Les Carpenter May 4, 2023 at 1:41 PM
We are a nation of self absorbed, unaware, imbeciles. Not al of us of course. But just enough to keep those that aren't forced to put up with their fear, delusions, and abject selfishness.
We are a sick nation.
In case you're wondering about Leslie Elden Carpenter III's picture as to why he has a beard, that photo came from his latest reply on Disqus. That is his latest avatar. And it appears Leslie might have moved out of his apartment in Ludlow Massachussetts to a trailer park in Belcherville Massachssetts. He said on his blog site that he was going to focus more on smoking weed rather than engaging in political stuff. So go figure his landlord probably kicked him out for toking in his space. You can't blame the landlord for tossing him out after Ludlow Law enforcement agencies break down a few doors in a surprise drug raid, smashing up the apartment, leaving a huge mess for the landlord to repair. What did you do, Nursie Poo Poo, to get evicted from your rented space in Ludlow & end up in a trailer park in Belcherville?
President Biden has just issued an official proclamation declaring that transgender Americans "shape our nation's soul" and established a holiday relating to the group this week.
ReplyDeleteMy God! What has happened to America??
Biden issued the proclamation Thursday to mark March 31, 2023, as the Transgender Day of Visibility, a day some transgender activists have renamed to "day of vengeance."
"Transgender Americans shape our Nation's soul -- proudly serving in the military, curing deadly diseases, holding elected office, running thriving businesses, fighting for justice, raising families, and much more," Biden wrote in the Thursday morning proclamation.
"Today, too many transgender Americans are still denied…rights and freedoms," the president's statement continued. "A wave of discriminatory state laws is targeting transgender youth, terrifying families and hurting kids who are not hurting anyone. An epidemic of violence against transgender women and girls, in particular women and girls of color, has taken lives far too soon.
THIS IS CLEARLY A SLAP IN THE FACE, AND AN INSULT TO THE 6 PEOPLE KILLED IN A NASHVILLE SCHOOL SHOOTING, INCLUDING 3 CHILDREN RECENTLY BY A TRANSGENDER TERRORIST.
WE ARE STILL WAITING FOR THEM TO RELEASE THAT NUT JOB’S MANIFESTO! WHAT ARE THEY AFRAID OF, WHAT WILL WE FIND IN IT?
I wonder how the parents of those 6 unfortunate dead people feel about Joe's proclamation?
ReplyDeleteDervish SandersMay 7, 2023 at 3:23 PM
I look forward to seeing Joe Biden getting reelected in 2024, then seating 5 more Justices in the Supreme Court by the end of his term in 2029. When the SCOTUS has no Republican nominated judges left, we will have won the battle.
Keep Looking YOU idiotic Moron.
DeleteBiden and his Lefty supporters like Dervish Sandwich, Dave Muller, and Shaw Peewee, couldn't care less about people who work for a living in the private sector, as anyone not wearing blinders has already deduced.
DeleteThe clown show must go on at Boston Piggy's dump site. 0-Ca-Ca Dave, Shenehneh, Nursie Poo Poo and Derpish know how to oink and stink up the blogosphere.
Delete
ReplyDeleteThe Hypocrisy Comment of the year.
Les Carpenter, “ Rational Nation USA” called someone Stupid!
Nursie Poo Poo must have been looking at his sewer puddle when he wrote that retort.
DeleteHow do you say Dave Miller in Spanish? Maricon!
ReplyDeleteHow about 0-Ca-Ca Maricon?
DeleteMore and more evidence is pointing towards Joe Biden," Comer said. "Obviously, Joe Biden was involved in all this despite the fact that he lied to the American people, despite the fact that his press secretary continues to lie about it.”
ReplyDeleteWe know that The Big Guy got 10%, but what did the Little Guys get? And how many members of the Biden crime family were involved in Hunter’s influence-peddling schemes? We may never know the full story of just how corrupt this superannuated kleptocrat who pretends to be president of the United States and his family really are, but now House Republicans are expanding their investigation of the Biden crime organization..Joe Biden is even more corrupt than Hillary Clinton was in her “Hay Day”.
Oh,I’m sorry, they call it the Biden “family,” you know, like the Gambino “family” — to include more of Old Joe’s relatives. At the very least, we should get a glimpse into how “the public service” today is a highly lucrative endeavor for an amoral, unscrupulous liar such as Old Joe.. Now we know that NINE members of the Biden Crime Family are under investigation.
The chairman said the report he will release on Wednesday will show the Biden family received money from many more countries than previously known and that the number of family members who benefitted is much larger.
“We're going to produce an additional five Biden family members, more countries, more LLCs, more bank accounts," he explained. "This thing is much bigger than anyone would have ever predicted, and it all points towards Joe Biden”
Just how many whistle blowers are needed for the DOJ and the FBI to act?
Will somebody please ask the Bunch of Donkeys at Show's Love Feast why Joe Biden has committed treason through his son Hunter Biden & other Biden family members.
ReplyDeleteAntony Blinken led 51 intelligence officers to lie about Hunter’s laptop & its contents.
He had them send a letter stating that it was all ” Russian disinformation” !
Here is a perfect example of quid pro quo
& bribery.
Blinken was appointed Secretary of State !
The Jackasses at Boston Piggy are humping each other from behind as Shenehneh bends over.
DeleteAttempting to explain that 81 million people “voted”, or possibly “Voted” for Joe Biden, a Inept, Stuttering, Blabbering, Delusional, Crazy Man in 2020 has been another lie and a hoax perpetuated by the Democrats and Leftists and the Main Stream Media
ReplyDeleteMaybe, and that’s a BIG maybe, and possibly with extreme calculation and manipulation, and UNDERHANDED, help of the DOJ and the crooked FBI and other crooked government agencies.
That with the help by the now exposed corrupt Antony Blinken, and his phoney 51 intelligence officers that somehow signed a letter that the Hunter Biden story was Russian Hoax further reinforces this view .
Among the 51 intelligence officers were Clapper and Brennan perhaps the two highest intelligence officers in the nation, who by the way were also found to be crooked..
We know that with the excuse of COVID all voting rules &andregulations were changed almost overnight!
The changes were particularly consequential in the “ swing states” !
The voting that took place was worse than that which takes place in a controlled Dictatorship!
The other laughable and the totally ridiculous explanation of why Biden got so many votes is that voters “ voted against Trump”
and not for Biden.
This is a completely false narrative and pure “plausible “ but a fake explanation !
Plausible denials & in some cases plausible explanations are tools that the left and totalitarian regimes have used for decades.
Our “intelligence officers” , all 51 of them know this method of disinformation & propaganda .
The US fought against this kind of misinformation and propaganda successfully
during the Cold War with the USSR & other such regimes for decades. That it has been used in our own country is very sad and extremely disheartening !
Trump may have been brash and even rough on the edges for most politicians , but his love for his country was UNQUESTIONABLY CLEAR and his policies were Extremely Successful because he ran the country like a leader and CEO, result oriented & businesslike !
He did it in a very considerate and humane & efficient way and lifted up all ranks of Americans including all of the minorities !
The propagandists will want you to think otherwise including “ Make America Great Again” , “MAGA” as being racist &and of being “White Supremacy” ,but I for one just CAN NOT SEE how anyone could find a saying like Make America Great Again” racist, or bad in ANT way, shape or form!
None of this could be further from the truth, NONE.
Nor for any objective & discerning citizen, who loves this country and could see what has happened to it in the past few years! .
Unfortunately there are millions of people that lack objective reality & are easy targets for being brainwashed, mostly by one liner misnomers & headlines !
How can I possibly explain the “Fact” that 36% NUT JOBS still approve of this Inept, Stuttering, Blabbering, Delusional, Crazy Man?
This is way beyond me!
Are you aware that there are Secret Gender Transition clubs in our schools ! Yes, while these Progressive sit around and write thosev VICIOUS, and DISGUSTING blogs about “Republicans like George Santos, and tear Donald Trump apart, this is what these Progressives are doing to our one time Wonderful Country!
ReplyDeleteCan it be any more abominable and disgusting? These animals behind a computer, and approving of this disgusting agenta in our schools are OUT of Their Minds!
What in the world is happening in this country ? Who is behind these destructive, and disgusting efforts? And WHY aren’t they being stopped?
How organized and orchestrated can they be ? How is it that they are able to carry this on and no one has been aware of it for so long? And WHY HASN’T IT BEEN STOPPED?
There is no question that sinister groups have infiltrated the very core of the US government and public and private institutions to bring down the country from within And no one can tell ne the Democrats aren’t behind this!
The “ Moral Decay and Rot” of this country are the many tools that are being used by the Haters of America.
“Wokeism”, “Critical Race Theory ” the outlandish claim of white Supremacy” , the “ Drag Queen Shows” in front of little children “
and Vilifying Family and Traditional Values is part of this disgusting Democratic, Progressive agenda.
It also includes pushing Transgenderism , Broken Borders & illegal’s entering with masses of Fentany, killing our young children, and adults ! The Inflation in our Super Markets, and in the Restaurants, and our Rents going sky high.
Is this the “ Build Back Better “ Joe Biden and his band of IDIOTS in his administration have been telling us about?
He is being controlled by people behind the scenes and he is too weak to even realize his incompetence and how he is being manipulated . Who is doing this horrible thing to our beloved Country?
He is compromised with all the corruption he committed all these years and now is captive to his masters !
And yet 36% NUT JOBS still approve of this Inept, Dangerous, Crazy Man !
Dervitard bin §atan-§ander§ worships the jackal sitting on the 0ffal 0ffice porcelain throne. Dervitard bin §atan-§ander§ calls his idol a god.
DeleteOur government is now corrupt beyond repair, as the Democratic tyrants can do, and are doing whatever they please.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, we are finding that the PROGRESSIVE COMMUNIST DEMOCRATS, together with former intelligence and law enforcement agents at Facebook, and other Social Media, and with the help of our crooked DOJ, and FBI who pose a clear and present Danger to the United States Constitution.
Yes!, Facebook spied on Private Messages of American Citizens that had questioned the 2020 Trump/Biden election
ReplyDeleteLive RIGHT NOW : The Republicans are holding major announcement on Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, and the rest of the Biden Crime Family investigation the China ties, the Romania ties, and the Treason that was going on all over the world. Comer says it's Joe Biden's "Day Of Judgement”
And yet the Progressive blogger, and the rest of the Democrats call us CONSPIRACY THEORISTS, and that there isn’t any proof of the Biden’s Crouption! Well there is now.
Yet these Progressives would rather write, and talk about “Trumpers' verdict in the E. Jean Carroll trial”, and Congressman George Santos
Not ONE SINGLE WORD about .Biden and his families business dealings, and why our Adversaries paid these Biden Family Members over $10 Million Dollars!
Yes, the committee has presented the various documents that showed the Biden's extensive financial transactions with the Chinese Communist Party among other countries receiving millions, (up to $10 million...) for some businesses that have NO known expertise! In other words “Shell” companies. This is getting ugly for the Biden Family. Wow...this is just mind-blowing depths of corruption,
It seems as if the Biden family members and business associates CREATED of over 20 companies that they had millions of dollars wired to their Bank accounts. This was Major Influence Peddling to countries such as Ukraine, Romania, Russia, and China
But we see NO MENTION of the most " "Devastating Inflation in 41 years, and since we have Joe Biden in office Russia , China, and Iran, all who have all joined forces against us.
Meanwhile our banks are failing like never before in the countries history
Energy costs are higher than ever including the Gas that we all use, the food prices in the Super Markets have almost doubled since Biden took office. We can’t afford to eat in the restaurants as we did for all those wonderful years.
How does that fit into Bidens “Build Back Better” policy?
I would appreciate the 37% who “Still” approve of the job Joe Biden is doing to explain it to the rest of us, HOW IS THAT BUILDING Back Better??
Build Back Better? Is he kidding? Business are closing their doors, they are liquidating their stock, and breaking their leases just to GET OUT!.
There just isn’t any customers left anymore, they really have no other choice.
Here in New York City I see all kinds of empty buildings, all over town.
This Build Back Better Deal, is a Bust!
Thanks to our president, and the rest of the Biden Crime Family!!
So Tell Us Again How Trump Took “HUSH” money From A Pron Star!
The Bidet bots forget that God shows us the truth, while they foolishly bow to their idols, the B**** Crime Clan.
DeleteWhat did Joe Biden, and his Son, and the rest of his family do to deserve for all the Millionsof Dollars that hey have, and that they tried are hiding?
ReplyDeleteThere has never been a presidential family with this kind of money HONESTLY earned from being in ANY political position, or office that had been able to accumulate the Millions that they have.
This is why we heard that Baloney about Hunter receiving ALL THAT MONEY from his stupid paintings, that were supposed to bought by an “Anonymous” and unidentified buyer, Including “CHINESE” “adversaries,” Because they used that excuse that it was from Unnamed Foreigners. That is a cover up excuse to hide the fact that it was Money Laundering. James Comer as the House Oversight Committee Chairman as released a memo highlighting some TEN MILLION DOLLARS from foreign nationals that went to Nine members of President Joe Biden’s family. After reviewing the “Bank” statements, the committee warned that some of the fund-transfers from overseas may be signs of “Influence-peddling,” flagging “ the pattern of the Biden families businesses in parts of the world where the then Vice President would have been able to influence U.S. policy. James Comer exposed evidence suggesting a deliberate effort to “HIDE” the source” and the “amounts” that came from these adversaries. The family and their associates created a networks or “Shells” of over 20 companies, mostly LLCs formed while Joe Biden was Vice President. And the Crackhead Hunter Biden has an accumulated worth of $230,000,000. How did that happen for a Druggie with ZERO skills, and ZERO knowledge of the business?
But the fact remains that Bidumb has Impeachment insurance with that Cackling Idiot Kamala waiting in the wings.
If you bothered to watch James Comet the House Oversight and Accountability Committee chairman say the Biden family and its business associates created more than 20 companies and received more than $10 million from foreign nationals while Joe Biden served as vice president, and that some of these payments could indicate attempts by the Biden family to "peddle influence."
ReplyDeleteMaybe you would be more educated. And the Navy flunk-out and Druggie Hunter Biden has a net worth of $230,000,000. How did that happen for a no skills druggie dropout?
Trump was impeached for a legitimate phone call. Biden has classified documents all over the place. Biden misused the CIA & FBI to call Hunter Biden's laptop "Russian Disinformation".
I'm sure there are tons of other articles of impeachment, so Lets get it done!
Want Another GOOD Reason To Vote For Donald Trump’s Re-Election?
ReplyDeleteHow about that the Prune- Faced, Dense, Cackling , Hateful, women Kamala Harris being your Vice President, until shes the President!
None other than The Voice of a IDIOTIC, RETARDED, ASS-WIPE SAID:
ReplyDeleteLes CarpenterMay 12, 2023 at 10:49 AM
President Biden will do okay. Not great. But okay. And while the President will spin to support his administration's agenda and actions his appearance will have nowhere near the flat out right lies the Former Guy uttered. You cabn take that to the bank.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Biden is losing the control of whatever piece of his Brain that he may have left.- He is mumbling, blabbering, and even forgetting what he wa going to say in the middle of saying it.
His sentences are getting jumbled and repetitive, and his vocabulary is getting smaller all the time.
He really is starting to suffer from cognitive decline, but since he's still raking in the money from his Son’s shenanigans he'll keep on keeping on as long as possible.
Note to Shaw!
ReplyDeleteLets STOP bashing Republicans, and take a good look at your OWN party.
Your IDIOTIC PRESIDENT Biden was a dimwitted Idiot back in 1988, he pandered to get votes. He lied and plagiarized and was caught. Because Americans didn't take well to this bullshit, Biden was all but humiliated and had no alternative but to quit his 88' presidential campaign. NOW? What has changed in the last 35 years? NOTHING!
Pedos aren't partisan... they're just sick Democrats.
ReplyDeleteDid You Hear about Biden's Un-american Race-baiting Commencement Address at Howard University, where He Told The BLACK AUDIENCE that America’s WORST THREAT was WHITE SUPREMACY!
ReplyDeleteImage that! tSo, we White’s are he most dangerous terrorist threat to our country is Biden and his puppet masters. It's apparent he's looking to pit Black against White in a race war. He just gave these graduates permission to blame Whites for all their problems.
I detested our first communist race-baiting president Barack Hausen Obama, but I ABSOLUTELY LOATHE OUR CURRENT RACIST PRESIDENT, JOE BIDEN!
These were his EXACT words! Now remember that he was speaking to a Black audience.!!!
“ After being — no longer being Vice President, I became a professor at the University of Pennsylvania for four years. But in 2017, in Charlottesville, Virginia, crazed neo-Nazis with angry faces came out of the fields with — literally with torches, carrying Nazi banners from the woods and the fields chanting the same antisemitic bile heard across Europe in the ‘30s. Something that I never thought I would ever see in America.
Accompanied by Klansmen and white supremacists, emerging from dark rooms and remote fields and the anonymity of the Internet, confronting decent Americans of all backgrounds standing in their way, into the bright light of day. And a young woman objecting to their presence was killed”
You can always tell when Joe Biden is lying through his False Teeth when he says.. “I’m not joking.”
This is the Man, the President of the United States that told us that HE WAS THE PRESIDENT WHO WAS GOING TO UNITE US!
Joe Biden has a long history of NOT ONLY being a racist, but also being a racist who incites racial hatred on purpose.
There probably are violent white supremacists out there, as there are ALL KINDS of people out there Including Black Lives Matter, But the statistic show that the annual murder ratio between Blacks and Whites is about 2 to1 .
Biden and the Democratic Party derive their political power by purposely mining the racial divide and the Press and Pundits never say a word against it. His division provides a FREE PASS for the Hoodlums to do whatever they want
To sum things up, Joe Biden is a colossal, dim-witted, seline old FOOL, and he needs to be removed from office immediately.
We so badly need a President who cares about US AMERICANS!
There is Overwhelming Evidence of Corruption in the Biden Family..There's just much too much out there to be ignored.
ReplyDeleteThe explosive new evidence of the Biden family's corruption is breathtaking ! At the very least there is Bribery, and very possibly even Treason
Shaw: What part of what you blabber, don’t you understand that I just don't care about, as EVERYBODY already knows that yo are so OBSESSED with Donald Trump that you have become a Big BORE, and extremely monotonous!
ReplyDeleteTrump is by far the leading candidate for being elected to the Presidency between all candidates in both parties, yet the Big Mouthed liberals are up in arms for his (invited) Town Hall appearance on CNN.
ReplyDeleteSomeone needs to tell them that then need to Sit Down, and Shut Up.
OH MY! We must tell Shenehneh & her pet asses at Boston Piggy's Progressive Eruptions to stop braying and sit down? 😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄 But that would set them off when they rub their raw cheeks against their face diapers and skirts when they lower their bottom faces to the straw piles. 😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄 The stinging will be agonizing, causing them to bray off and stampede in a fury.
Delete
ReplyDeleteWe don't have a "president." We have a decrepit pedophile who has been compromised by the Chinese communists, and who peddled influence so that his crack-addicted whore-mongering son could support his Drug habits
Hey all you “Blind” Biden believers why don't you tell the American people one good thing that Joe Biden or the Democrats have done for this country since Joey got “Elected”. Why is everything bad all Trump’s fault, even though Biden has been President for 2 and a half years now? President Bidum is responsible for everything since HE BECAME President!
ReplyDeletePlus, he didn’t do anything for Black people although he wants you top think that he did. . AND none of the 43 previous presidents did anything for Black people and for some reason even Obama failed to.
Whether or not you support Biden, you need to understand how he has failed the American people.
Since Joe Biden became President, Schools have closed, White Kids Are Being Attacked by Critical Race Theory and more and more kids are falling for the “Gay Agenda.” He doesn’t care about the rights of parents whose religious convictions tell them what not to do!
And why has crime spiked under Biden?
Criminologists say that our Politics may have something to do with the problems. Remember it was the Democrats that
RE-Formed the No-Ball system, and Andrew Cuomo was a big part of that! Aside from Police unions, local Police chiefs, the economy, the rise in unemployment, the defunding of the police, and many social programs, closed schools, state legislators,, drug policy, the American education system, blaming the white policemen, and the entire approach to policing, who else could we blame? Trump? No way Jose! You can keep telling yourself that, but the opposite is true. This is the Biden administration, and all of his appointees who have been screwing things up. .
The conventional wisdom is that Biden’s anti-cop agenda has neutered police, making them reluctant to do their jobs and causing a rise in the crime rate.
Is it the inflation, or the high gas & food prices that you support ?
Is it the massive border invasion, or the terrible, failed foreign policy that you endorse ?
Perhaps you are proud of the incompetent method of departure from Afghanistan or the encouragement of the " little incursion " into Ukraine by Putin of Russia.
ReplyDeleteYou spew lie after lie after lie every night of your career.
You are a tool in the hands of democrats & do their bidding all the time. Yes, Trump calls some nasty women "nasty", but you call half the country derogatory names & smear & dehumanize them ! Trump is neither racist or antisemitic as you falsely try to portray him.
It is disturbing to watch you spin the truth time & time again !
Where were you, hypocrite, con man when all summer 2020 democrat leaning groups were burning & looting & rioting & destroying the police & law enforcement groups ?
Are you now concerned about assaults on police officers ?
You're the one who constantly lies shamelessly & disparaged the audience & at least half the population for their reaction. Kaitlan Collins was not a journalist but a shameless "prosecutor" & partisan hack with an agenda to demean & vilify Donald Trump.
She failed & then you were instructed by your masters to spin the event even more & tell us what we " heard" & what we should think !
And suppose that everything we see on Fox, or ANY OTHER new station is Fake? Do you really think that Fox News stages all those lines of Illegal’s? Do they stage the Mobs of them sleeping in tents and defecating in the streets?
The lawless Border Crisis it is NOT fake, or should trust the Democratic Party and ignore common sense and what our own eyes see!.
It is a calculated move by Biden & the democrats & the DNC to let in as many million illegal migrants into the country as possible
The man leading this corrupt & fraudulent
effort is Department of Homeland Security Secretary, Mayorkas.
Mayorkas looks you straight in the eye & lies & says the border is secure and under control.
He does so even when testifying under oath in the Congress . He just outright lies !
The Videos that they show are full of chaos and lack of order.
Millions have illegally been let go unchecked into the country !
This illegal entry is phase one of the conspiracy.
And how about the Biden Family’s corruption? Are those Bank Records ALL Russian Disinformation, like the idiotic Politicians want us to believe AGAIN? You can keep telling yourselves that, but don’t expect us to believe it as well!
There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that our federal government has expanded beyond its intended Constitutionally defined scope and continues to infringe on the rights and powers of the states and individual citizens.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, the American public appears reluctant to accept what is before their very eyes -- that the foundational reality of our Constitution has changed. We are no longer a free country in the sense that our politicians, judiciary, and law enforcement have the best interests of the public at heart.
We are living in a time when facts don't matter, science doesn't matter -- and all we are left with is the regime's corrupt narrative which is being rammed down our throats.
We have a border Crisis that is s serious that it could be the “Straw that breaks the Camels Back” one day! The lawless Border crisis is not by mistake, it is a calculated move by Biden and the other Lunatics in the Democratic party to let in as many million illegal migrants into the country as possible, strictly for the reason to have these people vote Democratly.
The man leading this corrupt and fraudulent effort is the unqualified, and totally inept “Department of Homeland Security” Secretary, Mayorkas. Another tremendous mistake made by Joe Biden.
Mayorkas looks you straight in the eye and lies to you as he says “The Border Is Secure and under Control”.
He does so even when testifying under oath in the Congress . He just outright lies ! And he should be Impeached immediately, if not immediately, then Sooner!
Returning to the Constitutional limits on federal authority to restrict the federal government's powers by the original intent and principles outlined in the United States Constitution may be impossible given the self-interests of corrupt politicians owned and operated by their elite masters and special interests.
Where will we find those honorable individuals as leaders and not cede undue power to corrupt politicians in those Leftist Crazed parties , to determine the proper balance between federal and state authority to preserve our inalienable rights. As they are to interested in Gun Control, and Climate Control, and even banning Plastic Bags, and call us White people “White Supremacists” to worry about our Countries Safty from the Evil Commies that face us today.
Do such men, or women even exist? Are today's prestigious and elite educational institutions even capable of producing such people with a sufficient background in history, morality, and the art of politics, who might be the person that will save us from becoming the next Socialist, or even COMMUNIST nation?
Certainly it WILL NOT BE Joe Biden, or Elizabeth Warren, or Gavin Newsom , Michelle Obama, or Heavens Forbid Hillary Clinton, and God Forbid Pete Buttigieg .
Frankly I don’t see any Democrat, or Progressive, or any other Nut-Job, or whatever you wish to call any of those LUNATICS in those parties.