September 25, 2026: My Pet Rock, President Stone, Rock Solid Leadership

 

I found it on the shore of the Eastern Bay, washed up on the beach near Petosky, Hemingway country. Forged in the furnace of mother earth, tempered by the weight of a mighty glacier, proud of its ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness the slow undoing of those rights to which nature has always been committed.  It beckoned me to lift it up and bring it home.

I was puzzled, uncertain what to do with it. Ground to a lustre by the weight of ancient ice and polished by endless waves, the bespeckled stone presents a stoic certain dignity. Wherein would I find a place suitable to its majesty?

Then, it came to me.

I remembered a long time ago that a wag, in an effort to present the world with something it didn't have, and which—in his telling-- it desperately needed, fell upon the idea of selling pet rocks. A rock, suitably encased in it's own 'dog house' as it were, we were told, was always there, always faithful. It makes no demands. It costs little. “That's it!”, I shouted and went about creating a suitable home.

But wherein to reside? Home of course, up upon the mantle. But in what kind of surroundings? In what would it be encased?

Then it came to me.

“The White House,” I laughed. So I went about constructing a replica of the White House into which, upon completion, I introduced this recently “elevated” resident.

And there it sits in all its majesty. It is a veritable oracle of wisdom, sitting silent in the Executive Mansion. This is no drama queen occupying the Oval Office. When you bring your troubles here you are greeted with stone silence, in your ears only the voice of your own conscience. And what better guide could one ask? Moreover, President Stone, as it is reverently called, will not appeal to your worst instincts, it cannot be brought to repeat our prejudices. It is made of sterner stuff, from the very materials from which man has long sought refuge.  Its upbringing simply will not permit it; for unlike the unnatural mating of a woman and Orangutan, Stone is one of nature's own. It knows from whence it came. It is proud of its ancient heritage; but it is an understated pride, a pride that does not need, nor does it require, monuments and constant reaffirmation.

Yes, my pet rock is far superior to what now defiles the Executive Mansion in Washington. The 'president-in-residence' here needs no need to paint his face; no need to demean and belittle; no need to wage war upon the world around it; no need for constant chaos and drama; no need to bear false witness. It does not whine and whimper; it does not insult our allies, betray our friends nor threaten our alliances; it will not impose ignorance and incompetence upon us; it is not mendacious nor sadistic and does not threaten to destroy whole civilizations; it does not foul itself nor emit repugnant odor.   Its sleep is not burdened by dark conspiracy.  The occupant of this Executive Mansion rests solid, serene and secure. My pet rock makes a greater 'president'.  It is older; it presents to the world more wisdom and better judgment; it is comfortable in it's own patina;  it does no harm.

But above all, it is far more competent, intelligent and articulate than our presiding Caesar Disgustus.

Say what you will.  You can call it madness, but while 'freckled' it is not feckless.  It is 'rock solid'.  This president is gleaned, like Hamm's Beer, from the land of sky blue waters, not flushed by Russian Agents from the underbelly of Gotham's lower intestines. 

 

“An' Br'er Putin he jus' laugh and laugh”

Impeach and Imprison.

August 31, 2026: The Nerd Reich, Vichy Democrats

August 29, 2026: Debacle at U.N, His Own Mind, International Embarrassment

 

Every year the President of the United States gives an address before the General Assembly of the United Nations as part of opening ceremony of each session. Disgustus hates the United Nations as does the political party he heads. The result is that the United Nations, a creature of American diplomacy, has been subjected of late to the annual harangues of a deranged madman, subjecting the assembled and, by extension, the world to the meanderings of a deeply troubled, mentally ill psychopath standing before them with a list of grievances real and imagined and much more imagined than real. This was expected. This is the grist of his usual stump speeches. You know it would be about him, it is always about him. He would stand before the delegations and claim he is the greatest president in American history; that his accomplishments, though meager or non-existent, are legendary. 'Everyone seated before him, indeed the entire world knows by now that tRUMP is a legend in his own mind.

But hardly anyone expected this.

Doctors John Gardner and Brandi Lee have led a host of psychiatrists and psychologists in pointing out what dementia and, particularly, frontal lobe dementia does to a patient. The deterioration of the frontal lobes destroys what little impulse control Disgustus ever had. Given his diagnosis of being a pronounced malignant narcissist, “the most serious form of mental illness” as cited by Dr. Gardner, this becomes very worrisome indeed. One of the characteristics of malignant narcissism is sadism and, as Gardner has repeatedly warned tRUMP now having the taste of blood, first with his bombing of Venezuelan fishing boats then with the bombing of school girls as the introduction to his ongoing conflict with Iran, has led to ever greater belligerency, ever greater protestations of his immense power comparing himself now to Alexander, Ghengis Khan, Hitler, Stalin and Napoleon. He has even begun construction of an “arc de Stench”, a monumental arch on the style of the one in Paris, dwarfing Napoleon's monument to his conquest of Egypt. Disgustus claims that he now controls America and now, like a colossus astride the planet, controls the world.

So now we find him in New York, our modern Caligula, declaring victory over Neptune, citing imaginary accomplishments, demanding that all kneel to his sword. He threatened Cuba with invasion as the Cuban delegation filed our of the hall; most alarmingly, he threatened the total annihilation of Iran telling the world that they wouldn't have a chance of survival and that there would be no rebuilding from the ashes.

Disgustus has become more that a national embarrassment; he has become more than an international embarrassment. Disgustus stood before the world, giving a deranged speech to the United Nations General Assembly, in which he revealed the extent of his mental illness. That this deranged maniac should be allowed an international platform is bad enough, but that he should be in control of one of the world's super powers poses a threat to this planet that we have never seen. Hitler, Stalin, Napoleon didn''t possess nuclear weapons, nor the long-range capabilities to deliver them. The Cuban Missile Crisis was negotiated by rational actors. There is nothing rational about an administration headed by a quixotic, deranged madman who, increasingly, cannot control his base impulses. The United States now finds itself headed by a man who should be either in prison or an insane asylum, clearly institutionalized. This should, and does, worry the entire world community which has increasingly moved to isolate our erstwhile Caesar and his maladministration hoping, against all odds, that the actuarial tables come upon him and a surprise visit by the grim reaper produces the much anticipated celebration of his long awaited obituary.

In the meantime, the world holds its collective breath.

An' bre'er Putin, he jus' laugh and laugh

Impeach, Convict, Imprison.

August 27, 2026: American Rot, A Prize Hog, Bloated Obscenity

  

“Behold. The festering carcass of American rot shoved into an ill-fitting suit: the sleaze of a conman, the cowardice of a draft dodger, the gluttony of a parasite, the racism of a Klansman, the sexism of a back-alley creep, the ignorance of a bar-stool drunk, and the greed of a hedge-fund ghoul — all spray-painted orange and paraded like a prize hog at a county fair. Not a president. Not even a man. Just the diseased distillation of everything this country swears it isn't but always has been — arrogance dressed up as exceptionalism, stupidity passed off as common sense, cruelty sold as toughness, greed exalted as ambition, and corruption worshipped like gospel. It is America's shadow made flesh, a rotting pumpkin idol proving that when a nation kneels before money, power, and spite, it doesn't just lose its soul — it shits out this bloated obscenity and calls it a leader.”

    ------Oliver Kornetzke

This sums up in one paragraph what these columns have judged, these last eleven years, this orange turd to be.  This should be his epitaph, carved upon the very garbage scow that finally tows his rotting carcass out to sea to be fed to the sharks and the bottom feeders.  

August 23, 2026 & September 10, 2026: Mid-Term 'Convention, More Pepperoni On It, Blatantly Illegal Act

 

Tom Monihan once owned the Detroit Tigers. The founder of Dominoes Pizza had become, by the late eighties, rich enough to buy the franchise from John Fetzer an aging local media mogul who began to sense that his time was up. Like any new ownership, Monihan came in with all the bluster about a new sheriff in town claiming, as they always do, that a new broom sweeps clean. Gone was Jim Campbell who, as general manager, had piloted the franchise to two World Championships, one in 1968 and one in 1984. Gone too was Ernie Harwell, the voice of the Tigers who had been broadcasting Tiger Baseball for what seemed like forever. Harwell, a native Georgian, held the distinction of being the only man in the booth to be acquired through trade. Early in his career he was traded by the Atlanta Crackers to the New York Giants in exchange for some minor league player and a player to be named later. There may have also been some cash involved. In any case he was on the radio broadcasting the game that featured the Thompson's 'shot-heard-round-the-world' as the Giants clinched the National League Pennant but isn't featured today because thinking radio the dominant media he eschewed the television broadcast now universally remembered. Harwell would never leave the radio booth.

But I digress.

Campbell and Harwell were gone, replaced by the University of Michigan's football coach Bo Schembeckler and a couple of young voices known for their faux excitement and ability to raise their voices up to the level of a prepubescent choir soprano. Gone too was any standard of baseball excellence. Bo may have known football, but he sucked at baseball and the Tigers soon found themselves declining in the standings, declining radio audiences and declining revenues. To make matters worse, if they could be worse, Monihan was found to have been raiding the team's revenues in order to prop up his other enterprises with The American League contemplating taking over the team until the franchise could be sold.

When asked what Monihan was about to do, one executive working for him replied under conditions of anonymity, “what you got to understand about my boss is that when confronted with any crisis his answer is always to put more pepperoni on it”.

This is the mentality of our very own Caesar Disgustus. To Wit: the answer to any crisis is More TRUMP. This leads us to the novel invention of the Mid-Term ReSCUMlickan Convention.

The quadrennial American Political Convention goes back to Andrew Jackson and soon adopted by the Whigs and then the Republicans. It features delegations chosen through party proceedings, such as state conventions or state caucus, or through primary elections. Party platforms are drawn up; speeches are given; the faithful are called to action. Everyone knew that this would be nothing more than a ceremony in glorification of the Supreme Leader. And, indeed it was. There were no real delegations. There was no platform. It was simply an orgy of faux enthusiasm tailored to deify the GREAT ONE. A place where the Maggots could gather and worship the GOLDEN SWINE.

The place chosen was Dallas, Texas. Dallas was selected in order to bolster the faltering campaign of one Ken Paxton, State Attorney General now candidate for the United States Senate. Disgustus had endorsed Paxton against Texas Senator Cornin because the incumbent Senator was insufferably 'independent'. The scandal-ridden Paxton, however, reeked so badly that he had been impeached by the overwhelmingly ReSCUMlickan Texas State Legislature, but narrowly acquitted by the Senate. Disgustus, still in possession of at least a minimal sense of smell, found immediate favor with Paxton who, recognizing the pungency, endorsed his candidacy. Paxton won the primary but has fallen behind his Democratic opponent in blood-red Texas.

The solution to this and the hiding that awaits the trip to the electoral 'woodshed' come November tRUMP deemed to be MORE tRUMP.

So, here we are.

It proved the disaster everyone knew it would be.

First there was the 'selection' process for participation. The event was not to be a gathering of chosen delegates, but instead one of elected officials, party big-whigs, and the monied class. Attendance required a minimum 25 thousand dollars in contribution for two tickets to this orgy of stupidity and incompetence. Ticket prices went up from there to well over a hundred thousand dollars for the 'privilege' of getting within reach of the Orange Turd himself, assuming one could stand the stench.

Forty percent of the ReSCUMlickan Congressional Caucus suddenly found more pressing matters on their agendas. One member of the House cited the need to tend his garden, another to spend more quality family time. One was said to be hiding in a closet, location unknown.

So here was Disgustus on the podium, both nights, before a half-filled auditorium, leading the assembled in a “Pledge of Allegiance” not to the Republic but to himself, “the greatest American President”, asking them to commit voter fraud if necessary to win this election. Then, he stunned the nation by promising five thousand dollars to every adult in the country if his party prevails in November; a blatantly illegal act.

Yeah, sure, Donald. We're still waiting on that tariff rebate check that you gave to the corporations. We're still waiting on the check you said you'd send when you cut off our ObamaCare subsidies.

We're still waiting on that DOGE dividend. We will believe you when Big Ed's check from Publisher's Clearinghouse arrives and clears the bank.

Dallas was an act of desperation by a desperate little man feeling his influence on the wane. It did nothing to stem the hemorrhage of political support. Disgustus, finding himself the most unpopular 'president' in the history of polling, with support now falling in some polls to the high twenties, is terrified of what comes next. He knows that the walls are closing in. His nights are filled with terror as he dreams of congressional investigations where every underling, every relative, every business associate, every record be it financial, medical or political will be requisitioned.

He is a cornered rat, and a cornered rat is dangerous.

An' Bre'er Putin, he jus' laugh and laugh

Impeach, Convict, Imprison

August 12, 2026: No Credibility, Another Herbert Hoover, Can't Fix Stupid

 

“Our Caesar Disgustus stands before us like a jackass in a hail storm.”

----Quotations of Chairman Joe

The economic reports are troubling. The maladministration declares with a straight face that the unemployment rate is just north of 4 per cent. Four per cent has, historically, been understood as full employment. Yet it is now reported that over 108 million adult Americans are not working and that a mere 61 per cent of those of working age are currently employed. This, quite simply, does not add up.

Of course our Caesar Disgustus, nearly a year ago, terminated the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics for reporting unemployment numbers unfavorable to his version of reality. This, clearly, puts any statistics generated by these malignant clowns under immediate suspicion As the Europeans and Iranians are beginning to understand, one cannot put any confidence in any assertions by these clowns. They have no credibility.

There is no longer any doubt that the nation is under economic stress. This is evidenced by high consumer prices and, clearly, high unemployment. In a word: Stagflation.

Stagflation. The labor report, released early this week showed that last month the economy shed 26,000 jobs with, no doubt,further downward revisions when the full results emerge. 250,000 have left the labor market altogether adding to the percentage of working adults not currently in the labor market. This is not indicative of a surfeit of wealth in your average household, but an index of the depression of the labor markets. Millions, it is evident, have given up.

Disgustus, for his part, is terrified that he will become another Herbert Hoover. This may well be his legacy but he will emerge from this national catastrophe with at least the legacy of Jimmy Carter. Like Carter, tRUMP finds himself held 'hostage' by the Iranians; Carter with the Hostage Crisis that plagued his final year in office, tRUMP now finds himself a hostage as Iran cuts the supply chain of critical resources threatening to keep the straight of Hormuz closed until his maladministration comes to a thankful end.  Like Carter this maladministration is plagued by stagflation. Unlike Carter, who inherited nearly a decade of stagflation from Nixon and Ford (likewise brought on by interruption of the oil supply due to support of Israel), Disgustus finds himself hamstrung by a foreign adventure of his own doing. And, if he persists in imposing his ignorance upon the scene, he will, at last, grab the mantle of Herbert Hoover and drive the nation and, indeed, the world into a world-wide depression.

As has been repeatedly pointed out in these columns, Disgustus has a history of making a pig's breakfast of everything he touches. Nothing escapes his stench. As commentator Rick Wilson has famously said “everything he touches dies”. Disaster shadows him like the stench announcing his arrivals and departures. All of this was and is predictable.

Disgustus famously declared that only he could “fix it”. You can't fix stupid. There is no fixing stupid.

Impeach and Imprison

August 9, 2026: Suspicious Activites, Criminal Organization, Disgustus Being Disgustus

 

Meidas Touch, the online podcast network, is reporting some serious news. Michael Popok has recently reported, citing court records in a case being litigated in Florida, that Capital One had, in 2021, canceled over 350 accounts of the tRUMP Organization because of suspicious activity.

Required by law to flag suspicious financial transactions, the bank cited possible money laundering and financing of terrorist groups as the reason for their actions. Let that sink in. Money laundering and financing of terrorist groups. The documents, produced online by Popok, who himself is an attorney practicing law in these jurisdictions, do not elaborate which individuals or which groups, at least not yet. Disgustus was given time to find other financial institutions to handle his finances and the action was, for unfathomable reasons, not made public. Clearly, this is the kind of information that would have been determinant in the 2024 election, and information that the public has every right to know.

The tRUMP Organization is already a duly adjudicated criminal organization, convicted of falsifying records, insurance and bank fraud, perhaps tax evasion. That the mainstream media, at this juncture, prefers to report on tRUMP's alleged addition of a wig or, perhaps, hair extensions, to that monstrosity sitting atop his head, tells us all we need to know about the nature of our media. Pure distraction in the face of pure criminality. Disgustus has always been the practitioner of tabloid journalism. He knows well the strategy of distraction. He has always counted on the press following the shining object, chasing the ambulances, seeking clicks, likes, and headlines. But the nature of journalism is changing as the likes of the bloggers and vloggers, those who have moved, like Don Lemon, Cenk Ugar, Joy Reid have moved from network broadcast news to YouTube and other platforms, joining a host of others from David Pakman, to the Young Turks, to Meidas Touch.

The case was brought by tRUMP as an act of retaliation for the imagined slight, Disgusts being, well, Disgustus, simply couldn't have gone elsewhere and moved on. Oh no!, not our Orange Turd. Instead he instituted a law suit, no doubt seeking damages. Then came the inevitable stage of discovery and all came to light. Disgustus has always been the author of his own undoing, his own failures, seeking his own destruction.

This case in Florida deserves, indeed demands, a thorough investigation and airing by all of our media. The tRUMP's and their nefarious financial dealings must be exposed, reported and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. As David Cay Johnston has repeatedly pointed out, Donald tRUMP is the head of the third of a four generation, soon no doubt to be a fifth generation, crime family. It is time to apply the RICO statutes which gives the greater society, that is the government, authority to seize all assets of any organization or individuals so engaged. Let's get on with it. It is time the tRUMPs, all of them, be returned to their natural station in life: greeters at Walmart, diggers of ditches, and the prostitutes that they are.

Impeach and Imprison.

August 8, 2026: Too Cute by Half, Stalwarts Strike Back, Awaits the Reckoning

 

Last night's primary election returns from ruby-red Tennessee may well have demonstrated that the Maggots have been too cute by half. Following the lead to Texas and other states ReSCUMlickans re-districted the state so as to cut Memphis in half and thereby reduce black, as well as Democratic, representation in Congress. The result is that one of the state's most ignorant ReSCUMlickan mouthpieces has been purged from the body.

Congressional ReSCUMlickan Andy Ogles, member of the Congressional “Freedom” (read “Slavery”) caucus was defeated 53-47 percent by former state Agricultural Commissioner Charlie Hatcher despite having the endorsement of our shitting “president”. This comes on the heels of another tRUMP endorsed sleazebag having lost to a “ghost” candidate in Michigan (see previous post), earlier this week. Former Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and current Governor Bill Lee endorsed Hatcher.

So the stalwarts stike back, or perhaps the Maggots, writhing in pain, have finally discovered the fraud that is our Caesar Disgustus. Perhaps, given the news this week out of Tennessee and Michigan, the fever has begun to break and the nation is, at long last, returning to its senses. Only time, and the next election, will tell.

On other good news, U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn, who along with Tommy Tupperware of Alabama, represents the absolute dregs of senatorial incompetency won her contest to become the ReSCUMlickan candidate for Governor, filling an open seat. The good news here is that, like Tupperware (who is widely understood to be the dumbest man now serving in this body), she will, as of January 1 of next year, no longer disgrace what was once, before the likes of her stunk up the place, the greatest deliberative body on earth.

Progress, of sorts, by increment.

Nevertheless, it has been a very bad week for our Caesar Disgustus, the Orange Turd. With is endorsements comes the stench, a smell that permeates the skin and will never, in their lifetimes, be fully removed. The nation recoils as well it should as the nation awaits the reckoning.

Impeach and Imprison

August 5, 2026: Establishment Comeuppance, Jaws of Victory, Stench of tRUMP

 

Last night was primary night in my old home state of Michigan. It was not a good night for the 'establishment'.

On the Democratic side, Abdul El-Sayed narrowly defeated congresswoman Haley Stevens despite being outspent in the contest by 11 to 1. Stevens not only reportedly raised and spent between 62 and 70 million dollars in this democratic PRIMARY contest, but had the endorsements of Governor Whitmer and most of the Democratic establishment, including Chuck Schumer and Congressman Jim Clyburn. With the passing of Jesse Jackson and Georgia Congressman John Lewis, Clyburn has become the voice of the black community. Clyburn, one may recall, is the idiot that rescued Biden from oblivion in the South Carolina Primary, ensuring that the 'establishment' would once again deny Bernie Sanders the 2020 presidential nomination.

Clyburn and the establishment got their comeuppance. El-Sayed, with Sanders' endorsement and following Sanders' 2016 strategy (1) squeaked out a narrow victory over the mossbacks by winning much of Western Michigan as well as Manistee, Traverse City and much of Michigan's Upper Penninsula. He won in Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, but narrowly lost in Muskegon, Detroit, Saginaw and Flint. He, like Sanders, lost the I-75 corridor, but carried much of the rest of the state. He carried the college towns of Ann Arbor and East Lansing, Marquette, and Big Rapids. He won the countryside. Not bad for a man who had no name recognition only few months ago.

Yes, he was endorsed by Sanders and A.O.C. He earned the endorsement of the United Auto Workers, something not to be minimized here. But he took on the establishment. All the old pols, the mossbacks, and the Israeli lobby. AIPAC, American-Israeli Political Action Committee, is said to have spent north of 32 million dollars in this campaign in support of Haley Stevens. Roughly half of the money raised by her campaign, which, in the waning hours, became really ugly.

Alas, when the dust had cleared in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, Abdul stood standing. El-Sayed has proven to be a formidable political figure. Former captain of the University of Michigan football team, medical student and Rhodes Scholar he has campaigned against genocide in Gaza, called for an end to military aid for Israel, supports Medicare for all, organized labor, raising the minimum wage, unpacking the Supreme Court, and restoring the American working and middle classes. These are positions that resonate across the political spectrum like a sledge hammer hitting a tuning fork.

Stevens, for her part, ran a miserable campaign, begging the question: had the Democratic establishment backed Mallory McMorrow, would they had won? Never, ever, underestimate the ability of the Democratic Party to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

“in the morning they returned with

tears in their eyes

the stench of tRUMP drifts up to the skies

a young maggot so ill

looks at the Orange Turd

remembers the words

Thou Shall Not Kill”

----Parody of “Sky Pilot”, the Animals.

On the ReSCUMlickan side, in Michigan's 8^th Congressional District, an open seat vacated by the vanquished Haley Stevens, Amir Hassan was defeated by Thomas Smith 50% to 33% despite having

the endorsement of our Caesar Disgustus, the Orange Turd. Indeed, Smith had withdrawn from the race weeks earlier, endorsing Hassan, going so far as to don his campaign hat and make an ad saying Hassan was his preferred choice  Clearly the racist base of the ReSCUMlickan Party were having none of a candidate whose name sounded 'ferrin'. That and the stench of Caesar Disgustus purged Hassan of all but the most dedicated racists. However, as in tRUMP's early and brief endorsement of his Covid vaccine demonstrated, the maggot base will not tolerate being told to take its medicine or vote for someone whose name sounds foreign.

Caesar Disgustus, whose approval is now in the low 30's, has clearly become shopworn. As the stench of tRUMP lifts up to the skies, he slowly sinks into the swamp of his own making. Caesar Disgustus has reached the end of his tether.

“an' Br'er Putin, he jus' laugh and laugh”.

Impeach and Imprison.

______________

1. See https://wandererandshadow.blogspot.com/2016/04/april-7-2016-lessons-from-michigan.html

August 4, 2026: Tank Bottom, Prolonged Executive Stupidity, Demented Brain-Damaged Fool

 

Our Caesar Disgustus now finds himself caught like the proverbial jackass in a hailstorm. The middle eastern conflicts have left us not only bereft of munitions but nearing tank bottom.

He was warned about this. The joint chiefs told the dullard that we didn't have either the munitions nor the manpower for this conflict and that soon we would run out of ammunition and any ground invasion would require re-instituting the draft. And, lo and behold, five months into this campaign and we have laid waste our supply of patriot, Tomahawk and other missiles, with Disgustus openly staring down the prospect of ground invasion or, perhaps, nuclear weapons as a last resort.

He is also staring down the depletion of our oil reserves, now said to be the lowest since '83 with a mere 40 days supply. The oil reserves, created by Jimmy Carter to protect the national economy for just such an interruption of the supply chain, appears not to protect the economy from prolonged executive stupidity.

Disgustus knows he must get a resolution soon or face staggering inflation. He finds himself hamstrung between a genocidal madman hell bent on prolonging the conflict and a political base servile to Israeli aggrandizement and a looming economic catastrophe which will destroy not only the country's economic well-being but his political base.

There is no painless way out of this. The question is whether tRUMP will absorb the pain by admitting defeat or inflict the pain on the nation and the world. We know where this demented, brain-damaged, fool will 'lead' us.

Impeach and Imprison before it is too late.