Lest we forget, Larry Fink - CEO of BlackRock - is a Council on Foreign Relations member (as well as a member of the TRI-LATERAL Commission (of) co-founder Jimmy Carter- who is also a CFR member); and BlackRock is also a SPONSOR of the CFR.
Cozy little group of conspirators instigating One-World-Order and the demise of the UAS as a sovereign Republic - and American citizens of their individual sovereignty.
Sep 11, 2023·edited Sep 11, 2023Liked by Robert W Malone MD, MS
The Index holders could care less what GOP congress members say, ask for, threat, etc.
McKensey and company have been advising clients for decades to invest in China. It never has cared about human rights. I believe that many corporations find ways to invest even in countries the USG says not to. Even heads of states in Europe were telling Trump to pound sand when they wanted to invest in places like Iran. Oh, and BTW here is some news which does not surprise in the least -
US moves to advance prisoner swap deal with Iran and release $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds. I think that may be less than Obama gave them of "their frozen funds".
Shelley, know you are following Paxtons impeachment. FYI Seems Paxton calling for phelan to be impeached only the trigger for a bush led effort to unseat Paxton beginning with george p. reactivating his law license 3yrs ago prior to run for AG vs Paxton. "Whistle blowers" i.e. former employees in the AG office, took unsubstantiated claims of malfeasance to the people who totally ignored them and handed george p. a landslide defeat in the primary. Those whistle blowers took the same, still unsubstantiated, claims to the f.b.i. (thugs for hire?) admitting in testimony last week they had no evidence to provide them. And seems the thugs also came up empty. Finally, the legal assistance for this mob provided seemingly pro bono by a bush family lawyer. Bush fingerprints abound.
Now that it's very clear Bush is a part of the Obama style globalists - Paxton's thrust has to be seen as unquestionably offensive. Not to mention where Paxton might be successfully heading if he ends up unfettered.
So far peeks in occasionally the offense seems somewhere between sad and disgusting. Definitely no-trustems.
Coercion in the Texas House is fatal. They again seated bizarro Republican Phumblemouth Phelan, 142 to 3, and signed on to a shampeachment 121 to 23. Texas wants its House, bada** AG, and sovereignty back.
My Rep. explained that when Leg met they had demonstrated to them by secret vote held before the official one phelan had it in hand. Pretty well confirmed by the rino stampede of 60 voting for impeachment. Serious House cleaning needed
This one has a video clip also. The witness did not seem flustered, probably because he knows there are enough Senators in the bag for the result wanted.
As I told you earlier, TLR is one of the main players behind this impeachment and they gave $80,00+ to my Sen (Campbell) campaign. And lots more to others (she was #4 on their list)
Dr. Nash, let’s not dox ourselves, but we’re in the same general neighborhood. I read somewhere Senator Campbell is a reliable “no” on the final vote to impeach. Govt machinery baffles me—by design I'm sure—but I suppose she was a “no” in a Senate vote over taking the AG to trial. Is that right?
Are you in Troxclaire’s district? The House and Senate maps have confounded me since re-districting, but I’m glad Runaway Flee Zweiner no longer “represents” me. I forget who rated Ellen 88% plus for conservative voting this session and the only rep 100% voting in opposition to the Dems. But her support for Phelan was sickening. She was all rah-rah about how successful “we” were in the House, and she seemed faux sorrowful about how Paxton needed to be “held accountable.” I hope I didn’t hurt her cheerleader feelings implying she went along to get along or might be naive. I suspect she’s controlled opposition.
Hope you are right about Campbell. My Rep is Carrie Isaac and she has so far been pretty reliable. Campbell has disappointed me being silent on the china flu nonsense as she is an e.r. doc but she may not have much choice.
I get a kick out of Michael Berry whenever I happen to stumble onto his radio broadcast. So much good info out there, so little time. I’m trying to weed out my inbox. Just can’t get it done, but I shall follow your links.
Yeah, it’s hard to sustain a productive conversation with folks who stick with D or R because “that’s the way my parents always voted” or “I fell in love with Kennedy or Reagan and can’t get past those years.” I don’t discount my own imprinting, but I hope I can be more rational than that.
I read the Texas Minute or Texas Scorecard, whichever it comes out as. Michael Sullivan and Brandon Waltens seem to be pretty sober and savvy insiders, and they’ve been reposting Luke Macias’ coverage of the trial. Seems clear the Dems are trying to turn political animus into something criminal, but I’m wary when conservative sources appear to over-state their case. I expect that from democrat sources, but I try to keep an open mind.
Have you seen this? The Texas Heist | Do Democrats Run The Texas House? - YouTube It’s a nasty game of hardball and winner-take-all up in Austin.
A book that should be required reading is - "None Dare to Call it Conspiracy" by Garry Allen and Larry Abraham (1971), [updated 2016 - "Call it Conspiracy" ]- it details our march to socialism/communism and who was/are leading that march. One might wonder why it was that 100% of technology in the USSR came from the US and now probably that much in China. Accidental? Why did the same international banks fund both sides of the civil war and world wars and most of the rise in socialism/communism in foreign countries. Why was the Federal Reserve created and what false flags led to its creation? Why did Carnegie, Ford, and Rockefeller set up foundations and family trust and then became the largest proponent of the income tax? What caused the 1929 crash and why did it drag on so long? Why do so many of the advisors and most in the State dept. have ties to the Council of Foreign Relations [ also WEF/UN/and federal reserves]? Has the CIA/FBI done anything that was for the benefit of Americans? It is good to remember what happened on 9/10/2001 – when Sec. of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, disclosed that his dept. was unable to account for 2.3 Trillion in unsupported adjustments. That problem disappeared along with the WTCs and the budget dept of the Pentagon on 911. Accident?
Who receives the interest payments on our debt? Like any major corporation today - if you look at members of the board you will find those companies with a controlling interest have representatives sitting on the board and directing the action. The same is true with government - those who hold the debt control the decisions and those decisions always benefit the owners of the debt. Wilson created the administrative state and practically every president since has expanded it. The goal was always one world government - with the global parasites and their prodigy in control. Who funded the rise in socialism in this country - the same folks that funded communism in the USSR and elsewhere. We need to expose and dismantle this international cartel. There is a far darker side to these parasites that play with nations like pieces on a chess board. But we will never end this unless we wake up and understand this evil which unfortunately has a huge number of conspirators inside of our government, media, academia and military industrial pharmaceutical complex. We need to start recognizing what is staged and what is real and stop believing in the accidental theory of history. And we need to start stating the facts out loud and not continuing with the deceptions. Yes realizing we have been lied to is soul crushing - but failing to realize it can only lead to enslavement.
The purpose of our constitution was to enslave the government not the people.
"None Dare Call it Conspiracy" is definitely required reading right next to "Witness" by Whittaker Chambers and "The Naked Communist" by W. Cleon Skousen. Those titles remind me of my John Birch Society mother listening to about three minutes of LBJ on TV and muttering to herself, "He's lying through his teeth."
Yes to both of those. Should be read and reread and shared widely. You can tell when something is truthful - then and now there will be an intense effort to defame the authors and/or control access.
Black Rock probably made billions and billions investing in the Peoples Liberation Army Companies and will be fined 200 or 300 million if anything. With nearly 9 trillion in their coffers I’m sure house investigators will get really large white envelopes full of cash before any remedy were to happen. J.Goodrich
I m gonna print out the letters sent by congress to Blackrock & MStanley and email them to my 401k managers and pull out any blackrock funds. I think if Americans start to wise up we can make a difference.
Just as troubling is the CCP's investment in the US.
Right here in Maine, there are 240 "homes" that are being watched by our own Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, a part of the Maine State Police.
I have a contact high up in the power company that serves North and Downeast Maine that tells me that all of these "homes" have requested, or have received power upgrades.
Just up the street from me, a small lodge with 5 small camps was bought by Chinese, and each camp, 24' x 14', now has a 200 amp entrance.
The feds have been reluctant (for some reason) to do any investigating, and have advised the MDEA to take no action, and to watch, only.
I suspect this is happening in all rural states, especially ones with cheap rural houses for sale.
My money is on either Fentanyl manufacturing, or illegal grow operations shipping MJ out of state untaxed.
Another odd thing is that of the six remaining paper mills (15 years ago we had a total of at least 14), the Chinese own and operate three of them, and quite possibly are buying a fourth.
I believe that the Chinese are being infiltrated into the US and have been for decades through the foreign student programs that down and out towns were enticed into in order to keep their schools viable. This started way back in the eighties. How many of those Chinese students are now still living in the US and, of course, reporting to the CCP?
I suspect what I have just outlined is only the tip of the iceburg.
I can’t say I am surprised that Black Rock, et al are investing in China, why wouldn’t they? Money knows no flag and I am sure if you looked at their investments in AI and surveillance and weapons technology there would be a lot to write about as well. Yes, the Chinese government has created a hell on earth and is a model of the surveillance state that western governments clearly envy and are trying to emulate. But, from the perspective of liberty and freedom from coercive government, technocracy, AI and imprisonment, both spiritual and literal, I would prefer investigations into the invisible government but congress will never go there. The idea that the US is run by patriots who are undermined by traitors and Chinese sympathizers strikes me as a narrative that politicians will use to make hay with and that the Intel/military/industrial cartel will ultimately like. It will allow them to ramp up the war machine while still working with Chinese biolabs when it suits them.
Robert- have you heard of the work that Catherine Austin Fitts has been doing? The Soleri Report. If so, could you comment on it? Trying to find sources to trust.
Political Aspirations and "I want to serve to fix this mess", are NOT the same thing.
Now back to Chicken / Egg...One gets you the other.
Dr. Breggin seems unhappy that imprecise terms used by Dr. Malone (according to Dr. Breggin) "Mass Formation" somehow weaponize mental health strategies (the subject of Dr. Breggins book).
Pointing out...again...5GW is an event that takes place in the minds of the populace and is implemented by our Psychotic Overlords using weaponized mental health tactics to cause, perpetuate, further or cover up Mass Atrocity.
Maybe a bit off topic but kind of went down a rabbit hole.
To me ( admittedly pretty marginally informed) this is a topic of interest. We know China 'doesn't have our interests or purported sensitivities' at heart. We understand China is currently overall financially challenged. Thus it would seem to be a time to minimize financial support to China. It would seem a time that support from investors may well be dangerously speculative for them but also against US long term interests.
To me it's becoming pretty difficult these days to be sure where, among the elected and Gov employed, statesmanship may be able to prevail. This does look like a real possibility. Will join in paying attention. Thank you for sharing this with us!
Thank you for this! Without you, your good sense and your access to the sources, I would miss out a lot of very important information. In this case I am surprised that Blackrock and MSCI should have stepped back with these investments “just because a Rep. committee requests it”. Maybe this is just a deception to give the impression. They will certainly continue to pursue their own goals in the background...
We have lots of evidence in all sorts of shenanigans involving China, almost like our government is bought off......
What a tangled web we weave. Vigilance is essential. Let's switch and unite to become the Shenanigator!
"Almost"! Ha!
“C’mon, man… China’s not our enemy!”
Lest we forget, Larry Fink - CEO of BlackRock - is a Council on Foreign Relations member (as well as a member of the TRI-LATERAL Commission (of) co-founder Jimmy Carter- who is also a CFR member); and BlackRock is also a SPONSOR of the CFR.
Cozy little group of conspirators instigating One-World-Order and the demise of the UAS as a sovereign Republic - and American citizens of their individual sovereignty.
Make that the USA...danged dyslexia is a curse!
Kerry the war coward looks more like Lurch since the plastic surgery on his mug.
I call him former secrateriat of state.
Re Daniels comment I would argue that he looks a lot like Secretariat. Hope that doesn't make the horse crowd mad.
I apologize in advance, I meant no insult to horses!!
Not mad, just do think he looks more like a donkey.
His face flying the party flag?
In a sorta mash potato fashion. Not smooth enough for a mule?
Yeah. That
"Mr. Ed" works too.
Now that’s funny 😆
Yeah. I REALLY don't like him.
This is a good Subcommittee to have. I hope they have a way to hold Blackrock in Contempt if they do not answer (adequately.)
These type of incredible topics take years to unravel. Yet way too many to keep on top of.
Can you say "Blitzkrieg"? I know I can now. Thanks Robert for the assortment pack. We need it.
The Index holders could care less what GOP congress members say, ask for, threat, etc.
McKensey and company have been advising clients for decades to invest in China. It never has cared about human rights. I believe that many corporations find ways to invest even in countries the USG says not to. Even heads of states in Europe were telling Trump to pound sand when they wanted to invest in places like Iran. Oh, and BTW here is some news which does not surprise in the least -
US moves to advance prisoner swap deal with Iran and release $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds. I think that may be less than Obama gave them of "their frozen funds".
https://apnews.com/article/us-iran-prisoners-blinken-3e834df0a845ef2cc5c52af14598c66f
I will try and watch their hearing tomorrow. I keep track of all of the issues they are working on for AAM posting.
Shelley, know you are following Paxtons impeachment. FYI Seems Paxton calling for phelan to be impeached only the trigger for a bush led effort to unseat Paxton beginning with george p. reactivating his law license 3yrs ago prior to run for AG vs Paxton. "Whistle blowers" i.e. former employees in the AG office, took unsubstantiated claims of malfeasance to the people who totally ignored them and handed george p. a landslide defeat in the primary. Those whistle blowers took the same, still unsubstantiated, claims to the f.b.i. (thugs for hire?) admitting in testimony last week they had no evidence to provide them. And seems the thugs also came up empty. Finally, the legal assistance for this mob provided seemingly pro bono by a bush family lawyer. Bush fingerprints abound.
Now that it's very clear Bush is a part of the Obama style globalists - Paxton's thrust has to be seen as unquestionably offensive. Not to mention where Paxton might be successfully heading if he ends up unfettered.
So far peeks in occasionally the offense seems somewhere between sad and disgusting. Definitely no-trustems.
Coercion in the Texas House is fatal. They again seated bizarro Republican Phumblemouth Phelan, 142 to 3, and signed on to a shampeachment 121 to 23. Texas wants its House, bada** AG, and sovereignty back.
My Rep. explained that when Leg met they had demonstrated to them by secret vote held before the official one phelan had it in hand. Pretty well confirmed by the rino stampede of 60 voting for impeachment. Serious House cleaning needed
Found your comment late last night.
Do you listen to or get Michael Berry podcast?
The comments below this article show how people assign ‘good guy’ to a politician based on the R/D behind their name (Bush41/43).
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2023/09/07/accuser-admits-he-and-seven-bush-allied-cohorts-secretly-went-to-fbi-to-report-ken-paxton-without-any-evidence-of-wrongdoing/
This one has a video clip also. The witness did not seem flustered, probably because he knows there are enough Senators in the bag for the result wanted.
https://revolver.news/2023/09/ken-paxtons-legal-team-is-currently-shredding-texas-rinos-who-impeached-him/
I think $s and/or alluded-to death threats can turn even the best into colluders.
As I told you earlier, TLR is one of the main players behind this impeachment and they gave $80,00+ to my Sen (Campbell) campaign. And lots more to others (she was #4 on their list)
Dr. Nash, let’s not dox ourselves, but we’re in the same general neighborhood. I read somewhere Senator Campbell is a reliable “no” on the final vote to impeach. Govt machinery baffles me—by design I'm sure—but I suppose she was a “no” in a Senate vote over taking the AG to trial. Is that right?
Are you in Troxclaire’s district? The House and Senate maps have confounded me since re-districting, but I’m glad Runaway Flee Zweiner no longer “represents” me. I forget who rated Ellen 88% plus for conservative voting this session and the only rep 100% voting in opposition to the Dems. But her support for Phelan was sickening. She was all rah-rah about how successful “we” were in the House, and she seemed faux sorrowful about how Paxton needed to be “held accountable.” I hope I didn’t hurt her cheerleader feelings implying she went along to get along or might be naive. I suspect she’s controlled opposition.
Hope you are right about Campbell. My Rep is Carrie Isaac and she has so far been pretty reliable. Campbell has disappointed me being silent on the china flu nonsense as she is an e.r. doc but she may not have much choice.
I get a kick out of Michael Berry whenever I happen to stumble onto his radio broadcast. So much good info out there, so little time. I’m trying to weed out my inbox. Just can’t get it done, but I shall follow your links.
Yeah, it’s hard to sustain a productive conversation with folks who stick with D or R because “that’s the way my parents always voted” or “I fell in love with Kennedy or Reagan and can’t get past those years.” I don’t discount my own imprinting, but I hope I can be more rational than that.
I read the Texas Minute or Texas Scorecard, whichever it comes out as. Michael Sullivan and Brandon Waltens seem to be pretty sober and savvy insiders, and they’ve been reposting Luke Macias’ coverage of the trial. Seems clear the Dems are trying to turn political animus into something criminal, but I’m wary when conservative sources appear to over-state their case. I expect that from democrat sources, but I try to keep an open mind.
Have you seen this? The Texas Heist | Do Democrats Run The Texas House? - YouTube It’s a nasty game of hardball and winner-take-all up in Austin.
McKinsey is a spook construct... Check out 'Tom London' in the Paris office, head of health nonsense...
A book that should be required reading is - "None Dare to Call it Conspiracy" by Garry Allen and Larry Abraham (1971), [updated 2016 - "Call it Conspiracy" ]- it details our march to socialism/communism and who was/are leading that march. One might wonder why it was that 100% of technology in the USSR came from the US and now probably that much in China. Accidental? Why did the same international banks fund both sides of the civil war and world wars and most of the rise in socialism/communism in foreign countries. Why was the Federal Reserve created and what false flags led to its creation? Why did Carnegie, Ford, and Rockefeller set up foundations and family trust and then became the largest proponent of the income tax? What caused the 1929 crash and why did it drag on so long? Why do so many of the advisors and most in the State dept. have ties to the Council of Foreign Relations [ also WEF/UN/and federal reserves]? Has the CIA/FBI done anything that was for the benefit of Americans? It is good to remember what happened on 9/10/2001 – when Sec. of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, disclosed that his dept. was unable to account for 2.3 Trillion in unsupported adjustments. That problem disappeared along with the WTCs and the budget dept of the Pentagon on 911. Accident?
Who receives the interest payments on our debt? Like any major corporation today - if you look at members of the board you will find those companies with a controlling interest have representatives sitting on the board and directing the action. The same is true with government - those who hold the debt control the decisions and those decisions always benefit the owners of the debt. Wilson created the administrative state and practically every president since has expanded it. The goal was always one world government - with the global parasites and their prodigy in control. Who funded the rise in socialism in this country - the same folks that funded communism in the USSR and elsewhere. We need to expose and dismantle this international cartel. There is a far darker side to these parasites that play with nations like pieces on a chess board. But we will never end this unless we wake up and understand this evil which unfortunately has a huge number of conspirators inside of our government, media, academia and military industrial pharmaceutical complex. We need to start recognizing what is staged and what is real and stop believing in the accidental theory of history. And we need to start stating the facts out loud and not continuing with the deceptions. Yes realizing we have been lied to is soul crushing - but failing to realize it can only lead to enslavement.
The purpose of our constitution was to enslave the government not the people.
"None Dare Call it Conspiracy" is definitely required reading right next to "Witness" by Whittaker Chambers and "The Naked Communist" by W. Cleon Skousen. Those titles remind me of my John Birch Society mother listening to about three minutes of LBJ on TV and muttering to herself, "He's lying through his teeth."
Yes to both of those. Should be read and reread and shared widely. You can tell when something is truthful - then and now there will be an intense effort to defame the authors and/or control access.
Black Rock probably made billions and billions investing in the Peoples Liberation Army Companies and will be fined 200 or 300 million if anything. With nearly 9 trillion in their coffers I’m sure house investigators will get really large white envelopes full of cash before any remedy were to happen. J.Goodrich
I m gonna print out the letters sent by congress to Blackrock & MStanley and email them to my 401k managers and pull out any blackrock funds. I think if Americans start to wise up we can make a difference.
Given the near total depravity of the dim party have to wonder how many of them have been honey trapped by china as was that clown in calif.?
Just as troubling is the CCP's investment in the US.
Right here in Maine, there are 240 "homes" that are being watched by our own Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, a part of the Maine State Police.
I have a contact high up in the power company that serves North and Downeast Maine that tells me that all of these "homes" have requested, or have received power upgrades.
Just up the street from me, a small lodge with 5 small camps was bought by Chinese, and each camp, 24' x 14', now has a 200 amp entrance.
The feds have been reluctant (for some reason) to do any investigating, and have advised the MDEA to take no action, and to watch, only.
I suspect this is happening in all rural states, especially ones with cheap rural houses for sale.
My money is on either Fentanyl manufacturing, or illegal grow operations shipping MJ out of state untaxed.
Another odd thing is that of the six remaining paper mills (15 years ago we had a total of at least 14), the Chinese own and operate three of them, and quite possibly are buying a fourth.
I believe that the Chinese are being infiltrated into the US and have been for decades through the foreign student programs that down and out towns were enticed into in order to keep their schools viable. This started way back in the eighties. How many of those Chinese students are now still living in the US and, of course, reporting to the CCP?
I suspect what I have just outlined is only the tip of the iceburg.
I can’t say I am surprised that Black Rock, et al are investing in China, why wouldn’t they? Money knows no flag and I am sure if you looked at their investments in AI and surveillance and weapons technology there would be a lot to write about as well. Yes, the Chinese government has created a hell on earth and is a model of the surveillance state that western governments clearly envy and are trying to emulate. But, from the perspective of liberty and freedom from coercive government, technocracy, AI and imprisonment, both spiritual and literal, I would prefer investigations into the invisible government but congress will never go there. The idea that the US is run by patriots who are undermined by traitors and Chinese sympathizers strikes me as a narrative that politicians will use to make hay with and that the Intel/military/industrial cartel will ultimately like. It will allow them to ramp up the war machine while still working with Chinese biolabs when it suits them.
Robert- have you heard of the work that Catherine Austin Fitts has been doing? The Soleri Report. If so, could you comment on it? Trying to find sources to trust.
She is one of my haters.
Cathy, Dr. Malone can certainly answer, she is one of his detractors.
Maybe I figured this one out....maybe.
Fitts says she was invited to comment on both books by Breggin and Desmet.
Assume for this argument, both authors know their material and the books are sourced and researched properly.
After looking at a bunch of articles, interviews, websites and stuff it seems the argument comes down to this...
Mass Formation = 5GW used by our Psychotic Overlords to control people
Mass Atrocity (in this case C19) = Tyrannical government created by Our Psychotic Overlords
Chicken / Egg...One gets you the other.
Fitts and company are pretty loose with "facts" as exemplified by this clip (https://breggin.com/article-detail/post_detail/Malone-Admits-Political-Aspirations)
of Dr. Malone speaking with Steve Bannon about serving in a Presidential administration.
The title of the webpage article is "Malone Admits Political Aspirations:, at this link:
https://breggin.com/article-detail/post_detail/Malone-Admits-Political-Aspirations
Political Aspirations and "I want to serve to fix this mess", are NOT the same thing.
Now back to Chicken / Egg...One gets you the other.
Dr. Breggin seems unhappy that imprecise terms used by Dr. Malone (according to Dr. Breggin) "Mass Formation" somehow weaponize mental health strategies (the subject of Dr. Breggins book).
Pointing out...again...5GW is an event that takes place in the minds of the populace and is implemented by our Psychotic Overlords using weaponized mental health tactics to cause, perpetuate, further or cover up Mass Atrocity.
Maybe a bit off topic but kind of went down a rabbit hole.
Haven't read Breggins book - zero familiarity
Reading over your perspectives does lead me to wonder
With helping people to see, understand and effectively deal with 5GW - have the people in themselves dealt with the issue
Whereas is Breggin implying people will need involved professional help?
Good Gawsh, Don’t get me started on the ccp, blacktrock, etc.Sponsed by ….🤬 Transpore will not work. Duct tape on. Ed
And to think that You have been labeled a domestic threat! I'll bet Ed Dowd has an idea what's going on.
To me ( admittedly pretty marginally informed) this is a topic of interest. We know China 'doesn't have our interests or purported sensitivities' at heart. We understand China is currently overall financially challenged. Thus it would seem to be a time to minimize financial support to China. It would seem a time that support from investors may well be dangerously speculative for them but also against US long term interests.
To me it's becoming pretty difficult these days to be sure where, among the elected and Gov employed, statesmanship may be able to prevail. This does look like a real possibility. Will join in paying attention. Thank you for sharing this with us!
Very Bestest !
Thank you for this! Without you, your good sense and your access to the sources, I would miss out a lot of very important information. In this case I am surprised that Blackrock and MSCI should have stepped back with these investments “just because a Rep. committee requests it”. Maybe this is just a deception to give the impression. They will certainly continue to pursue their own goals in the background...