Sick Of High Gas Prices?
 

Hey Ya'll,

Years ago I read a book called The Emperor Wears No Clothes by Jack Herer. One interesting thing I learned is the following that was paste/copied from the authors myspace page:

"We hereby extend our $100,000 challenge to prove us wrong!

If all fossil fuels and their derivatives, as well as trees for paper and construction, were banned in order to save the planet, reverse the greenhouse effect and stop deforestation; then there is only one known annually renewable natural resource that is capable of providing the overall majority of the world's paper and textiles; meet all of the world's transportation, industrial and home energy needs, while simultaneously reducing pollution, rebuilding the soil and cleaning the atmosphere all at the same time... and that substance is the same one that has done it before . . . CANNABIS/HEMP/MARIJUANA!"

Jack Herer, Author of the "The Emperor Wears No Clothes"

www.jackherer.com/

http://www.myspace.com/hempjack

So I am inspired to post about it, even though I expect the nay sayers to be very loud and vocal against this post, when instead the people in this country should be pissed off and raising hell squwaking in support of it.

The thing that I don't understand is why no one is talking about the fact that we do not need petroleum, we could grow all of our energy, except for one thing. The plant that could provide all of our energy is illegal. The fact that we can make anything that is currently made from petroleum oil from HEMP. By the way corn is not even close competition for hemp.

If you were to study the issue like I have you too would be convinced that Marijuana Prohibition is not because it is a dangerous drug(it's not), but it is illegal to protect the profits of the oil companies, and the pharmeceutical companies, among others. By making industrial hemp legal, which several States have done, but the feds continue to block, we could save family farms, and redistribute the wealth, and we would no longer need to fight wars in the middle east for oil.

This is the United States Of America, and according to our constitution the States have the rights to govern, and the Feds are not supposed to supercede the states rights, yet when it comes to protecting the big companies from competing with hemp the feds get away with violating the states rights, why are the so called patriots in this country so angry when people like me protest the unconstitutional actions of our federal government?

There is something fishy going on in this country, and I salute the true patriots that protest against the crimes that are being perpetrated by our federal government.

I don't care what political side of the smoke and mirror show you are on, but there is something not right, and if you knew the truth you too would be against marijuana prohibition.

Remember that red all above? It refers to the fact that all of our energy needs can be derived from industrial hemp. Yes all of our energy needs. This means we don't need nuclear power, or oil from Alaska, or the middle east.

An interesting side note is that industrial hemp would interfere with the production of quality smokable marijuana, meaning that it would not help people smoke pot if hemp were legal. Pot smokers are the excuse to keep hemp from being developed into the huge industry that could turn our crap economy around.

If you have something negative to say, and you have not read the book, or done the research that was done by the author then you do not have a valid argument in my opinion. If you can prove the author wrong he has $100,000.00 for you, so far as I know no one has even tried to prove him wrong.

If you don't like the way you are being raped at the gas pump, remember to keep this in mind when you vote, and when you write your representatives. Once they realize that the general population knows that hemp has the potential to totally change our economy for the better, then they will be in fear for their jobs, and we could see a change for the better.

Later,

Allan Greenblazer

Hemp has been changing my life since High School ;)

Industrial hemp is legal to grow in Canada. (Though regulated.)

Does anyone have a list of the states that hemp is legal to grow for industrial purposes?

I'm totally with you on this Allan. I have said for years the the hemp/marijuana prohibition is nothing more then a ploy by the US government, but never did I think it was to protect the oil companies, but that's an interesting point you bring up non-the-less. I had always thought, and I'm sure this has some merit of truth to it, that it was because back when they started this whole "war on drugs thing" many years ago, that the head of the FBI (or whatever division it was) needed another drug on the list to make it pass because, at the time, it was the most used drug in America, meaning that they would make a killing off of making it illegal and fining those who used/possessed it. Now, not to turn this into a debate about making drugs legal, but I completely agree with you on everything you just said about it not being harmful (there are scientific studies proving it that have come out in the last few years that they are just as bad, if not maybe a little better for you, then cigarettes) and the fact that the other product you can make from it, hemp, could do so much good in the country, that it's silly to think they would ban it and not some other things I can think of.

But I digress *stepping down off soap box*, it makes me wonder, though, where the hemp I buy for my necklaces and such come from...is that the Canadian stuff you were talking about Metro?

Maybe - I don't really know.

My support of the hemp industry is limited to a couple pair of jeans I have. Someone told me they'd last longer than regular denim, and I bought it (literally). They were made in Montreal.

No, I wouldn't be convinced. The theory might be credible if it were ONLY marijuana that was illegal, but there's that whole flock of other drugs to consider. How do the oil companies profit from prohibiting cocaine, LSD, or any of the others?

Nor do I think the pie-in-the-sky projections for hemp growing are realistic. I mean, it's a plant, right? And not significantly different from other plants. It'd be a useful crop (I have a couple of hemp fiber shirts that I wear hiking, which are much more comfortable & durable than anything else I've ever tried), but hardly a panacea.

Well James you have obviously not done the research, and have only bought into the lies and propaganda spewed by the government or some other group.

Hemp according to USDA information is capable of providing way more fuel than corn, and that is only one use. It could be used to make many industrial products simultaneously.

Some 27 states have either passed laws favoring hemp or are considering such legislation, according to the North American Industrial Hemp Council (NAIHC).

Why would so many states be interested if hemp were not useful?
Why would the Feds continue to ban industrial hemp when it is not usable as a drug?

Banning hemp is like refusing to sell Grape Juice to an underage person because it has traces of alcohol in it.

Poppy seed bagels are legal but they have enough of a trace of opiates that a person who ate too many could have a false positive for opiates if drug tested.

Hemp has such a small amount of THC that there is no way to get high from it, so there is no logical reason to prohibit hemp, except to provide illegal protection to products that it could compete with.

Marijuana farmers would lose money if their illegal pot crops were contaminated by hemp pollen, so the BS excuse that hemp farmers would hide some pot mixed in with the hemp crop just doesn't fly. Hemp contamination downgrades marijuana.

Remember I said "If you did the research..."

There is even an organization of Police Officers that think marijuana prohibition is wrong.

The real reason marijuana is illegal in the first place was to protect certain rich business' from having to compete with hemp.

I have done the research, and in spite of my strict religeous upbringing that had me convinced that marijuana is a dangerous drug, I have discovered the truth about Hemp, and why marijuana is illegal.

In my very educated opinion on the subject, marijuana/hemp prohibition is straight up evil. God made a plant that is extremely useful, and men have the audacity to try to erradicate the plant that god made. (you can use nature in place of god if that makes you happy)

You don't have to take my word for it, the information is all over the internet. Of course if you only research the government and church sites you will not get the whole truth.

If you think this is the opinion of a hippy pot head, then you are being a blind bigot.

Are you afraid to find out that you might be wrong about something?

Are you afraid to believe that you are not really in control of the government, and that they might be lying to you to protect the rich oil companies, and pharmeceutical companies, and alcohol companies who all spend big dollars to keep hemp/marijuana illegal?

My point is, that if you did the research and found out the truth you too would be against the prohibition of hemp/marijuana. If you chose to blindy follow the lies then you might just be a sucker that fell for a really big con.

Later,

Allan Greenblazer

You know, back when I smoked pot, I used to think the government was conspiring against me too. I'm just kidding, but to play devil's advocate, why would the government ban weed to help out oil companies, but not ban converting used peanut oil into biodiesel?

Honestly, I'll come right out and admit that I haven't researched this topic too thoroughly, but still, I'm skeptical. Have there been other countries that have successfully used hemp for fuel production? I'm sure the government and the oil companies can't ban it everywhere. In fact, I believe there is a South American country (I forget which one) that has switched entirely over to ethanol, but I believe they are using other plants such as sugar cane to produce it. I realize that I'm not well researched, but please refrain from using the Tom Cruise patented "You don't know the history of psychiatry (or whatever) like I do!" answer.

It comes down to the difference per acre/time to mature, and the lack of pesticides needed. Biomass from hemp far excedes the other options. I have read of one company using hemp biodiesel for commercial bus' It has been a while, but I remember that the bus company was on the Canadian border, and they were talking about constructing a refinery to process hemp for fuel. The information is out there, and there is mass quantities of it. I have read about hemp/marijuana as a hobby for more than 7 years. Numerous articles from many different scources.

Why would oil companies who own the oil wells want to share the wealth with farmers growing hemp all over the country. It boils down to money power and control.

Money, power, and control are the reasons that hemp/marijuana are prohibited. It is the people who have the money, and therefore the power that control the laws, and by prohibiting hemp/marijuana they keep their pockets fat from profits that they would loose if they had to compete with hemp/marijuana.


Anything that is made from petroleum can be made from hemp.

Pharmeceuticle companies can not get a patent for a plant, and even though I have read numerous medical research articles that suggest that marijuana is useful in cancer treatment, including possibly curing certain cancers, they can't make money from marijuana because they can't patent it.

The prison industrial complex is bilking a huge amount of money from taxpayers housing more prisoners in this contry than anywhere in the world. Pot is the easiest drug to find in someones system, and many people who would otherwise be on the outside are put into the prison system because they got busted in a pee test. Prisoners are commonly used as slave labor to make money for prison corporations. These prisoners serve their time and get out on parole only to end up back in the joint because they smoked pot. True they were stupid for smoking pot when they were on parole, but it helps keep more than 2 million people incarcerated in the land of the free. A huge amount of people are incarerated for victimless, and non violent crimes.

The war on drugs is never going to be won with prohibition, it just doesn't work at stopping drugs, and no matter how many billions of dollars we spend the drugs are still easier to get than alcohol for most teenagers. This is because drug dealers don't card underage users like your local alcohol retailer does. The money that could be obtained by legalizing and taxing drugs is huge, and all the billions wasted fighting the war on freedom, er I mean the war on drugs, oh wait it's the same thing.

The government has done studies that prove that their DARE program is counterproductive, and that kids who are exposed to the dare program are more likely to use drugs, but they continue with the program. Why? Money.

Why would someone who makes their living fighting the war on drugs support stopping the wasteful war? Of course they will lie cheat and kill to keep their income, unless they have a conscience. There are police officers that are part of an organization called LEAP Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. Why would people who make their living fighting the war on drugs form an organization like this? Probably because they have seen the truth through all the BS.

Sorry for getting so far off topic, but in my opinion the war on drugs is really the war against hemp/marijuana. The statistic show a huge amonut of marijuana being stopped when compared with all other drugs combined. It's easy to find pot, but the hard drugs are much more difficult. The drug warriors can look like they are doing a good job standing next to the semi full of pot while the CIA imports cocaine(fact) yep why would they do that? There is strong evidence that has been exposed to show that the CIA invented CRACK and started the crack epidemic. Yes this was reported in the news. I am not making it up. It was back in the eighties. Large quantities of mostly black people were turned into crackheads and put into prison to be used as slaves and an excuse to bilk the american taxpayer out of billions of dollars. All true, but people refuse to accept that they are not in control of our government, and that our government is up to some really shady activities.

I am not making it up, but it rarely ever gets reported because the media is easily controlled, and probably has a vested interest in keeping it's mouth shut, and when people like me say something, some idiot says that you shouldn't believe me because I am a stoned hippy(I'm not). I am actually closer to a redneck than a hippy, but I'm not really either.

If you did the research and read the information I have you would likely be really pissed off about the crap that is going on(I am). But then you might get lumped in with the conspiracy theory kooks and the truth gets discounted because someone says the magic words, "conspiracy theory" or "he's a stupid stoner" and that will cause the sheeple to not see the truth and follow the government lies blindly, and accept the way things are.

I am not saying these things to be a troll, I do not want to make people dislike me. I am only saying them because they are true and the truth makes me a little angry. The worst part is that most people in this country are too apathetic to do a damn thing about it. I am not. I am telling you who are sick of getting robbed at the pumps in hopes that you might actually find out for yourself and do something about it too.

The best thing we can do for this country is to vote against the politicians who have held office for way too long. Stop voting for incumbants. they are the ones who have been in office for decades just keeping the status quo. Writing them to tell them that you are going to vote against them for ignoring the truth about the failed war on drugs might help too.

Talking about it helps too because the more people who are exposed to the truth the sooner it becomes common knowledge. The more people who know the harder it is for the politicians who allow it to keep their jobs. Then they will stop allowing it and things will change.

Just say KNOW.

Later,

Allan Greenblazer

Wow... Slaves? You're not likely to go to PRISON for THC in your system. Now if you are trafficking, selling and a jury convicts you, you will go to prison. But the rest is such illogical diatribe...

Dude, put down the doobie.

Seriously. I want to believe that there is something to be gained from Hemp production or anything that will help bring fuel prices down. Sadly, in my own research there isn't enough of any one single form of crop to be the end all solution. Not even hemp. Some states are using switchgrass and other grasses and harvesting them for biomass (Utah is working on this now). Brazil switched to a mostly ethanol fuel system after the fuel crisis in the 70s. Notice that they still drill for oil?

Sorry, you lost me when you started into the whole drug adn CIA conspiracy crap.

Oh dear.

I look with an extremely jaded eye on anyone who espouses any one solution as the be-all, end-all answer to the problem in question. It's too simplistic an answer to what is really a much more complex situation.

We currently stand in an economic crisis that includes skyrocketing prices for crude oil, which trickles down to skyrocketing prices for fuel, plastics, fertilizers etc. The pricing crisis is not exclusively the demesnes of the petroleum industry, however. A fair portion of it is coming from other markets as well. That doesn't mean that radically reducing our reliance on foreign energy is a bad thing. But consider...

If we then invest tremendous sums of money, labor, and time into the ONE SOLUTION that can fix it all! ... (commercial hemp production? Really?) ... then how long before we find ourselves in a hemp crisis?

Eggs and baskets, as they say. A crop failure - or even just another droughty summer like we had last year - and the commodity pricing goes through the stratosphere. Rich people can make a killing speculating on that market while the rest of us just get it in the shorts. Unfortunately, the rich folks' speculating tends to fuel and extend the crisis. We continue to get it in the shorts. We are seeing the effects of this already in our current economic situation; we can also look to what happened with California's situation right after they deregulated their electrical utilities. Immediately, providers began gaming the system, much to the detriment of California's ratepayers. No malice was intended, but the utilities aren't in the business of making electricity, they're in the business of making MONEY. They do that by generating and selling electricity to whoever will pay the most for it. We are in the same situation now - and by golly, the prices keep going up and we keep paying them.

I do agree that commercial hemp is an unjustly maligned crop. You'd have to smoke a bale of it to get a buzz. Of course, you'd be dead of smoke inhalation before that took place, but I understand that can also be a rather heady experience, so you never know - someone just might give it a try. Don't know where they'll find papers that big, though.

Increasing hemp production would be a good thing. It would increase domestic textile production, which is great all around. It's good for farmers, good for business, good for consumers. But is it the grand solution to everything listed at the top of the thread? No.

You said it.

Hello,

I recently heard about a fast growing willow tree that can be grown in 3 years, and the whole tree can be used to make methanol. I think this was at a university in New York -- I heard about it on Science Friday.

Also, there is Jatropha that can be turned into biodiesel.

I do try to stay open to different ideas and thought processes... Plenty of alternatives. Methanol can be made from plenty of sources, tree barks and hedge clippings. Anything that can be turned into biomass.

I have plenty of these discussions with my brother in law who is an assistant professor in a business college.

MMmmmmm.....
http://www.naturespath.com/var/plain...oductlarge.jpg

Allan interesting if we can stay focused and keep the discussion on industrial hemps as an alternative fuel. What is the cost to produce a gallon of hemp oil?

Are these figures correct to produce just the oil?

I thought the excuse for the ban was that hemp would make non-white people crazy rapists of white women.
http://blogs.salon.com/0002762/stori...naIllegal.html
http://www.sinsebility.com/history.htm

Amusingly, the first marijuana law was apparently enacted in Jamestown, Virginia in 1619 requiring all farmers to grow Indian hemp seed.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&s...ed+law&spell=1

We could fix the entire problem of drug use/abuse real quick with this simple, sensible, and modest ;) program (dare I call it a proposal? :D):
My proposal would also allow for the covering of all waste ground in forests of hemp for harvesting as oil, fiber, whatever.

1: Put all types of intoxicating drugs out in big tubs, anyone of legal age can take as much as they want. You can grow, distill, synthesize whatever you want, as long as the smell, byproducts. waste, etc. of doing so do not pollute/damage-the-environment-or-ecosystem/get-ingested-by-the-unwilling. Note carefully item 7. Use and posession of antibiotics is restricted. This destroys the profit of drug manufacture/sale.

2: Voluntary (intentional) public intoxication (on any intoxicant) is long time at the work farm. Stay inside at home or in an "opium den" while intoxicated is OK. Also see item 7. This keeps the sidewalks free of vomit and bodies. No more drunks peeing on your doorstep, or doing a poor live action re-make of "A Clockwork Orange"

3: Hurting someone if driving while intoxicated (on anything) is life at the work farm. This is just common sense, and should be this way now.

4: Anyone who wants public assistance has to pass a drug test every week. No public assistance for anyone using any intoxicants. Their kids are tested as well. If their kids have been taking intoxicants the kids go to a kindler, gentler, juvie work farm.
This is self-evident.

5: No free emergency room/other medical attention to anyone who is intoxicated (on anything). Someone ODs, or falls of a roof while intoxicated (on anything) and has no insurace to pay for care? Too bad. If you want to be treated, you agree to go to the work farm afterwards to pay off your debt. If you are so spaced out you cannot agree, We will wait till it wears off. If you die in the meantime, too bad. (There are no drugs allowed at the work farm. I'm thinking of a more profit-and-production-oriented version of the movie "Cool Hand Luke", but without the gratuitous killing ;) as a guiding principle for running a work farm) There is no reason that society should have to pay for those who cannot use drugs responsibly.

6. A person who is not intoxicated is presumed to have acted lawfully, if in self defense, OR IN DEFENSE OF PROPERTY, they use deadly force against someone who IS (or is determined to be by appropriate testing) intoxicated. Stand your ground and castle law in effect.

7. Knowingly tricking someone into taking an intoxicant, or putting roofies, etc. into womens drinks at a bar, etc., OR putting intoxicants into the air or water supply, or food, where the unwilling ingest them: death penalty.

I think you can all agree this is just Darwin updated. :thumbup: Those who choose to take intoxicating drugs can do so as long as they behave responsibly and do not impose themselves on the rest of society. Otherwise, work farm, jail, or dead.

My thanks to Jonathan Swift for his assistance in creating this work.

Uummmm I just watched the history of drugs on the History Channel, and the banning of marijuana had absolutely nothing to do with anything involving oil. Many of the major illegal drugs were banned for racial reasons. It was believed that the drugs caused black men to behave aggressively and/or rape white women. No joke.

Seriously, I've come to the conclusion that people will blame the oil companies for everything one day. "Teen pregnancy? It's well known that the oil companies are behind it!" How are those of us who want to change the world going to be taken seriously in the future if we act like we're on drugs right now?

Word to the wise: Don't believe everything you read on the Web.

I'm all for using hemp for fuel, but please don't represent the cause if your argument is absurd. We need men and women to step forward who can be taken seriously.

Production costs totalling $5.20/gal (And this is an old study)
Well thats about the speed of it I guess. Diesel would probably need to be near $8 for this to be profitable as that $5.20 would be around $7.00 now (note: number pulled out of my ass) given that fuel is a significant input cost in farming. Plus there would be transportation costs to market and nobody is going to touch the stuff unless there is some profit in it as well.

I would have thought the UK would have invested more in biofuel than they have. Their prices on gas are $15 per gallon in some places now, but they have always been rather high.

That is all tax. The govt. will tax biofuels too I am sure.
The true price of gas is the same worldwide. Local lower prices are due to subsidy by govt. Higher prices are caused by tax.

It would be cool if they did pass the law legalizing industrial hemp... I can picture the conversation now....

Dude, dude, dude..... Dude.... That, officer, in my back yard... is... (chuckle, snort)... industrial hemp... Hehheh.... No, man, really... it totally is... Like, I'm not lyin' or nothin' man... You know what I mean? ....Dude... it's totally legal... Just like that fog machine I got in my living room....Hey, you wouldn't have any Visine on you, would you man?

Seriously though, there may be a future for hemp-fuel, but I don't think it's now. It is prolly a good idea to grow it for some of the other products, but I don't think it is the miracle stick that everybody makes it out to be. More than anything, I think it could best be used as a cheap vacation for anybody that wants an alternative to buying an expensive airline ticket to the islands.

"Hey man, you're pretty sunburned, did you go to the islands for your vacation?"

"No man, I just got wicked baked and passed out naked next to my industrial hemp garden."

It would be a lot easier than wrecking yourself to get one of those nice "pain med" vacations. Why do you think they call it "Club Med"?

So if it comes to legalizing hemp, yeah, I'll vote for it. Still, I don't expect that to solve all my problems

Back to topic?

Actually... in lieu of having a backyard industrial hemp garden, I wonder what would happen if we all just fermented and distilled our lawn clippings...

Sorry to change the subject, but would that work?

actually for oil production algae is the best, its %50 oil by body weight , there is a company in El passo TX, that grows it hydroponically in green houses and they said if they had a few thousand square miles of new Mexico desert the could grow enough fuel for the entire country..

best part is the algea only needs sunlight and co2 to grow.. it scrubs the air of COs and makes oil.. the other cool part is the other %50 of the algea's weight can be fermented into ethonol.. or made into compost whatever.. algea is just half oil and half biomass

As for hemp.. yeah it was accepted as currency for a while to pay your taxes.. I have heard that one reason it got outlawed was it was competing for paper pulp[ markets for making paper and the peopel who had lots of logging opperations lobbied it into being illegal..

however lets look at veggie oil burners.. 1 there attacked fro not paying fuel tax and in callifornia charged with transporting a hazardous substance... yeah you can drink your fuel and they call it hazardous..

Its about money they want to tax hybrid owners byt he mile as there using electricity to drive and not paying as much fuel tax.. but the gas engine makes the electricity.. Face it the government want money any way they can get it.. its all about greed.. and control.

Government and the prisons and the cops make huge amount of money of of the drug war .. its there cash cow.

Sure it would, however,

You'd be charged with a illegal distillery and fined and or jailed..

You slaves can't make your own fuel.. shesh we figured you know that after 200 years of increasing fascism. go back to sleep slave

:mad:

I was going to stay out of the rest of this discussion, for I'm not much of a person to dispute legalities of things. But since the topic was brought up (and then it might be a good idea to get back on the original topic some more), I just wanted to say this.

Do I think it's right to make marijuana illegal and not some other things, not really, because I've seen the effects of marijuana and I know they are similar to things that are legal, like alcohol, in the respect that they alter your perception slightly of the things around you, however, it is far less harmful to you then alcohol can be in the long run. However, that aside. I do have a HUGE problem with the taxing bonanza that the government has been having on these "alternative fuel" ideas.

Why the HELL would you tax someone for not creating waste? Is that a penalty of some sort for wanting to stay "clean"? It just doesn't make any sense. I read a story one time a while back (may have been posted here, I can't remember TBH) where a couple lived in a well kept, suburban neighborhood. But they were different from everyone else in the fact that they produced NO WASTE, so they didn't need a trash company to come pick up their garbage so they canceled their service with the company, only to later be sued by the company because apparently the company had a contract with everyone in the neighborhood that said they had to use THAT company for trash collection. The company didn't believe the family when they told them that they didn't produce any waste, so they weren't actually breaking the contract, they just didn't need it anymore.

However, rants aside and to conclude my post and make some people think a little bit (and I don't want to bring religion into this as I'm not a religious person, but I have to bring this up). If you have ever read the Christian Bible, read through the book of Revelations, even if you just skim it. Then look at some of the things that America is doing today with trying to keep people hooked onto oil and continue to stay "dirty" as it were. (compare the beast from the ground to oil, you'll see what I mean)

I haven't read through every post, since quite a few are pretty long and I'm wasting company time as-is ;) so forgive me if this has been brought up:

I was watching a show on History or some other educational channel about hemp and how it could be used quite easily to replace many items such as cotton for clothing and corn for ethanol. The reason it (industrial hemp) is banned, so said the program, is because of the "war on drugs." Essentially there's a chance that some industrial hemp farm could grow non-industrial hemp and the federal agents wouldn't be able to tell the difference easily.

I'm all for industrial hemp usage especially in paper and textiles. I'll also agree that algae is a much better option for fossil fuel replacement.

Should pot be legalized? I'm a bit on the fence about that. I know a good number of people who don't abuse it and are really good people. My downstairs neighbor, on the other hand, is an abuser and isn't worth his weight in compost but I also don't think THC is the only thing in his system.

im all for industrial hemp, and i have some ideas about marijuana. i personally am not fond of drug abuse, and that is a large issue even with alcohol. abusers of any drug should have strict penalties assesed against them but other than that a complete ban is not the correct answer to this problem.
-john