we are NOT going back to the DONC.
So, look in the mirror and face the facts. There are no leaders here. There is no politician or public figure who can sit for us at the table of national power and speak for us or represent our interests. Hillary’s on Capitol Hill mulling her next moves and brooding over what happened. Bill is being Bill (which is a very good thing, but his days of being President are over). We have only ourselves to rely on. This is THE most difficult phase of our movement, while we watch the national election play out without our enthusiastic or whole-hearted participation. Some of us have found, and will continue to find it too tempting not to just jump on the McCain bandwagon. That’s VERY understandable. You can still be a Puma if you’re also a Democrat working for McCain. It’s okay.
The rest of us are discouraged, lonely, and feeling useless. Working for local congressional candidates is a very good thing to do, but it just doesn’t have the Zing and the Rush of a Presidential campaign. But, if we allow our sense of loss and isolation to fuel attacks on each other WE ARE SUNK. Let’s remind ourselves that, as Democrats, we are BY DEFINITION a motley rag-tag group. We are working class, diverse, and far-flung. We found out this year that the DNC doesn’t care about us and would MUCH rawther carry on without our participation or even our votes.
So Puma PAC, if we want to have a leader we’ll have to create one from within. We will have to stay united with each other, with the clear-eyed acceptance that we represent a VAST range of different lifestyles and backgrounds, from really quite conservative all the way to fringe hippie peace-nik free-lovers. Our common and precious shared goal is a love for democracy, fair play, and a level playing field for all citizens — rich or poor, black or white or yellow or brown, woman or man.
When we decided to revolt against the DONC and Obama and every Democrat who shrieks “STUPID RACIST UGLY OLD FAT IGNORANT HYSTERICAL RACIST BITCH” at us; when we committed ourselves to NOT COMING AROUND, we set ourselves on a long and lonely road of rebellion. This will take TIME. But, most importantly, it will take UNITY. That is the secret to Obama’s success. He divided us. Let’s NOT continue his work for him. Let’s recommit ourselves to unity with each other.
Are you a woman considering a career in politics? Are you a woman with ambition? Would you like to participate in government or other forums for the powerful and influential? Well, Girls — be prepared! The Democratic Underbelly sees you like this:
Dear Puma PAC,
This is the first of today’s PROWLS. It’s not exactly hush-hush, as you can see, but I want this one to reach far and wide. Today we are talking back to the Mainstream Media and the Democratic Underbelly.
Here is an excerpt from Matt Taibbi’s article in the latest Rolling Stone:
Sarah Palin is a symbol of everything that is wrong with the modern United States. As a representative of our political system, she’s a new low in reptilian villainy, the ultimate cynical masterwork of puppeteers like Karl Rove. But more than that, she is a horrifying symbol of how little we ask for in return for the total surrender of our political power. Not only is Sarah Palin a fraud, she’s the tawdriest, most half-assed fraud imaginable, 20 floors below the lowest common denominator, a character too dumb even for daytime TV — and this country is going to eat her up, cheering her every step of the way. All because most Americans no longer have the base energy to do anything but lie back and allow ourselves to be jacked off by the calculating thieves who run this grasping consumer paradise we call a nation.
–snip –
She appeared to be completely without shame and utterly full of shit, awing a room full of hardened reporters with her sickly-sweet line about the high-school-flame-turned-hubby who “five children later,” is “still my guy.” It was like watching Gidget address the Reichstag.
Here’s the PROWL:
1. Send an email to rgscustserv@cdsfulfillment.com and tell them what you think of political discourse that uses sexist stereotypes to belittle women candidates. Give them an earful.
2. Call the Rolling Stones office today and demand an apology from Matt Taibbi and his “editors.” Telephone: (212) 484-1616. Give them an earful.
3. Blog the Democratic Underbelly. Let them know what real Democrats look like, think like, and talk like. Click on this link and post your comments. Let’s take this fight back to where it started so we can nip this ugliness in the bud every chance we get. Blog the Puma message HERE. Give them an earful.
Here is today’s Second PROWL. First, read Riverdaughter’s excellent take-down of the condescending Obots who desperately, though ignorantly, in classic concern troll fashion want to teach us about “what the Democratic Party really stands for” and why it is so crucial that we submit to their superior understanding. Then read THIS heartfelt post on the Democratic Underbelly by a woman who really wants to get it right. I don’t blame her — she did her best (though why in the HELL she is blogging at the Democratic Underbelly when she is clearly an intelligent and subtle thinker I’ll never know . . .). The point of this BLOG PROWL is not to confront the author, but the madness she provoked in her Underbelly readers. If the author hasn’t been PUMATIZED by the reaction of her supposed allies to her post, then she is likely beyond help. This is an Open Invitation to NikkiStone! Join Puma PAC and become part of the solution you so clearly and sincerely wish to facilitate. For the rest of us, get over there and COMMENT! Take the fight back to their Swamp! Give them an earful.
Forget about the Blogger Boiz. They are soo Bush-Era. With their blind and rabid obsession with all things Rovian and Republican they made themselves irrelevant. Rather than making the practical and principled political decision this primary season to back the most qualified Democratic candidate (as did the prescient and precious Riverdaughter, waaay back in January), the Boiz were so deafened by their own snarky echo chambers they could only hear the panderings of politicians cynical enough to speak their language.
John Edwards and Barack Obama lulled them with promises of RETRIBUTION, packaged up in boxes of hope and tied with pretty ribbons of change. The Blogger Boiz wanted PAYBACK. Payback for “being right about Iraq.” Payback for “being right about terrorism.” Payback for “being right about FISA.” Payback for “being right about the housing crisis.” And Katrina, and Guantanamo, and global warming. Obama (Edwards faded early), the Boiz believed, would be their white and shining knight aloft a rearing stallion of Change, smiting the Enemies of the Left with his righteous sword of glorious RIGHTNESS. Ha!
Obama would sweep into the White House like a mighty river of intellectual vengeance and the Boiz would get what they have always and only ever longed for: the ability to say with a face-splitting smirk, “We were right and you were WRONG.” nyah-nyah-na-na. That’s it. That’s ALL they care about.
And a look at what is important to them makes it clear why they will lose. The reason the promises of Hope and Change seem so empty to the rest of us is because they ARE empty, and more importantly, Obama and Axelrod and Dean KNOW this! The Boiz never wanted anything concrete. They didn’t want universal health care. They didn’t want sensible legislation for immigration. They didn’t want lower taxes or higher taxes; or good public schools or a solid plan for Iraq. They didn’t want reproductive choice for the women of Tennessee. They didn’t want adequate equipment for the troops. All they wanted was a Gold Star. An A+ for Stating the Obvious. Which is very easy to bestow. All Obama had to do was attend Yearly Kos and mouth the words FISA, Iraq pullout, and Guantanamo. All he had to do was DEIGN to write (or direct a staffer to write) a couple of posts for Huffington Post.
And then the Boiz and their minions would howl and stomp for him through the internets, the polling places, and the streets, drunk on the joy of being recognized as SMARTER than the rest of the country. And, in a strange and subtle twist, because of their own unexamined racism, spitefully glad that they would be using a BLACK Man and his even “blacker” wife to thumb their noses at the rest of us. A strange image, no? Barack and Michelle Obama as thumbs to prop up the collective noses of a bunch of self-righteous white men.
But the rest of the country has always been smarter than that. Always been more seasoned and practical. HATRED of George Bush and Dick Cheney is the habit and the hobby of the over-employed and the pampered. The rest of us have to get the kids to school and the bills paid. Yes, we know George Bush is a disaster. While driving to work or to the grocery store we sometimes fantasize about him being hauled before the World Court for crimes against humanity. But seriously, what has that got to do with which candidate will be able to make health care available for our mothers-in-law?
The Republicans, savvy strategists that they are, figured a toothless Obama would be easier to work around than a dead-serious Clinton. So they watched with glee as the Boiz savaged the more fearsome opponent. Ancient history now. But then came Sarah Palin, riding a REAL motorcycle, carrying a REAL rifle, and grinning a REAL grin of righteousness (yes, she scares me — I’m strong enough to admit it!). And now the Republicans have new hope, new energy, and new reason to believe that not only will they win the White House, they might change the political landscape for a generation. A little tweak to their reproductive choice platform and they may lose ten million fundamentalists but gain 50 million soccer moms. Hmmmm…
But, don’t lose heart O Stalwarts of the true Democratic Party! 2008 also marks the birth of the Puma Era in American politics. A movement in which average, every day voters like us started paying attention and taking action. We’ve been turning off our tv’s by the millions, putting down our newspapers, and heading out into the far reaches of the Internet like political pioneers, searching for common sense and practical solutions. We found outposts of sanity at The Confluence and Corrente and Shakesville. But we needed more. We started our own blogs, our own political action committees, our own virtual town squares.
On November 5th the Boiz will find themselves in the same position they’ve been in for a decade: with their heads spinning and with nothing practical to do with themselves except for looking back in anger — spewing ugliness and working their followers up into a froth of impotent, vile mania.
But not us! We’ll have WORK to do. Useful, pragmatic, and inclusive work. The work of rebuilding our party and electing representatives who put voters FIRST. The work of changing the media landscape so that NO woman who runs for office is subject to anything like THIS (from the liberal, progressive Blogosphere, natch). The work of Paying Attention and Sticking Together.
Oh, and don’t worry about the Boiz. They’re the kind of guys who bring a report card to a fist fight. They’re the kind of guys who might forget their mother’s birthday, but NEVER forget their own SAT scores. They’re the kind of guys for whom being RIGHT is always more important than being GOOD.
And people like that are easy to beat.
This is the Puma Era.
Welcome to the Pumaspere!
Please welcome these wonderful new additions to the Pumasphere. Several of these blogs and websites were founded by members of our very own Puma PAC! Visit and comment often. Remember what we’ve been saying since June 3rd? We are either all in this together, or all outside alone. Every inclusive voice is important in our Puma Movement. Every inclusive message is part of the Puma Platform. Start a blog. Start a radio show. Comment and write and think and act. We are American citizens. This is our JOB.
TONIGHT! at 8pm eastern on Sheri Tagg’s Puma United Radio (PURrrrr!). Join Sheri, Riverdaughter, and me as we discuss the importance of voting downticket Democrats with that inimitable cockeyed optimist, Dr. Heidi Li Feldman. We’ll be taking your calls as always!
I am so excited to present this new clip from our film, The Audacity of Democracy: The Hillary Flashpoint and the Battle for the Soul of the Democratic Party. Directed by Brad Mays and produced by Lorenda Starfelt, our documentary tells the story of what really happened and why during the Democratic primaries and in Denver, as well as traces the birth and explosion of the Puma Movement — all of us. Sit back and enjoy. I’ve also included the first clip that we presented in July in case you have not yet seen it. The final film will be released just in time for Inauguration Day, a very fitting moment in time to end this important chapter in the ongoing story of Puma PAC.
I am also excited to announce the opportunity for Puma PAC members to PRE-ORDER a copy of the film. Be the first to own a copy of what I believe will be an invaluable document in the history of not just the Democratic Party but of American Democracy itself.
Everyone who pre-orders in September will receive a VERY SPECIAL gift — a Great Puma PAC Moments in Denver memorial DVD! Everything from our protest at MSNBC to Riverdaughter’s rousing speech at The Rise rally, from Tommy Christopher’s EPIC BATTLE With the Crazed Maniacs at Puma PAC Headquarters (comedy GOLD!) to Lori’s moving interviews with dozens of Pumas who traveled from near and far to be together in Denver. This Great Moments DVD really will make you laugh and make you cry.
UPDATE 9/16/08 AT 10:05am, eastern: BARACK OBAMA CALLING OUT THE SWIFT BOATS. ACCORDING TO JOSH MARSHALL AND NAMED PARTICIPANTS IN AN “URGENT” CONFERENCE CALL AMONG BIG DONC DONORS AND OPERATIVES LATE LAST WEEK, GROUPS ABLE TO PRODUCE “DRASTIC” ATTACK ADS AGAINST MCCAIN/PALIN HAD “GOTTEN THE MESSAGE FROM OBAMA THAT HE DOESN’T WANT SUCH ACTIVITY – [BUT] NOW RECOGNIZE THAT TEAM OBAMA IS PRIVATELY HOPING FOR SUCH EFFORTS TO GEAR UP IN EARNEST.” SO MUCH FOR THE HIGH ROAD, HUH? (NOT THAT MR. PERIODICALLY SWEETIE WAS EVER ON THE HIGH ROAD, BUT, HEY PERCEPTION IS EVERYTHING, AS OBAMA NOW LEARNS TO HIS EVERLASTING SHAME) (h/t to greenfun in comments.)
Today’s polls show a tie in Virginia, and McCain leading Obama in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, and Colorado. Here’s the thing though: Obama’s lead in New Jersey is down to THREE POINTS. New freaking Jersey?? Wow. Remember back on June 5th (BEFORE it was too late; BEFORE Hillary was forced to suspend) when we said that Obama was headed for a LANDSLIDE 50-STATE LOSS? Here’s what we said then:
We must be united against the DNC’s usurpation of the will of Democratic voters. If they appoint Obama as the Democratic nominee, he will lose in a 50-state landslide. Don’t listen to the pundits or the polls. Listen to your own mind, your own common sense, and your own determination to turn this thing around.
All Pumas, please send an email to Howard Dean, chair of the Democratic National Committee right now @ howarddean@dnc.org
Tell him that we are Democrats who will not vote for Barack Obama for president. We will not support a “Unity Ticket” with Hillary Clinton as the vice-president. We will not donate one thin dime to the DNC or any of its affiliate organizations until they wake up, listen to the voices of the voters in ALL 50 states, and start distancing themselves from this disastrous nominee.
Please copy and paste this letter into the body of your email and write “Puma democrat” after your signature so he knows who we are. By August he’ll be ruing the day he ever tried to dismiss our votes and our voices.
Seems like a lifetime ago, doesn’t it? We sure have been consistent. Hey Obama and the DONC! Don’t blame Sarah Palin. We’ve been warning you for months exactly what we intended to do if you continued on your path to destruction. And we WILL do it. Barack Obama will lose on November 4th because he attempted to destroy the strongest candidate our Party has seen in a generation (yes, she IS a stronger candidate than Bill circa 1992) and offended every decent Democrat in the United States with his divisiveness and disdain for the VOTERS.
