(2023-07-24). Measures to bolster private investment. ecns.cn China has unveiled a series of measures to stimulate the vitality of private investment and boost confidence, signaling the country's latest push to bolster the private sector and shore up the world's second-largest economy.
(2023-07-24). Internet economy on cusp of expansion. ecns.cn China's sprawling internet economy is entering a new stage of development, as the country takes strides toward building world-leading digital infrastructure and exploring various applications of cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence.
(2023-07-24). BRICS problems, BRI solutions. thealtworld.com While the five original BRICS states have their geopolitical differences, they are finding enormous common ground on the geoeconomic front as trade volumes surge and trade routes multiply. | As the BRICS approach the most important summit in their history on August 22-24 in Johannesburg, South Africa, some fundamentals need to be observed. | The top three BRICS cooperation platforms are politics and security, finance and the economy, and culture. So the notion that a new BRICS gold-backed reserve currency will be announced at the South Africa summit is spurious. | What is in progress, as confirmed by BRICS sherpa…
(2023-07-24). US Grows Tired Of Zelensky, Who Burning Bridges With Europe — Former Pentagon Official. southfront.org 
Click to see full-size imageAnglo Alliance enables Zelensky's petulant behaviour. | Written by Ahmed Adel, Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher | US officials are growing tired of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky making endless demands for Western support, writes Douglas MacKinnon, a former adviser for policy and communications at the Pentagon, in an op-ed for The Hill. Even without MacKinnon's insight, it is evident that Western leaders are becoming weary of Zelensky's demands, as seen at the rece…
(2023-07-24). Is the US a Failed State with Michael Hudson. indybay.org It's a failed state because its economy is paralyzed and we're in a debt deflation, an economic polarization, that is just transferring all wealth and income away from labor, away from industry, into really the financial sector and what I call the finance, insurance, and real estate sector.
(2023-07-24). Globalization of renminbi to boost stability. ecns.cn The internationalization of the renminbi is gathering momentum, and such a trend will help facilitate China's further opening-up and encourage the country's global trade and investment.
(2023-07-24). Tripartite meeting of central bankers to help East Asian economy. ecns.cn The Central Bank Governors' Meeting of China, Japan and South Korea was held on Sunday in Japan with candid exchange of views on regional economic and financial developments.
(2023-07-24). In Sicily, Top of the Mountain, Watching the New Barbarians. transcend.org 18 Jul 2023 – NATO, already humiliated in Afghanistan, is now being demilitarized, a process running in parallel to the state of the economy prevailing amongst all NATOstan members. War? Against a nuclear, hypersonic superpower? Give us a — Thucydides — break.
(2023-07-23). Cuban President Denounces US Blockade's Damage to Economy. telesurenglish.net On Saturday, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel denounced the U.S. embargo's damage to the island's economy. | RELATED: | Addressing legislators at Cuba's National Assembly of People's Power in Havana, he said that the U.S. embargo is an external factor that harms the economic development of the Caribbean nation. | "This huge external factor gravitates against the country's development," he said, adding that capital…
(2023-07-24). Cop City and the escalating war on environmental defenders. therealnews.com 
This story originally appeared in In These Times on July 13, 2023. It is shared here with permission. The fight in Atlanta over Cop City, a massive police training facility, has turned into ground zero for overlapping crises facing our country: the climate emergency, vast political and economic inequality, ever-militarizing police forces and systemic racism. If we …
(2023-07-24). The Climate Crisis Is Most Detrimental to the Black Community. scheerpost.com 
As the only key to being insulated from the worst aspects of climate change in its current form is through financial stability, the economic fragility that has been a hallmark of this community due to systemic racism makes it most susceptible to feeling the effects of climate change more than any other group.
(2023-07-24). Lula And Xi Jinping Pave The Way For Trade De-Dollarization. popularresistance.org In September 2006, at the UN General Assembly, the foreign ministers of Brazil, China, Russia and India began to outline what would become a major trade and monetary support agreement. In 2010, during a meeting of the presidents of these countries in Brasilia and a year later in China, what is now known as the BRICS was ratified and began to take shape, with South Africa joining the group. Initially the BRICS countries showed their willingness to engage in closer dialogue with each other, but over the years the agenda began to include broader international cooperation and, above all, economic and financial partne…
(2023-07-24). India rejects BYD's $1 billion factory proposal. ecns.cn India has rejected BYD's proposal to set up a $1 billion factory in the country in partnership with Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd, the Economic Times reported on Saturday.
(2023-07-24). Tanzania: PM Urges African Women Police Officers To Join Forces. telesurenglish.net On Sunday, Tanzanian Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa urged African women police officers to join forces in fighting crime. | Related: | At the opening of the International Association of Women Police (IAWP) Africa Chapter's training conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's economic hub, Majaliwa called on women police networks in African countries to sharpen their skills in fighting crime. | According to official st…
(2023-07-24). Fiji government imposes "belt-tightening" austerity budget. wsws.org With Fiji experiencing an unprecedented economic crisis the seven-month-old Rabuka-led government has launched a sweeping attack on living standards.
(2023-07-24). Economics According to the Dharmic Way. transcend.org This is a simple explanation of how we should view economics according to the principles of Vedic Dharma.
(2023-07-24). Auto Workers Kick Off Bargaining With 'Members' Handshake'. labornotes.org
(2023-07-24). Despite Heat Deaths, Many States Don't Require Water Breaks. popularresistance.org Even as summer temperatures soar and states wrangle with protecting outdoor workers from extreme heat, Texas recently enacted a law that axes city rules mandating water and shade breaks for construction workers. | In state after state, lawmakers and regulators have in recent years declined to require companies to offer their outdoor laborers rest breaks with shade and water. In some cases, legislation failed to gain traction. In others, state regulators decided against action or have taken years to write and release rules. | Heat causes more deaths in the United States each year than any other extreme weather.
(2023-07-24). India rejects BYD's $1 billion factory proposal. ecns.cn India has rejected BYD's proposal to set up a $1 billion factory in the country in partnership with Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd, the Economic Times reported on Saturday.
(2023-07-24). Tanzania: PM Urges African Women Police Officers To Join Forces. telesurenglish.net On Sunday, Tanzanian Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa urged African women police officers to join forces in fighting crime. | Related: | At the opening of the International Association of Women Police (IAWP) Africa Chapter's training conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's economic hub, Majaliwa called on women police networks in African countries to sharpen their skills in fighting crime. | According to official st…
(2023-07-24). Fiji government imposes "belt-tightening" austerity budget. wsws.org With Fiji experiencing an unprecedented economic crisis the seven-month-old Rabuka-led government has launched a sweeping attack on living standards.
(2023-07-24). Economics According to the Dharmic Way. transcend.org This is a simple explanation of how we should view economics according to the principles of Vedic Dharma.
(2023-07-24). Auto Workers Kick Off Bargaining With 'Members' Handshake'. labornotes.org
(2023-07-24). Despite Heat Deaths, Many States Don't Require Water Breaks. popularresistance.org Even as summer temperatures soar and states wrangle with protecting outdoor workers from extreme heat, Texas recently enacted a law that axes city rules mandating water and shade breaks for construction workers. | In state after state, lawmakers and regulators have in recent years declined to require companies to offer their outdoor laborers rest breaks with shade and water. In some cases, legislation failed to gain traction. In others, state regulators decided against action or have taken years to write and release rules. | Heat causes more deaths in the United States each year than any other extreme weather.
(2023-07-24). Texas 'Death Star' Law Eliminates Water Breaks For Construction Workers. thealtworld.com As Texas sweltered last month under a record-breaking heat wave, the state passed a new law that eliminates mandatory water breaks for construction workers. | Tevita Uhatafe, the 1st Vice President of the Tarrant County Central Labor Council, discusses how HB 2127, which activists are calling "the law that kills", impacts workers across Texas.
(2023-07-24). SAG AFTRA Members Picket Netflix HQ-Protest 1 Cent Residuals. indybay.org Dozens of SAG AFTRA strikers picketed the headquarters of Netflix in Los Gatos. Netflix refuses to provide information about the times it streams films to the union and also wants SAG AFTRA and Writers Guild West members to work as gig workers with no healthcare and pensions.
(2023-07-24). UC UAW Workers & Unite Here 11 Strikers Protest Union Busting By UC Bosses At UC Regents. indybay.org Hundreds of UC UAW members and Unite Here Local 11 strikers from Southern California rallied at the UC Regents meeting against the flagrant union busting tactics including felony arrests for chalking at UCSD.
(2023-07-24). Science Saturday: Mayo Clinic discovery leads to diagnoses of 9 people with rare form of muscular dystrophy. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org Nine people around the world who have been living with unexplained, muscular dystrophy-like symptoms may now have an answer for what is causing the progressive muscle weakness in their body's mid-section, arms and legs. In a new discovery, a collaborative team of scientists led by researchers at Mayo Clinic's Center for Individualized Medicine has pinpointed alterations in a single gene deep inside these people's genetic blueprint as the root cause of their ultra-rare disorder, known as limb-girdle muscular…
(2023-07-24). Laborers, Transportation Trades blast Republicans' infrastructure cuts. peoplesworld.org 
PHILADELPHIA —In just two weeks, thanks to federal infrastructure funds from legislation last year—and coordination by state, federal, and local officials plus round-the-clock work from unionists—the collapsed I-95 bridge in Philadelphia was replaced and reopened, thus solving a major transportation bottleneck in the Northeast U.S. But if the House's ruling Republicans have their way, in …
(2023-07-24). Detienen en Brasil a cómplice en asesinato de Marielle Franco. telesurtv.net El arresto sucede por el acuerdo de colaboración que firmó uno de los autores del homicidio, el expolicía Elcio Queiroz.
(2023-07-24). Australian government's universities report demands restructuring for big business and war. wsws.org "Courses must be designed with the skills needs of industry in mind," Labor's Accord report insists.
(2023-07-24). Hot labor summer: Growing strike movement colliding with pro-corporate union bureaucracies. wsws.org A powerful strike movement has begun to emerge in the US and internationally in recent weeks, involving tens of thousands of workers across different industries, coming into headlong conflict with the union apparatuses.
(2023-07-24). Efforts to isolate China put technology leaps at risk, academic says. ecns.cn A Chinese political scholar has raised concerns over the implications of the United States' policy of so-called de-risking for China's technological advancements and international collaboration.
(2023-07-24). Labor must end immigration detention and offshore processing, protesters say. greenleft.org.au 
(2023-07-24). Refugee rights rally demands Labor ends cruel temporary visas. greenleft.org.au 
(2023-07-24). U.S. Secretary of STate Blinken Really is this Out of Touch With Reality. sonar21.com 
My friend, Andrei Martyanov, published a short piece on Antony Blinken's latest public demonstration of schizophrenia and I want to elaborate on Andrei's astonishment at Blinken's total detachment from reality….
(2023-07-23). The Milwaukee Area Labor Council stands in solidarity with Teamsters fighting for a fair contract at UPS. fightbacknews.org Fight Back News Service is circulating the following resolution passed by the Milwaukee Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO executive board in July 2023. | The collective bargaining agreement representing 340,000 Teamsters at UPS across the country, including Wisconsin Teamsters Local 344, expires at midnight, August 1, 2023. | If UPS Teamsters go on strike, it will be the largest strike against a single business in U.S. history, and the largest strike since the last UPS Teamsters strike in 1997. This is a struggle that will impact every working person in the country. | UPS makes over $13 billion in profits every year on…
(2023-07-24). Study: Affirmative Action for the Richest 1 Percent Is Common at Elite Colleges. truthout.org Just weeks after the Supreme Court ruled to end race-based affirmative action in college admissions, a new study suggests that "affirmative action" for the rich is very much alive when wealthy Americans seek acceptance to the most elite colleges in the U.S. According to a study released Monday by Opportunity Insights, a Harvard University-based research group, students from families within the… |
(2023-07-24). Wind turbines are an eyesore, a hazard and an environmental disaster. expose-news.com Wind turbines, once touted by the few wealthy and less populated countries as a clean solution for electricity, are now becoming an eyesore, a hazard, and a significant environmental threat. Will Wind …
(2023-07-24). Realty policies to assuage concerns, boost confidence. ecns.cn China recently extended the timelines for a basket of financial policies supporting the real estate market.
(2023-07-24). Colonialism or Sovereignty? How the Global Financial System Traps Countries in Debt. transcend.org 12 Jul 2023 – Political economists Radhika Desai, Michael Hudson, and Ann Pettifor discuss how the international financial system traps Global South countries in debt, reinforcing a neocolonial order.
(2023-07-23). "Preemptive Nuclear War": The Historic Battle for Peace and Democracy. A Third World War Threatens the Future of Humanity. globalresearch.ca US nuclear doctrine consists in portraying nuclear weapons as a means of "self defense" rather than a "weapon of mass destruction". There are powerful financial interests behind Joe Biden's $1.3 trillion nuclear weapons program initiated under Obama.
(2023-07-24). Podcast Ep 80: From NYC to Florida, students fight lobby smears. electronicintifada.net Fatima Mohammed and Ahmad Daraldik stand strong against racist campaigns over their Palestine advocacy.
(2023-07-24). Mayo Clinic Q and A: Effects of hot weather, humidity on blood pressure, heart. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I'm retired and enjoy spending time outdoors in my garden and kayaking with my family. I have high blood pressure, which has been managed by medication for nearly 10 years. Recently I've noticed that I develop a headache, nausea and sometimes dizziness after a few hours in the heat and sun. What is causing these symptoms? ANSWER: Weather can play a role in triggering certain health problems. High temperatures and high humidity are two…
(2023-07-24). China unveils measures to boost private investment. ecns.cn China pledged on Monday to boost the private sector with a raft of policy measures designed to stimulate the vitality of private investment and boost confidence.
(2023-07-24). Why Capitalism Is Leaving the US in Search of Profit. scheerpost.com 
By Richard Wolff / CounterPunch Early U.S. capitalism was centered in New England. After some time, the pursuit of profit led many capitalists to leave that area and move production to New York and the mid-Atlantic states. Much of New England was left with abandoned factory buildings and depressed towns evident to this day. Eventually …
(2023-07-24). Ralph Nader: The Cost of Re-Enforcing Political Monocultures. scheerpost.com 
By Ralph Nader / Nader.org In nature, monocultures are not so resilient to predators or other ravages that exploit their inherent vulnerabilities. Farmers have known this characteristic of monocultures forever. (Agribusiness doesn't care as much, given its short-term profit outlook.) Democratic voters are at risk from the increasing political monocultures that are weakening resistance to …
(2023-07-24). This database exposes the client conflicts of more than 1,500 Big Oil lobbyists. nationofchange.org New group reveals that hundreds of schools, municipalities, nonprofit organizations, and more are paying lobbyists who also represent the fossil fuel industry.
(2023-07-24). Adidas and Ye's Battle Over a $100 Million Marketing Fund. moguldom.com The drama between Kanye West, who is changed his name to Ye, and Adidas continues. Back in October 2022, Adidas ended its highly profitable and long-term partnership with Ye to sell his Yeezy products over remarks he made that were deemed anti-Semetic. Then in May 2023, after losing a whopping $540 million, Adidas said it would …
(2023-07-23). Striking UK First Manchester bus drivers: Unite union "try and split us, but we've all stuck together so they can't push us around" wsws.org One driver said, "All the big companies made profits over COVID. The government is investing in things we don't need, like going to war. We're in a war here with our circumstances."
(2023-07-24). The revolutionary spirit of the Buddha. mronline.org 
Marx and Engels both took a surprising interest in the ideas of the great Indian spiritual leader, argues Sean Ledwith.
(2023-07-23). Western Marxism and the Politics of Abstract Humanism By: Yanis Iqbal. midwesternmarx.com 
Western Marxism is dominated by the use of empty phrases when the need arises for a practical intervention in the conjuncture. Slavoj Žižek, for instance, has been calling for a "stronger NATO" in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, so that "European unity" can be preserved. The analytical focus is wholly tilted towards ahistorical cultural symbols. For Žižek, a "Eurasian" project is not about the reduction of European count …
(2023-07-23). The Eco Collapse We Were Warned About Has Begun By: José Seoane. midwesternmarx.com 
In 2023, different climatic anomalies have been recorded that set new historical records in the tragic progression of climate change at the global level.Thus, in June, the surface temperature in the North Atlantic reached the maximum increase of 1.3 degrees Celsius with respect to preindustrial values. In a similar direction—although in lower values—the average temperature of the seas at the global level increased. On the other hand, the retraction of Antarctic ice reac …
(2023-07-23). Hollywood Executives Bring Industry to Halt Rather Than Pay Workers a Fair Price By: Sonali Kolhatkar. midwesternmarx.com 
Refusing to negotiate better compensation and fair working conditions for actors and writers, major film and television studios are to blame for the work stoppages afflicting their industry. Hollywood has come to a standstill this summer as actors join their writer colleagues on the picket line. The Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) announced that it would be on strike starting July 14, 2023, over negotiations breaking down with t …
(2023-07-24). Chasing Clicks Through Ad Money, Media Does PR For Amazon. popularresistance.org Every year, America's corporate media celebrates the coming of that most sacred and deal-laden of holidays, so-called Amazon "Prime Day." The media fanfare around Prime Day is such a staple that it has become a perennial strategic rallying point for Amazon workers trying to draw attention to Amazon's low wages, unsafe working conditions, and aggressive anti-union corporate culture. These are year-round problems that ramp up to 11 during the taxing and brutal period before, during, and after Prime Day, when workers are pressured into long hours, exposed to high temperatures, and given impossible performance metric…
(2023-07-24). Australian Pharmaceutical Industries workers' four-week strike shut down with no real wage gains. wsws.org Under the proposed union-management deal, API workers will receive an average nominal wage rise of 4.5 per annum over four years, keeping their wages lower than their counterparts in other warehouses.
(2023-07-24). Latin America Again Refuses to Fall In Line With the Collective West on Ukraine, This Time from Brussels. nakedcapitalism.com
(2023-07-24). The BRICS Dream Towards 2050. infobrics.org The BRIC group thesis, defended in the essay "Dreaming with BRICS: The Road to 2050", held that Brazil, Russia, India and China — South Africa had not yet been accepted — had promoted global capitalism have changed their political systems to adopt…
(2023-07-24). Capitalismo invisible/antagonismos borrosos. globalizacion.ca La insistencia en el carácter digital del nuevo capitalismo financiero no es suficiente. Hay una mutación antropológica testimoniada por los 23000 millones de dispositivos conectados a la red. Como bien señala Mauricio Ferraris el siervo de la gleba que trabajaba…
(2023-07-24). There Are Very Few Good Films About War. popularresistance.org Films about war, shorn of the bone crushing fear, the putrid stench of the corpses, the deafening noise of explosions, the constant exhaustion and the nervous anxiety that comes with trying to understand what is happening in the terrifying chaos, are pale and inadequate reflections of the vast enterprise of industrial slaughter. And these are the good films, of which there are only a few. | Most feature war films and documentaries, from The Sands of Iwo Jima to Saving Private Ryan, are war pornography. They romanticize those wielding the terrible instruments of death. They justify the unjustifiable. They pay homa…
(2023-07-24). Ukraine Is Ammunition-Starved, And The West Simply Cannot Keep Up With Its Pledges. southfront.org 
Illustrative ImageThe current state of affairs, with a Western deindustrializations crisis, makes it very difficult for the West to pursue its proxy attrition war: it simply cannot produce all the weapons it promises to give Ukraine. | Written by Uriel Araujo, researcher with a focus on international and ethnic conflicts | While Western discussions have focused on sending sophisticated weapons to Kiev, Hal Brands, a Henry Kissinger Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International…
(2023-07-24). From Enlightenment Corruption to Cybernetics Fusion. transcend.org 18 Jul 2023 – We are told that we are living through the "Fourth Industrial Revolution". In this period humans will merge with the machines engineered by social engineers and will be part of a new "organism." This new species of "transhuman" will be liberated from all outdated ideas of Soul, morality, freedom, free will or any relationship with the Divine.
(2023-07-24). The King of Spain to Call Consultations to Form a Government. telesurenglish.net Due to the political deadlock caused by the general elections, King Felipe VI will initiate a round of consultations with the Spanish parties to form a government after August 17. | RELATED: | On Sunday, the Popular Party (PP) and the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) did not obtain the necessary majority to govern. They need support from other political organizations, which seems unlikely to be achieved. | According to the Spani…
(2023-07-24). Spain in election limbo after right-wing Popular Party and far-right Vox fail to secure majority to govern. wsws.org Calls for "Unity against fascism" will be used as a weapon against the working class, to try and blackmail workers into uniting behind a renewed Socialist Party-Sumar government to try and stifle a movement to the left that has seen an eruption of struggles against their pro-war and austerity policies.
(2023-07-24). Workers speak out: Actors and writers, UPS workers, and autoworkers across the US. wsws.org We are posting here a roundup of video comments from actors and writers, UPS workers and autoworkers that appeared on the World Socialist Web Site in the last week.
(2023-07-24). Stop the censorship of socialist students at Macquarie University! wsws.org The IYSSE is being targeted because it "is the only organization that advances a genuine anti-war perspective based on the unification of the international working class against the capitalist nation-state system."
(2023-07-24). Venezuela to overcome with Simón Bolívar, says Diosdado Cabello. plenglish.com Caracas, Jul 24 (Prensa Latina) The first Vice President of the United Socialist Party (PSUV) Diosdado Cabello on Monday claimed the Venezuelan people will win alongside Simón Bolívar.
(2023-07-24). Venezuela ratifies unrenounceable defense of Palestine's cause. plenglish.com Caracas, Jul 24 (Prensa Latina) The United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) on Monday ratified the stance of the Government of Nicolás Maduro regarding the unrenounceable defense of the Palestinian people's cause.
(2023-07-24). Ecosocialism needed in the age of climate emergency. greenleft.org.au 
(2023-07-24). Videos from Ecosocialism 2023. greenleft.org.au 
(2023-07-23). Spain's General Elections: PP Fails to Obtain Absolute Majority. telesurenglish.net With 99.23 percent of the votes counted for Sunday's general elections in Spain, the PP wins the elections but does not have an absolute majority; the PSOE holds on with a narrow margin. | RELATED: | The Popular Party is the party that obtains the most deputies, with 32.84 % of the votes (136 seats out of the 350 that make up the Congress of Deputies), while the Socialist Party practically equals it in votes with 31.81 % of th…
(2023-07-23). Milwaukee Anti-War Committee rallies against the Milwaukee Air & Water Show. fightbacknews.org Milwaukee, WI – On Saturday, July 22, activists and community members united at The Calling sculpture in downtown Milwaukee to protest the annual Milwaukee Air & Water Show. The rally was organized by the Milwaukee Anti-War Committee (MAC) to demonstrate that the show is not a harmless family event as it is often portrayed, but a celebration of U.S. militarism and a polarizing affair for the city. | Members from Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (MAARPR), and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) came together with the community to demand an…
(2023-07-24). Seven decades of US imperialist interference in Ukraine. thecommunists.org This short video gives a quick run-down of the divide in Ukraine between the east and the west that has been fuelled in order to lay the groundwork for today's war against Russia on Ukrainian soil. A divide known to, studied, and exploited by the USA and its Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) since at least …
(2023-07-24). In Chile, having a good constitution doesn't guarantee social change. greenleft.org.au 
Bárbara Navarrete, newly-elected secretary general of the Communist Youth of Chile speaks to Taroa Zúñiga Silva.
(2023-07-24). President of Cuba: Solidarity Remains an Indestructible Weapon of Struggle and a Message of Peace. orinocotribune.com The following is the English translation of the speech delivered by Miguel Mario Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and president of the Republic of Cuba, at the People's Summit Solidarity Festival, in Brussels, Belgium, on July 17, 2023 (stenographic version from the Presidency of Cuba). | Brother Centella; | Brother Manu; | Sisters and brothers from Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe; | Comrades who fight for social justice (Applause): | I was told that someone was asking if we were going to be at this event, and we ask you: do you think we would ha…