A Gift Free To The World

When an American thinks of France, it is generally not about how much America would benefit from following in France's footsteps.

There are exceptions to this rule and to be fair, France has not always been so snickerworthy. (I was going to claim 'snickerworthy' as my own neologism, but alas google tells me I am too late). In fact, a certain insightful gentleman has posted a proposal in which following in the footsteps of a once great France is just what America might need.

To the point. Here is his Proposal For A New Govnerment Policy To Acquire And Release Certain Patents As Free Gifts To The World.

In summary, it is proposed that governments adopt a policy under which certain patents are purchased from their owners and released by said government (as the new owner of the rights) as gifts, free to the world. France did it with the Daguerreotype. Benjamin Franklin advocated a similar personal philosophy regarding invention. And a final point is that given the situation with General Motors and the U.S. Government, and GM's large catalog of patents, that the smartest thing that can be done in this situation, aside from keeping the government out of it, is for the government to acquire and release those patents as gifts free to the world.

What do you think?

Time to Legalize Counterfeiting

This article was passed on to me and I found it to be rather poignant. The article is sarcastic and biting against all those who find that the course of being permissive as a society to certain behaviors is a good course. I am inches from becoming a card carrying member of the libertarian party with my only reservation being that some libertarian ideals push beyond what I believe is good moral policy. Pushing the envelope towards complete liberty to do WHATEVER a person wants is chaos. Just like the Lords church and his temples should be houses of order, society should also seek to be houses of order and not permissive freeways of immoral conduct in the name of liberty. There is a line that I draw when it comes to moral issues. If there were a moral libertarians party, that would describe my views.

Back to the article (please take the time to read it), I feel that moral issues are a tough line to draw; preserving liberty and agency while also taking a stand on certain practices and standards. Using the example in the article, to legalize counterfeiting seems to be exactly what is happening with the banking system in this country and what the president has sought to do with these stimulus packages. So far this has done nothing but shoot our national debt through the roof.

So where have such permissive practices lead this country? We often look to California as an example. A state where marijuana is legal to smoke and sell is experiencing one of the largest deficits in the states history. Gambling is legal in California not only with lotteries, but there are casinos in Los Angeles and San Diego along with horse races and sports betting. Prostitution may not be technically legal in California but every other form of sexual promiscuity is common and regular throughout the state.

So where has permissive moral behavior left California? Where is it currently leading this country? I am all for liberty and freedom of choice up until the point where the adversary has been successful at counterfeiting the perception of what is actual freedom and what will simply lead to another binding practice enslaving the citizens to addictions and practices that heap burdens upon society ultimately limiting the freedoms we seek to preserve.

Horray for California!

Perhaps California is not as lost a state as we had previously thought. Recently California held a special election on some budget and other social issues that should make us all a little bit more comfortable with California. Here were the ballot measures and a brief on each one:

Prop. 1a - Increases size of state “rainy day” fund from 5% to 12.5% of the General Fund. Higher state tax revenues of roughly $16 billion from 2010—11 through 2012—13 to help balance the state budget. Failed
Prop. 1b - Requires supplemental payments to local school districts and community colleges to address recent budget cuts. Failed
Prop. 1c -Allows the state lottery to be modernized to improve its performance with increased payouts, improved marketing, and effective management. Requires the state to maintain ownership of the lottery and authorizes additional accountability measures. Failed
Prop. 1d - Provides more than $600 million to protect children’s programs in difficult economic times. Redirects existing tobacco tax money to protect health and human services for children, including services for at-risk families, services for children with disabilities, and services for foster children. Failed
Prop. 1e - Provides more than $225 million in flexible funding for mental health programs. Failed
Prop. 1f - Encourages balanced state budgets by preventing elected Members of the Legislature and statewide constitutional officers, including the Governor, from receiving pay raises in years when the state is running a deficit. Directs the Director of Finance to determine whether a given year is a deficit year. Prevents the Citizens Compensation Commission from increasing elected officials’ salaries in years when the state Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties is in the negative by an amount equal to or greater than one percent of the General Fund. PASSED.

Some of these measures were designed to sound like they were saving the people money and that the government would be able to balance its budget through these measures. But if you read all the information on the links provided you will see that most of these issues took money from one place and put it somewhere else. These measures were not designed to lower spending, they were designed to cut programs, they were doing creative financing and money shuffling. One of them actually called for a raise in taxes but didn't come right out and say it. When your state is 21 billion in deficit something, a lot of things, need to go. Having one program help to finance another doesn't change the fact that there still isn't any money. The people actually saw right through that, overwhelmingly. None of these issues were close votes.

The biggest winner is prop 1f. The only one that passed made it state law that elected officials don't get a raise until the budget it balanced. While this is not a perfect solution to keeping elected officials in check, every single elected official voted it in place as well not just the people. Does your state have such a provision? I don't know if mine does, but if it doesn't you better believe that I am all over getting something like that passed. While I realize that not all states have high paying elected officials like California does, the bill helps to preserve the idea of smaller government and it motivates in a healthy way the idea of keeping the state in order. If only we could get something like this passed on the national level where this problem has been rampant for decades now.No raises while there is a deficit. The way we are going they won't have a pay raise till 2075.

These videos make sense to me

When I watch this video it seems to make sense to me. It features Penn Jillette of Penn and Teller on Glenn Beck. Get through the first minute and you will get into the interview (the first minute is a little bit of lead in but still worth watching) Penn Jillette wrote a great article on Libertarianism that I think we should all read in schools and to our children to make sure they understand a healthy way of looking at society and government. If he ran in an election he would have my vote easily.


Then I show this next video knowing fair well that Sean Hanity represents as far a radical version of political opinion as does his opposite Kieth Olberman. However, Shawn's guest on a recent show, Daniel Hannan, I caught while channel surfing and was glad I did. He is a member of British Parliament. While the rest of the media is trying to say that the United States needs to start acting like the rest of the world, this man (from outside the US) states how the rest of the world looks to the US and that we shouldn't abandon who our founding fathers designed this country to be. Daniel's words starting around minute 5:17 should be our war cry as members of the Church and as members of this country because it carries a message of truth and freedom unmatched by anything from our own elected officials in recent history.

All hail the big O.

You know what is cool about busybodies? Their richest work is never done, that’s what’s so great about them. Even better then the busy bodies in the church who ever vigilant about making sure everyone else is on the right path is the liberal busybodies who is going to save everyone.

This story I found this morning about a gathering of “America’s richest” to discuses ways they can help the poor of this country and I am sure the world. Consider it a chubbier meeting of the super best friends with such friends of individual liberty as Ted Turner, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and George Soros. This group of committed freedom fighters decided however no meeting of the minds would be complete with the worlds favorite cock blocker Oprah Winfrey.

To show their commitment to understanding the needs of the poor they meet in New York City, a true center of the worlds needy. I am sure they cut costs by staying at the motel 8 while they where there and gave the savings they got by not doing the whole 5 star thing to the hungry of the city. Now don’t be confused, I am all for people doing what they can to help those of us not smart enough to do it ourselves but do you think that anyone in the meeting stood up and said something along these lines “How about we help people from getting out of their way and allowing them the freedom to choose their own way to success.” My guess is that that didn’t come up.

My thinking is that they focused on more ways to kill people in the third world by noting their success in banning DDT. Maybe they talked about how they could raise taxes to redistribute the wealth of this country to those who have not earned it.

My bottom line is that none of these people have ever been defenders of freedom. As such I am guessing, based on past experience, they talked about social justice and ways they could make the impossible possible. This mission impossible, if you will, is making the world equal. The thing however neither them nor any other do-gooder gets is that the world is a naturally unequal place. Are all animals in the ecosystem born with the same survival traits? Do they all fly, all have sharp claws, or even eat the same things? No, they are all given or have developed different abilities and going off this natural law it is only reasonable that man is the same. No matter how hard they try to make it so we are all unequal, freedom however is the only way to draw us closer to true inequity.

Is it healthy to like your elected officials?

I have been wondering what it would be like to have an elected official that I actually liked and I thought did a pretty decent job. I know it is possible, but should we ever really hero worship our elected officials? How can we approve of an elected officials actions without loosing our ability to have checks and balances on their actions? We as a people should be able to recognize and support the efforts of someone we agree with, but is going to far with that actually counter productive? We read in D&C 121:39 that "We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion." So at what point do our approvals and endorsements of political officials leap over to the point that the natural man is practicing unrighteous dominion?

When it gets to this point:

Obama in the Book Of Mormon?

Something didn't feel right when I heard the news that the Senate and the House are giving overwhelming approval to Pres. Obama's credit card legislation overhaul. For starters the new legislation takes away a companies ability to punish those who are late on their contractual commitments. And because companies use certain fees and penalties as part of their revenue streams, that money will have to be made up for by those who do pay on time through annual fee hikes and slightly higher interest rates.

Then I read scriptures like Mosiah 7:20 which reads, "And again, that same God has brought our fathers out of the land of Jerusalem, and has kept and preserved his people even until now; and behold, it is because of our iniquities and abominations that he has brought us into bondage." I see that our own problems have brought on our own bondage. Legislating away the possibility for "bondage" will allow for the people to not feel the effects of their own iniquities - in other words, there is less of a reason to be honest in our dealings with our fellow man. The plan of the adversary is to take away failure but in so doing actually creates its own version of bondage far more lasting. God's plan allows, permits, and in most cases seeks to capitalize on failures as part of the way we become more like God. Take away penalty, and you take away the peoples ability to improve; to learn from their mistakes in a deeply powerful way.

Then I read, just before the above quoted verse, in Mosiah 7:15 which reads, "For behold, we are in bondage to the Lamanites, and are taxed with a tax which is grievous to be borne. And now, behold, our brethren will deliver us out of our bondage, or out of the hands of the Lamanites, and we will be their slaves; for it is better that we be slaves to the Nephites than to pay tribute to the king of the Lamanites." I read that the people would rather be slaves than to have high taxation. Makes me wonder what Martin Luther King would think of what is going on with tax increases that are on the horizon - were he alive today of course.

In these cases it seems that over taxation, and over regulation that comes with socialism and communism are clearly expressed in this history of the Book Of Mormon. Additionally these examples make a clear parallel to the wicked king of the Lamenites to our present day President, Barack Obama. Two things disturb me about that discovery. First, that the king is clearly defined as wicked; we are being led by someone who is not just bad at his job like George Bush, but is actually wicked and moving forward the works of the adversary. Second, that President Obama is acting no different than a king.

Official LDS (momon) radio now online!

My friend in the church IT department forwarded me this link to the church's new OFFICIAL radio station online. Check it out here. I checked it out and I think it is pretty cool. Eventually they are going to make widgets for facebook accounts and for your iPhones. Should it be possible, we might stream it on this site as well. Thought you all might like to be informed about that new release. Church 24-7 baby!

Funny.....and yet so true

Our news is so ridiculous that "The Onion" a comical news agency could very easily be misunderstood to be as real as NBC, CBS, CNN, or any of the other networks.

What could Pelosi gain by all of this?

While it is no secret, Nancy Pelosi is the worst speaker of the house this country has ever seen, I wonder what Pelosi's recent accusations and verbal defenses with regards to the CIA and torture techniques is supposed to gain for her in politics or public opinion? Right now the democrats are doing pretty well in the country popularly speaking. In a way her dregging all this talk of torture up in the first place is opening a wound not even the Republicans were willing to pick at. So why bring it all up in the first place I wonder?

Tossing out the obvious answer of "she is stupid", why is she doing this and why has no one from the democrats silenced her? Pelosi is acting like Bill Clinton denying the sex stuff in the white house back in the 90's. Do you think that the democrats are secretly trying to get Pelosi out? They are not stopping the stupidity in fact they were the ones to bring up the torture stuff in the first place possibly knowing very her involvement in these torture measures. Since Pelosi is just one giant scary puppet, maybe someone told her to stick her neck knowing that she would fry. The devils are done with her, now they are going to let her fry. In any case, it seems as if Pelosi isn't the only one spewing forth a mountain of hot molten crazy big enough to melt my brain. She isn't the only one in these committee meetings.

Is she asking to lose her job? Or do you think he faithful dems will come to her rescue? Pelosi has had historically low job approval numbers, and she is a walking skeleton. Now she is currently our nations most public liar. Keep it going Pelosi, because you will only take some other dems down with you!

LDS Business ideas: what's next?

I enjoy some LDS productions and works of literature but not all are worth much. As I look for the next product or project to come out of the LDS genre, I wonder what is missing? What book or topic still needs to be written? What quirky T-Shirt slogan is left to be composed? What movie or subject is worth making?

I have had my hand in some LDS products and will probably continue to do so, but what is left to say? What subject has not been written about; at least sufficiently? I know I did a hatchet piece a while back on the LDS text service, but I should have given more credit for someone simply trying to be entrepreneurial no matter how dumb and sac religious I think the idea is.

I ask you, the faithful few of this blog, what is left to do?

National health care isn't free

So the process is well under way. Senators are talking major tax hikes and removal of tax breaks in order to pay for Universal Health Care. In a time where the world is having to cut back and learn to live within our means, the US government is setting the example of spending and increasing their "means" on the backs of its citizens. When it is all said and done, they better include free massages with universal health care because the stress of our tax load is going to reek havoc on my back.

Read it and weep

If you aren't sure why the bailouts are a bad idea and why "change" to more debt was not a good idea for this country, read this article and have some tissue handy. It is so sad it might make you cry. If you ran your life the way our country is ran you would almost double your debt obligations every year. The US budget under our current deity... I mean president, as set in place "for the current year, the government would borrow 46 cents for every dollar it takes to run the government under the administration's plan." (quoted from linked article)

To put that into a real life perspective, take a $500 monthly set of bills for gas, water, trash, electricity, etc. Things to keep your house running. Image if you only had $270 and you needed to borrow $230 just to break even. When the next month comes around the same thing is in place - $230 more debt for a total of $460 in debt. Almost one whole months worth of living expenses now in debt after two months and that is not even counting any interest that might be charged on the financed amount. Revenues would have to almost double before we would just break even or we would have to start cutting back to meet our expenses.

Back to national reality. This principle applies to our country right now. Not in the future, this is currently happening and the course we are currently heading. The country will currently double its debt load in the next two years. After 10 years we will be meeting about 10 percent of our debt obligation (if my math is right). Give it 12 years and we will be completely in debt to whatever country is stupid enough to keep giving us money at that point. We will be literally owned in full by some other nation and will no longer be a sovereign country. This is not scare tactics, this is really how things are right now!

At what point do we as Americans view the possibilities of what Obama Christ is doing to our nation as Anti-American? Is he not chewing up the last shreds of The Constitution of our United States and spitting it back out in our faces? Before my children go off to college we could be a part of China, our nations largest creditor, who is already planning on slowly dumping the dollar. Things CAN change, but they need to change soon. 12 years comes quicker than we might expect.

He's 'sposed to be joking, right?

His arrogance is palpable, but at 2:27 into this video he's outright blasphemous. I can't stand him, I don't blame you if you don't watch it.

318 New Laws Take Effect Today In Utah

Each state has a legislature that enacts their laws and they all have a date by which they actually go into effect. For Utah the 318 new laws that were made this last legislative session go into effect today. Yippeee! 318 new ways the government felt that we as a state needed fixing. Somehow I think that more legislation is not always the way to fix things, and I didn't think we were THAT broken.

One of those new laws however was to do away with old laws. For starters, the liquor laws in Utah should start to make a little more sense than they have in the past. Not necessarily making the consumable more easy to consume, but rather the abolishment of some over protective and counter productive measures with respect to alcohol sales. For example, in restaurants where they served hard liquor or mixed drinks there used to be a plexi-glass barrier between the servers and the bar (see picture). I guess the idea was that this "impenetrable" force field was there to keep children from grabbing a drink and running off drinking their way into outer darkness. Really all it did was make it so servers had to walk around the bar and reach around the patron to hand someone a drink instead of just staying behind the bar and handing their food and drink directly to them. On one hand this was to protect children, but really was to slow the drinking process hoping that people would be consuming less alcohol. Somehow I don't see this causing a significant spike in underage drinking or a surge in alcohol consumption It only takes the bar tender an extra 10 seconds to walk around and hand them the drink. People are patient for that sort of thing.

On the other hand, one piece of legislation that is being enacted that intends to add a new restriction is the legislation that says you are not allowed to text or email while driving or you can lose your license for three months as your "fine". You can text if it is an emergency they say; that is acceptable. I'm sorry but can you text 911? Because last I checked that is probably the only number you should be calling if there is an actual emergency while driving. The rest is at best a very subjective "emergency". Get a definition of emergency from a texting teenager. GPS on your phone is allowed still. So what is to stop someone from saying "I wasn't texting officer, I was obtaining emergency directions." Well, law makers now days tend to make laws that don't make any real change accept towards more legislation. Good luck learning the hundreds of new laws your state probably came up with.

One good thing: Utah cut the budget by 1 Billion dollars. For a state that seems to operate within its means (take note California) taking a cut like that is welcome news.

Vote for the Mormon!

Should we as members of the church vote for someone simply because they are a member of the church? Utah would have elected Mitt Romney as king based on the last primary election in the state and you can bet it is because he is Mormon.

Senator Bob Bennett of Utah should be case and point that voting for someone just because they are a Mormon is a bad idea. Senator Bennett has been elected for years now and is running for re-election. Senator Bennett puts on the face of a republican and active Mormon but acts like a democrat and aids the cause of bondage. Regardless of your affiliation or preference, any politician who doesn't have the morals and the standards to act the way they claim is no different than a Mormon who drinks beer and goes to the temple. The hypocrisy is clearly against the teachings of Christ. This same principles go back to the idea that you can't serve two masters. One could even apply the parallel of Lot's wife. Remember Lots wife?

The prophet Joseph Smith taught that when you become a member of the church you leave neutral ground forever. You either are moving towards celestial glory or you are moving away from it. Given the above examples plus several others I feel that there is a logical progression to the idea that politicians who say or claim one thing and do the other fall into the same category as the hypocrites and are no different than Pontius Pilate who think they can publicly wash their hands of their actions and expect for them to go away. A politician leaves neutral ground and must stand for something - not both things.

Maybe you are wondering how Senator Bennett falls into this category. Here goes: There are a few examples but I will give a recent one. Doctrines of the church call for financial responsibility, and that we as a people should not be enslaved to another man through the bondage of debt. However, Senator Bennett voted for the Bush bailout funds as well as the new bailouts from the current administration that will enslave not only this country through oppressive debt obligations to nations like China, but our children will be stuck paying a debt that may not even be paid off in their lifetime. In a way, they will be punished for the sins of their fathers. Enslavement of its citizens through repressive taxation is violation of the heaven inspired constitution and will result in the enslavement of the people to unprecedented levels. Senator Bennett voted for this to happen and defends his actions publicly while still claiming to be an active member of a church that teaches against such principles. His reasons for voting the way he did was that our economy would experience too much failure. Business have the right to fail as much as they have the right to succeed. Taking away the right to fail was the plan of the adversary. Bailing out companies who have set in motion the actions of failure need to fail in order to learn from their mistakes. To repent financially speaking.

The brethren have warned repeatedly to avoid credit and to avoid debt. Why? Look around you and see the proof in the economy we now face; where foreclosures and repossessions are rampant due to people spending money they did not have. Debt has caused the world economy to be where it is, so how can more debt be expected to save it? You can't solve a problem with a problem. Drinking more beer isn't going to somehow eventually make you worthy to go to the temple. As a nation we are constantly spending money that we don't own and obtaining things (including homes) beyond what we can afford. We have given away money that is of no value to businesses that have created their own failure and will continue to do so only now with money that is not their own. Instead of just the companies failing, the tax payers will now suffer with them. Senator Bennett has voted for this to happen. He has put in place measures that allow for companies who support his campaigns to continue practicing in a manner that is contrary to the LAWS of the gospel and the laws of economics. How long can we expect to subvert the laws of economics and the teaching of the prophets before justice prevails?

As a word of caution: As another election season starts its swing in the next month; vote for who is right for the job. Not a republican, not a democrat, not a Mormon, unless that person is the best person for the job. And if there is no one that you think is the best, then run yourself. Stand for something as President Hinckley has admonished. Be the Mormon people SHOULD vote for.

Manditory College Education: Good or Bad thing?

As all powerful as God is, He still will not take away the power of agency, or the ability to choose, from us, His children. Part of our eternal learning process and education requires the ability to choose and to learn from our choices. Secularly speaking many states require by law a certain level of education up through high school. Are rules mandating an education against the principles of agency? Or is legislating people to go to school actually better for the society in which we live?

In Costa Rica, the mandatory public school system extends through the university level. The country does have a higher literacy rate than the United States, up to 96 percent from the last number I found. But is their society the better for it?

Economically speaking, more and more a college education is seen as a minimum requirement in order to compete for decent jobs. Prophets and apostles have advocated and insisted that education be continued through the university level if not throughout your entire life. So where should we stand as Latter-Day Saints?

Should educati0n through the college level be considered as mandatory participation like high school? Or should college remain optional?

I conceived of a proposal once that would still allow for motivation to get a college education but would not make it mandatory. Have two minimum wages. One lowered minimum wage for those with a high school diploma and another higher one for college graduates. As part of that I could suggest that we also have a third (and lowest) minimum wage for those without a high school diploma. This way it would shut down the number of high school drop outs and illegals might even find a way to get an education to secure a higher pay. The reality is that the college graduates will most likely not be in a job that would have a minimum wage after graduating. The spirit of competition would help govern that scenario. College graduates would hopefully use that education to serve a greater purpose than flipping burgers. On the other hand, those that bank their lives on minimum wages might look at the difference in minimum wages and see merit in graduating college. In the process they could gain higher and better skills in that could get them off a minimum wage mentality as well. What do you think?

Vegetarianism and the Word of Wisdom

I love meat. From sushi and fillet mignon tar-tar to a well done piece of bacon - I LOVE MEAT! Given some of the text in Section 89 of the doctrine & covenants relating to the consumption of meat as part of the word of wisdom, some have interpreted those words to mean that we should all be vegetarians. Considering the general readiness of food alternatives and the way the text was written for the day in which it was originally given I can see how this interpretation came to be. This along with people fearing pork because of the swine flu thing it seems like a relevant topic. In the scripture, the actual text reads (when speaking of animal or flesh consumption), "And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine." So if you live in Costa Rica where it never seems to dip below 70 degrees and you have plenty of fruit to eat, does that mean it would be against the word of wisdom to enjoy some paella or a little carne asada?

Since I am in a constant effort to rationalize gospel laws to fit my lifestyle (that was sarcasm by the way) I was interested in seeing if there is an example from the life of Christ, who is our perfect exemplar, that would shed clarification on the subject. I read how Christ ate meat... all the time. In fact the holiest of men He chose to be apostles were fisherman. Animals were used and consumed for temple worship in the old testament. And if I read the new testament right Christ ate fish after he was resurrected.

How then can one reconcile vegetarianism (and especially veganism) within the framework of the gospel given such an example? The church gives away meat from bishops storehouses. In a way it almost seems like vegetarianism rounds the corner of being hyper principled in the gospel to the point that is becomes borderline wrong. Another line from the word of wisdom reads, "Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly;." I for one am very thankful when I eat meat.

So for the upcoming summer season when bar-b-que's and tailgate parties find their way back into the category of common occurrence, know that you are doing your part to follow the Lords command... just make sure to eat your 16 oz. porterhouse wrapped in bacon with a side of deep fried chicken tenders and shrimp cocktails - sparingly.

"The Economy Made Me Do It"

President Barack Obama sent forth the loudest message of hypocritical garbage since taking office to put a nice little cherry on top of the First 100 day's in office festivities. In case you decided to avoid the press conferences, President Obama stated that he did not want to run auto companies or banks... he sure has a funny way of showing it. It is also funny how he says that "HE" feels like "he" doesn't want to run the banks and auto companies. Who put him in charge of those anyway?! Imagine, a president controlling the affairs of a private business. Hmm. Quite the assumption since the last I checked, the stocks that came with the TARP funds were from the American people's money... not Barack Obama. So why does he get to run it? Watch this video and see if this is not the biggest example of presidential double talk since... well George W. Bush.


Actions speak louder than words. I don't care what this fake president is saying to the press, he is a communist in sheep's clothing. No wonder our country is seeing a steep increase in permissive behaviors. The leader of this country stands up and says that he didn't want to do something that he chose to do, and that it is not his fault because it was someone else's problem. No thanks. I have had enough. This rock star's decline will be as quick as his rise to the top. I predict here and now that Barack Obama will be a one term president. Anyone with me?!