Catalan Police are Siding with the People Against Madrid


Ukraine-Livi

COMMENT: Mr. Armstrong, the police in Barcelona are starting to defend the people against Madrid. Thank you so much!

REPLY: The critical moment in any revolution is when the police/army switch sides to the people. Yeltsin stood on the tanks in Russia and the army stood down. In Ukraine, I warned that the people had to get the police to switch to their side and the revolution would succeed. I wrote that the riot police in Kiev were really imported Russian. To beat the government, the real police had to turn against the imported police. I am not speaking from OPINION. I am speaking from a pure analytical perspective looking closely at every revolution and how they unfold, fail, or win.

Where is there trouble? Look at Venezuela. The police and army are defending the corrupt government against the people. That is when blood flows in the streets and it is usually the people. The Spanish government has still a core of fascism running through its veins. It is attempting to use riot police against the people the same identical manner as we saw in Ukraine. It has been at the instigation of the government of the right-wing conservative Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, who is against the people and hopefully will be rejected in the months ahead by all of Spain.  Rajoy has ordered the regional police to be placed under the supervision of the Spanish security forces, including the guardia civil, a paramilitary police group, which is widely disused in Catalonia. This is clearly the action of what a dictator would do – defend the government at the expense of the blood of the people. Rajoy has to understand that government is NOT the sovereign of a state – it is the people!

Rajoy has used the bogus court that holds that any national decision over the independence of Spain against the will of the central government is unconstitutional. The Spanish Constitutional Court has show it too is in the pocket of the political elite. It is a HUMAN RIGHT for the people to overthrow the government whenever it becomes an enemy of the people. The American Revolution in short was the fight between America and England, in order for America to create their own country which is a fundamental human right. We were NOT created to be slaves of a political state.

Let me make this very clear. The human right of revolution is fundamental throughout history and government should beware that oppressing the people with pretend laws declaring revolution illegal is in itself a violation of human rights and a display of authoritarianism. It has historically been the right and duty of the people of any nation to overthrow a government that acts against their common interests of the people and threatens the safety of the people without probable cause as we are watching in Spain. This principal has been stated throughout history by many in one form or another. It is a foundation of human rights that has been used to justify EVERY revolution, such as the English Civil War, the American Revolution and the French Revolution just to mention a few.

The calls for EU intervention are increasing against Spain are increasing by the day. Barcelona’s mayor Ada Colau called for a mediation mission of the EU Commission on Thursday to defuse the crisis between the Spanish central government and the Catalan nationalists. A representative of the Catalan regional government accused the EU of supporting the “brutal repression” of Spain through its idleness. This is also becoming obvious for it is also tearing at the heart of of the EU which is also truly a dictatorship when the head of the EU also does not stand for election. The EU Commission has taken the position that it was a question of Spain’s domestic policy. So if there is blood on the streets, then that is OK for any member of the EU to kill its own people who want political change even when it is the majority?

An escalation of the crisis will strike a deep blow into the heart of the interests of Europe. It will shake the foundation of the EU for it will stand as an example to all members that the EU supports oppression for separatist movements are anti-EU and against their self-interests. How can the EU defend Catalonia without undermining its own political power?

Catalan General Prosecutor, the regional officials of the Mossos d’Esquadra, has come out and expressed reservations about the order to prevent the opening of the polling stations of Madrid. The Catalan police are 16,000 strong and they have now declared in the short message on Twitter  that the implementation of the Decree risks the “undesirable consequences”. These concern the “security of citizens” and the “more than foreseeable risk” that the public order is disturbed.

 

We are watching history unfold that will be profound for the Euro and Europe moving forward. If the Euro closes tomorrow below 11662, then the rally against the dollar is probably over.

Spain To Send in Troops To Stop Voting for Independence


Spain has continued to show the world that fascism is alive and well. Madrid is sending in the troops to shut down the planned Independence Day vote in Catalonia. Madrid, according to Reuters, is taking steps to prevent the vote at all costs. They have ordered their regional police force to take control of all polling stations from Friday and prevent voting. They announced: “We can confirm today that there will be no successful referendum in Catalonia.”

There is a major political crisis brewing in Spain that will spread to the rest of Europe. The elite will not tolerate any such vote against the federalization of Europe with Brussels at the head. On the weekend all the regional police units had been subordinated to the commanding authority of the Ministry of Interior in Madrid. What will be critical here is whether the police of Catalonia split and defend their own people against Madrid oppression. That will be the critical point that determines the break-up of Spain.

The independence vote is to take place on Sunday. The government in Madrid rejects the vote as unconstitutional. The Catalans call on the EU to defend the EU’s values ​​and to take action against Spain’s repressive steps. The Catalans are armed for any escalation and it will now depend if the Catalan police kill their own people or defend them against Madrid.

The government in Madrid has sent 16,500 Spanish policemen to Catalonia to prevent the referendum. They are to be accommodated in ferries in the port of Barcelona. However, Catalan port workers have announced to refuse to supply the ferries. Meanwhile, the prosecutor ordered the regional police on Tuesday to arrest the leaders of the vote and block the presidential election zones.

Spain’s Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, is clearly showing the entire world that not merely is there a Crisis in Democracy, but that the EU democratic values mean absolutely nothing when they go against the political elite.

This is a question of honor and do we really have governments of the people and by the people?

 

Germany – Trying to Form a Government Won’t Be Easy


Trying to form a government in Germany is not so easy. Green leader, Simone Peter, says they and the FDP agree with Merkel that there should be no limit to refugees. He said” “In a coalition with us, there will be no upper limit for refugees, just as with the CDU and FDP. The CSU has to adjust to this if it wants to seriously question Jamaica,” he told the Rheinische Post.

The CSU, normally the sister party of the CDU in Bavaria, saw what they lost to the AfD. Even Merkel is vowing to bring back the right into the fold.

Meanwhile, the 75-year-old former Minister of Finance Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU) is to become the new Bundestag president. The Bild newspaper reports that Schäuble has already given his consent to his departure as Finance Minister. Schäuble would therefore not be in charge of finances in the new government. He has been the federal finance minister since 2009. As the Bundestag President, Schäuble would not participate in the coalition negotiations

Secretary Rex Tillerson Announces Travel to China Sept 28th – October 1st…


Well, well, well…. According to a breaking State Department release T-Rex will be headed to Beijing the day after tomorrow (Thursday) through Sunday.   Yup, everything proceeding swimmingly.  A very predictable plan, for an intensely smart geopolitical strategy.  Walking in a Winner Wonderland !

STATE DEPT – U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will travel to Beijing September 28 – October 1 to meet with senior Chinese leaders. Secretary Tillerson will discuss a range of issues, including the President’s planned travel to the region, the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and trade and investment. Secretary Tillerson’s visit to China reaffirms the Administration’s commitment to further broaden and enhance U.S. economic and security interests in the Asia-Pacific region.

Follow Secretary Tillerson’s travel via @StateDept on Twitter and go to the Department’s Flickr account for the latest trip photos. Stay connected at https://blogs.state.gov/engage, and keep track of all of the Secretary’s travels at https://www.state.gov/secretary/2017travel/index.htm. (link)

Don’t you love it when a plan comes together?

China doesn’t want to own the DPRK outcome.  They want plausible deniability in any confrontation.  However, N-Korea is a de-facto economic province of China under the guiding control and authority of communist Beijing.

In order to create the outcome where China accepts ownership of the DPRK, and leads negotiations therein, there has to be a value for Beijing, a carrot, toward the larger international community.  Considering the decades-long Chinese obfuscation of that role and responsibility, Trump needs to keep narrowing the diplomatic space until China has no options.  That’s where the magnanimous panda strategy comes into play.

Trump will never use the U.S. military to solve this regional issue.

The “Trump Doctrine” national security strategy is based on economics and diplomacy.

President Trump’s words and rhetoric against Kim Jong-un, and the response from Jong-un in kind toward President Trump, creates the foundation of a need for magnanimous panda to step in.

This year Beijing is holding it’s communist party national referendum, the Communist Party Congress, mid October.   This ‘Old Guard’ meeting happens every five years.

Beijing (AsiaNews) – The Central Committee’s Political Bureau (Politburo) yesterday chose 18 October for the opening of the 19th Chinese Communist Party Congress.

The 200-strong Central Committee is expected to ratify the date when it meets for its last plenum on 11 October.

“[The congress] will formulate an action plan and set out major policy direction that will meet the demands of the era,” the Politburo said in a statement.

The congress, which is held every five years, is expected to re-elect Xi Jinping as party general secretary for a second five-year term. Xi is likely to get his own political philosophy included in the party’s constitution, placing him on a par with Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, and others. (read more)

It is widely anticipated that Xi Jinping will gain more control and power over the affairs of China on economics and domestic policy.

Remember, it would be against Trump’s interests if the entire global and geopolitical community understood what was happening, as he attempts to create an outcome where China takes responsibility for North Korea.

So the question becomes, how will we know when President Trump has won in the economic and national security challenge?   Well, first let’s look at the geopolitical landscape and the known and identified calendar to view the goal timeline:

♦We know President Trump is planning to attend an ASEAN meeting in November.

♦We also know that President Trump is planning to visit China later this year.  Most likely that trip will be part of the ASEAN engagement.

So it makes sense that President Trump would like to conclude the outline of the economic diplomacy by the time of the ASEAN and China visit – such that: A.) President Trump can outline the agreement and stroke the panda’s ego on his turf; and B.) President Xi Jinping can announce his magnanimous victory on behalf of great Panda’s incredible achievement in providing great security to the world.

::::smiling:::::

Yup.

Meanwhile, just prior to the ASEAN/China meetup, President Trump’s secret weapon, Ivanka, who happens to be the most beloved American in China, is deployed to India to capture the world’s attention with Narendra Modi hugs.

President Modi is the “Trump Card” in the geopolitical economic gamesmanship.  China is currently at odds with India’s rise to economic power; Ballywood is very hot in the U.S. right now; and a warm Modi – Trump economic relationship is a foil against China’s heavy-handed extortion of their economic partners.

Whoopsie sounds like the makings of a fork in China’s One Road/One Belt plan.

Strategery.

::::still smiling::::

So, if this strategy works, and there’s every indication everything is falling into place, we can safely predict that sometime in late fall, most likely before the ASEAN visit timeline in November, President Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will be engaged in a new round of Six Party Talks, initiated by request of the increasingly boxed-in China.

China will structure the DPRK talking points to set up the meetings.  This is a part of how China is allowed to save face, against a backdrop of Trump/Mnuchin economic pressure, and sets up the magnanimous Panda narrative.

The six party talks will be essentially a Marshall Plan of sorts for North Korea.

Japan, South Korea, The United States, China, Russia and North Korea will enter into a set of negotiations publicly sold as engaging in diplomacy and reducing tension.  That tension is what President Trump is currently stimulating to keep the pressure on Beijing ahead of the Communist Congress.

With success, President Trump (or T-Rex) will sit on the patio complimenting Xi Jinping (or deputy), and Russian, Japanese and South Korean emissaries.

Meanwhile, well behind the scenes, in the conference room, Secretary Wilbur Ross, USTR Robert Lighthizer and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will play the role of Willy Wonka handing out the golden economic tickets to representatives who all line up with their requests for terms of economic discussion.

President Trump’s golf partner Shinzo Abe will already have his ticket, but he’ll play along.  South Korea and partnered ASEAN nations will also see a benefit. The only real negotiations will be between the U.S. Russia and China.  Russia will be negotiating for higher regional energy prices to get their GDP growing again (affluence) and increase their geopolitical influence; While China will be negotiating to retain as much of the $350 billion trade surplus as possible, and retain their one-road/one-belt viability.

The end result will be Kim Jong-un giving up his nuclear ambitions for good; China accepts responsibility to denuclearize under carefully negotiated terms, and against the backdrop of economic punishment for duplicity, and publicly Big Panda promises to the world to be the magnanimous insurance policy therein.

Everything between now and that outcome is optically chaff and countermeasures.

♦SHORT TERM – When the denuclearization terms are finalized; only then will President Trump outline the broad parameters of a U.S./China trade relationship based on new renegotiated trade policies.  The mood of that stage within the strategy will be based on the cooperative behavior of China in the next 60 days.

♦MEDIUM TERM – Also, when Trump gets to that latter stage, China will be facing a different global economic landscape because President Trump and India’s Prime-Minister Modi have already formulated the outlines of a joint economic partnership.

♦LONG TERM – Economic leverage against communist China to remove the larger geopolitical threat they represent to the U.S. (and the international community) is gained by positioning India as a replacement for U.S. trade/commerce, and ASEAN partners as continental benefactors, with favorable access to the U.S. market, within bi-lateral trade deals.

Readers will note this bi-lateral strategic approach, in economic depth and breadth, also significantly reduces the internal economic benefits of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) amid partner nations.

That diluted regional trade outcome is not accidental.

Dallas Cowboys Kneel Down in Arizona – Crowd Boo’s – NFL Implosion Complete…


The Dallas Cowboys, together with team owner Jerry Jones, take a collective knee at the start of the Monday Night Football game to display their unity with… well, something probably.  Stick a fork in the financial future of the NFL, it’s done; finished.

The only thing that was saving the NFL from full organizational collapse was the advent of Fantasy Football Leagues and the subsequent betting and fan-based league play therein.

Never underestimate the inability of any business organization to inoculate itself with idiot resistant policies once they enter the arena of identity politics.  It has always been thus:

.

There is something profoundly hilarious in the face of team owner Jerry Jones looking so smug, as if he’s figured out how to navigate this insufferable financial minefield. He didn’t. Now watch the slow-motion financial implosion… that smugly look will change quickly as he watches his organizational bank account drain.  Which is faster than the knee he promised to never take. By Thanksgiving; you’ll see. Bigly.

I’m sorry, but I just can’t stop laughing. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

Has Merkel Been Undermined in Germany?


 

There German election was on par with the global trend that is rising up against the establishment as we have known it. Angela Merkel has been accused of weakening her respective coalition partner. The election result of the Bundestag election shows that not only the SPD has to worry about losing ground, but the Union of the CDU and the CSU in Bavaria has been substantially weakened.

Merkel has always created a coalition by incorporating the key program points of the other parties into the Union. However, the election saw the Union lost nearly 9%, which is a historic defeat. In addition, there is a real rift emerging now with the CSU in Bavaria, where the CSU fell below 40% for the first time. In both cases, this has been caused by the refugee issue Merkel has tried to pretend is not a crisis.

Merkel has drastically underestimated the AfD and the refugee crisis. She concentrated on the Greens and the SPD and tried to bury the other parties with extremist labels. The AfD Merkel tried desperately to paint into the Nazi corner. She has failed to understand that the refugee crisis is a real crisis and it has undermined the people’s feeling of security.

The Union and the SPD wanted to negotiate the issue of refugees and migration. The SPD under Martin Schulz even was proposing that they should be allowed to vote. Without any comprehension of how serious the refugee crisis has been, Merkel attacked even the German-Turks in the TV duel as Turkey told Turks not to vote for Merkel. Schulz raged against the German-Turks despite the fact that the Turks in Germany were not refugees and had been there for decades.  Merkel positioned the CDU to the left of the center with the SPD in her entire term of office and wanted to put the key to their long-term strategy in this election of socialism.

Merkel’s Grand Coalition has seem a significant vote amounting to 46.8% voting against everything she stands for. The people have elected the FDP, the Greens, or the Left Party, while the bourgeois-conservative voters have moved to AfD. The union lost a million voters to the AfD, which was remarkable. This goes to the substance of the refugee crisis.

Merkel and her Grand Coalition have tried to downplay this political disaster. While Merkel has clung to power, the CSU is demanding concessions how in light of its loss to the AfD in Bavaria. Merkel may still be in office, but she suffered a defeat that was morally decisive as was the case with Hillary Clinton.

Merkel’s CDU has been unable to prevent voters from abandoning her Grand Coalition. She has indeed not strengthen the Grand Coalition, but weakened it. With the economy turn down and the inability of the ECB to cope with the deflation, the prospects moving forward for the Grand Coalition appear to be headed for a major political collapse.

Merkel’s failed strategy of setting up a left-green-conservative Volksspartei in the center for the CDU has meant that Germany is currently almost unregulated as Merkel has tried to be the Chancellor embracing all points of view except the AfD.

Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD) were hoping to at last oppose Merkel. However, they lost 5% from the 2013 election which has reduced them to a diminish socialist party. The SPD won just 20.5% of the vote, which was the party’s worst result in the 19 general elections since the creation of the federal republic. This demonstrates what our model has been forecasting that we are in the collapsing stages of socialism.  Martin Schulz his SPD party had no choice but to go into opposition “to defend democracy against those who question it and attack it,” after dropping to a post-war low.

Talk of the SPD abandoning Merkel and joining a black-yellow-green coalition with the FDP and Greens, does not look to be promising. The opinion makers in both parties are radical opportunists but not really team players. This would produce a coalition of just 40.1% against the CDU’s 32.5%.

Merkel has clearly abandoned the conservatives, which puts tremendous pressure on the CSU in Bavria. The CSU has made it clear that they must position themselves to the AfD given the attitude in Bavaria. This position is completely incompatible in a coalition with the Greens. It is as good as incompatible with a FDP. The CSU could not possibly align with the Greens without being in complete opposition with the AfD.

Merkel’s previous political strategy has called into question coalition politics. Yet after 12 years in power, many say that Merkel would have to be dragged out by the hair. The see the CDU as too corrupted by holding power too long. The CDU has lost all vision of where the people really stand. The AfD has offered these “deplorables” as Merkel called them an alternative, because the CSU was not able to penetrate the Union.

Merkel has won the first place and she has become a chancellor for a 4th term. But because the German political parties are in ruins, the question arises whether being chancellor even matters in this environment within Germany. Some fear that Germany will go the way of the Netherlands or Spain and muddle along temporarily governed by provisional rule until a new election is unavoidable in the end. Merkel’s underestimating the Refugee Crisis may seal the fate of Germany moving forward. An those who saw the Euro defeating the dollar; well good luck. The rend is down long-term.

Supreme Court Cancels Travel Ban Arguments…


Against the backdrop of a revised set of administration rules on visa issuance and restricted nationalities; and considering the previously argued ‘Trump travel ban’ guidelines expired Sunday; the Supreme Court has cancelled their hearing of arguments in opposition to the former travel restrictions and visa guidance.

(Via Associated Press) – 1:40 p.m. – The Supreme Court has canceled arguments set for Oct. 10 in the dispute over President Donald Trump’s travel ban, after Trump rolled out a new policy Sunday.

The unsigned order from the justices Monday asks both sides to weigh in by Oct. 5 about what to do with the case.

The court had been ready to hear argument about the legality of a 90-day ban on travelers from six mostly Muslim countries and a 120-day ban on refugees from around the world.

The ban expired Sunday and was replaced by a new policy that affects eight counties and has no expiration date.  Those countries are Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen.  Chad, North Korea and Venezuela were not covered by the earlier ban. (link)

In addition both Chad and Venezuela are pushing back against Homeland Security guidance that led to their inclusion on the revised travel restrictions:

♦Chad’s government says it learned “with astonishment” of the decision by the U.S. government that its country is on a list whose nationals will be prohibited from entering the United States.

A government statement Monday said the government expresses its incomprehension about the “official reasons for this decision; which contrasts with Chad’s constant efforts and commitments in the fight against terrorism at regional and global levels.”

Chad’s government called for a better appreciation of the situation and for Trump to reconsider the decision which it says “undermines the image of Chad and the good relations between the two countries.” (LINK)

♦Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (nee-koh-LAHS’ mah-DOO’-roh) says the Trump administration’s decision to include Venezuelan officials on a travel ban is a form of “political and psychological terrorism.”

His foreign ministry issued a statement Monday saying that the travel restrictions violate the values of the United Nations charter and international law and are part of a continuing effort by the U.S. to oust Maduro from power.

The ministry said it is considering “all necessary measures” to defend Venezuela’s sovereignty and national interest. (LINK)

Merkel Wins but Still only 32.5% Down Significantly


Once again Merkel fails to win the popular vote in Germany. Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union lost 9% compared to the last elections. Nevertheless, her party has remained as the largest party in Germany’s parliament. Merkel’s CDU won 32.5% of the popular vote far less than any president in the United States history. That was a major decline for Merkel yet she will still rule Germany and Europe for that matter.

Germany’s electorate is more divided than ever before. The AfD won seats for the first time and they now came in as a strong 3rd position. Traditionally, power has either been held by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) plus its sister Christian Social Union (CSU) party, or the Social Democratic Party (SPD). This year, however, the AfD will be making things more interesting and will play a far more crucial role as they exploit the Refugee Crisis with each and every terrorist act.

An Island in Crisis – Puerto Rico Devastated by Hurricane Maria…


Puerto Rico has been devastated by Hurricane Maria.  CTH can confirm there is almost no communication with the majority of those impacted by the devastating impact of Hurricane Maria.   Local officials are using satellite phones to gain residents the ability to contact their friends and family in the U.S. mainland. Critical infrastructure has been severely compromised.  Cell phone service is sporadic to non-existent.

Adding to and amplifying the problem was a general dependency on government assistance, by a large portion of the population, for basic needs prior to the storm.  The comfort of dependency has now worsened the desperation of the people on the island.

(Via Fox News) A humanitarian crisis grew Saturday in Puerto Rico as towns were left without fresh water, fuel, power or phone service following Hurricane Maria’s devastating passage across the island.

A group of anxious mayors arrived in the capital to meet with Gov. Ricardo Rossello to present a long list of items they urgently need. The north coastal town of Manati had run out of fuel and fresh water, Mayor Jose Sanchez Gonzalez said.

“Hysteria is starting to spread. The hospital is about to collapse. It’s at capacity,” he said, crying. “We need someone to help us immediately.”

The death toll from Maria in Puerto Rico was at least 10, including two police officers who drowned in floodwaters in the western town of Aguada. That number was expected to climb as officials from remote towns continued to check in with officials in San Juan.

Authorities in the town of Vega Alta on the north coast said they had been unable to reach an entire neighborhood called Fatima, and were particularly worried about residents of a nursing home.

“I need to get there today,” Mayor Oscar Santiago told The Associated Press. “Not tomorrow, today.”

Rossello said Maria would clearly cost more than the last major storm to wallop the island, Hurricane George in September 1998. “This is without a doubt the biggest catastrophe in modern history for Puerto Rico,” he said.

A dam upstream of the towns of Quebradillas and Isabela in northwest Puerto Rico was cracked but had not burst by Saturday afternoon as the water continued to pour out of rain-swollen Lake Guajataca. Federal officials said Friday that 70,000 people, the number who live in the surrounding area, would have to be evacuated. But Javier Jimenez, mayor of the nearby town of San Sebastian, said he believed the number was far smaller.

Secretary of Public Affairs Ramon Rosario said about 300 families were in harm’s way.

The governor said there is “significant damage” to the dam and authorities believe it could give way at any moment. “We don’t know how long it’s going to hold. The integrity of the structure has been compromised in a significant way,” Rossello said.  (read more)

.

The U.S. military is the tip of the spear in attempting to get aid and supplies to the residents in coordination with FEMA and emergency officials.  CTH had numerous conversations today with teams trying to get as much into the island as possible.

The leadership of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) and Expeditionary Strike Group 2, met with key leaders with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Puerto Rico National Guard to plan and coordinate for Hurricane Maria response efforts in Puerto Rico. The Department of Defense (DoD) is supporting FEMA, the lead federal agency, in helping those affected by Hurricane Maria to minimize suffering and is one component of the overall whole-of-government response effort. (U.S. Marine Corps video by Cpl. Adam D. Edwards)

NAFTA Round Three Begins in Canada – Secretary Wilbur Ross Discusses NAFTA, North Korea and China…


Round three of NAFTA begins this weekend in Canada.  According to a leaked possible itinerary obtained by Reuters the auto-sector “rules of origin” will be discussed on Tuesday or Wednesday.

The auto sector rules of origin have been exploited by China to send auto manufacturing parts into Mexico, including massive electronic components, where they are assembled and shipped into the U.S. under NAFTA.  This trade maneuver is an exploitation, a back-door per se’, of the NAFTA agreement by China which Secretary Ross and USTR Robert Lighthizer are committed to stopping.

Secretary Wilbur Ross explains in this recent CNBC interview. WATCH: