Let me just start with the sobering thoughts of Trends Research Institute CEO Gerald Celente, and then save my comments for after:
Celente Predicts Revolution, Food Riots, Tax Rebellions By 2012
Paul Joseph Watson, November 13, 2008
Prison Planet – The man who predicted the 1987 stock market crash and the fall of the Soviet Union is now forecasting revolution in America, food riots and tax rebellions – all within four years, while cautioning that putting food on the table will be a more pressing concern than buying Christmas gifts by 2012.
Gerald Celente, the CEO of Trends Research Institute, is renowned for his accuracy in predicting future world and economic events, which will send a chill down your spine considering what he told Fox News this week.
Celente says that by 2012 America will become an undeveloped nation, that there will be a revolution marked by food riots, squatter rebellions, tax revolts and job marches, and that holidays will be more about obtaining food, not gifts.
“We’re going to see the end of the retail Christmas….we’re going to see a fundamental shift take place….putting food on the table is going to be more important that putting gifts under the Christmas tree,” said Celente, adding that the situation would be “worse than the great depression”.
“America’s going to go through a transition the likes of which no one is prepared for,” said Celente, noting that people’s refusal to acknowledge that America was even in a recession highlights how big a problem denial is in being ready for the true scale of the crisis.
Celente, who successfully predicted the 1997 Asian Currency Crisis, the subprime mortgage collapse and the massive devaluation of the U.S. dollar, told UPI in November last year that the following year would be known as “The Panic of 2008,” adding that “giants (would) tumble to their deaths,” which is exactly what we have witnessed with the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and others. He also said that the dollar would eventually be devalued by as much as 90 per cent.
The consequence of what we have seen unfold this year would lead to a lowering in living standards, Celente predicted a year ago, which is also being borne out by plummeting retail sales figures.
The prospect of revolution was a concept echoed by a British Ministry of Defence report last year, which predicted that within 30 years, the growing gap between the super rich and the middle class, along with an urban underclass threatening social order would mean, “The world’s middle classes might unite, using access to knowledge, resources and skills to shape transnational processes in their own class interest,” and that, “The middle classes could become a revolutionary class.”
In a separate recent interview, Celente went further on the subject of revolution in America.
“There will be a revolution in this country,” he said. “It’s not going to come yet, but it’s going to come down the line and we’re going to see a third party and this was the catalyst for it: the takeover of Washington, D. C., in broad daylight by Wall Street in this bloodless coup. And it will happen as conditions continue to worsen.”
“The first thing to do is organize with tax revolts. That’s going to be the big one because people can’t afford to pay more school tax, property tax, any kind of tax. You’re going to start seeing those kinds of protests start to develop.”
“It’s going to be very bleak. Very sad. And there is going to be a lot of homeless, the likes of which we have never seen before. Tent cities are already sprouting up around the country and we’re going to see many more.”
“We’re going to start seeing huge areas of vacant real estate and squatters living in them as well. It’s going to be a picture the likes of which Americans are not going to be used to. It’s going to come as a shock and with it, there’s going to be a lot of crime. And the crime is going to be a lot worse than it was before because in the last 1929 Depression, people’s minds weren’t wrecked on all these modern drugs – over-the-counter drugs, or crystal meth or whatever it might be. So, you have a huge underclass of very desperate people with their minds chemically blown beyond anybody’s comprehension.”
The George Washington blog has compiled a list of quotes attesting to Celente’s accuracy as a trend forecaster.
“When CNN wants to know about the Top Trends, we ask Gerald Celente.”
— CNN Headline News“A network of 25 experts whose range of specialties would rival many university faculties.”
— The Economist“Gerald Celente has a knack for getting the zeitgeist right.”
— USA Today“There’s not a better trend forecaster than Gerald Celente. The man knows what he’s talking about.”
– CNBC“Those who take their predictions seriously … consider the Trends Research Institute.”
— The Wall Street Journal“Gerald Celente is always ahead of the curve on trends and uncannily on the mark … he’s one of the most accurate forecasters around.”
— The Atlanta Journal-Constitution“Mr. Celente tracks the world’s social, economic and business trends for corporate clients.”
— The New York Times“Mr. Celente is a very intelligent guy. We are able to learn about trends from an authority.”
— 48 Hours, CBS News“Gerald Celente has a solid track record. He has predicted everything from the 1987 stock market crash and the demise of the Soviet Union to green marketing and corporate downsizing.”
— The Detroit News“Gerald Celente forecast the 1987 stock market crash, ‘green marketing,’ and the boom in gourmet coffees.”
— Chicago Tribune“The Trends Research Institute is the Standard and Poors of Popular Culture.”
— The Los Angeles Times“If Nostradamus were alive today, he’d have a hard time keeping up with Gerald Celente.”
— New York PostSo there you have it – hardly a nutjob conspiracy theorist blowhard now is he? The price of not heeding his warnings will be far greater than the cost of preparing for the future now. Storable food and gold are two good places to make a start.
Aint that a heavyweight boxer’s send-you-whimpering-to-your-knees shot to the gut.
As I’ve previously written, “The Beast Is Coming.” And he’s coming soon.
You remember Hillary Clinton’s now-famous “3 AM phone call” ad? Well, it’s pretty much 3 AM every minute of every day right now, and the most inexperienced and most radical President in US history simply isn’t ready for it. Don’t believe me; just ask Vice President-elect Joe Biden to reminisce about what he said a few months ago: “The Presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the job-training.” We are ONE crisis away from complete disaster and even total collapse. And – given a very likely Hillary Clinton appointment to Secretary of State – you have the two most senior members of Obama’s administration on the record repeatedly stated that Obama would simply not be up to the job.
Well, he’s got it. We gave it to him. Along with a total Democratic majority that will give him power not seen since FDR. And boy, oh boy, are we ever going to pay for it.
Possibly the most terrifying crisis of all could occur before Obama even takes the oath of office. Former Ambassador to the UN John Bolton is among a group of foreign policy experts who believe that Israel – fearing Obama’s weakness and lack of commitment to their security – will attack Iran before January 20, 2009 in order to destroy the rogue, terrorist state’s nearly complete nuclear weapons program. And even Joe Biden pretty much had to say that you’re going to have to have blind faith in Obama, because it won’t be apparent that he has any clue what he’s doing.
On the economic front, we now have Obama already backing away from his pledge to tax the bejeezus out of the rich and raise capital gains so that he can give the lower classes (including those who don’t even pay taxes) a “tax cut.” Which is pretty much an implicit acknowledgment that he didn’t have a clue what he was talking about during the campaign, and that the people he was demonizing had a far better understanding than he about how the economy works.
Which is partially why investors have been bailout out of the market in droves since Obama’s election, and why 74% of chief executive officers believe that an Obama presidency will be a disaster for the nation.
The good news for liberals, given Celente’s analysis: you’ve always wanted to destroy Christmas. Now you’ll finally be getting your wish. Way to go.
Evangelical Christians have long known this coming meltdown was coming. The United States isn’t mentioned in Bible prophecy for one good reason: we won’t matter. We won’t have the power to project ourselves into the Middle East during the final days, and we won’t have moral courage to support historic friend Israel when it matters most.
Grant R. Jeffrey wrote a book entitled Final Warning: Economic Collapse and the Coming World Government which came out in 1995. He concluded his chapter 14, ”The Coming Economic Collapse,” by stating:
“However, in the last few years the size and complexity of the financial derivatives market has exploded until today over $21 trillion is at risk in America and and astonishing $42 trillion is at risk worldwide. To place these figures in perspective, the total value of all stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange amounts to only $6 trillion. We should remember that the stock market crash of 1987 that resulted in the loss of $1 trillion of investors’ funds was precipitated by a massive drop in the financial derivatives market. During the last year the largest Japanese steel company in Germany lost $1.4 billion. Then, Orange County, CA, lost $2 billion while the 270-year-old Barings Bank of England was forced into bankruptcy when they lost $1.3 billion in one week on a derivatives trade by one 28-year-old employee. This incredibly dangerous derivatives market could very well be the trigger for the coming financial collapse that the Bible indicates will occur in the last days leading to the rise of Antichrist and the revived Roman Empire” (p. 247).
Grant’s insightful and clearly prophetic analysis both reveals the means of our economic destruction while simultaneously pointedly revealing that the cancerous roots of the financial implosion occurred during the Clinton era, and NOT as a result of Republican or Bush policies.
In September 2003, Democratic Rep. Barney Frank said of the GSE entities which created the housing finance crisis, ”These two entities — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — are not facing any kind of financial crisis.” And Democrats steadfastly refused to regulate them at a time when President Bush urged regulatory reform when it could have averted disaster. And Barney Frank – representing the Democratic consensus – was still in denial as late as July 2008, saying, “I think this is a case where Fannie and Freddie are fundamentally sound, that they are not in danger of going under.” In one of the greatest propaganda campaigns in human history, the American media managed to convince the electorate that policies that were conceived and carried out during Democratic administrations were somehow the Republicans’ responsibility.
I worked as hard as I knew how to elect John McCain because I saw Barack Obama as the walking disaster who would destroy America and prepare the way for the beast of Revelation. Secular humanists will continue to laugh at people like me even when they are in the darkest depths of the Apocalypse. But I hope that more and more people will begin to realizing it’s no laughing matter before the looming disaster engulfs us all.
As a final P.S. let me say one final thing about the Apocalypse. If you cheat and read the last page of Revelation to see how it all ends, you will find that God wins, and all those who oppose Him lose. The time is coming when we will all have to pick our sides.
Start Thinking Right 
December 19, 2008 at 12:22 am
Great post! Forget what the government is telling you. Save money. As much as you can. IF you spend, don’t charge and have debt. Pay off everything. While this won’t save you, it will make things easier. The next coming wave is the collapse caused by credit card debt. Folks it is huge! Everyone I know owes thousands of dollars on their credit cards. It is scary. I have worked hard to get out of debt and don’t owe anything including my home. Still it costs a lot to live. To recap. If you want something and can afford it. Pay cash. If you charge, pay it off at the end of the month. If you can’t afford it now, don’t buy it.
December 22, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Rex,
The government wants us to spend because spending stimulates the economy. But it is a matter of what is good for the “whole” is bad for the YOU. Individually, we desperately need to save more. When our savings is near zero, and we have an economic downturn, we are truly screwed.
It might be comparable to the draft and going off to war. It might be good for the country if you get blown up, but it clearly aint so good for you or your family.
January 30, 2009 at 2:09 am
CHUCK MISSLER – COPYIST !
Many these days are abandoning the pretribulation rapture view, and the June, 1995 article by Chuck Missler (”Byzantine Text Discovery: Ephraem the Syrian”) reveals why there is such a mutiny! First of all, the authoritative scholar that Missler cited, Dr. Paul Alexander, referred only to “Pseudo-Ephraem” and not to Ephraem the Syrian. (If an unsigned ancient manuscript resembles the real Ephraem but there is a question of authorship, they assign it to “Pseudo-Ephraem” – the word “pseudo” meaning “possibly.” For some groundless reason, Grant Jeffrey, the one who reportedly found the “discovery,” changed Dr. Alexander’s terminology! For more info on Jeffrey, Google “Wily Jeffrey.”) And Missler’s scholarship is also questionable. According to the Los Angeles Times (July 30, 1992), about one-fourth of Missler’s 1992 book “The Magog Factor” (which he co-authored with Hal Lindsey) was a daring plagiarism of Dr. Edwin Yamauchi’s 1982 book “Foes from the Northern Frontier”! Four months later Yamauchi’s publisher revealed that both Lindsey and Missler had promised to stop all publishing of their book. But in 1995 they were found publishing “The Magog Invasion” (which was either a revision or a replacement of “The Magog Factor”) – which had a substantial amount of the same plagiarism! (Dave MacPherson’s 1998 book “The Three R’s” has complete documentation on this and other pretrib scandals.) After listing “1820″ as the reported date of the birth of pretrib (he should have said “1830″), Missler sees a pretrib rapture in that Medieval writer’s phrase “taken to the Lord” and, since he evidently favors rewriting others instead of researching, is unaware that Dr. Alexander explained that this phrase really means “participate at least in some measure in beatitude” – which has reference only to doing acts of virtue on earth and not being raptured away from earth! Alexander added that the same ancient writer held to only one final second coming (and not to any prior coming) which would follow the time of Antichrist! (Readers can Google “Deceiving and Being Deceived” by MacPherson to see how groundless the Pseudo-Ephraem claim is and to learn how desperate pretribs are to find any pre-1830 evidence for their escapist view. Dr. Robert Gundry of Westmont College has also demolished the Pseudo-Ephraem claim in his 1997 book “First the Antichrist.”) Since Missler also leans on Thomas Ice, readers can evaluate Ice’s qualifications by Googling “America’s Pretrib Rapture Traffickers,” “Thomas Ice (Bloopers),” “Thomas Ice (Hired Gun),” and “Pretrib Rapture Diehards” (the latter part). For further light on the 179-year-old, fringe-British-invented pretribulation theory, Google or Yahoo “Pretrib Rapture – Hidden Facts.” Finally – why would anyone who has the brains of a rocket scientist want to be taken up with the concept of an any-moment pretrib rapture? The answer may well be that there’s more money in elevating a rapture than launching a rocket!
January 30, 2009 at 1:55 pm
I don’t really much care about your Ephraem or Pseudo-Ephraem discussion. It has absolutely nothing to do with my believing in a pre- or mid-trib rapture. And I generally don’t even bother much with Missler. If you’re argument is that the rapture view is demolished because of this Ephraem thing or Missler, I can’t imagine a bigger straw man.
Keep in mind that the 1) the Rapture view I favor is now the dominant view of the Protestant church today – as the mainline protestant amillennialist denominations embrace doctrines such as gay marriage and abortion and Christians LEAVE; and 2) that dispensationalists have a pretty good track record of showing their understaning of the Bible by recognizing that Israel would become a nation again. We can go back further to show premillenialism in the church fathers, of course, but just look at Darby and those like him in the 1840s. He was right about Israel when nobody even LIVED in the land of Israel. He was also right saying Russia and China would become mighty in the last days when there was NO reason at the time to think they would.
The fact that Jesus Himself told us to be ready for His coming at any moment is enough for me. Whether I have the brains of a rocket scientist or not (Matt 24:36ff; Matt 25:1-13; etc.).
I presume you are a Christian, or you probably wouldn’t care about this stuff. Personally, I wish you would focus on that common bond, rather than being divisive. I passionately believe in the Rapture of the Church before the coming Tribulation that becomes more real to me every single day. But I don’t go seeking arguments with those who don’t. Btw, my complaint against you also goes to dispensationalists who loudly divide against those Christians who think differently.
May 21, 2009 at 1:50 pm
i dont subscribe to the rapture…
the wicked weird girls and the guy that sourced it is a clue
but, i am all for freedom and self determination, and if you want to believe that, i will support that desire… : )
May 21, 2009 at 1:58 pm
Artfldgr,
Don’t have a freakin’ clue who or what you mean by “wicked weird girls and the guy that sourced it.”
But, I’ll tell you what: I’ll take your allowing me and others who believe in the Rapture to believe as we want to in the spirit I believe you intended it.
We’re coming to a point in time when fewer and fewer rights to freedom of thought and expression are tolerated.
So, without any “nastiness” intended, I appreciate your willingness to tolerate a different point of view.
June 2, 2009 at 10:59 am
if you look up the origin of the modern bibilical theory of rapture as we hold it, it relates back to visions of one Margaret MacDonald. prior to 1830 and her visions there was no such thing as a pre-tribulation rapture.
i figured that since people were here on that subject they would know John Darby, Margaret MacDonalds visions (she was 15 at the time, hence i said girl – and mystyped an s), and the history of it… (though darby had been preaching similar a few years before).
given the source was darby and macdonald… and not ephraem the syrian, or others… and its a modern thing. i just dont think its valid, theologically or otherwise.
but as i said… who am i to “know”? i can know for myself, but really why should i waste my lifes energy on others when there are other ways to waste it with them that are more productive good, and have a real outcome that makes a difference
that is i dont think that rapture christians and other christians are so far apart in things that it really means i have to waste life on it, rather than enjoy the gift of life with them.
is that a better “freakin’ clue :)
June 3, 2009 at 12:14 pm
“Among these things, Papias says that there will be a millennium after the resurrection from the dead, when the personal reign of Christ will be established on this earth.”
– Eusebius, citing Papias, bishop of Hierapolis in Asia Minor and a disciple of John and a friend of Polycarp. He lived from 60-130.
So, besides the fact that you rely on a logical fallacy known as the genetic fallacy for your statement, your statement that premillenialism somehow did not exist prior to Darby or some other 19th century figure simply is not true.
Also not true is your statement about “rapture” Christians. “Rapture” is merely the Latin word for “Harpazo” (caught up) found in 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18. We should ALL be “rapture Christians.”
I agree that devout followers of Christ – be they premillennial or postmillennial – should all be one in Christ.
June 4, 2009 at 11:33 am
i did NOT say that premillenialism did not exist.
i should not have used that word!!!!!!! (or maybe there should be another word for her vision so we are not stuck with the same word describing the right thing AND the wrong thing).
that is the vision that many follow is some additional thing that is not in the bible.
after all, liberation theology people can easly reform jesus into a socialist…
its the same kind of thing in which everyone believes the christian devil is the devil of literature… (who in my opinion CS Lewis gets more rigth in the screw tape letters than any one else)..
does the devil really have violin contests with good ol boys?
the point is that there are a lto of distractions along the way.
the OTHER thing is that thinking about it violates what jesus said.
that even he did not know the time and that one should not live or try to predict it (ie. one should not try to change ones behavior from ones natural behavior in light of a potentially impending thing. that would be like converting at the end of a gun)
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall not pass away. 36″But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. 37For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.”
so in my mind..
it would seem to be a bit blasphemous to think that one knew, or could try to know!
now you might, and probably think different… and thats great!!!
but thats how i see it…
maybe i am wrong… maybe i am right…
but the way i see it… you cant go wrong living your life the way you are, if the way you are is in this light.
that to be a part of the rapture, one need not predict it and get their house in order first, IF their house was in order anyway.
that is one doesnt have to worry about when guests will arrive if ones home is naturally in order every day.
then such a guest is ALWAYS welcome. :)
so in my home, there is always a place at the table for him…
[and many others too… for even the canannites could dine from the crumbs that fall from the lords table]
sorry if i offended..
and thank you for respectful answers…
June 5, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Art,
I take no offense from you, and hope you take none from me.
I want you to know that, as someone who has studied the theology of premillennial dispensational theology, I have never even HEARD of the woman you are talking about, or about any of her “visions.” Nor have I read any but the briefest from what Charles Darby himself had to say. That is, and always has been, a classic straw man. It is by no means the grounds for the eschatology. It’s essentially gibberish to me; it has nothing to do why I believe as I do.
I, and those who share my eschatology, arrive at our conclusions from a study of the Bible, NOT because “Charles Darby said so” or because some woman had a vision.
The bottom line is this: if you read the Bible literally, you will arrive at premillennialism and dispensationalism. If you read it allegorically, you will arrive at the position of amillennialism primarily because that’s what all the people who read it allegorically understood it to mean before. Both sides agree that parts of the Bible must be read literally, and that parts of the Bible must be read allegorically (e.g. no dispensationalist understands Jesus to have been saying He had wings because He wanted to gather Jerusalem like a hen with her chicks). But premillenialists take key passages literally/historicially that amillennialists refuse to take literally or historically.
Let me give you one example: Isaiah 65:20
“No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, Or an old man who does not live out his days; For the youth will die at the age of one hundred And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred Will be thought accursed.”
Amillennialists take an incredibly allegorical approach to this passage. But why? Only because their theology compels them to. What it clearly says is that in a coming time of God’s future kingdom, people will live to be exceedingly old (as they did during the time of Adam until the flood). Someone who dies at the age of 100 will be thought to have been a sinner, due to his dying so young. Amillennialists MUST say this is an allegorical reference to heaven and eternal life; but we DON’T DIE IN HEAVEN!!! No, this passage MUST refer to the 1,000 year millennial reign of Christ on earth. During that time people will live a long time. It’s actually interesting why “1,000 years.” Given the fact that Adam lived to be 930 years old, and Methusalah lived to be 969 years old, the “1,000 year reign of Christ” would literally take place within one man’s lifetime!
So you need to look at Isaiah 65, and explain to me why I am so grievously wrong to take the literal view of interpreting Revelation seriously, and understand that if the Bible tells me there will be a Millennial kingdom rule of Christ on earth, why I shouldn’t believe it. The Millennial kingdom of Christ also explains why the prophecies of Israel’s “heaven” are so earthly (they will be blessed with material abundance; the nations will come up to Jerusalem; Messiah will rule and reign on the throne of David; lions and lambs laying down together; the borers of geographical Israel being greater than they’ve ever been; etc.). And I’m suggesting to you that it will be during this 1,000 year millennium that God fulfills every promise made to the Jews.
And I’m NOT basing this on some 19th century woman’s vision; I’m basing it on the Bible.
I would point out one specific thing you said:
“the OTHER thing is that thinking about it violates what jesus said.
that even he did not know the time and that one should not live or try to predict it (ie. one should not try to change ones behavior from ones natural behavior in light of a potentially impending thing. that would be like converting at the end of a gun).”
The ONLY people I have ever heard do what you are saying are Jehovah’s Witnesses and other cults. No one embracing dispensationalism I have ever read has ever said, “Jesus is coming at 3 p.m. eastern time on October 11, 2012.” Ever. And we CERTAINLY haven’t been forcing people to convert at the point of a gun! The most I have ever come across from those in the “mainstream” of dispensationalism are what amillennialists have called “date suggesters.” But THEY DIDN’T IN FACT SUGGEST ANY ACTUAL DATES. Nor do I.
Commentators like Hal Lindsey made some generalized predictions based in part on the length of a “generation” being “forty years” – and then looking at the recapturing of Jerusalem in 1967 as fulfilling Matthew 24 – but many other dispensationalists of the time said he shouldn’t be so rigid with the meaning of “this generation shall not pass.” I myself was born very near the time of 1967 – so I would at least argue that it means that we’re within decades of fulfillment of prophecy.
I would submit this: We know more about science, and medicine, and electronics, and on and on than we have ever known before. One example: the earliest church fathers didn’t have a full blown Trinitarian theology. It took time for Christians to fully understand. Orthodox Trinitarian theology developed. And I’m glad it did! Daniel closes by telling us that in the last days “knowledge shall be increased” (Daniel 12:4). The angel also says to Daniel, “The wise shall understand.” Why SHOULDN’T WE know more about theology today? In particular, why shouldn’t we know more about biblical prophecy? Especially if in fact the actual events of history are BEING FULFILLED before our eyes in prophecy?
When the disciples asked Jesus, “What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (Matt 24:3), Jesus didn’t scold them for looking for “signs.” Rather He gave them teaching to answer their question. He told them (and us) certain events to look for. And you will have to explain yourself in great detail to tell me that – 2,000 years later – I am wrong for looking around and seeing the events that Jesus (AND His prophets such as St. John and Ezekiel) told me to look for finally coming about. I hope you’re point isn’t that Jesus was just making stuff up.
Read Daniel 9. Daniel reads his Bible, then realizes that the prophecy of seventy years’ desolation made through Jeremiah the prophet was about to be fulfilled. And he prayed. And Gabriel appeared to reward his spiritual insight and trust in the literal Word of God by giving him MORE revelation. He didn’t read Jeremiah and allegoricize the whole thing. He took it literally, and LOOKED FOR THE FULFILLMENT OF PROPHECY.
I would also submit to you that Jesus told His hearers, “When you see a cloud rising in the west you know a rain is coming. You know how to interpret the earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?” And I would argue that had the Jews understood their Bibles literally, they would have KNOWN to look for His coming. But sadly, the Jews didn’t read or understand the Bible the way Daniel read and understood it.
I want to make certain you understand, I do NOT predict the time of Jesus’ return. I don’t even predict the time of the Rapture, during which Jesus meets believers in the air. I merely look at the signs of the times, and see the coming one world government, see the coming economic earthquake, see the coming war of Gog and Magog (Russia, Iran, and a Muslim federation) against Israel, see the coming “mark of the beast” economic system, see the coming reality of a one-world dictator, and I conclude, “We are in the last days before the Tribulation described in Revelation.”
June 8, 2009 at 10:36 am
thanks for the thoughtful answer.
June 8, 2009 at 11:07 am
Thanks for your thoughtful comment.