A Billion

The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about
whether you want the 'politicians' spending YOUR tax money.

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of
putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases:

A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.
D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.
E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government
is spending it.

While this thought is still fresh in our brain, let's take a look at New Orleans.
It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division.

Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D) was asking Congress for 250 BILLION DOLLARS

To rebuild New Orleans .

 Interesting number...What does it mean?

A. Well .. If you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans 
(every man, woman and child) You each get $516,528.

B. Or... If you have one of the 188,251 homes in
New Orleans , your home gets $1,329,787.

C. Or... If you are a family of four...
Your family gets $2,066,012.

Hey Washington , D.C..... HELLO!   Are all your calculators broken??

We pay the following taxes

Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax (Fed)
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Tax
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service charge Taxes
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax (Truckers)
Sales Taxes
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax 
State Income Tax 
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax 
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Tax
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

And to think, we left British Rule to avoid so many taxes!

Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.

We had absolutely no national debt. We had the largest middle class in the world and Mom stayed home to raise the kids. What happened?

Can you spell 'Politicians'!

The Dead C Scrolls

My wife and I are planning to go to the Cincinnati Natural History Museum for their Dead Sea Scroll Exhibit. This exhibit brought to mind a story that I recently heard.

Back in the late 1700’s, there was a Bavarian violin maker named Hans Gittlesburger.  Gittlesburger’s violins never brought him much fame. But what did were the magnificent violin necks that he carved.

For the unfamiliar, the top portion of the neck is called the scroll and his carving on the scroll was a thing of beauty. 

Folks came from all over the European continent to have Gittlesburger replace the neck on their violin with one of the necks that he carved with the finely carved scroll.

It was unfortunate, but Gittlesburger’s popularity and fortune only lasted a few years due to the fact that virtually no one could play the C note on their violins with the Gittlesburger neck. Most player replaced the neck with the original. 

This is why the Gittlesburger necks came to be known as the…Dead C Scrolls.

More Pictures From The Edge

Jesus Knows You Are Here

A burglar broke into a house one night. He shined his flashlight around, looking for valuables when a voice in the dark said, 'Jesus knows you're here.'

He nearly jumped out of his skin, clicked his flashlight off, and froze. When he heard nothing more, he shook his head and continued.

Just as he pulled the stereo out so he could disconnect the wires, clear as a bell he heard 'Jesus is watching you.'

Startled, he shined his light around frantically, looking for the source of the voice. Finally, in the corner of the room, his flashlight beam came to rest on a parrot.

"Did you say that?" he hissed at the parrot.

'Yes', the parrot confessed, then squawked, 'I'm just trying to warn you that he's watching you.'

The burglar relaxed. 'Warn me, huh? Who in the world are you?'

'Moses,' replied the bird.

'Moses?' the burglar laughed. 'What kind of people would name a bird Moses?'

'The kind of people who would name a Rottweiler Jesus

I Agree With Bill Cosby

"They're standing on the corner and they can't speak English.
I can't even talk the way these people talk:

Why you ain't,
Where you is,
What he drive,
Where he stay,
Where he work,
Who you be...

And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk.
And then I heard the father talk.

Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth. In fact you will never get any kind of job making a decent living.

People marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an education, and now we've got these knuckleheads walking around. 

The lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal.
These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids.

$500 sneakers for what?
And they won't spend $200 for Hooked on Phonics.

I am talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit.
Where were you when he was 2?
Where were you when he was 12?
Where were you when he was 18 and how come you didn't know that he had a pistol?
And where is the father? Or who is his father?
People putting their clothes on backward:
Isn't that a sign of something gone wrong?
People with their hats on backward, pants down around the crack, isn't that a sign of something?
Isn't it a sign of something when she has her dress all the way up and got all type of needles [piercing] going through her body?

What part of Africa did this come from??

We are not Africans. Those people are not Africans; they don't know a thing about Africa .....
I say this all of the time. It would be like white people saying they are European-American. That is totally stupid.

I was born here, and so were my parents and grand parents and, very likely my great grandparents. I don't have any connection to Africa, no more than white Americans have to Germany , Scotland , England , Ireland , or the Netherlands . The same applies to 99 percent of all the black Americans as regards to Africa. So stop, already! ! !

With names like Shaniqua, Taliqua and Mohammed and all of that crap ......... And all of them are in jail.

Brown or black versus the Board of Education is no longer the white person's problem.

We have got to take the neighborhood back.

People used to be ashamed. Today a woman has eight children with eight different 'husbands' -- or men or whatever you call them now.

We have millionaire football players who cannot read.

We have million-dollar basketball players who can't write two paragraphs. We, as black folks have to do a better job.

Someone working at Wal-Mart with seven kids, you are hurting us.

We have to start holding each other to a higher standard..

We cannot blame the white people any longer."

Dr. William Henry 'Bill' Cosby, Jr., Ed..D.

CBS NEWS' POLITICAL DIRECTOR: OBAMA MUST 'DESTROY' GOP

This is from the Breitbart web page

Reading the Left's fevered desires over at Slate isn't anything new.

Not even articles breathlessly titled and subtitled:

Go for the Throat! Why if he wants to transform American politics, Obama must declare war on the Republican Party.

Not even articles that read:

The president who came into office speaking in lofty terms about bipartisanship and cooperation can only cement his legacy if he destroys the GOP. If he wants to transform American politics, he must go for the throat. …

Obama’s only remaining option is to pulverize. Whether he succeeds in passing legislation or not, given his ambitions, his goal should be to delegitimize his opponents. Through a series of clarifying fights over controversial issues, he can force Republicans to either side with their coalition's most extreme elements or cause a rift in the party that will leave it, at least temporarily, in disarray.

Slate is what it is and some bloodthirsty Slate writer orgasmic over the prospect of Obama permanently pulverizing and destroying the GOP is as noteworthy as green on grass.

Oh, except after someone like Brit Hume connects the dots.

The author of this outrageous left-wing fever dream is John Dickerson, whom Slate describes as "Slate's chief political correspondent". What Slate leaves out of its little bio, though, is that Dickerson is also the political director at CBS News.

Dickerson is merely being Dickerson, and there's no doubt he speaks for legions upon legions of those in the media today.

What is worthy of note, though, is that a CBS News' political director is now comfortable openly calling for the destruction of the Republican Party. He obviously fears no admonitions from his colleagues or his employer. And why should he? Earlier this week, Bob Schieffer, a CBS News "living legend," was perfectly comfortable publicly comparing the NRA to Nazis.

You lump all of this with CNN chief Jeff Zucker applauding Piers Morgan's shameless feasting off the dead children of Sandy Hook for ratings and attention, and what you have is a media that's finally … coming out.

And yet, even as they do, even as they openly celebrate their left-wing biases out of one side of their mouth, out the other, they will claim they remain objective and unbiased.

The Big Lie has officially arrived.

And somewhere Dan Rather's thinking, "Oh, so now it's okay!?"

Greensleeves

I learned these lyrics from an old TV show called Mad Movies With The L.A. Connection.

The show was done in a Los Angeles movie theater. Old movies were shown with the sound turned off, four or five actors provided voices that made the movie stars sound like they were saying absurd words, and it was a riot.

One of the programs featured an actor singing this version of Greensleeves. It made me feel like a third grader again.

I WEAR LOTS OF LACE UPON MY SHIRT
SO WHEN I WIPE MY NOSE IT DOESN'T HURT.
YOU THINK IT IS DISGUSTING, BUT NO ONE KNOWS
BECAUSE MY SLEEVES ARE GREEN AND IT DOESN'T SHOW.

GREENSLEEVES HAVE BEEN MY SALVATION,
THEY'VE SAVED MY FROM EMBARRASSING SITUATIONS,
GREENSLEEVES ARE TRIED AND TRUE,
THEY'VE WORKED FOR ME AND THEY'LL WORK FOR YOU.

Pictures From The Edge

Letter From A Slave

In August of 1865, a Colonel P.H. Anderson of Big Spring, Tennessee, wrote to his former slave, Jourdon Anderson, and requested that he come back to work on his farm. Jourdon — who, since being emancipated, had moved to Ohio, found paid work, and was now supporting his family.  He responded spectacularly by way of the letter seen below.

August 7, 1865

To My Old Master, Colonel P.H. Anderson, Big Spring, Tennessee

Sir: I got your letter, and was glad to find that you had not forgotten Jourdon, and that you wanted me to come back and live with you again, promising to do better for me than anybody else can. I have often felt uneasy about you. I thought the Yankees would have hung you long before this, for harboring Rebs they found at your house. I suppose they never heard about your going to Colonel Martin's to kill the Union soldier that was left by his company in their stable. Although you shot at me twice before I left you, I did not want to hear of your being hurt, and am glad you are still living. It would do me good to go back to the dear old home again, and see Miss Mary and Miss Martha and Allen, Esther, Green, and Lee. Give my love to them all, and tell them I hope we will meet in the better world, if not in this. I would have gone back to see you all when I was working in the Nashville Hospital, but one of the neighbors told me that Henry intended to shoot me if he ever got a chance.

I want to know particularly what the good chance is you propose to give me. I am doing tolerably well here. I get twenty-five dollars a month, with victuals and clothing; have a comfortable home for Mandy,—the folks call her Mrs. Anderson,—and the children—Milly, Jane, and Grundy—go to school and are learning well. The teacher says Grundy has a head for a preacher. They go to Sunday School and Mandy and me attend church regularly. We are kindly treated. Sometimes we overhear others saying, "Them colored people were slaves" down in Tennessee. The children feel hurt when they hear such remarks; but I tell them it was no disgrace in Tennessee to belong to Colonel Anderson. Many darkeys would have been proud, as I used to be, to call you master. Now if you will write and say what wages you will give me, I will be better able to decide whether it would be to my advantage to move back again.

As to my freedom, which you say I can have, there is nothing to be gained on that score, as I got my free papers in 1864 from the Provost-Marshal-General of the Department of Nashville. Mandy says she would be afraid to go back without some proof that you were disposed to treat us justly and kindly; and we have concluded to test your sincerity by asking you to send us our wages for the time we served you. This will make us forget and forgive old scores, and rely on your justice and friendship in the future. I served you faithfully for thirty-two years, and Mandy twenty years. 

At twenty-five dollars a month for me, and two dollars a week for Mandy, our earnings would amount to eleven thousand six hundred and eighty dollars. Add to this the interest for the time our wages have been kept back, and deduct what you paid for our clothing, and three doctor's visits to me, and pulling a tooth for Mandy, and the balance will show what we are in justice entitled to. 

Please send the money by Adams's Express, in care of V. Winters, Esq., Dayton, Ohio. If you fail to pay us for faithful labors in the past, we can have little faith in your promises in the future. We trust the good Maker has opened your eyes to the wrongs which you and your fathers have done to me and my fathers, in making us toil for you for generations without recompense. Here I draw my wages every Saturday night; but in Tennessee there was never any pay-day for the negroes any more than for the horses and cows. Surely there will be a day of reckoning for those who defraud the laborer of his hire.

In answering this letter, please state if there would be any safety for my Milly and Jane, who are now grown up, and both good-looking girls. You know how it was with poor Matilda and Catherine. I would rather stay here and starve—and die, if it come to that—than have my girls brought to shame by the violence and wickedness of their young masters. You will also please state if there has been any schools opened for the colored children in your neighborhood. The great desire of my life now is to give my children an education, and have them form virtuous habits.

Say howdy to George Carter, and thank him for taking the pistol from you when you were shooting at me.

From your old servant,

Jourdon Anderson.

Darrell Scott's Testimony to Congress

DARRELL SCOTT TESTIMONY BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIME – HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE – UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES – THURSDAY MAY 27TH, 1999.


"Since the dawn of creation there has been both good & evil in the hearts of men and women. We all contain the seeds of kindness or the seeds of violence. The death of my wonderful daughter, Rachel Joy Scott, and the deaths of that heroic teacher, and the other eleven children who died must not be in vain. Their blood cries out for answers.

"The first recorded act of violence was when Cain slew his brother Abel out in the field. The villain was not the club he used.. Neither was it the NCA, the National Club Association. The true killer was Cain, and the reason for the murder could only be found in Cain's heart.

"In the days that followed the Columbine tragedy, I was amazed at how quickly fingers began to be pointed at groups such as the NRA. I am not a member of the NRA. I am not a hunter. I do not even own a gun. I am not here to represent or defend the NRA - because I don't believe that they are responsible for my daughter's death. Therefore I do not believe that they need to be defended. If I believed they had anything to do with Rachel's murder I would be their strongest opponent.

I am here today to declare that Columbine was not just a tragedy-it was a spiritual event that should be forcing us to look at where the real blame lies! Much of the blame lies here in this room. Much of the blame lies behind the pointing fingers of the accusers themselves. "I wrote a poem just four nights ago that expresses my feelings best. This was written way before I knew I would be speaking here today:

Your laws ignore our deepest needs,
Your words are empty air.
You've stripped away our heritage,
You've outlawed simple prayer.
Now gunshots fill our classrooms,
And precious children die.

You seek for answers everywhere,
And ask the question "Why?"
You regulate restrictive laws,
Through legislative creed.
And yet you fail to understand,
That God is what we need!

"Men and women are three-part beings. We all consist of body, soul, and spirit. When we refuse to acknowledge a third part of our make-up, we create a void that allows evil, prejudice, and hatred to rush in and reek havoc. Spiritual presences were present within our educational systems for most of our nation's history. Many of our major colleges began as theological seminaries. This is a historical fact. What has happened to us as a nation? We have refused to honor God, and in so doing, we open the doors to hatred and violence. And when something as terrible as Columbine's tragedy occurs -- politicians immediately look for a scapegoat such as the NRA. They immediately seek to pass more restrictive laws that contribute to erode away our personal and private liberties. We do not need more restrictive laws. "Eric and Dylan would not have been stopped by metal detectors. No amount of gun laws can stop someone who spends months planning this type of massacre. The real villain lies within our own hearts.

"As my son Craig lay under that table in the school library and saw his two friends murdered before his very eyes-He did not hesitate to pray in school. I defy any law or politician to deny him that right! I challenge every young person in America , and around the world, to realize that on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School prayer was brought back to our schools. Do not let the many prayers offered by those students be in vain. Dare to move into the new millennium with a sacred disregard for legislation that violates your God-given right to communicate with Him. To those of you who would point your finger at the NRA - I give to you a sincere challenge. Dare to examine your own heart before casting the first stone!

My daughter's death will not be in vain! The young people of this country will not allow that to happen!"

*****************************************************************************

Since this is the day President Obama is forcing through his 23 executive orders, folks are posting the words of Mr. Scott, whose daughter was a victim in the senseless crime committed in Littleton Colorado at Columbine High School.

To be fair this was testimony to a small group of state Representatives and not the entire House. The fellow that spoke afterword testified in favor of stringent gun control. The media did cover this event.

However Mr. Scott’s words and thoughts ring true. It is not the weapons, it is the evil in the hearts of men and their lack of discipline, self control and the blackness in their souls that allows these events to procede.

This just in from Washington.

President Barack Obama met today with Afghani President Hamid Karzai and announced an agreement on US military involvement in Afghanistan. Their role will shift to support later this spring. Any troop drawdowns (is that a word??) must include an immunity agreement wherein US troops are not subject to Afghani law. Obama says the path of the U.S. military remains clear and the war is moving toward a "responsible end" in 2014.

The two leaders met at the White House on the future of the U.S. role in Afghanistan and the 66,000 American troops serving there.

In above photo president Karzai is demonstrating to Mr. Obama how to sing The Itsy Bitsy Spider.

Irena Sendler - Died 12 May 2008 (aged 98) - in Warsaw, Poland

During WWII, Irena, got permission to work in the Warsaw ghetto, as a plumbing/sewer specialist. 

She had an 'ulterior motive'. 

She KNEW what the Nazi's plans were for the Jews since she was a German. 

Irena smuggled infants out in the bottom of the tool box she carried and she carried in the back of her truck a burlap sack, (for larger kids). 

She also had a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto. 

The soldiers of course wanted nothing to do with the dog and the barking covered the kids/infants noises. 

During her time of doing this, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 kids/infants. 

She was caught, and the Nazi's broke both her legs, arms and beat her severely.

Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out and kept them in a glass jar, buried under a tree in her back yard. 

After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived it and reunited the family. 

Most had been gassed. Those kids she helped got placed into foster family homes or adopted. 

Last year Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize. 

She was not selected. 

President Obama won one year before becoming President for his work as a community organizer for ACORN and Al Gore won also --- for a slide show on Global Warming. 

In MEMORIAM - 63 YEARS LATER 

It is now more than 60 years after the Second World War in Europe ended.

This is being posted in memory of the six million Jews, 20 million Russians, 10 million Christians and 1,900 Catholic priests who were murdered, along with homosexuals and gypsies that were massacred, raped, burned, starved and humiliated by the Nazis.

Now, more than ever, with Iran, and others, claiming the HOLOCAUST to be 'a myth'. It's imperative to make sure the world never forgets, because there are others who would like to do it again, and this time, it may be your religious, ethnic, sexual preference or 'whatever' group.

The Rifleman

With all the talk about gun control, I'd like to bring up a TV show from the late 1950's called The Rifleman.

This show was done in a era that was rife with Cowboy shows and I watched every one of them. The Rifleman, with Chuck Connor and Johnny Crawford was one of my favorites. I still watch episodes on the ME channel.

The series is set around the 1880's in the New Mexico Territory. Connors stars as Lucas McCain, The Rifleman, a widower that has moved to the small town of North Fork to take up a life as a homesteader and raise his young son Mark, played by Crawford. McCain was a Union Civil War veteran. This is periodically brought up in some of the half-hour episodes.

As an adult I have grown to appreciate the fine writing and plots of the series. Although it always seems to be broken down to McCain or his son spotting trouble, McCain stepping in to prevent the trouble and finally solving the problem by rapidly shooting off his gun.

Now the Rifleman's choice of firearm is a Winchester model 1892 rifle that he always carried. One of the show's faults is McCain's trademark gun had not actually been offered for sale in the 1880's.

During this era of cowboy shows, the stars all had to have a gimmick gun (something John Wayne capitalized upon.) McCain, we are told had his rifle modified by using a large loop lever that he frequently uses to swing his rifle around to cock it. (How he avoided shooting himself in the armpit for all those years, we will never know.) The gun also had a screw pin in the lever that would push the trigger each time McCain lowered and raised the lever, thus allowing to rapidly fire a succession of bullets in seconds. The trigger-trip screw pin was used in two configurations: with the screw head turned inside (close to the trigger) or, more often, outside the trigger guard with a locknut on the outside (to secure its position). In some episodes the screw was removed, when rapid-fire action was not required.

In the opening scene of each episode, Lucas McCain preforms a feat that is totally unbelievable. He fires off 12 shots in rapid succession from an 11 round rifle. To aid in syncing up the soundtrack to the theme, a 13th shot was added. When questioned, the shows producers attribute this to echo.

Several versions of this rifle appeared throughout the series. One had a flatter loop for the lever and the other had a D-shaped version. Some rifles had a saddle ring while other did not.

This rifle was a top eject model. I always wondered if it was Mark's job (Johnny Crawford) to sweep up the street for stray shell casings after his father offed a baddy.

Every episode feature Connor's dramatically twirling the gun around to cock it though means of the large loop/lever. This was not possible on an actual model 1892, because the bullets would spill out. So the show's technical people installed a spring-loaded plunger to prevent this from happening.

Once again, the writing was first rate for this era. A common thread in the series is that people deserve a second chance; Marshal Micah Torrance is a recovering alcoholic, and McCain gives a convict a job on his ranch. Lucas takes in a father and son grifter and teaches them a lesson, a cruel teacher at Mark's school is tamed and then becomes a great guy. The lessons throughout the plot deal with McCain teaching his son Mark about life.

According to the backstory McCain had a reputation in the Indian Territories of Oklahoma, where he first acquired the nickname "the Rifleman" and where Lucas' wife died in a smallpox epidemic. One of the show's creators was famed director Sam Peckinpah.

The show is done in glorious black and white, from a day when colour televisions were scarce of non-existant. It ran from 1958 to 1963.

Hershel Burke Gilbert

One of the best features of the Rifleman is it's wonderful theme song.  In those days, every TV show had to have it's own recognizable theme song.  The song was written by Herschel Burke Gilbert and copywritten by ASCAP. I had no idea the song had any lyrics, but here they are written by Alfred Perry. Gilbert composed all the background music used in the show and was a fantastic tunesmith.

"THE RIFLEMAN"

HE IS NO STRANGER TO THE SETTLERS
AND THE BAD MEN KNOW HIS FAME
THEY SPEAK OF HIM IN WHISPERS
BUT THEY NEVER USE HIS NAME

THEY CALL HIM THE RIFLEMAN,
THE STRONG, COURAGEOUS RIFLEMAN
A GREAT BIG MOUNTAIN OF A MAN.

HE NEVER REACHES FOR HIS RIFLE
EXCEPT WHEN HE'S ATTACKED.
HE RECKONS THERE'S A TIME TO SPEAK
AND THERE'S A TIME TO ACT.

CHORUS
THEY KNOW THAT WHEN IT COMES TO
MARKSMANSHIP
HE'S BETTER THAN THE BEST.
STILL, SOME-ONE'S ALWAY FOOL
ENOUGH TO PUT HIM TO THE TEST.

CHORUS
TO EVERY LAD WHO COMES TO HIM
TO LEARN THE SECRET OF HIS ART
HE TELLS THEM THERE'S NO MEDICINE
TO HEAL A COWARD'S HEART.

CHORUS
THERE IS A MORAL TO HIS EXPLOITS
AND HE'S TAUGHT IT TO HIS SON
SPEAK SOFTLY TO YOUR ENEMY
BUT LET HIM SEE YOUR GUN!

I just recently found these lyrics, which are much more keeping in the theme of the show than the lyrics that I had created. 

With apology to Misters Gilbert and Perry and the ASCAP organization, I present my parody lyrics.

HE HAS A RIFLE
AND HE SHOOTS IT EVERYWHERE
HE SHOOTS IT IN THE STREETS OF TOWN
HE SHOOTS IT IN THE AIR.
HE HAD TO SHOOT HIS WIFE,
SHE DID NOT UNDERSTAND,
THAT HE IS THE RIFLE-RIFLEMAN

HE HAS A RIFLE AND
HE DEARLY LOVES THAT GUN.
HE SHOOTS IT WHEN HE'S ANGRY
HE SHOOTS IT JUST FOR FUN.
HE HAS A BOY NAMED MARK
HE ALWAYS TAKES AIM ON HIS MARK,
'CAUSE HE IS THE RIFLE-RIFLEMAN.

YES HE IS THE RIFLE-RIFLEMAN.