Now that our congressional representative from the 29th has disappeared, will the 29th district follow suit and disappear as well?  With redistricting on the agenda, the 29th does not look all that stable.  This comes from pressconnects.com out of Binghamton:

Without an incumbent — even a first-term one like Massa — the 29th could find itself splintered during House redistricting the state Legislature must complete before the 2012 election. As a result, a piece or pieces of the district could find themselves moving eastward and connecting with Binghamton and Ithaca.

That wouldn’t be the worst thing that could happen. In fact, if former Rep. Amo Houghton, who fought to keep the district intact 10 years ago, had his way, he’d rather see the district remained rooted in the Southern Tier than moved toward Syracuse, Rochester or Buffalo. “You could run it along the Pennsylvania border for as long as you need to get 650,000 to 700,000 residents,” he said, referring to the approximate population of House districts.

[snip]

With declining upstate populations and faster growth elsewhere in the nation, the 29th, made up of eight counties — including six in Southern Tier territory — is vulnerable. The absence of an incumbent only adds to the possibility the 29th will be sliced in halves, thirds or maybe quarters.

I’m not sure how I feel about this, other than, teaming up with Ithaca sounds like a totally groovy plan in my book.  I’m also thinking, if it were to happen, Rotten would have to change the name of his blog to the Surrendering 29th.

Thoughts?

I found this comment from the Boston Mom’s site and felt it was way too wonderful not to bring it to your attention.  The title of the piece from which this comment came is, “Nursing Noodges should knock it off“. I find it interesting that the author refers to a person inquiring to a mother, “Are you going to breatfeed?” as coming from the “birthing industrial complex”.  Take it from me, the “birthing industrial complex” couldn’t care less if you breastfeed, or not.

Anyway, this commenter nails it:

WHY I CHOOSE NOT TO USE A CAR SEAT

I refuse to feel guilty for making an educated choice to not put my
baby in a car seat. There are so many militant car seat users in our society and I am tired of them pushing their beliefs on me. There are lots of reasons I have made this choice. First of all, I want my husband to be able to drive him around in his car. He can just sit him on his lap when they go for a ride. This will help him bond and be closer with our son. I don’t want to be the only one that drives him around. It makes my husband, mother and friends feel special when they can take him for rides. I will be returning to work in 6 weeks and I don’t want a big old car seat in the back of our luxury car. I
never put my first son in a car seat and he is just fine. I was never in a car seat, neither was my mother and we are both as healthy as can be. On the other hand, my sister in law’s cousin used a car seat and her child was seriously injured in a car wreck. My aunt tried to use a car seat and wasn’t able to.
She was never able to latch the baby in the seat properly. In fact, my car is too small for a car seat anyway. What matters most is that my baby is healthy and happy. When I left the hospital, they told me that I should try to use the car seat, but if it didn’t work out that it was all right to not use it. In fact, in the diaper bag that I received from the hospital, it has some information for how to safely ride in the car with my son without a car seat. I tried for 1 week to use a car seat with my first son and it made both of us miserable. I told my pediatrician about it, and he said it would probably be best to not use a car seat anymore. Now he is happy and content sitting on my lap as we drive. Using a car seat is just so inconvenient! My privacy is also an issue. Do I want everyone to know when they see my car that I have a child??? Besides, my children need to learn how to ride
in the car without being in the car seat. I don’t want a 3 year old still
wanting to get in his seat! I know that using a car seat has some benefits, but there are a lot of people out there who don’t use them and their kids are just fine! There are people out there that cannot use a car seat (can’t latch baby in properly, car is too small, doesn’t match with the interior). Using a car seat is a personal choice and nobody’s business. As a parent I have made the decision for what is best for my child. It works best for us and our child…..and that is all that is important. It’s my choice
after all, isn’t it??

I think I have actually read this before, but can’t recall where.  I thank this woman for bringing it back to the limelight.  Enjoy!

We, the people, simply must stand up and tell our leaders how much we care. Let’s begin by scaring one another to death by portraying the Obama as a devious underhanded thug. Here’s the latest thing circulating through the email inboxes of conservatives:

Another grassroots movement? Guess what, the birther guys at World Net Daily are behind it:

I, an American citizen eligible to vote in my state, do solemnly pledge the following:

• “Refuse to vote for any congressional candidate, House or Senate, who supported the so-called “health-care reform package” approved in Congress;
• “I will only consider voting for congressional candidates who pledge to overturn the unconstitutional health-care legislation;
• “I will only consider voting for congressional candidates who vow to apply the strict test of constitutionality to all future legislation;
• “I will enthusiastically support with my vote and financial support those congressional candidates who offer an aggressive legislative program for taking America back to its constitutional moorings in self-government and the rule of law.”

If you noticed that this a mostly-white group, who’s racist? It must be you, because we are colorblind to the fact that 99% of us are white. Dennis Prager explains that liberals are the racists for noticing that tea party activists are mostly white men.

The fact that the Left believes that the preponderance of whites among tea partiers invalidates the tea party movement tells us much more about the Left than it does about the tea partiers.

It confirms that the Left really does see the world through the prism of race, gender and class rather than through the moral prism of right and wrong.

One of the more dangerous features of the Left has been its replacement of moral categories of right and wrong, and good and evil with three other categories: black and white (race), male and female (gender) and rich and poor (class).

Yesterday I discussed the lack of enthusiasm generated by the 40th anniversary of Earth Day.  Today, doing my morning perusal of potential subjects to address, I came across this title from Mother Jones, “Tom Coburn’s Earth Day Ambush“.  Hmmm, “What could this be about?”, I thought to myself.  Well, color me disgusted when I read:

The congressional resolution seemed about as innocuous as they come. It commemorated the 40th anniversary of Earth Day and honored its late founder, Sen. Gaylord Nelson (D-Wisc.). But in this highly politically charged Congress, even a minor measure can touch off a legislative scuffle. Such was the case last week, when one of the Senate’s most notorious bill-blockers, Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn, almost derailed the Earth Day resolution.

Coburn is among the Senate’s most prolific users of the hold, an informal procedure that effectively allows a single lawmaker to hold legislation hostage by preventing it from reaching a full vote. In the past, he’s employed this tactic to stall a range of bills, including measures to provide back pay to furloughed federal workers, to aid peace efforts in Northern Uganda, and to create a State Department office to coordinate reconstruction efforts in conflict zones. When Coburn blocks a bill, his reasons are typically fiscal. “Dr. Coburn routinely put holds on bills, even bills he supports, if they support new money and are not offset,” his spokesman, John Hart, told Mother Jones earlier this year.

But this bill had no fiscal ramifications.  Coburn is, apparently having a love affair with DDT…

Coburn’s spokesman, John Hart, acknowledges that his boss requested changes to the resolution, which, he quipped, “read like a blog post for the Daily Kos more than a congressional resolution.” He explained that Coburn’s primary objection to the bill had to do with the section on DDT. “Dr. Coburn’s primary concern is that the DDT ban was based on science that has been widely discredited,” Hart said. “The DDT ban went too far and contributed to thousands of unnecessary malaria deaths in the developing world.” He continued, “Dr. Coburn did not object to the references to McCarthy and civil rights. Unfortunately, Rep. Obey placed those references in the context of various liberal bromides that were not appropriate in context.”

This isn’t Coburn’s first time trying to halt a resolution celebrating an environmental legend due to his pro-DDT position. A few years ago, Coburn placed a hold on a measure celebrating Rachel Carson, the author of the 1962 book Silent Spring, which exposed the environmental hazards of the pesticide.

What, sputter, sputter…How, sputter…WTF?  I’m sorry.  Words fail me at this point.  What does this guy do for entertainment?  Draw and quarter puppies and kittens?  Snort pesticides?  Who continues to elect an evil entity such as this?  Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweeping down the plain?? You can’t do better than this?

Come-on!

NY-29 Dem candidate Matt Zeller is making the rounds with news organizations enroute with his scheduled official announcement tomorrow.  How and when he will make the announcement remains unmentioned.  Given the support he is receiving from MCDC, I suspect that he has the field to himself.  I would be surprised if David Nachbar enters this race.

He stopped by YNN (there is video)

“I grew up in Monroe County. We did Christmases in Steuben at my grandparents place in Hornell,” Zeller said. “My great grandfather started a small construction company down there called A.L. Blade and Sons. My grandfather had a hunting lodge out in Allegany County that I spent a lot of formative years as a child where I was first introduced on how to respect a gun and learn about the land.”

A veteran of the war in Afghanistan, Zeller is a political newcomer. Zeller believes he will bring leadership and a fresh perspective to Capital Hill.

“We’ve actually got a comprehensive economic plan that puts folks back to work. It’s not one magic bullet, it’s a series of things that need to happen in concert with one another,” Zeller explained. “I’m able to, at the end of the day, bring a perspective that most others can’t. I’ve fought for this country and been under fire. The seriousness and respect with which I’ll approach the job is second to none.”

Zeller said he began talking about this run last October. When Massa announced he would not seek re-election and eventually resigned, Zeller said he went to Democratic chairs in the 29th District to let them know of his interest in the seat.

“I’m in this to win it,” Zeller said. “I left a career in the Central Intelligence Agency, a very promising career at that, to come do this. National service is in my blood.”

Zeller calls himself a fiscal conservative, but an overall moderate.

Here are some highlights when Jeremy Moule  from City News caught up with him

• He also supports technology incubators because of the benefits they offer to businesses, educational institutions, and students.
• Wind power has “phenomenal potential as an energy source,” he said. But wind farms shouldn’t be forced on communities that don’t want them. The government should also look for incentives for small businesses and homeowners to install their own turbines or solar panels.
• He opposes drilling in the Marcellus Shale until there’s a way to do it without hurting the environment.
• The US is just now developing a country-wide plan for Afghanistan, he says. To be successful there, the US needs a capable and willing partner in the Afghan government. Right now it doesn’t have that, he says, and if that doesn’t change, the US will have to rethink its approach.

April 22, 2010.  The 40th Anniversary of Earth Day.  It kind of came and went, here in Rochester, NY without too much fanfare.  NPR had some good programming on and WXXI, some good shows talking about pioneers in Environmental Activism, Clean Energy, the food we eat, and why we should care about frogs.  But, really, was anyone really jazzed about this, or did we just go on our merry way, barely giving it a thought?

40 years ago, I had Mr Moore for 7th grade biology, which was much more like Ecology.  We watched films on air pollution, water pollution, soil erosion, DDT.  We talked about the Greenhouse Effect.  We listened to Pete Seeger.  We did environmental projects.  We knew about Global Warming, before it was ever given a name and on the first Earth Day, 40 years ago, he took us out to the stream that ran by our school with plastic bags and we enthusiastically hauled bag after bag of garbage out of there.   We were going to change the world.

Kids in NYC take on NYC grime-1st Earth Day

40 years have gone by.  Our generation has had it’s chance, and for the most part, has blown it.  My family tries, in it’s little way to make a difference.  We do all the environmentally correct things which have been mentioned before.

And in this 40th Anniversary year, our country had the chance to make a big difference with our presence, in the form of Barack Obama, at Copenhagen’s Environmental Summit.  Deemed “Hopenhagen” by the optimists, it soon became “Cop-out-enhagen” when all was said and done.  “Drill, Baby, drill”, which was the mantra of the Republican Vice-presidential candidate in 2008, seems to have been adopted by our president in 2010.  Yup, we’ve got an exploded oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, spilling 40,000 gallons of oil, per day into the gulf and it’s the 40th anniversary of Earth day and Obama is still giving the “go ahead”.

Pogo poster from the first Earth Day 1970

What did I do for Earth Day?  I changed the family cell phone plan from Verizon to CREDO.  They were celebrating their 25 years in business with a special offer, and I took advantage of it.  Now, when we spend money on cell phone usage (just like my long-distance with CREDO) a portion of the money goes to progressive causes, many of them environmental.

What did you do for Earth Day?

Via Swing State some NY political news.  Enjoy

• NY-Gov: Remind me again why Suffolk Co. Exec Steve Levy is running for Governor as a Republican? I suppose it was because state chair Ed Cox promised him a smooth ride to the nomination, but if the endorsements of the various county-level GOP chairs around New York is any indication, it looks like Cox sold Levy a bill of goods. Levy has been endorsed by only 14 county chairs, with a weighted vote of 26%, while ex-Rep. Rick Lazio has the backing of 27 county chairs with a weighted vote of 51%. 19 chairs remain neutral.

• NY-19: Here’s a weird story out of the GOP primary in the 19th, where ophthalmologist Nan Hayworth is already brandishing lots of money. Apparently there’s a phantom candidate out there by the name of Kristia Cavere, who’s claiming to have raised $300K in a matter of weeks and is now sitting on $400K CoH. That can’t be verified, however, because Cavere’s camp hasn’t filed an FEC Q1 report yet, though, and her spokesperson pointed to a loophole that doesn’t really exist. Furthermore, no one really seems sure what the 31-year-old Cavere does, other than having recently gotten a master’s degree, or how she’d have access to such money.

• NY-23: More evidence that the institutional might is pushing away from 2009 spoiler Doug Hoffman and toward investment banker Matt Doheny instead, for the GOP nomination. Hoffman’s fundraising numbers for Q1 were weak: he took in $14K in outside contributions, and loaned himself $100K. He’s sitting on $263K CoH, but also $205K in debt.

• NY-29: We Ask America has been trying to break into the polling game lately, although we gotta wonder what’s up with their love of significant digits. Are they that sure about their results? They polled the 29th, finding that, if the special election were held today, GOP Corning mayor Tom Reed would beat currently-little-known Democratic candidate Matthew Zeller 41.38%-24.01%. A majority also support having a special election, rather than waiting till November to fill the seat.

• NY-19: This ought to ease the risk of a NY-23 type situation in the 19th: Nan Hayworth, from the county club wing of the GOP and facing some teabagging opposition in the primary, managed to nail down the endorsement of the Putnam County Conservative Party. Of course, exurban Putnam County is only a small minority of the district, so we’ll have to see what happens in the other more populous counties.

• NY-29: Speaking of New York and teabaggers, it looks like Corning mayor Tom Reed  – a moderate who managed to deter bigger GOP names from jumping into the race following Eric Massa’s implosion — is now drawing some teabagging opposition in the GOP primary from small businessman Angelo Campini.

• NY-St. Sen.: It’s kind of sad that I had to debate over whether a New York state Senate majority leader’s office getting raided by the FBI and the state AG’s office even qualifies as newsworthy because it’s so totally expected. At any rate, Pedro Espada, who mere months ago held the linchpin of power in New York, now seems on his way to an ignominious end, as the scandal over Soundview Health Center heats up.

• NY-St. Ass.: This feels more like “Where Are They Now?” than an actual state Assembly story, but Dede Scozzafava, who went in a few short weeks from likely U.S. Representative to historical footnote, has decided that she’s through with the Assembly (having gotten sacked from her deputy leadership position). She’ll be retiring at the end of her term.

Welcome to the week that was on Rochesteturning.   The sole candidate for NY 29 Tom Reed get competition as Matt Zeller surfaces.  Meanwhile, Angelo Campini vies for the GOP line.  Pedro Espada is investigated,  an MPN columnist is upset and hydrofracking is still an issue.

Let’s start from the top.

Federal level

NY-29: The where is candidate Matt Zeller question was answered as he started making the rounds to endorsement committee. He  stopped at the Brighton Democratic Committee and undoubtedly others.  He is officially announcing this week so hence the dearth of interviews and accessibility.

Meanwhile the Massa campaign is investigated.  A couple of rather large and oddly-timed payments (a car lease and a 40K payment to his chief of staff) are under investigation by the DoJ.

Then GOP candidate Tom Reed has company as he vies for the GOP line.   Enter Angelo Campini.  He has a website and as to why is he running for Congress? via his web site.

I am often asked why an ordinary citizen would want to run for Congress.  The simple answer is I feel I have no choice.  The time has come when we have to do something ourselves if we want it done right.  The federal government has ignored its people and its obligations for 40 years.

Good for him - I certainly don’t agree with many of his approaches but citizens need to be involved.

Meanwhile, Immigration reform seems to be the next big thing.

Our State Capitol - Albany

Assemblyman Joe Errigo is not running for reelection.

Senator Pedro Espada (Yeah that one) is being investigated for plundering a non-profit he set up.  Meanwhile, the D&C editorial board - Jim Lawrence  specifically - drinks the kool aid Joe Robach is offering as Robach mentions all those corrupt downstate Democrats.  Seven words Joe, Jim - convicted felon, former majority leader Joe Bruno.

Last week Airbare knocked MPN columnist Cheryl Miller down several pegs.  She was pissed and said he were intellectually dishonest.  Well, history Professor Henry Maus writes a guest essay that that reinforces the points Airbare made.  Wonder if she thinks he is intellectually dishonest too?

Then there are Hydrofracking issues.

Quick Clicks

Wingnuts continues - made up stats ans Sarah Palin’s travel demands.

Should street vendors selling art be allowed to do so in NYC parks?

More tea party coverage.  What do they want?

That’s it, see you next week.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg of NYC is pushing a controversial measure that would prohibit many art vendors from selling their art in the limited green space that the City has left. The city and it’s residents are caught in a quandary: what to do about protecting free speech and at the same time prevent what many see as a detriment to park lands.

The New York Times:

The battle has proved contentious partly because it forces New Yorkers to choose between two cherished urban ideals: the serenity of its scarce greenery and a thriving and eclectic art scene.

The city maintains that street vendors have proliferated so rapidly that they pose a safety hazard on many sidewalks and park paths. Vendors say that slashing their numbers amounts to trampling on their First Amendment rights.

I’ve never seen any evidence of a safety hazard posed by artist, but perhaps they’ve been reproducing like pigeons in the last few years since I’ve been to New York. But when artists are upset about something, they don’t simply revert to printing placards, they make their own. The main difference between this art and many other previous and more subtle forms is that it is done purely out of self-preservation.

With the battle over immigration heating up on Capitol Hill, everyone is coming out of the woodwork with their own opinion on the subject. As usual, those against any kind of immigration reform are offering plenty of opposition to the “amnesty”/”pathway to legalization” proposals that are likely to come before Congress in the coming weeks, but very few ideas of what to do with the millions of illegal immigrants who live around the country.

This was typified in a recent op-ed in the Democrat and Chronicle. The column, which dealt specifically with Cardinal Roger Mahony’s opposition to the recent strict immigration law that was passed in Arizona in recent weeks, said in the last sentence:

Rather than condemning each other, we need to find ways to secure the border.

I entirely agree, except the column was devoted to condemning Mahony’s condemnation and offered nothing in the way of ideas to secure the border. Let me say, I support those who argue that illegal immigration is causing great harm to the American economy and our society. But let’s be honest, in the end this is about a group of people who live next door to us, who speak a different language, who practice a different culture, and who don’t really look like “us” either. Of course, I speak of Mexicans.

Why else would everyone keep referring to the border, when we have two neighboring countries? But I also understand that this isn’t really a matter of xenophobia for most people, it’s a question of sustainability, and I’m on the same page as them.

I honestly don’t know what to suggest: legalization of countless illegal immigrants is far from desirable and mass deportation is simply impossible. The only thing that I can think of is that before people start pointing fingers (on either side of this argument), they should have a solid and workable proposal of what to do instead. I remain strongly ambivalent because what’s truly lacking is a long-term strategy.

Last weekend, I wrote a lengthy critique about the need for better conservative editorials in the Brighton-Pittsford Post (Messenger Post Newspapers). Now, they’ve redeemed themselves somewhat at least by publishing a full response to Cheryl Miller’s column.

This weekend, former history professor and guest essayist Henry Maus offered some refreshing words along the same lines as my previous comments regarding Miller’s fanciful opinions. He tells it like it is:

That these safeguards, forms of regulation, and occasionally outright public ownership (e.g. a water and sewage treatment plant) limit individual freedom in the name of “common good” provides ample evidence of balance.

Our economy has evolved as a mixture of moderate (read not radical) socialism and capitalism. Our national parks and interstate highway systems are notable examples of socialism. Kodak, Wegmans and Messenger Post Newspapers are local examples of capitalism. The Russian commentators the essay writer quotes, who clap their hands over the death of American capitalism, should read The Wall Street Journal, Business Week or The Economist, watch more American television, or get on the Internet and check out QVC, eBay and Craigslist. We are a long way from fulfilling any dictionary’s definition of socialism.

My point exactly — if the United States was truly “becoming a socialist country,” then the entire world would be well on its way to communism at this point, but we all know that that’s just not the truth. Maus ends his essay with these profoundly prescient questions:

Familiarity with American history, the debates and forces that brought us to this point, needs to be cited.

There appears little doubt at this point that the “Taxed Enough Already” constituency (Tea Party) have not studied their U.S. history sufficiently either. Precisely, what will we personally and communally give up to have less government and lower taxes? And whatever these losses are, will they meet the criterion of a balance between freedom and responsibility?

Those are questions that need to be answered by Tea Party acolytes like Cheryl Miller. If not, the Tea Party is destined to remain just a loose coalition of conservative interests rather than a real political movement that is taken seriously by all quarters of American society.

WROC caught up with Matt Zeller  at the Brighton Democratic committee meeting last night.  Here is some of the interview (well, seems to be a collection of quotes really) the WROC link also contains a video.

“It’s time for people, folks of my generation to start taking the mantle of leadership in our country.  I’m a 28 year old Army officer who held the hand of men in combat.  I’ve done more as a 28-year-old than most folks do in a lifetime,” said Zeller.

Like work for the CIA.  But it’s against the law for him to talk about that.  Instead, we talked about the Army, and what happened when he came back from Afghanistan.

“People have moved away.  Jobs had been lost.  Neighbors who had been here all my life were suddenly gone.  I’ve wanted to raise my children here.  I’ve wanted to settle down, live here, die here, and I was afraid if I didn’t come back and start fighting for the people of this district…”

Around here, most candidates run on jobs.  So what’s his new idea?  He uses the term ‘incubator,’ which describes a relationship between local high schools and colleges with local businesses.

“They’re able to do the research and development at substantially reduced costs.  They’re also able to partner with those local schools to get interns and students to help them run those labs.  That when they graduate from those colleges and trade schools, become the employees of that company, want to see them succeed,” said Zeller.

There was some drama at the beginning of the meeting when “intrepid” reporter Evan Axelbank disrupted the Brighton Democratic committee meeting in pursuit of his interview.  Yeah, just because the Brighton Democratic committee meeting is a public meeting it doesn’t mean that a reporter can prevent the meeting from starting on time by getting in someone’s face.  In the end, as you saw it was worked out.

I caught this over at the D&C Editorial board blog  - with regards to Pedro Espada and his personal piggy bank.  The one where Espada allegedly used a non-profit organization to funnel money - lots of money - to himself.

How soon D&C opinion editor Jim Lawrence forgets…

For years, Republican Sen. Joe Robach has been bending my ears with talk about how powerful and self-absorbed New York City Democrats are in the state Legislature.

He reminded me of his protestations yesterday after Attorney General Cuomo announced a lawsuit against Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada of the Bronx.  The more I learn about how brazen Espada had become, it makes you wanna puke.

I certainly don’t disagree with editor Lawrence over the, Pedro Espada alleged actions makes one “wanna puke.”  Corruption isn’t/shouldn’t be isolated to a particular party and it should be actively routed out and eliminated.  If not during the election cycle, then via the legal process.

But to have Joe Robach elevated to I told you so status as he reminds Mr Lawrence of all the Albany corruption by those downstate New York City Democrats?

Two words Jim, Joe Bruno.  How about 7 words - convicted felon, former majority leader Joe Bruno

Senator Joe Robach’s former majority leader Joe Bruno has a few legal problems of his own.  Let’s call this for what it is - Joe Robach is simply working the crowd like the long term incumbent he is, facing reelection in the fall.  He is hifting blame to those pesky people far away in NYC.

Espada was embraced by the Republicans as a vehicle to return to power during the Golisano engineered coup this past summer.  No mention of this either?  Now Joe Robach is running away from this too?

Come on..

By now you have heard that Pedro Espada is being sued by the New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo for his handling of Soundview Healthcare center.

Cuomo’s lawsuit accuses Espada of:

Finagling a huge 9-million severance package out of Soundview.

That he diverted non profit money for his political work

That he stacked Soundview’s board with friends and family.

Cuomo says he even spent 80-thousand dollars on 660 restaurants.

Prosecutors also claim Espada of an unbelievable appetite for sushi. Twenty-thousand dollars went to sushi restaurants in Mamaroneck, where Espada owns a home.

Cuomo also charged the New York Senate Majority Leader has violated residency laws by living most of his time at a house in Westchester yet representing the Bronx.

…

The lawsuit seeks restitution and removal of Espada and the board of directors from the nonprofit clinic.

If the allegations are true and he is removed then hopefully criminal charges will follow.