Free Republic

In the item "Fast-Track Language In House Budget Prompts Moderates' Outcry" By Patrick Yoest and Corey Boles Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--A U.S. House budget blueprint unveiled Wednesday would reserve a fast-track option for considering health-care legislation, prompting outcry from moderate lawmakers in the Senate. Language in the House budget resolution instructs the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee to carve out $1 billion each in deficit savings by a Sept. 29 deadline through health overhaul legislation. The language employs a tactic that is known as budget reconciliation and would allow the...

As a people we need to be united and stand together. What I propose is that we all fast breakfast and pray tomorrow at Either 6 AM or 7 AM (no matter where you are). We will pray for the following: -God to intervene and the government to rest upon God. -That God will change the hearts of the leaders and remove those who are against God and want to destroy our freedoms. -Pledge that this country will return to God, QUICKLY! Who's in? Stop complaining and take action NOW!

This is my first vanity and I hope I've done it correctly. There are several noteworthy critical events/turning points in this nation's history. Some of the more prominent ones are well known such as the War for Independance, the Civil War, the great depression, WWII, etc. This election could well be one on those critical historical events. We are already a moderately socialist country and have experienced the loss or weakening of many freedoms that the founding fathers put in place. This election will determine the speed/rate at which we continue in our movement toward socialism. We will either drive...

'Don't speak Spanish…can't get the job?' When San Bernardino High School teens Jazanique Jackson, Ashanae Brown and Kimyen Hawkins decided they wanted to work this summer, they left nothing to chance. They knew the rules: plan ahead; role play; be positive; adapt; relate and encourage. So when they hit the streets to start their summer job search they were prepared for virtually every eventuality except one. ¿No habla ingles? Can't speak Spanish.

Nine-year-old Alice Lambertsen blows out a candle on the tetrapod after noon vespers on Pure Monday (Feb. 4) at St. Nicholas of Myra Byzantine Catholic Church in Anchorage. Pure Monday marks the beginning of the Great Fast for Byzantine Catholics ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Catholic Anchor) - The great main dome at St. Nicholas of Myra Byzantine Catholic Church in Anchorage is the only one of its kind in the world. Built in 1996, the dome contains thousands of tiny holes that allow light to radiates out in unique patterns. The design so distinct it has an official patent. Light radiating...

What do you hunger for? We most often think of hunger in terms of our physical needs. What is our next meal going to be? During Lent, we are invited in a special way to focus instead on our hunger for God. Pope John Paul II referred to fasting as "therapy for the soul." He went on to say that "practiced as a sign of conversion, it helps one in the interior effort of listening for God. Fasting is to reaffirm to oneself what Jesus answered Satan when he tempted him at the end of his 40 days of fasting...

 We still ask ourselves as Ash Wednesday approaches, "What am I doing for Lent? What am I giving up for Lent?" We can be grateful that the customs of giving up something for Lent and abstaining from meat on Fridays during Lent have survived in our secular society. But, unfortunately, it is doubtful that many practice them with understanding. Many perform them in good faith and with a vague sense of their value, and this is commendable. But if these acts of self-denial were better understood, they could be practiced with greater profit. Otherwise, they run the risk of falling...

Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 1438: “The seasons and days of penance in the course of the liturgical year (Lent, and each Friday in memory of the death of the Lord) are intense moments of the Church’s penitential practice. Fridays, Lent and Year RoundCanon 1250: “All Fridays through the year and the time of Lent are penitential days and times throughout the entire Church.” U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Penitential Practices for Today’s Catholics:“Fridays During Lent — In the United States, the tradition of abstaining from meat on each Friday during Lent is maintained.“Fridays Throughout the Year — In...

(IsraelNN.com) Allegations of police abuse and a call for a public fast day Thursday by leading rabbis herald the third week in jail for seven teenage girls arrested for building a hilltop outpost. Police forced several of the girls, who are all under the age of 16, to strip in prison, according to their parents. Police also subjected the youngsters to sleep deprivation, a tactic used by the Shabak (General Security Service) when dealing with ‘ticking-bomb’ terrorists, to break their determination. The girls have been held under harsh conditions and have not yet been charged. They refuse to identify themselves...

Neanderthal Children Grew Up Fast ScienceDaily (Dec. 4, 2007) — An international European research collaboration led by scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology reports evidence for a rapid developmental pattern in a 100,000 year old Belgian Neanderthal (Homo neanderthalensis).Growth lines inside a Neanderthal tooth (left - diagonally running lines) and on the outside (right- horizontal curved lines). Counts and measurements of these lines helped to determine that the child was approximately 8 years old when it died. (Credit: Tanya Smith, MPI for Evolutionary Anthropology) A new report details how the team used growth lines both inside and...

Calexico, Calif. — U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Calexico, Calif. east commercial facility detained a Mexican truck driver after they discovered 8.85 tons of marijuana commingled with a shipment of television screens at the port Friday afternoon, Port Director Billy Whitford said today. The 25-year-old driver, a resident of Mexicali, was registered in the Free and Secure Trade (FAST) program and was driving a 1992 GMC tractor-trailer with a shipment manifested as flat screen televisions. As the truck waited in line to enter the U.S. through the FAST lane at about 4:20 p.m., CBP canine officers conducted...

CALEXICO, Calif. -- About 8.85 tons of suspected pot worth an estimated $67 million was seized at the Calexico port of entry, federal agents reported Saturday. The contraband was seized Friday, co-mingled with shipments of flat panel television sets, said David de la Peza of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. A tractor-trailer truck was in the Free and Secure Trade entry lane at about 4:20 p.m. Friday when drug-sniffing dogs alerted officers, de la Peza said. Officers discovered 1,019 large packages containing 17,701 pounds of suspected pot among the TVs. The accused smuggler is a 25-year-old Mexican and registered...

He may be the tallest candidate in the race for president, but Fred Thompson is clearly in over his head! In both his fumbling pre-candidacy period and his hesitant, attenuated post-announcement campaign, he's given the clear impression that that he is ill-informed, inarticulate, badly briefed and downright lazy... ...But beneath his casual, disorganized and ill-informed way of running for president, one suspects an arrogance lingers -- a sense of not needing to prepare and a lethargy in the face of challenges that perhaps indicates a failure to appreciate how daunting a task running for president really is.

McCain on the Issues: Wrongheaded 1. Favors the old as well as the new illegal alien amnesty plans. 2. Favors troop surge to Iraq to defend their borders and government, but opposes doing the same for the U.S. Border with Mexico to defend us from invasion. Can you imagine what effect this position has on the morale of our troops? They are sent to die defending freedom for Iraq while here in the U.S., McCain is giving away our country without a fight. 3. With leftist George Soros' funding help, McCain got Campaign Finance Reform passed. Not only was this...

Make sure you’re sitting down before reading this story. There is a proposal in a report to the European Parliament calling for a ban on the making of cars capable of more than 101mph. It's all part of a proposal to cut CO2 emissions from cars, and many of the silliest parts come from British Lib Dem MEP Chris Davies. Davies states that 101mph is 25 per cent over the top speed limit in most EU countries. However, according to a report by the BBC, he then goes on to note that "between 1994 and 2004 the power of new...

Raleigh, N.C. (AP) -- Prison workers soon might force feed a former university professor who has been on a hunger strike for six weeks to protest his imprisonment for refusing to testify about Palestinian charities, his lawyer said Wednesday. Sami al-Arian, a Palestinian who taught computer science at the University of South Florida, stopped eating Jan. 22 in objection to a judge's decision to hold him indefinitely because he refused to testify before a grand jury. He has lost more than 40 pounds on his water-only diet and is so weak that he needs a wheelchair, said his wife, Nahla...

Maronite Catholics, like many other Eastern Catholics, get a jump-start on Lent, which begins on "Ash Monday." Father Makram Kozah, spiritual director at the Maronite patriarchal seminary in Lebanon, said the early start gives Maronites "seven full weeks for Lent." "Thursday of the drunkards" precedes Ash Monday. Many Catholics enjoy a cocktail or arrack -- Lebanon's national liquor made from grapes -- with family and friends, but "Thursday of the drunkards" is typically considered the start of a feasting period before the Lenten fast. In previous generations when families were large, a lamb was slaughtered on that Thursday. This gave...

WILMINGTON, Del. — At 9:40 p.m. on New Year's Eve, Jim Thorpe stole away from his church's all-night prayer meeting to grab a last-minute latte at the local Starbucks. "I needed one more hit before the Great Denial," he says. The next day he and hundreds of people in his church began their first annual Starbucks fast. "It's a killer," says Thorpe. "I thought forty days without food was tough, but this is psychological warfare." Some churches, tuckered out after long, sobering group fasts in past years, are opting for "fun fasts" — giving up Starbucks, scrapbooking, even Bed, Bath...

Maj. Greg Soukup, 611th Air Intelligence Squadron, received a short-notice deployment to Iraq just 32 days before his long-time planned wedding to Kristen Owens. They were married by the 611th AIS commander, Lt. Col. Christine Morris, in the squadron, Jan. 26. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Garrett Hothan U.S. Air Force Maj. Greg Soukup Short-notice deployment puts wedding on fast track By 1st Lt. Candice Miller Alaskan Command Public Affairs ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska, Jan. 30, 2007 -- Wedding bells were ringing at Elmendorf Jan. 26 when an officer from the 611th Air Intelligence Squadron and...

Bears' Hester sets NFL record for TD returnsST. LOUIS (Dec. 11, 2006) -- Chicago rookie Devin Hester ran back two kickoffs for scores for his fifth and sixth return touchdowns of the season, an NFL record. In the second quarter, Hester took the ball on the 6, headed up the middle, then sharply cut to his left and ran untouched down the sideline for the score, giving the Bears a 7-6 lead over the St. Louis Rams. It was his first kickoff return for a score this season, to go with three punt returns for TDs and a 108-yard run...

'Fast of Rabin,' initiated by Reform movement, set to be added to other fast days in Jewish calendar Haim Levinson Published: 11.02.06, 19:11 To commemorate Yitzhak Rabin's death, the Jewish Reform Movement has initiated The Fast of Rabin, similar to The Fast of Gedaliah. The Fast of Gedaliah commemorates the assassination of Gedaliah, the Babylonian-appointed official charged with administering the Jewish population remaining in Judah following the destruction of the Temple and exile in 586 B.C.E. Ahead of the memorial day commemorating Rabin's murder, the reform movement's rabbinical council issued a public statement confirming that the memorial day will be...

The Day of Atonement: Removal of Sin's Cause and Reconciliation to GodWe have already seen-through the symbolism involved in the Passover-that Christ's shed blood atones for our past sins. In fact, atonement means reconciliation. The Day of Atonement symbolizes the reconciliation of God and all humanity. If we are reconciled to God through Christ's sacrifice, why do we need another Holy Day to teach us about reconciliation? If we are already reconciled, why do we need to fast, as commanded on the Day of Atonement? (Leviticus 23:27; Acts 27:9). What is this day's specific significance in God's master plan...

FORT HUACHUCA — The red, white and blue American Airlines plane was about two hours from the East Coast. Flight 49, a Boeing 767, was heading from Paris to Dallas. But this day the aircraft would not make its final destination. Like many planes on Sept. 11, 2001, the flight was ordered to land — but not in the United States. Barbara Fast, then a brigadier general, was on the flight. She planned to make a connecting flight to Tucson and then drive to Fort Huachuca to attend a conference of senior Army intelligence officers. It turns out Fast, who...

Rep. Schmidt's Marathon Ad Questioned By MATT LEINGANG ASSOCIATED PRESS COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Republican Rep. Jean Schmidt is fast, capable of running a marathon in 3 hours, 19 minutes, 6 seconds. At least that's what a photo on the Ohio congresswoman's Web site shows. No way, says a rival who contends that the picture from the 1993 Columbus Marathon is doctored and complained to state election officials. A four-member commission panel ruled Thursday that there was enough evidence to look into the complaint. State law prohibits candidates from publishing false statements designed to promote their election. The photo shows...

Imagine going to get your car repaired, paying for it, and then finding out that the work was never done. With the help of insiders, NBC4 uncovered an apparent scheme at several Los Angeles area Jiffy Lube stores. The Los Angeles District Attorney's Office has asked customers who have had problems at Jiffy Lube stores to contact the DA's Consumer Protection Division, by e-mail, at jiffylube@lacountyda.org

SADDAM HUSSEIN ended his 19-day hunger strike last Wednesday with a meal of beef, rice and Coca-Cola, but he had little to show for his starvation. Iraqis in particular, living day-to-day with brutal sectarian violence, viewed Mr. Hussein’s self-sacrifice as an insult. “Saddam’s hunger strike didn’t work because it came from someone who is finished in Iraq and has no political or personal value for the Iraqi people,” said Fauwzya al-Attiya, a sociologist at Baghdad University. “Most of us wish he was executed just to end this problem so we can face our other problems.” But if Mr. Hussein tarnished...

<p>WASHINGTON, DC, July 3, 2006--Although the 60s are long over, about 150 aging hippies and hangers-on relived them again over Independence Day weekend. They offered themselves up as tools of the CodePink-Cindy Sheehan leftism-for-profit machine, this time at the Ghandi statue at 21st and Massachusetts Avenue NW, and later, eating off the street in front of the White House.</p>

July 7, 2006 Washington DC I'm very weak but will try to do my best to fill you in on this week's activities. As you may have heard, Peace Mother Sheehan (PMS), as well as the biggest and brightest stars in media and politics, gathered in front of the White House to fast for an end to the Iraq war. Among those in attendance were Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn, and the Reverend Al Sharpton. I knew there was no way I could sit at home while these brave patriots were starving to death, so Scooter and I flew to Washington...

If you were to ask Diane Wilson, who has done 7 long-term fasts, "What do I need to do to fast?" her response would probably be, "Just Stop Eating!" But if that still leaves you with more questions on fasting, here are some "fast tips". How long am I supposed to fast? We ask anyone who wants to take part in the fast to dedicate at least 24 hours. Any additional days are great. And if you are interested in long-term fasting, we recommend 2 weeks or more. Where should I fast? You can join us in fasting in Washington,...

SIERRA VISTA — Candles were lit Monday night as nearly 300 people brought light into the growing darkness at the Southern Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery, which holds the remains of more than 1,200 members of America’s armed forces and some of their loved ones. Speaking for the second time at Monday Memorial Day ceremonies was Maj. Gen. Barbara Fast, commander of the Intelligence Center and Fort Huachuca. She spoke about one particular soldier whose cremains are at the cemetery. His name is Robert Oliver Unruh, who was an Army specialist who died in Iraq while serving as a combat engineer....

ROME, MARCH 27, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Chaldean Patriarch Emmanuel III Delly of Baghdad has proposed April 3-4 as days of fasting and prayer for peace in Iraq. Auxiliary Bishop Shlemon Warduni read the patriarch's appeal on Sunday, during a visit to the Italian city of Gallipoli. "We have estranged ourselves from God by our deeds," wrote the patriarch in the message, which was reported by Italian bishops' SIR news service; "we do not obey his will, and we have moved away from piety and virtue, from forgiveness, and because of this the blood of so many brothers has been shed and...

GREEN VALLEY — Speaking in Green Valley Thursday, Maj. Gen. Barbara Fast, commander of the U.S. Army’s intelligence center at Fort Huachuca., said that troops on the ground in Iraq “believe they are making a difference.” Members of the Iraqi security forces are due to arrive at Fort Huachuca for training in late February, she said. Fast served for a year in Iraq, most notably as senior intelligence officer for the coalition ground forces. The major general spoke during a lunch meeting of the Green Valley Lion’s Club to a crowd, the majority of which had served in the military....

Fast-spinning neutron star smashes speed limit 19:00 12 January 2006 NewScientist.com news service Maggie McKee The fastest-spinning neutron star ever found is discovered in a crowded star cluster near the centre of the Milky Way, a new study reveals. The star rotates 716 times per second – faster than some theories predict is possible – and therefore may force researchers to revise their models. Neutron stars form when a massive star explodes at the end of its life and leaves behind a super-dense, spinning ball of neutrons. These stellar corpses emit intense beams of radio waves from their poles and...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10, 2006 – The United States will push ongoing efforts to train more capable Iraqi police to provide internal security across the country, President Bush said here today. U.S. commanders say Iraqi soldiers and police are gaining in numbers and capability to take on the terrorists, Bush told members of the Veterans for Foreign Wars. But more needs to be done, the president said. "The Iraqi police still lag behind the army in training and capabilities," Bush said, "and so one of our major goals in 2006 is to accelerate the training of the Iraqi police." Bush said...

FORT HUACHUCA — A few Iraqi officers will come to this Southern Arizona Army post early next year for intelligence training, the commander of the Intelligence Center said Thursday. Maj. Gen. Barbara Fast said the center also is preparing a cultural training video for the Army that will include a recent interview with the Iraqi ambassador to the United Nations. Saying the future of Iraq is in the hands of its citizens, Fast said ensuring the security forces of that Middle East country have a well-trained intelligence function is critical to ensuring Iraq is a democracy. “We’ll get our first...

MILWAUKEE - The company that sped up pulls of draft beer at sports stadiums around the country with its Turbo Tap nozzle is bringing the technology to rec rooms across America. Laminar Technologies LLC has outfitted six sports arenas including U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago and some 30 Chicago bars, receiving fawning media coverage. Time magazine lists the gadget as one of the coolest inventions of 2005 in an issue that hits newsstands Monday. After all the attention, the company says hundreds of beer drinkers are clamoring to get a Turbo Tap of their own. On Monday the company will...

The Small Paraklesis is chanted in times of distress and sorrow of soul and during the first fourteen days of August. The Service of the Small Paraklesis (Supplicatory Prayer) To the Most Holy Theotokos The priest: Blessed is our God always, now and forever and unto the ages of ages.If there is no priest, then: Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us. The reader: Amen. The priest or reader: Glory to You, our God, glory to You. Heavenly King, O Comforter, the Spirit of truth, Who is everywhere present and fills...

The Great Supplicatory Canon is chanted during the first fourteen days of August during the Fast of the Theotokos (Mother of God), alternately with the Small Paraklesis. It is also be chanted in every tribulation and in sorrow of the soul. The Service of the Great Paraklesis (Supplicatory Prayer) To the Most Holy Theotokos The priest: Blessed is our God always, now and forever and unto the ages of ages.If there is no priest, then: Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us. The reader: Amen. The priest or reader: Glory to...

THE FAST OF THE DORMITION OF THE HOLY THEOTOKOS AUGUST 1st through 14th By Fr. Gabriel Barrow During the first fourteen days of August during each year, the Holy Orthodox Church enters into a strict fast period in honor of the Mother of God, the Virgin Mary. The eminent Orthodox theologian, Father Sergei Bulgakov, beautifully expresses the high regard which the Orthodox Christians have for the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, for her special role in the salvation of mankind, when he affirms, “The warm veneration of the Theotokos is the soul of Orthodox Piety.” St. John of...

A Novena of Fasting and Prayers This may be appropriate when keeping a fasting novena before the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary, Mother of God Prayer of Consecration In union with all mankind, in communion with the entire Church, and with our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, we address to you O Father, this supplication especially for our country, through the heart and the hands of the Virgin Mary. Father, send your Holy Spirit, so that each one of us might become an instrument of your peace, From hunger and war, deliver us! From nuclear war, from incalculable...

FORT HUACHUCA - The Army's intelligence community is a major player in today's war on terrorism, and the reason for intelligence successes is in part because of the community's past, Maj. Gen. Barbara Fast said Friday. As changes are made in the intelligence arena, more appreciation is due to those who served in the past, she said before five retired soldiers were inducted into the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame. "For many of you it's like coming home. We are a product of the past," said Fast as she looked at the audience. The intelligence community is going through major...

Light Speed a Barrier? To go, the children of tomorrow may have had to discover what is believed impossible today -- how to travel faster than light. Mel Zisfein, deputy director of the national Air and Space Museum, and an aerosynamicist amoung other things, has noted a similarity between the way most people today regard "C," the speed of light, and the way many people a generation or so ago regarded "a", the speed of sound. For this publication, he sketched the illustrations which appear on the following page, and drafted the following... "Some people used to look at...

Jackson 'Avenue of Hearts' angers locals 10.06.05 By Andrew Gumbel A fan wears a t-shirt proclaiming Michael Jackson's innocence. Picture / Reuters Michael Jackson's neighbours have had it. They've put up with months of hoopla surrounding the court proceedings in Santa Maria, in the heart of central California wine country, and they've put up with the fans plying the narrow road to Neverland. But now the jury has retired, passions on both sides are growing as surely as the tension over the looming verdict. The results have not always been pretty. Every day this week, the fans have erected an...

Through her aggressive fund raising for San Francisco politicians, Julie Lee transformed herself from grassroots activist to City Hall insider and political power broker. But that same largesse and the power it brought her have written the most bitter chapter of Lee's career, leading to the resignation from office of one of her biggest benefactors, Kevin Shelley, as California secretary of state -- and now felony charges said to have been filed against her by the state attorney general Thursday. Lee coveted insider access, say those who worked closely with her, and she quickly learned that campaign contributions opened the...

Today, as Good Friday looms tommorow with another innocent victim being crucified by a mob on the liberal's cross of "laws" (that a hate-filled judge says can be ignored) and "laws" (that a hate-filled judge says can be ignored "must" be followed to the letter. The media is promoting her death, and is ignoring contrary news and information. That, we may not be able to overcome. But the publicisn't the only Witness to this murder. So, while she is being slowly starved to death to "preserve" our rights to abortion, hatred, revenge, pride, and to conceal previous assaults, let us...

The other project cut was the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter. JIMO - recently renamed Prometheus 1 - had been intended as the first mission under Project Prometheus, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe's pet project to encourage the use of nuclear-power propulsion to explore the outer solar system. Washington (UPI) Feb 08, 2005 Despite fears by many in the scientific community that President George W. Bush's initiative to re-invigorate the American manned space program would cause deep cuts in NASA's science budget, the administration's proposed 2006 budget - announced with great fanfare on Monday - left almost all of the agency's present...

An attorney for a U.S. Army soldier court-martialed in connection with the Abu Ghraib prison scandal says he's frustrated that he was not allowed in court to try to link the prison abuse to top-ranked military officials, including the incoming Fort Huachuca commander. Paul Bergrin, a New Jersey lawyer, said Monday that he will press his efforts to link the scandal with higher-ups to the Court of Military Review and, if necessary, the Court of Military Appeals. His client, Sgt. Javal S. Davis of Roselle, N.J., pleaded guilty to dereliction of duty, lying to investigators and battery last Tuesday as...

In the past few years, there have been several attempts by overweight people to blame their health problems on McDonald's and other fast-food restaurants, and they have sought legal remedy in the courts. They've argued that fast-food restaurants served them food that has made their belts increase in size to a degree that now the only things that they're able to buckle are floor boards. Personal responsibility takes yet another holiday, and now, thanks to the 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals ruling, it's retired to Barbados for the foreseeable future. A lawsuit was brought against McDonald's on behalf of two...

FORT HUACHUCA - Four soldiers, a sailor, Marine, airman and civilian were honored Friday as the best of the best for 2004 by post officials. Setting the tone for the awards banquet, Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Robert Voss told the audience of more than 275 people that the event was to recognize "our superheroes." With every branch of America's armed forces stationed on the post, the annual event ensures each service and the civilian work force receives recognition. The winners in the Navy, Marine, Air Force and civilian categories knew before the banquet who had been chosen. The soldiers had...

Triton has just changed owners and reportedly is still committed to the .450 SMC concept. It is an interesting variation on the .45 Super, and we will just have to wait and see if the cartridge makes it in the marketplace. .40 Super Factory Ballistics 135 grain at 1,800 fps 165 grain at 1,600 fps 200 grain at 1,300 fps The .40 Super This Triton cartridge did make it into production. STI produces complete handguns for the .40 Super, and aftermarket barrels are available from sources such as EMF Firedragon. I recently tested an EMF barrel in this caliber and...