Claims And Issues

MERRICK GARLAND'S "SPECIAL PROSECUTOR" APPOINTMENT WAS INTENTIONAL, NO MISTAKE.

(Bill Barr Photo by Doug Mills/New York Times)              (Merrick Garland Photo byTom Brenner/New York Times)

There have been some op-eds saying that Attorney General Merrick Garland made a mistake appointing a "special prosecutor," Jack Smith, to handle the national security information heist and the January 6 Insurrection matters involving The Grievance Boy.  Garland's appointment of a special prosecutor was not a mistake.  It was intentional.

It has been clear for a while now that there is enough evidence already to prosecute The Grievance Boy on both counts, theft of  national intelligence documents and Insurrection.  However, Merrick Garland has not prosecuted.  It is not because Garland does not think the evidence is there.  It's because he does not want to prosecute.

Appointing a special prosecutor in these matters will take the pressure off Merrick Garland to prosecute, but not in the way most people think.  Garland appointed a special prosecutor not to prosecute.  He appointed someone else to take the blame for out-loud declining to prosecute The Grievance Guy.  The special prosecutor is there not to take no action, but to take action and decline to prosecute.

Shades of Bill Barr haunting us still.  Barr famously took another special prosecutor's report, held on to it until he had put his own spin on it that the special prosecutor's report actually exonerated The Grievance Boy (it did not), then released the report which was so long that many people did not bother to read it;  after all, Barr read it so they did not have to, they thought.

This time there will be no spin by the Attorney General.  When his special counsel issues his report that there will be no prosecution of The Grievance Guy, the Attorney General will not hide it and misrepresent it.  This Attorney General will put this special counsel's report on the evening news, on the Department of Justice website, and on the bulletin board at your local grocery store.  That is why this special counsel was appointed in the first place.

Today of course is the 59th anniversary of the murder of President John F. Kennedy.  2023 will mark 60 years, half a century, since that terrible day.  For a previous generation, the death date to remember was when President Franklin D. Roosevelt died.  That generation is almost entirely gone now.  For my generation, the 60th anniversary of President Kennedy's death is a sign that our generation is departing, but hopefully it is also a sign that we remember the way it was and that we will not go quietly into that good night.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

WE ARE GOING TO WIN ON DECEMBER 6, TOO.

(Voting Booths, Flags / Common Grounds Project)

We are White, Black, Latino and Hispanic.

We are straight and we are LGBTQIA+.

We are Catholic, Baptist, evangelical, Lutheran, Episcopalian, Buddhist, all kinds of Christians and all kinds of people.

We are voters in the United States of America.  We live here.  And we will not be denied.

So it's on to December 6th and let's win then, too,  with our Sisters and Brothers in Georgia!

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

THE "TELL."

Editing (Image by LexisNexis)

 

A "tell" in poker is information that a player at the table gives away about the hand they hold.  A tell can be a twitch of the eye, a tug on the ear, or anything else that the poker player does not realize they are doing when they telegraph what kind of hand they have.

Up until a few months ago, the story repeated in the media was that the Midterm Elections of 2022 would bring a "Blue Wave."  Then the stories changed, and they became stories that a "Red Wave" was coming instead.  These stories stayed up in the media until the Election, when of course there was no red wave after all.

Earlier this week, a few days after the Election, a  journalist revealed on a podcast that the story changed because Republican mega-donors commissioned new polls that would say that a red wave was on the way.  Whether or not journalists knew that at the time, they printed the multi-millionaires' poll results.  That says a lot about 21st Century Journalism right there:  Journalists did not fully investigate before they published.

Even if some journalists did not know the story behind the oligarchs' polls, all journalists knew that the Republicans did not reveal (even anonymously) their private polling data.  Parenthetically, Republicans have apparently shown journalists their private polling date in many past elections, at least when the data was favorable to Republicans.  Journalists knew that months ago.

Months ago, Republicans knew pretty much that they would not do well in the Midterms this year.  Otherwise they would have shared their private polling data.  You can bet that if the data was good for them, they would have published it early and often.

Not sharing private poll results is a tell. 

Journalists did not tell us that the Republicans this year did not share their private polling data.  Journalists just printed stories based on the polls commissioned to predict a "Red Wave."  They wrote, in essence, "Be afraid, be very afraid," right up until Election Day earlier this week.  Now they are writing a different story, that there certainly is not a red wave.

The secretly held private polling results was a major big tell.  The journalists knew.  And they did not tell us.

Other than they, the journalists, who said it is a good idea to pay attention to them?

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

"THERE'S SOMETHING HAPPENING HERE. WHAT IT IS AIN'T EXACTLY CLEAR."

These words from a song in the 1960's describe what is happening in our day in 2022  as well as they described yesterday in the 1960's.

There is something happening here.  What it is ain't exactly clear.  But there is something happening in this country.

As I said before, so I say again:  It feels like 2018 again. 

Maybe it will become more clear on Election Day.  Whatever is coming, it feels like it will come then.

Faith is belief in things unseen, they say.  Hope is similar.  Hope is belief in things that are not yet seen, but will be seen.  Certainly things will come more clearly into view over the long term.  But what is happening here is happening now, even if it ain't exactly clear yet.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

IT'S BEING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE ... 2018.

(Common Ground Project)

The Midterm Elections of 2018 broke voting records.  More people turned out than the pundits had a right to predict, and they predicted very poorly.

The polls were wrong in 2018, and they may very well be wrong now too.  The polls were also wrong in 2016 and 2020.

Just ask President Hillary Clinton about the polls in 2016, and just ask the rejected un-reelected Grievance Guy about the polls in 2020.

We may be standing on the shore of another Blue Wave Midterm like what happened in 2018.  That's the thing about the future.  It's so hard to predict.

Still the corporate media keeps talking about the polls.  God Bless them, it may be easier for them to get paid for speaking and writing, than for thinking.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

 

SAUDI ARABIANS' SECOND ATTACK ON THE UNITED STATES.

Saudi Arabia is raising gasoline prices.  President Biden flew to Saudi Arabia earlier this year to sweet-talk the Saudi leader, MBS.  They famously fist-bumped.

Biden's reward?  OPEC's actions raise gasoline prices at the pump in the U.S.  Right before the U.S. midterm elections.  This is not only a deliberate humiliation of the current U.S. President in preference to his predecessor.  This is a planned attack on the elections in the United States, and not for the first time.

One of the actors that urged OPEC to do this was Saudi Arabia's Mohammed bin Salman or MBS.  The second actor was OPEC's current co-chair, Russia.

The United States was successfully and infamously attacked by Russia beginning by 2016 at  least.

Now it's Saudi Arabia.  Again.  Saudi Arabia is the country that spawned the vast majority of the terrorists of 911 who attacked the U.S. in 2001.

President Biden was humiliated by MBS.  The U.S. has been attacked – for a second time – by Saudi Arabians, MBS in particular.  We will get to see President Biden's response and what his response will be.  Sweet-talking just does not produce positive results with MBS and the Saudis – nor the Russians.

There are things that the U.S. can do in response.  Here are only some of them:

As to MBS: 

• The evidence is pretty clear that he directed the murder and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi, the journalist employed by a U.S. newspaper. Indict MBS now.  Put him on trial in the U.S., even if MBS never sets foot here personally again (which alone is a good result for the U.S.).
• If the Department of Justice does not think it has enough evidence to indict MBS for the horrible Khashoggi murder, then investigate MBS.
• At the time of the Khashoggi murder, Turkey reportedly had a tape and Khashoggi's screams were audible on it. Also, CIA agents reportedly heard that tape.  Dollars to doughnuts, the CIA has a copy.  Publish it.    Link the Khashoggi murder to the person who ordered it from Saudi Arabia.
• MBS reportedly over-rode the rejection of Saudi Arabia's multi-billion dollar payment to the Grievance Boy's son-in-law. The press operation in the White House has enough experienced people in it, to make sure that this fact stays in the minds of the American public.

As to Saudi Arabia:

• Saudi Arabia buys a lot of weapons from the United States. There are almost certainly a lot of questions arising from those contracts including unexplained and unforeseen delays in delivering whatever the Saudis have already paid for.  As to weapons that the Saudis have not yet paid for, saying that such contracts might need to be rescinded can be a good first step to possibly rescinding them if the U.S. chooses to rescind them in the future, depending on future Saudi and MBS actions. 
• Reportedly, the U.S. is supporting the Saudi atrocities from its bombing campaign in Yemen on civilians. I do not know exactly how the U.S. is supporting that campaign, but it must stop. 
• There are also reportedly some U.S. soldiers stationed in Saudi Arabia. Female soldiers are wearing head-scarves in compliance with Sharia law in Saudi.  The soldiers should wear the same uniforms that they wear in every other country for as long as they are stationed in Saudi Arabia.  It would be even better if U.S. soldiers were withdrawn completely from Saudi Arabia. 

As I said at the beginning, these are only some of the things that can be done now.  These are some of the ways that the United States can respond to Saudi Arabians' second attack on the United States—and to Russia's continuing attack on the United States.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

Book Review: "The Destructionists" by Dana Milbank.

The author has done a public service with this book.  Together with David Corn's book, "American Psychosis" (reviewed here recently), the picture comes clear that only one of our two major parties runs on racism and hatred every day.  And it's not the Democrats.

The Democrats absolutely have their racists and their episodes of hatred, but there is no comparison.  The Democratic Party does not feed on racists and hatred as their reason for being.  To the contrary, they shut down racists and tamp down anger regularly, as a part of their operation.

There is no room for "me-tooism" here.  One party, the Republican Party, has kept the name Republican Party and replaced the party's ideals and principles with one reason for being:  Power.  To get power and, after getting power, to stay in power.

The author shares many of his observations from a life-long career as a journalist along the way to this insight, including the observation that the proponents of the current group using the Republican Party name replaced "shared experience in war [the Greatest Generation] with opposing experience in culture war."

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

I'M AN AMERICAN. NOW I'M AN AMERICAN IN A HURRICANE.

Hurricane Seen From Space (NASA)

 

I Am An American.

My name is Wall.

My name is Cortez.

My name is Murphy.

My name is D'Angelo.

My name is Floyd.

My name is Korematsu.

My name is America.

We do not have one name.  We have many names.  We do not have one skin color.  We do not have one religion.  We have many.

We are America.  We are many and we are one.

Now I Am An American in a Hurricane.

I have been an American in a metaphorical Hurricane for a long time.  Bright times are ahead.

By the time you read this, I will be an American in a real Hurricane and we may have been without power for a couple of days.  Bright times are ahead. 

Pray for me anyway.

Thanks.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

Book Review: "AMERICAN PSYCHOSIS" by DAVID CORN.

                Capitol Hill Coup (Manuel Balce Ceneta / Associated Press)

With this book's 355 pages of text and more pages of notes on sources plus a bibliography, David Corn has made a great contribution to understanding how the events of January 6, 2021 are not a one-off.  The Republican Party leadership has been building to this end for a long time by welcoming the forebears of insurrection and by refusing to chastise the kooks, for the most part.

The author's theme is so focused on the Republican Party leaders encouraging the increasingly loud and violent people to seek safety and approval in its ranks, that he does not mention that The Grievance Boy lost the 2016 election by 3 Million votes.  (He does mention the failure in the 2020 election, losing that one by 7 Million votes.)

If you are looking for an explanation of whether the recent takeover of the Republican Party by violent extremists is a new phenomenon (it's not), or if you are trying to understand whether the Party leaders actually encouraged these yahoos (they did), then you should read this book.

After reading this well-written and thoroughly researched book, I am left with a new question, a very different inquiry perhaps:  What were the responses of the victims of the political fight club (as the author calls it) to the attacks of the vigilantes (as the author calls them)?  And however the victims may have responded, did it have the effect of encouraging the gangs (again, as the author calls them) ultimately to commit January 6th?

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

P.S. to " MEET THE JUDGES WHO RESTORED THE REPUBLIC FOR NOW."

United States Supreme Court (AP / Jacquelyn Martin)

If (some say when) they ask for an emergency blockade of the Eleventh Circuit's decision to allow the United States to continue to investigate criminal violations involving the confidential documents found under a Court-authorized search warrant to investigate criminal violations, and also that part of the Eleventh Circuit's decision to allow the United States to continue to evaluate the damage done to our national security, then it might be worth knowing who the U.S. Supreme Court Justice is who handles emergency applications for a stay of Eleventh Circuit Orders:

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Think they'll ask for an emergency blockade of the Eleventh Circuit's decision?

Please read the disclaimer.  © 2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

MEET THE JUDGES WHO SAVED THE REPUBLIC FOR NOW.

Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, Atlanta, Georgia (Image Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals Website)

On September 21, 2022, a federal appellate court ruled that while its appeal is pending, the United States can use the classified materials it confiscated from the beach resort in South Florida under an authorized search warrant, to investigate whatever crimes may have been committed and to review whatever damage was done to national security.  They also ruled that the United States does not have to submit the classified documents to a special master to review in the meantime.

With their unanimous order, they restored the Republic, at least for now.  Meet the Judges.

JUDGE ROBIN S.  ROSENBAUM is the senior judge among the three judges on this panel.  She has been on the Eleventh Circuit since 2014.  Having turned 56 this year, she is also the oldest of the three judges on this panel.  Judge Rosenbaum is familiar with the inner workings of most of the parties in this case, having worked as a Trial Attorney in the Department of Justice, as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of Florida, as a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the Southern District of Florida, and as a U.S. District Judge in the Southern District of Florida.

A graduate of the University of Miami Law School, she was nominated by President Obama and she was confirmed to the Eleventh Circuit by a vote of 91 to 0.

JUDGE BRITT GRANT was a Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court before she went to the Eleventh Circuit in 2018.  A graduate of Stanford Law School, Judge Grant was confirmed by a vote of 52-46.  She is 44 years old and a Republican by party.

JUDGE ANDREW L. BRASHER rounds out this panel of three Judges.  Judge Brasher turned 41 this year and has been on the Eleventh Circuit since June 2020.  Previously he was appointed a U.S. District Judge in Alabama where he served for about a year before going to the Eleventh Circuit.  A graduate of Harvard Law School, he too is a Republican by party.

Contrary to Mainstream Media and Alternate Media headlines, this decision did not resolve the appeal in favor of the United States, although that is the likely outcome after this ruling.  Also, this panel which decided the motion (called a "motions panel") may not be the same panel of Judges who will decide the entire appeal.  So it's on with the appeal and let's win there!

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

BOOK REVIEW: "HOLDING THE LINE" by GEOFFREY BERMAN.

Gettysburg 2022 (Mark McClain / Washington Post)

The author mentions one time in 316 pages that Rudy Giuliani was his law partner.

He also mentions one time that he applied for a different job but took this one as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York when it was offered to him after the previous occupant was forced out. 

The title of this book describes the author's view that, like others, he would not confront Bill Barr or Mr. Barr's boss, if he could help it (at least until he himself was forced out by Mr. Barr under false pretenses), because it was better for us and for him that no-one else was in his position in the government.  The thinking went that if people like him were there, things would not be as bad.

The author is convinced that this path he is pushing was the right way for him to go, that of all possible options, he took the high ground.  As a reader, I was not convinced.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

HERE'S EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW, AMERICA. YOU TOO, OHIO.

John F. Kennedy, President of the United States, receiving Notre Dame's Laetare Medal from Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, President of the University of Notre Dame (Notre Dame Archives)

On stage at a rally in Ohio, with J.D. Vance standing near him, here's what he had to say, as quoted by The Los Angeles Times:

 

J.D. is kissing my ass.  Of course, he wants my support.

 

What kind of character does a person have?  I am speaking here about J.D. Vance, of course.

And there is a message here for America too:  Is this something that the greatest president in history would say and do, is that what you think, America?

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

HERE'S EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW, OHIO. YOU TOO, AMERICA.

President Reagan presents Mother Teresa with the Medal of Freedom (Wikipedia)

On stage at a rally in Ohio, with J.D. Vance standing near him, here's what he had to say, as quoted by The Los Angeles Times:

 

J.D. is kissing my ass.  Of course, he wants my support.

 

What kind of character does a person have?  I am speaking here about J.D. Vance, of course.

And there is a message here for America too:  Is this something that the greatest president in history would say and do, is that what you think, America?

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

WHY IS FLORIDA PAYING TO FLY PEOPLE OUT OF TEXAS?

This is a postscript to another article published here earlier today.

Governor Ronald DeSantis has taken responsibility for flying people out of Texas to Martha's Vineyard:

DeSantis claimed credit for the planes leaving Texas. He told NPR and other outlets that it was part of the state’s program to relocate migrants to a “sanctuary destination.” It’s unclear whether the migrants in the planes had any connection to Florida. The Florida Legislature set aside $12 million for the state’s migrant relocation program.

Stephen Neukam, Fight over border security escalates after governors send migrants to Kamala Harris’ home, Martha’s Vineyard /  The latest moves by Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis this week have triggered outrage among immigration rights’ groups and Democrats who have accused the Republicans of engaging in human trafficking and treating migrants like “human cargo” to score political points, TEXAS TRIBUNE, Sept. 15, 2022.   Mr. DeSantis apparently gets publicity out of it.

What does Florida get out of it?  Why are these flights being paid for by Florida taxpayers?  Is Texas going to reimburse Florida?  Is DeSantis going to pay for these flights?  Is his publicist?  Is his campaign going to pay?

I ask again, why are Florida taxpayers paying for these flights of people out of Texas to Martha's Vineyard?

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

IT'S CERTAIN TEXAS, FLA GOV'S SPENDING $24 MILLION. HUMAN TRAFFICKING TOO?

The Faces of Compassion (Ted S. Warren / AP)

Texas Governor Gregory Abbott publicly took responsibility for sending busloads of people to Vice President Kamala Harris's house.  He was "relocating migrants" at taxpayers' expense, and so far he has spent $12 Million of their money to do it.  See Stephen Neukam, Fight over border security escalates after governors send migrants to Kamala Harris’ home, Martha’s Vineyard /  The latest moves by Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis this week have triggered outrage among immigration rights’ groups and Democrats who have accused the Republicans of engaging in human trafficking and treating migrants like “human cargo” to score political points,  TEXAS TRIBUNE, Sept. 15, 2022.

 

Florida Governor Ronald DeSantis has publicly taken responsibility for sending airplane flights full of people to Martha's Vineyard.  The Florida Legislature has appropriated $12 Million to fund such things.  See Stephen Neukam, Fight over border security escalates after governors send migrants to Kamala Harris’ home, Martha’s Vineyard / The latest moves by Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis this week have triggered outrage among immigration rights’ groups and Democrats who have accused the Republicans of engaging in human trafficking and treating migrants like “human cargo” to score political points,  TEXAS TRIBUNE, Sept. 15, 2022.

Just like a politician.  They only do anything when somebody else pays for it.

Come to think of it, aren't these really campaign expenditures paid for by taxpayers?  Strange as well that these two governors have the same amount of money to play with.  Do you think they will contribute any of their own money or any of their campaign's money?

As if the money wasn't a big enough issue, then there's the human trafficking thing.  Let's start by following the money, see where it leads, and keep our options open.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

IT'S UN-AMERICAN. IT WILL ALWAYS BE UN-AMERICAN.

 

82nd Airborne (Chris Seward/Associated Press)

Labelling a whole group of persons "rapists" and "criminals."

Ripping small children from the arms of their mothers and fathers.

This is not any kind of "normal."  It was and is Un-American.

Converting the U.S. Department of Justice into an organization to harass people you don't like.

Ordering underlings to invent "special counsels" to write a report for propaganda media without any desire for evidence.

This is not "normal."  It's Un-American.  It will always be Un-American.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

By What Right Challenges Their Right to Hold Office. Ever.

(The famous photograph of Abraham Lincoln where the glass broke along the line a bullet would soon travel)

New Mexico and its citizens and its State Courts have all shown the way to challenge the right of insurrectionists to hold -- and run for -- office:  Ask courts to declare by what right those people hold -- or seek -- office under the Fourteenth Amendment, Section 3 of the United States Constitution.  (In courts, to ask "by what right" usually means quo warranto or something similar.)

As you may already know, Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment was written to bar people engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States to ever hold office.  Then, it meant former Confederates.

Now, it means office holders (and office seekers) even though they did not engage in violence so long as the proof in court shows that they did engage in insurrection, as in the case of Download State of New Mexico ex rel. White v. Griffin Findings of Fact Conclusions of Law and Judgment filed Sept. 6 2022 (N.M. Dist. Ct. 1st Dist. Santa Fe County No. D-101-CV-2022-00473).

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved. 

WHY ARE RICH PAYING TO ASSAULT IRS? FOLLOW THE MONEY.

(Bank Run 1933)

Rich people are paying for "ads" and false info so that you and I will assault the IRS.  Reportedly billionaires want to run "aggressive TV ads" and "hard-hitting kind of spots" that the IRS is "coming after" you and me, but not mentioning what they get out of it.  See Greg Sargent and Paul Waldman, Leaked Audio of a Billionaire GOP Donor Hands Democrats a Weapon, WASHINGTON POST online Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022 at 5:33 PM EDT.

But don't take someone else's opinion for it.  Look it up.

The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported to Congress in May, 2022 about IRS Audit Rates and Results for Individual Taxpayers.  Take a look at what they found.

22,636 tax returns of people who made between $50,000 and $75,000 were audited by the IRS in 2019.

22,851 tax returns of people making between $100,000 and $200,000 were audited in 2019.

However, the rich got audited much less.  639 returns were audited in 2019 which showed that the people filing those returns made from $1 Million to $10 Million or more.

The chances of being audited if you are in the first group (making $50,000 to $75,000) are more than 35 times the chances of the millionaires being audited, while the chances of being audited if you are in the second group ($100,000 to $200,000) are about the same, closer to 36 times greater than the chances of a millionaire being audited.  Clearly the millionaires want it to stay that way.   

Check it out. 

No-one wants to be audited, that's true.  The millionaires know that in paying for the propaganda they are spreading.  The louder the complaints about IRS audits, the more money the millionaires are spending.

But it's not  the millionaires complaining about being audited in the past because they haven't been.  Instead it's the millionaires complaining about not wanting to be audited now.

And the millionaires are certainly not complaining about you and me being audited.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

IT'S NOT HARD. COMPLIANCE IS NOT OPTIONAL FOR EVERYONE. ELSE?

When any new lawsuit is filed and the party filing it claims relief, lawyers and their clients are bound to follow the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.  Compliance is not optional.

This includes The Former Guy and his new lawsuit that were discussed here the day after that new lawsuit was filed.  So that as many people as possible can understand all this, let me try to explain it here (and hopefully  without sounding too much like a lawyer, if I can).

The Rules of Civil Procedure that lawyers and their clients are bound to follow in federal court, whether they like it or not, include Rule 8(a):

(a) Claim for Relief. A pleading that states a claim for relief must contain:

(1) a short and plain statement of the grounds for the court's jurisdiction, unless the court already has jurisdiction and the claim needs no new jurisdictional support;

(2) a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief; and

(3) a demand for the relief sought, which may include relief in the alternative or different types of relief.

To break it down into digestible pieces, this Rule applies to every party who states a claim for relief from a federal court, as TFG tried to do in his new case, Southern District of Florida No. 22-cv-81294-AM.  The first thing they have to do is write "a short and plain statement of the grounds for the court's jurisdiction," which the "motion" that was filed in the new lawsuit just did not do. 

The first thing the judge ordered, two days after the motion was filed, was to state why the Court has jurisdiction.

The second thing that they all have to write is "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief[.]"  In this new lawsuit, there are plenty of statements but not one of them is short and none of them is plain.

It is a press release that was filed in the Court file.

It does not show that the pleader is entitled to relief.  It misses by a mile.

Another thing that the judge ordered two days after the motion was filed was to state why the alleged owner of the searched premises is entitled to relief – and what relief is it, exactly, that he is requesting from her.

So, to say once again, it's on to Friday, August 26, 2022.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

SEARCHING FOR JUDGES IN SOUTHERN FLORIDA, SEARCH WARRANT NO CONTEST.

Lindsey Halligan, Esquire has probably gotten a lot of unfair press in the past week.  On August 22, 2022, she filed a new civil lawsuit and called the complaint a motion. The case is listed by the Clerk as Trump v. United States, Case No. 22-cv-81294-AMC.   (Every new civil lawsuit starts off with a complaint.  There are no motions until a complaint is filed.)  

The motion Ms. Halligan signed says it is "In the Matter of the Search," and it is titled Motion for Judicial Oversight and Additional Relief from the orders entered by the Magistrate Judge on the now-famous search warrant in the criminal case.  That's another case entirely, of course, Southern District of Florida Criminal Case No. 22-mj-8332-BER.  And it's a criminal case, not a civil case.   But wait.  There's a method to this seeming madness.

Reportedly Ms. Halligan has no experience in federal court, and other reports identify her as "an insurance lawyer" at the Ft. Lauderdale office of Cole Scott & Kissane.  That is an insurance defense firm among many other practice areas.

She was however present when the search warrant was executed.  It is now reported that the alleged owner of the search premises actually had two attorneys present at that time and she was one of them.  (Ms. Halligan has apparently said so on TV.)

The electronic docket of the new lawsuit in federal court identifies Ms. Halligan's involvement in the new lawsuit as an appearance by Cole Scott & Kissane.  Every civil case needs a Civil Cover Sheet, and the Civil Cover Sheet in the new civil case indeed identifies Ms. Halligan with Cole Scott & Kissane.

However, the motion she herself signed does not give her law firm address at Cole.  She gives a different address in Ft. Lauderdale.  She also lists only her personal EMail address at gmail, not her EMail address at the law firm.

In the meantime, there has been no contest of the search warrant in the already-pending criminal case.  There have been motions and requests to unseal the search warrant, the inventory, and the affidavit, but these requests to unseal have not been filed by the alleged owner of the searched premises.  The owner has not made an appearance in the criminal case, yet.  No, the requests to unseal have come from newspapers and organizations who want to publish whatever documents may be unsealed.

The first request to unseal came early, on August 10, 2022.  To say again, the alleged owner has never made a request to unseal.

In fact, the alleged owner has never made an appearance in the criminal case.

So why file a new lawsuit if it was not a mistake?  Well, for one thing, they got a new judge.  The judge assigned to the new lawsuit is the Honorable Aileen M. Cannon.  She was appointed effective November 13, 2020 by the alleged owner of the searched premises.

The attorney whose signature appears on the Civil Cover Sheet filed in the new lawsuit – back to the Civil Cover Sheet, who knew? – looks to be the signature of Evan Corcoran, Esquire.  Mr. Corcoran, from a large law firm with offices in Maryland and D.C., represented Mr.  Steve Bannon at one of Mr. Bannon's criminal hearings not too long ago.  Mr. Corcoran is listed on the motion in the civil case as one of the lawyers representing the owner of the searched premises.

So, it may be unfair to criticize Lindsey Halligan for all this.  Maybe the motion was intended to be filed in the criminal case; the Certificate of Service lists electronic service on the lawyers appearing for the United States in the criminal case, after all.  (It would be odd if not impossible to put a Certificate of Service on the initial complaint in a civil case in federal court, since there's no lawyer yet for the other party or parties in that case at that time.)

On the other hand, the new lawsuit may be the brain-child of someone else entirely.

And now the reasons for filing a new lawsuit may be a little more transparent.

In the meantime, the alleged owner of the search premises still has not appeared in the criminal case.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

STAND BY OUR FBI AGENTS (AND OUR JUDGES) TODAY.

Here's a blowback to the noise attacking the FBI and Federal Judges after the search warrant was executed at Mar-A-Lago:   Senators and Representatives go and have your picture taken with FBI Agents to show your support.  To show that you have their backs.

You probably will have a tougher time doing this with judges, so as for judges, say supportive things.  Things like it is madness and evil to threaten federal judges, any judges.  Any time, for anything, anywhere.

You say there are no Members of Congress in Washington, D.C., they are all on August Recess right now?  They can still get the media attention they so clearly crave.  Then have them go to their local FBI Office and stand in the doorway and have their picture taken with FBI Agents to show that they have the back of FBI Agents.

You say that very few Republicans who hold office in Washington, D.C. will stand with FBI Agents right now?  Liz Cheney might; Adam Kinzinger might, others might as well.  Then tell Democrats to stand with FBI Agents and have their pictures taken showing that they support our FBI Agents right now.

Do something positive.  Make a contribution to our country.  Do good.  Now that's what I call pushback against the madness and the evil.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE; NOTRE DAME, VATICAN II, UNIVERSAL APPEAL.

This is a personal footnote to FAITH, HOPE AND CHARITY WERE IN KANSAS THIS WEEK, an article I published here last Saturday.

I was born and raised a Catholic when Vatican II came of age.  The Church grew then.  It added more than numbers, although it certainly did that.  The Church also added inclusivity, the quality of reaching out to include one's neighbors.  Faith, Hope, and Charity.  The last virtue is often called "Love."  That is what Vatican II is responsible for, what it inspired people seeking God to do as well as to say.

I went to Notre Dame when the Reverend Theodore Hesburgh was the President of the University.  We called him "Ted the Head."  Father Hesburgh was also the Chair of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, until he resigned to protest the activities of President Richard Nixon.

During my time as a student at Notre Dame, there were was a lot of discussion about Faith as you might expect.  Notre Dame students, faculty, and administration not only talked about their Faith, they tried to live it.  That gave everyone Hope.

There were many campaigns for Charity, running from raising funds for Biafra (a breakaway republic in Africa that no longer exists) to raising funds for the Tom Dooley Foundation (which delivered medicine and provided doctors in Southeast Asia, until the foundation was eliminated by those who took power later).

In my first article with FAITH, HOPE AND CHARITY in the title, I mentioned the activities of the so-called Catholic Church in Kansas City.  They campaigned this Summer to make everyone believe what they believe, which is not at all the kind of campaign that real Catholics ever waged.  To begin with, the Kansas City campaign was not a campaign for Charity.   What's more, it was not "universal" and so by definition it was not "Catholic," which means "universal."

But let's focus just on the money.  Following the money means following at least $2,450,000.00 or $2.45 Million Dollars.  That is the amount that the Archdiocese of Kansas City spent on a political campaign to pass an amendment to the Kansas State Constitution so as to permit the Kansas State Legislature to ban abortion for anyone and everyone in Kansas.

That $2,450,000.00 did not come from God.  It was donated by thousands of parishioners in the pews.  It was not the Archdiocese's money to spend on a political campaign.  Especially a campaign that turned God into Big Brother.

The contribution of $2.45 Million would have gone a long way to support adoption services.  That alone would be a huge encouragement to mothers to decide to bring babies to term  instead of having an abortion.  But of course, then there would have been no guarantee that women would be absolutely prohibited from making their own decisions.

The millions of dollars spent by the Archdiocese of Kansas City on a political campaign could have been spent to support healthcare of mothers and babies and small children in Kansas City and anywhere in Kansas for that matter.  The millions should have been spent for those purposes, or perhaps even to buy diapers and formula, and in a different age, Catholics' money would have been spent on Charity.

Where your money is, there will your heart be also, the Bible says.  And speaking once more of all that money taken from the faithful Catholics of the Kansas City Archdiocese, it should be paid back.  That would be the Christian thing to do.

Let us Hope for Charity as our Faith would have us do.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

"SPEAK NO EVIL" MEANS RECONCILIATION vs. MURDER ON FIFTH AVENUE.

Chuck Schumer told me something last night.  Actually, it's what he did not say that educated me.  Speaking of one of America's most vocal politicians, that is saying something about Chuck Schumer, that he did not speak.

Last night on cable TV Schumer declined to answer about the search warrant on The Grievance Boy's Florida residence while TGB was back in New York City.  That was understandable, under the circumstances.

But then Schumer was asked a different question right after that one.  He was asked about threats made by Kevin McCarthy against the Attorney General of the United States, and the Senator declined to answer.

That was his instinct, Speak No Evil.  (I have no doubt that when instinct has passed, Senator Schumer will have something to say, but that will not change his instinctive reaction, the reaction he has when he is caught without time to reflect, so to speak.)

Compromise led to reconciliation only a couple of days ago.  A bill passed the Senate this weekend because Senator Schumer and President Biden lined up all 50 senators who call themselves "Democrats" to vote for it.   Compromise meant not saying anything bad about anyone whose vote you wanted.

They won't vote for your bill if they are  offended by what you say.  Even if what you say is the truth.  Perhaps especially if what you say is the truth.  So Speak No Evil is the order of the day or there will be no compromise, no reconciliation.

This was Chuck Schumer's instinct.  Speak No Evil.  I do not mean to single out Senator Schumer.  Speak No Evil is also President Biden's default, and it was President Obama's instinct too.  Speak No Evil.  You can't compromise if you Speak The Truth. 

Speak No Evil led to reconciliation.  Speak No Evil also leads to insurrection.  As we have seen, an instinct that Speaks No Evil encourages Evil to Speak and to take action.  There are limits on speaking no evil, you know.  If you don't see the limits, it's Murder on Fifth Avenue if your instinct is to watch and say nothing.

Just watch.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

FAITH, HOPE, AND CHARITY WERE IN KANSAS THIS WEEK.

Earlier this week, the people of Kansas rejected an attempted coup of their State Constitution.  In the process, they were gracious hosts to Faith, Hope, and Charity.

The people rejected a convoluted, devious scheme to overturn the Kansas Constitution that would take the right out of their own hands to decide whether to have children or not, and award that decision to the politicians in the Kansas Legislature.  For example, the election was scheduled by the Legislature for primary elections which are not usually well-attended.  (The election turnout  this year broke records.)  The amendment was written in language that was so convoluted very few people could understand it.  (An overwhelming majority voted "NO" anyway).  The people of Kansas voted overwhelmingly to keep the right to abortion a private right of each person to decide, and to reject the forced-birth crowd in the Capitol.

In contrast to the Kansas citizens' open display of Faith, Hope, and Charity, the Kansas City Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church contributed more than 200 times the amount contributed by anyone else to promoting this amendment.  According to a report stamped filed on July 18, 2022 with the Kansas  Governmental Ethics Commission, the Kansas City Archdiocese contributed $2,450,,000.00 in cash and another $16,000+ in what it called "in-kind contributions" to the failed campaign to change the Kansas Constitution.  The other nearest contributors gave $5,000.00 in cash, more than 200 times less.

Some reports put the Archdiocese's contribution at $2.45 Million, without counting the "in-kind contributions."  See, e.g., Jack Jenkins, Catholic Bishops Spent Big On Kansas Abortion Vote – And Maybe Lost Bigger, Washington Post online, August 5, 2022.

Parenthetically, the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission report also lists the expenditures of that campaign as well as the contributions.  The campaign spent $350,000.00 of the contributors' donations to a business in Florida for "canvassers."  The Florida business lists Carter Page as one of its Advisors.

Returning to Kansas, the head of the Kansas City Archdiocese is a man named Joseph Naumann.  Archbishop Naumann is famous for denying Communion to Catholic office-holders who, while perhaps personally opposed to abortion, still support everyone else's right to choose, which is what the Kansas Constitution does.

Do you think that Naumann will deny Communion now to everyone who voted "NO" against the amendment scheme?

Will he try to deny Communion to the two nuns who published a letter on July 27 in The Kansas City Star opposing the amendment scheme?  To Many Catholics, Social Justice Demands a No Vote  on Kansas  Constitution Amendment / It's About Control.  I understand that one of the nuns is a co-founder of Network, the Catholic Lobby for Justice.

More to the point, why did Archbishop Naumann spend Millions of Dollars raised from the Catholic faithful of the Kansas City Archdiocese to take away a constitutional right?  The money he spent was not his money, you know.  It was given by the people in the pews.  Given the size of the vote, I doubt that many of them intended their money to support the scheme.

If Archbishop Naumann was going to spend their  money, wouldn't it have been much better to spend that kind of money to assist mothers who bring children to term by supporting adoption services?

Or by supporting healthcare of mothers and babies and small children in Kansas City and anywhere in Kansas for that matter?

 Or in support of parental leave?

Or maybe even to buy diapers and formula?

Where your money is, there will your heart be also, the Bible says.  The people of Kansas put their money where their mouth is, this week:  Their vote invited Faith, Hope, and Charity to pull up a chair in Kansas and sit awhile.

Archbishop Naumann's choices, on the other hand, are failures.  Speaking of all that money taken from the faithful Catholics of the Kansas City Archdiocese, it should be paid back.  That would be the Christian thing to do.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

"STAYED AROUND, LAYED AROUND, THIS OLD TOWN TOO LONG. SUMMER'S …

ALMOST GONE" BUT A YEAR AND A HALF LATER, THE HOLDOVERS FROM THE PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATION ARE STILL HERE.  WHY IS THAT?

There seems to be some question whether the Secret Service  deleted texts.   

Of course they did.

This episode highlights more than that the SS deleted potentially key texts about their actions and the actions of others, on 1/6 and before.  It highlights who apparently just resigned as their head.  He was appointed by  the Grievance Boy in 2019, I believe it was,  to head the Secret Service.

Why was he still there into July 2022?  18 or 19 months he stayed in power, depending on how you count the months since January 2021.

This incident also highlights the fact that the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security is also an appointee of the Grievance Boy.  He is still there in July 2022.

Why is he still there into July 2022?

That brings to mind the U.S. Postmaster General, Mr. DeJoy.  He became U.S. Postmaster General by giving lots of money to the Grievance Boy, and he tried to dismantle the postal system in a pandemic and during a Presidential Election when many voters depended on mail-in ballots to avoid the plague.

 I understand that President Biden needed a Postal Board majority to vote to get rid of Mr. DeJoy.  Now he's got the majority.  President Biden has had a majority on the Postal Board  for months.  DeJoy is still there in July 2022.

Why into July 2022?

This is not they way I thought it would be when I voted for you, Joe Biden.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

JUDGES RULING THE EASTMAN THEORY INTO LAW.

Justice Samuel Alito needs to be better known than he is.  He is an important member of the U.S. Supreme Court.  Justice Clarence Thomas thinks so; he is the one who assigns the Court's opinions and he assigns a lot of them to Justice Alito.

One of Justice Alito's pet theories (he calls them "doctrines") has to do with state legislatures.  Justice Alito calls his theory about them "the independent state legislatures theory,"  oops, "doctrine."  (It isn't really a doctrine, you know, except to Alito.  Soon it will be, maybe, but not now, not yet.)

Both Mr. Eastman and Justice Alito base their theory on the first part, and only the first part, of what is generally called "the Elections Clause" in the U.S. Constitution.  Here is what the first part says:

The Times, Places and Manner of hold­ing Elec­tions for Senat­ors and Repres­ent­at­ives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legis­lature thereof; …

This is the same theory that Eastman tried to sell to the Grievance Boy in January 2021, that  the states have the power to set the times and places and manner of voting for federal elections.  In Eastman's mind, that means one more step which involves having the states re-run every federal election where the results are not to his liking, starting with the Presidential Election of 2020.  (Note to Mr. Eastman:  The U.S. Constitution does not talk about state legislatures setting the times and places and manner of voting for Presidents; it talks about setting the times and places for voting for Senators and Representatives; read it.)

Justice Alito does not go that far, yet.  He agrees with Eastman that the states have the power to set the times and places and manner of voting for federal Senators and Representatives and, in Alito's mind, this means that state legislatures have this power to the exclusion of state courts, state governors, and federal courts except the U.S. Supreme Court.  That means that Justice Alito reads one provision of the U.S. Constitution all by its lonesome, as though it were the Articles of Confederation, say, or as though it was the only provision in a Constitution that actually embodies federalism and takes no constitutional powers away from state courts.

In other words, when a state legislature does something against the state's Constitution, state courts are constituted to be a check and a balance on the legislature's unconstitutional actions.  Not so in Justice Alito's eyes.  This is what he has in mind for the "independent state legislatures theory" --doggone it, there I go again, I mean  "independent state legislatures doctrine."

Alito bases this theory (or doctrine) mainly on "the Elections Clause."  Here again is the first part of what it says.  I repeat the first part because that is the only part that Justice Alito uses in his Eastman theory:

The Times, Places and Manner of hold­ing Elec­tions for Senat­ors and Repres­ent­at­ives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legis­lature thereof; …

It is an important question how come "the Legislature thereof" is so important if it means a state legislative body, a body which exists if, and only if, the state's constitution says it does?

Justice Alito has never answered this question and, so far as I know, no-one has ever asked him.

No-one has ever asked him what to do with the rest of the Elections Clause of the U.S. Constitution, the part which Alito and his followers have never mentioned, I believe:

… but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regu­la­tions.

If the first part is the Eastman or "independent state legislatures" theory, shouldn't this second part of the Elections Clause be called "the independent and supreme Congress doctrine"?  So far as I know, Justice Alito and his followers have never been asked this question, or anything like it.

It's a shame that some judges do not have to answer questions, isn't it?  Or maybe "shameful" is the right word to use.  It's certainly not a doctrine.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

JOE MANCHIN IS TSOURIS.

Joe Manchin is bad news.  Tell Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer.

Actually, Joe Biden may already know.  Joe Manchin reneged on his earlier promise to support the Build Back Better Act, then didn't.  At the last minute after months of discussions with Biden, Manchin didn't support the Build Back Better Act, he voted against it.

That may be why Joe Biden left it to Chuck Schumer to negotiate with Joe Manchin this time. This time, Manchin promised to support legislation that would protect the environment but then opposed the legislation at the last minute.  Again.

I am not going to call Joe Manchin names or call him a bad person, but it's clear that he moves and breathes and works in bad faith.

Mom told you to be careful of people who will not keep their word, and when she tried to educate you with the saying, "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me," she had someone like Joe Manchin in mind.

I think Nancy Pelosi already knows that, 'cause she is the only Democrat in Washington, D.C. who has not tried to compromise with Manchin.  Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer could learn a lot, if they haven't already.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

LEAVE A REVIEW ON GOOGLE MAPS.

Yes.  That's not a typo.  Google Maps.

So you want to be heard?  Your voice is drowned out by all the noise, it seems to you?  Want to do something about say unfortunate contributions that in your eyes are like the ones that the Beetles sang about in 1969 in the song Revolution?  ("If you want to give money to people with minds that hate, all I can tell you brother is you have to wait."  Fifty-three years on, the lyrics would be 'brother and sister,' of course.)

Here's how to make your voice heard.  At least, heard by a corporation.  Businesses pay attention to reviews; it's their life-blood.  Popularity with the public is important to them because that is how they make their money, by making it seem like giving them your money is something you want to do.

On the other hand, the life of corporations is not an easy one if they get bad reviews.  They cannot make nearly as much money then.  That is why they pay attention to reviews.

Everyone including you and me can leave a review of a business on Google Maps.  Until recently, I had no idea that this was even a thing.  Someone mentioned it to me and I think it is brilliant.  I can call it brilliant because it is not even my idea, it's someone else's idea, and it is truly brilliant.

Here's what you do.

1. Go to Google Maps.
2. Input the name of your company, the business you want to leave a review for. (Google calls it 'Search for a Place.')
3. Click on that business and on the left, Google's Help instructions at this point will say something like scroll and click "Write a Review."
4. You also get the opportunity to give the business 1 to 4 stars. Always leave at least 1 or 2 stars.  This insures that your review will be printed.

Instead of Steps 3 and 4, you may have the business pop up on your screen by name.  A tab with "reviews" may pop up with it.  Below it should appear a hyperlink for "Write A Review."  Click on that hyperlink and you are in business (no pun intended) to leave your review.

Your name will appear on the review automatically.

Now, if you wish, you can invite other people to visit your review and click "Like."  The more Likes on a review, the greater the chances that the business will pay your review the attention it deserves.

That's it.  Simple stuff, really.  But definitely brilliant.

Happy review-writing!

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

DO WHAT YOU CAN DO.

I am only one, but I am one.

I can do something.

That which I can do, I ought to do.

And that which I ought to do,

By the Grace of God,

I shall do.

I do not know where I first came across this saying.  It seems to me that it applies today every bit as much as it has applied throughout my life, always.

There are people who despair of many things in this country right now.   They could do far worse than putting this saying into effect.  At the moment, nothing attracts more despair than the recent decision of a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.  This is the decision which overruled Roe v. Wade and Casey, rejecting privacy rights over reproductive decisions, with more decisions to come apparently.

Many people say there is nothing to be done.

They are wrong.  They probably mean to say that it will take a long time to overrule Dobbs and to restore privacy rights over reproductive decisions.  But there is definitely something that can be done right now.

Introduce legislation which will enact the law of privacy rights over reproductive decisions.  Base the legislation on Roe v. Wade and Casey as much as those judicial decisions will translate to legislative bills, sure.  But introduce legislation which will enact privacy rights over reproductive decisions.

In the U.S. Congress, we can only be certain that there will be an outcome in the House of Representatives.  We also can be certain what that outcome will be in this case:  The legislation will pass and it will be sent to the U.S. Senate for action there.  Perhaps legislation like this has already passed the House and has been sent to the Senate already.

Leave to the Senate what the Senate will do.

If the measure has passed the House already, pass it again.  Send it again to the Senate. 

Then do it again.

In the Senate, call for a vote.  Filibusters may prevent votes on the substance of the bills, meaning filibusters prevent votes on the bills themselves.  That's fine also.  Regardless, there must always be votes on what the Senators call cloture motions, which are motions to end a filibuster.  Let the cloture votes be recorded, again and again, of all those people in the Senate who deny votes on privacy rights for reproductive decisions.

Record those votes.  There is nothing that politicians fear and dislike more than having their unpopular votes recorded and made public.

Over and over again.

If one of the bills passes both the Senate and the House, perhaps some will say that the process is fruitless because the Supreme Court will strike it down just as a present majority overruled Roe and Casey.  Well, then, if that is the case pass it again.

If the bill passes in 2022, for example, and the Supreme Court strikes it down, when another bill passes – with identical language – say in 2023, the Court did not strike that Act down yet, just the one that passed in 2022.  The current majority think they have the final word?  Let them write the final word, endlessly.  In the meantime, there is more to be done, including in the States.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.