The fine folks over at The Mudflats Forum have now created a special place  to gather and post about your Occupy events and comment on others around the world.  You can join in and participate HERE. The Occupy Wall Street movement is gaining steam, and the unique sense of connection and solidarity between cities is made possible through our ability to reach out and talk to each other online, and share our experiences in real time with others.

If you’ve never ventured forth into the Mudflats Forum, you are missing out! The Forum is like a whole other level here at Mudflats Central, where you can post about anything and everything, and enjoy discussions with your fellow Mudflatters out of the confines of the blog or the Open Thread. You can chat about world politics, the economy, your pets, recipes, great books, or organize local events in your area. Since the Forum began in September of 2008, there have been more than 10,000 topics discussed!

You can register yourself, and gain access to the private messaging system, too!

And you may not realize this, but there is a happy and helpful staff of Administrators and Moderators at the ready to assist you with questions!

You can read about the Forum by clicking the Forum tab up top on the toolbar, or by clicking the square link that says Mudflats Forum under the Mudflats banner above.

Welcome to our most recent members JasperCat, Janniffi, jcjmoore, emmachen, aklib, kavik, samitchell79, debbie48, liteman and SaminAK!

Thursdays in the Mud is back after a little summer hiatus!

I’ll be back in the studio with Shannyn Moore talking about all your favorite miscreants, ne’er-do-wells, and the news of the day. You can tune in to KOAN 1020am and 95.5fm in Anchorage, KXLJ 1330am in Juneau, or stream it live on the internets HERE.

1-2pm Alaska Time, 2-3pm Pacific, and 5-6 Eastern.

See you in the mud!

And yes, Shannyn and Linda, we can have cake!

By AlaskaPi

Parent corporation Calista is closing and liquidating  their Alaska Newpapers, Inc subsidiary. 

While we understand the business decision, we are  sad that these newspapers will no longer be available for news of rural Alaska within their  communities, and for the rest of the state.

We are in a time of change all over America regarding news, news collection, news delivery, and news organizations which are all struggling.

There are endless essays and conversations about whether this is good, bad , or both, as well as discussions of the causes, such as the effect of the internet on the base of advertisers and subscribers.

Today, none of that means much.

The loss of ANI , even the small operation that it is, will leave a gaping hole in information from huge portions of the state currently available to us all here in Alaska.

The food and fuel crisis in Western Alaska in the winter of 2008-2009 was eventually fairly well covered, but until ANI published Mr Tucker’s letter in January, a number of warnings in the broader news world had been largely  ignored by Alaskans and their government.

The blogging community in Alaska hopped on the story, as did the  Alaska Dispatch  (which reprinted an ANI story as well as reported on it’s own ) and eventually the Anchorage Daily News.

Our neighbors in Western Alaska received some much needed assistance, the issues which contributed to the crisis got some scrutiny from our government (although overdue, and still not nearly enough), and we ended up with a broader scope of news sources for rural Alaskan issues. The most notable of these are Kyle Hopkins’ Rural Blog at the ADN , and the expansion of coverage by the Alaska Dispatch.

Some say blogs can, do, and will fill some of the gaps left by the loss and dilution of  traditional news sources. Alaska’s bloggers did make  a difference in how far and how fast the news traveled that winter, most notably AKM’s work on The Mudflats.

AKM’s remark -“The conversation is not over yet.  Voices that have not been heard for a long time have far to travel,” resonates as much today as it did in January, 2009.

Writing Raven at Alaska Real wrote many, many posts which set issues we need to deal with right out on the table,  as well as the need to allow more voices to be heard, truly heard, and not stuffed in a folder to look at later :

I will say it again – this problem did not just spring up six weeks ago. Not only has this been generations in the making, the whole last year Native leaders, state leaders, corporations, people in the communities have been speaking out, warning about this, and even asking for help before it “hit the web.”

Phil Munger at Progressive Alaska wrote over and over again of fisheries management issues and related problems which affect rural Alaska with an eye towards broadening knowledge, action, and discussion in this state :

Reading through the coverage of this in the establishment press, in comments to those articles, and on the blogs, it appears that we’ve only scratched the surface of how to help the hardy people in Alaska’s most impoverished census district – Wade Hampton – survive and thrive through the unnerving changes our new century seems to have so many of in abundance.

Here at Anonymous Bloggers ,we have made a number of runs at what Ugavic calls “information sharing”- from sharing details of everyday life in the bush, far from road systems , energy grids, and sometimes even a store for groceries, to sharing information about how fish and game management, state and federal, affects the people who live with the decisions. At whatever level we have added to, or encouraged knowledge of Bush Alaska which adds to conversations about what to do, we have succeeded at our “bloggerly” aims.

However, nothing we do here can take the place of real reporting by qualified, trained, seasoned reporters such as Alex DeMarban, or Margaret Bauman of ANI. We will miss them greatly. We hope they and all other ANI staff find well-paying, decent jobs. We have selfish  hopes that we will , very soon, see those bylines appear elsewhere on rural focused stories  in other publications.

We will miss ANI’s focus on rural Alaska and hope the gap it will leave can and will be filled.

” Voices that have not been heard for a long time …”  need a vehicle to travel the distance.

Cross-posted from Anonymous Bloggers

There have been many instances in the last three years that the Mudflats Forum community has risen to the call to help a fellow Mudpup in need. I want to share one such story with you as it came from Mudpuppy Bubbles.

Her account brought to mind a parable of sorts that I’d heard a long time ago.

An old man and a boy were walking on the beach. There were starfish on the beach as far as the eye could see, and they were about to be stranded in the hot sun by a very low tide. The man and the boy knew that many of the starfish would die. The boy began picking up starfish and throwing them as far out into the water as he could. The old man said, “Boy, there are thousands upon thousands of starfish. Look down the beach. There are starfish from one end to the other. There are too many. You will never make a difference.” And the boy looked at the old man, and threw a starfish out into the waves. “I made a difference to that one,” he said.

To light a virtual candle in Michael’s candle room and join the many already there, click the link HERE.

Thank you to all who came together to help a beautiful starfish. You made a difference to that one. And thank you to Michael for his service, and for being a good teacher. You are a good teacher too, Bubbles. We all need to remember that being loved is the most important gift any of us can receive, and is a true miracle. Rest in peace, Michael.

I’ve seen many Mudflatters comment about recent posts and how they wish they could go far and wide. Recently, we’ve added a feature that will let you help posts do just that! Please note at the top and bottom of all posts, there is now a way that you can share your favorite articles to Facebook, Twitter, and other social media links. You can even share via email. So have fun sharing the MudLove in all kinds of ways.

She will run, she won’t run, she will, she won’t, she will…

Everyone is weighing in. Everyone is asking. Hints are being dropped. Money is being raked. And yes, I believe that Sarah Palin is getting ready to inflict herself upon the nation once again. The national spotlight beckons to her like yummy brains to a zombie. (Here, you can imagine her doing a robot walk with stiff knees and arms stretched out muttering “Must…Have…Attention…”)

But before the official announcement is tweeted to the world, the ‘lamestream’ media must do its due diligence and feel around for any kind of hint, or indication that the inevitable is going to happen. This time it was Greta Van Susteren’s turn to ask. Now, if you recall, Palin has called her the most influential journalist today. OK, it was because she couldn’t actually think of any journalists, nor could Todd when she asked him, and then conveniently she saw Greta standing there like the back of a flash card – but at least it was some kind of answer.

The full clip is 10 minutes, but we’re going to start about 5 and a half minutes in – partly because I find Newt Gingrich uninteresting, and partly because it would involve transcribing five additional minutes of Sarah Palin. I’m fairly certain at this point that one loses 10 minutes off the end of life for every minute of Palin transcription, and frankly I’m worried about what my tally is at this point.

So, let’s roll ‘em! (As always, my comments appear in red)

Greta Van Susteren: I know you haven’t made a decision, but do you have a fire in your belly? Do you really want it?

Sarah Palin: Ohhhh… that’s a great question. I think my problem is that I do have the fire in my belly. (I think her problem is that ALL she has is a fire in her belly) I am so um… adamantly… um supportive of the good traditional things about America and our free enterprise system, and I want to make sure that America’s put back on the right track and we only do that by defeating Obama in 2012. I have that fire in my belly. It’s a matter for me of some kind of practical, pragmatic decisions that have to be made. (Oh, really? Do tell…)

One is, with a large family, understanding the huge amount of scrutiny and the sacrifices that have to be made on my children’s part in order to uh see their Mama run for President. But, yeah, the fire in the belly – it’s there.

(This puts me in mind of a passage from the recent book The Lies of Sarah Palin by Geoffrey Dunn in which we learn that the family meeting in the living room when she polled her children to find out if they wanted her to accept the VP nomination, and they all said “Go for it, Mom!” actually went something like this:

When the Palin family entourage landed in Ohio, Palin took [McCain aide Steve] Schmidt aside and asked him to tell her daughters the news about her selection. She hadn’t told them yet. Neither had their father. (snip) Bristol, as Schmidt knew, was pregnant.

After hearing the news and realizing their young lives were about to be turned upside down, a “strained silence” followed. And thus concluded the family meeting and the “vote.”  But, I digress.)

GV: You talk about your children… Haven’t your children been through sort of the hell of it?  (See above) At some point, you just reach the saturation point. I imagine for children of politicians, they’ve heard it all. I mean is there really anything, … in terms of the personal cost, haven’t they heard it all?  (Translation = Greta calls BS on Palin’s excuse.)

SP: Yeah, and you know, that’s a good point, and I know that my kids have heard it all, and yet you know the darts and the arrows keep flying. You see that movies are being made, books are coming out… um, hoarded emails from a disloyal former staff member (points at Frank Bailey) have been compiled by a hateful blogger, (points at self) and those are going to be released. (points at the Blind Allegiance Amazon page where you can pre-order this season’s most highly anticipated political memoir. Wink.) Things like that that are taken out of context and told a story around ‘em.

(I particularly like the fact that Palin does not call Bailey “dishonest” or “disgruntled” but “disloyal.” Apparently being on the receiving end of getting thrown under the bus doesn’t agree with her.)

GV: That kind of stuff sticks in the beginning, but after a while it’s like you know – really?

SP: Yeah, yeah, really.

GV: I mean even in our business, every day I get emails saying how terrible I am on TV and I do this and I do that, and I’m all these horrible things, but you know after twenty years on TV it’s like yeah OK. (I wonder if any of those emailers criticize her for saying things on national TV like “it’s like you know really?” and “it’s like yeah OK”?)

SP: Well, exactly Greta and I’m at that point of saying, “Yeah, you know, whatever.” (Yes, her blase almost zen-like attitude in which she lets all this roll of her back is inspiring) It’s gonna keep on comin’ and I feel like I have a prayer shield in front of me that deflects a lot of that.  I just want to make sure that for my loved ones, for my parents, for my spouse and my children and those close to me, that they have that that tool to deflect also so they’re not adversely affected. (Sooo… she’s hogging the “prayer shield” tool and leaving the rest of the family out there unprotected?)

GV: Well, all the candidates that decide to run – they’ve got to know that we’re going to go after them, and we’re going to hopefully do it with good manners, but we’re going to be very aggressive, prying into everybody’s past… (Uh-oh…)

SP: OK then Greta, what you, and you can help lead your colleagues in this mission – come after us based on our record, based on our present day statements about what we intend to do to, for, and with this country. Don’t come after us for little petty stupid things like… (Like our past, or previous decisions, ability to use good judgment, honesty and integrity, contents of emails, stuff like that. Nothing to see there.)

GV: Then don’t take the bait. (Zing! And let the stammering, finger-pointing, defensive, strained explanations begin!)

~”Hateful” screen capture of Sarah Palin

SP: Here’s the bait. Here’s how we do it. Here… here is how the bait though is almost impossible sometimes not to nab. Somebody emails the other day from a tabloid and says, “We hear a story about one of your kids.. bla bla bla.” And they have the facts so wrong that obviously… and they say they’re gonna write the story no matter what and if you don’t respond, then the record won’t be set straight, (Get ready, she’s about to nab that bait!) so dang it, you gotta respond to at least get the facts out there that that uh can help set the record straight. Well, boom, you just, you just took the bait. Now they have an opportunity to perpetuate whatever story it is that they have.  (OK, so they’re going to write a story regardless, and you take the bait, and then they run the story. So the reason it’s impossible not to take the bait is because you take the bait. Now, I see.) I think it’s sick. I think it’s ridiculous. It’s such a waste of time. Time is our most precious resource. I’m tired of wastin’ it.

~Bait

So yeah, I’ll take you up on that, in me being committed to not taking the bait, and you being able to lead your colleagues in just gettin’ the facts out there – who, what, where, when and why in reporting. Hammer away at our records and our intentions and what our view for America is. Lay off the petty stuff.

(Yes, I’m sure Greta is pleased that they’ve reached agreement in this fictitious bargain she never agreed to – Sarah Palin not taking the bait, and Greta Van Susteren leading the mainstream media in a crusade to not report anything negative, or go digging for facts, and to remind themselves of the 5 w’s of Journalism 101. I can see how this is a brilliant career move for Greta.)

GV: Well, you know this is going to be an interesting season. Whoever runs, whether you run or not, and I hope we can go after everybody aggressively, and anybody’s got any dirt though, really bad things in the past you know, voters need to know that. It’s fair. Some of it’s ugly, but it’s fair…

SP: That’s fair. (But… but… but you just said…)

GV: Arnold Schwartzenegger’s a perfect example if he were to run again. If he’s going to betray his wife and his children, maybe he’ll betray the voters, so I think it’s a legitimate topic. And some of the stuff stings and hurts, but it’s the process and I guess that’s where you know you’ve gotta have that fire in your belly to take it.

SP: It is. And that’s fair for the media to come after candidates based on that kind of criteria – what really matters and have their past actions been a reflection of their character and how perhaps they would govern and try to lead, so that is very fair. (We grip the arms of our chairs to steady our inner ear from this instant 180 degree change in position. Then we realize that she has suddenly remembered that even though she doesn’t want the media doing it to her, this is what she did and intends to do with Obama. How will she reconcile the two positions? Let’s watch…) What isn’t fair though is when it’s only one-sided, when it’s only the conservatives, say, who get hammered away at.. um those things that the press wants to know. You know, we, um, the perfect example of um the media one-sidedness is Obama’s record not being explored – his associations in the last campaign not being explored, and now revelations of maybe some of his upbringing, some of his background, certainly his associations, how they impact his world view and how that affects his decisions today.

(And suddenly on the table is marital fidelity, “associations”, upbringing, background, more “associations”, world view, and how all these things affect decision making. I’m imagining this would include, oh… I don’t know… emails from her campaign and gubernatorial administration. Wouldn’t you think? Oh, but she’s a conservative and they’re always getting picked on…)

GV: I, you know, I, I, I, think that’s you know it’s I mean everyone should be challenged the same way equally… (Wow)

And I think at this point, we’ll leave these two masters of the word salad, and suggest that if Sarah Palin continues to have a fire in her belly that she take an alternate solution than foisting herself on the American people in a presidential run.

Our needs are identical with labor’s needs — decent wages, fair working conditions, livable housing, old age security, health and welfare measures, conditions in which families can grow, have education for their children and respect in the community. –Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Doctor King did not die in a board room of a corporation with CEOs. He did not die in a corridor of a capitol, or in an oval office, or in a governor’s office. He died in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was rallying with sanitation workers for their collective bargaining rights. –John Nichols

On this particular anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination, it bears remembering what our slain civil rights leader was doing on his last day among us. It bears remembering not as an academic exercise, but because he gave his last full measure in a struggle that could be pulled from today’s headlines out of Wisconsin. And Michigan. And New Jersey. And Ohio. And yes, Alaska.

Dr. King was in Memphis to stand with sanitation workers struggling for their collective bargaining rights. He, like certain Mudpups in the Midwest, made it his business to get into the street and pick a side. So the date for today’s We Are One rallies (see location info at bottom of post) was well chosen. Americans are picking a side, and it ain’t with the Koch Brothers.

Wisconsin native son and Washington Correspondent for The Nation John Nichols addressed the American Federation of Teachers, the national affiliate of Alaska’s public employees, this Friday and connected the dots eloquently. It wasn’t just a good speech, but an important and necessary one. Since it won’t be covered by traditional media, The Mudflats is providing it to you in its entirety via the clips below.

I can relate to the Wisconsinites Nichols so passionately describes in his speech, but I can’t relate to someone who inherits 12 million bucks and complains about having to pay an estate tax on it. I can’t relate to the concept of a corporation raking in $5.1 billion in domestic profits and not only paying no taxes on it, but weaseling a refund out of us. All so some Citizens United subsidized tool under a state capitol dome can plead poverty and point at you, and your fancy “gasoline” and “groceries,” for breaking the bank.

I’m not sure why the corporate decimation of our country’s middle class isn’t “class warfare,” but our having the nerve to notice it is. I’m not sure how we became a country wherein the unregulated, rapacious greed of unsecured bundled derivatives, credit default swaps, and other sketchy Wall Street speculation came to be pinned on nurses and teachers. It must be their audacity to want high-falutin’ things like decent health care and a good education for their children. It can’t possibly be a bunch of Goldman Sachs guys playing a high-stakes game of musical chairs, knowing that when the music stops, the rest of us would get stuck holding the bad paper while they collect the bonuses.

As the saying goes, don’t let the bastards get you down. There are things you can do immediately, and they’re not that difficult. One is to attend one of today’s We Are One rallies. Another, if you live in Alaska or Wisconsin, is to make it a point to vote tomorrow. You know who’s on the ballot. You know why it matters. And you know what to do.

(Mudflatters outside Alaska can find their nearest “We Are One” rally location here.)

Get Thee To A Rally!

Anchorage: Loussac Library (36th & Denali)
Mat-Su: Wasilla Lake Parking Lot (Parks Hwy. & Crusey St.)
Juneau: State Capitol Building
Ketchikan: Corners of Tongass Ave. & Jefferson St.
Fairbanks: Pioneer Park
Soldotna: Parker Park (W. Park Street between Binkley & Fireweed)

All Alaska rallies begin at 4:30pm.

How do you know it might be time to take a break from the revolution? You come home from work late, wife and child are sleeping, you pour yourself a glass of 2nd tier scotch and make a Parmesan/Sriracha omelette with a couple of Hebrew National hotdogs on the side. Yeah, need to go grocery shopping and remember that I’ve got a little one to spend some time with.

So…It’s been a long week, culminating in one of the most incredible events I’ve ever been a part of. I’ve gone from passive participant, to helping organize one of the best rallies against corporate greed and GOP money politics yet.

Left to Right – Tag Evers, John Langford, Ben Manski and Patrick DePula

Here’s how it went down.

Last Thursday, I was eating a hasty lunch and perusing the interwebs for information about rallies scheduled for the coming weekend. Not much information at all. I had ran into my friend Tag Evers, when I gained access to the capitol with my handy Mudflats press pass. And something he said struck a chord: “We must hold the Capitol Square. It is symbolic of the larger movement.” So, that said, I created an event on Facebook and called it, rather generically, “The Largest Rally Yet again Scott Walker and The Budge Despair Bill”. I simply hoped to encourage folks to head downtown and keep the pressure on. I had no Idea that I had just set the machinery in motion that would ultimately lead to shaking Michael Moore’s hand just 36 hours later.

After making the post, I focused on work for the rest of the day. Right before I left, I signed into Facebook and realized I had 27 messages about the “rally” with questions such as “are you bussing from Milwaukee?” “Who are the speakers?”, “Do you have a sound system”? Then I noticed that there were thousands of people RSVPing. So I thought to myself that I better get a program together!

Later that night I ended up at Fair Trade Coffee, deep in conversation with Tag Evers, Activist Concert Promoter, and Ben Manski, a Director of The Liberty Tree Foundation. Ben’s wife Sarah was also present, another indispensable organizer. We decided to put something together under the umbrella of Wisconsin Wave, a group consisting of labor unions and social and economic justice organizations. Tag discussed artists that might be interested, and those that he’d already been in contact with. Ben, Sarah and I discussed potential speakers and a framework. At around 11 pm we broke and all went home. Just as I was walking in the door I received a text from Tag that Michelle Shocked had confirmed. Awesome.

Friday morning I rush to work and try to get as much done as possible and then go about booking a flight and hotel for Michelle Shocked and other logistics related things, such as applying for the necessary permits. Of course, right while I’m booking the best priced flight for Michelle from LAX to ORD, the internet in the office crashes, hard. Thankfully I have an air-card that I was able to use to complete the transaction. Finally, airfare is paid for. We’re committed. And I still don’t have the permit. I finally received a call from the capitol police at 7 pm telling me that the permit was approved.

We decide to meet at 9 pm at The Orpheum in order to finalize our plans for Saturday. By now, over 30,000 people have been invited to the rally with thousands responding. And we haven’t even announced the speakers or musical guests yet!

So late Friday, we finally send out a press release. It includes Michelle Shocked, Ryan Bingham, Jon Langford, Vo5, Mayor Dave, Congresswoman Baldwin, and a host of other community activists. What makes this rally different, is that we’re deviating a bit from the union message. We’re now talking about how the GOP/Walker bill is hurting everyone in Wisconsin, except the handful of rich folks that Scott Walker loves to pander to.

RSVPs on Facebook are now coming in at a rate of 150 per hour. We finally break late Friday night after dividing up some tasks and ultimately try to get a few hours of sleep. Load in is at 8 am, Saturday.

Meanwhile, all hell is breaking loose at the capitol. The doors are breached, and protesters rush the building only to be stopped by police next to the first set of stairs. Fox news also pulls out of town, most likely because they can’t go on air without loud chants of “Fox Lies!” No matter, because they DO lie. Has anyone seen the infamous Wisconsin Palm Tree video? The final holdouts leave the building, and the Department Of Administration promises to comply with the court order to return to the same security condition the capitol was in before the protests began.

Saturday Morning comes, and I need to run my son 44 miles south of Madison so my parents can watch him while I engage in what will become one of the biggest rallies yet.

I get back to Madison at about 10:30, drop off a tent and table by the stage, then meet with volunteers at The Majestic Theater. After a briefing by Adam, Wisconsin Waves coordinator, we break to the capitol, one block away, and get things ready.

12:05 arrives and we are missing a couple of guests. We scramble to call them and get them to the stage. Everyone finally shows up and we start. Speakers are phenomenal and the crowd roars. Finally, Ryan Bingham takes the stage and with a slightly gravely, smoked voice starts singing “The Times, They are A Changin’” by Bob Dylan. Amazing performance. Hardly a dry eye within 400 yards of the stage. At about 12:30, we receive a call that Michael Moore is deplaning and wants to speak at our rally. We enthusiastically agree!

All of our speakers are great. We have folks from the Sierra Club, Family Farm Defenders, Hmong groups, labor, student groups – truly a diverse collective. Then Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and former mayor Paul Soglin share the stage, and discuss how though they may be political opponents, running for the same seat, they are united against the corporatization of Wisconsin. Michelle Shocked then performs and is amazing. She sounds like a Wisconsin Native and has such an awareness of what is going on in our beloved state.

~Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and former mayor Paul Soglin

At about 2 pm Michael Moore shows up in a procession with firefighters, and the Daily Beast Editor who crank called Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, and takes over for the next 30 minutes. He gives an incredibly inspiring speech about how we’ve all had enough! And about how we’ve been fleeced by corporations and the top 400 most wealthy individuals in the country. He also repeatedly praises the Wisconsin Senators who fled to Illinois. Many rousing cheers reverberate around the capitol square. When I stood on the stage I could see people all the way down King Street. Easily 35,000 people were gathered.

~Michael Moore addresses the crowd.

Michael winds down and we hear from Tammy Baldwin who poignantly offers that we are all in the fight of our lives, as she details cuts to the state and federal budget.

~Rep. Tammy Baldwin

Finally, Jon Langford, of the Mekons plays Union Made. Great song, great response by the crowd. When his full set is through, Ben, Tag and I join him on stage and we sing “Solidarity Forever” as one of the strangest boy bands in history.

Who would have thought that my Facebook post would have turned into the “We are Wisconsin!” rally featuring Michael Moore, Michelle Shocked, Ryan Bingham, Jon Langford, Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, Mayor Dave, Paul Soglin, and a host of others. But we pulled it off, printed t-shirts over-night, and managed to make enough money to pay for the equipment and expenses.

But what is becoming completely evident, is that this is no longer a protest. This is a movement. What the mainstream media fails to discuss is that this is a homegrown phenomenon. It’s no longer solely about unions. The right wing has succeeded in radicalizing the middle class, and we won’t stop until we’ve recalled them all.

Patrick DePula
Madison, WI
for TheMudflats.Net
[Photos courtesy of Phil Ejercito. See more photos of his photos from the event  HERE]