Shocked and surprised that my calling out of the gramatically challenged bloggers did not start a small war, Jdeppa's Dozen Declarations is back for a third edition. I want to thank those who commented in support of my thoughts a week ago. It's refreshing to see that I'm not the only one sick of reading some of the complete nonsense that's out there. Anyway, I've got twelve more declarations coming at you, in yet another effort to stir the pot and get Fox Sports nation talking.

1. Anybody who bought into the Chargers looks like a complete fool.

I put myself right at the top of this list. I was duped into believing that this team was so good that they would even overcome the walking jinx that is Marty Schottenheimer. Their disgraceful loss to the Dolphins on Sunday is squarely on his shoulders. It is his job to get his team focused for the upcoming game, and not have them look past any opponent. Several Dolphins commented after the game that the Chargers clearly were looking past them, and ahead to their match-up with the, now 13-0, Indianapolis Colts, a match-up which is now rendered irrelevent. Their secondary made the woeful Gus Frerotte look like Joe Montana. And their offense appeared to be half-asleep. They deserve to miss the playoffs, which they now will. A quick aside: Nick Saban can coach. This team has a chance to go .500, which would be a terrific building block. Long-term, they need a quarterback. But it won't be long before this team is really good.

2. Any official who throws a late flag on 4th and goal at the 6 to decide a game should be fired on the spot.

If you read my blog, you know that I am a Giants fan. I want to put this fact right out there because I don't want this to sound like sour grapes, seeing as I'm referring to a call that gave the Dallas Cowboys a huge win against Kansas City on Sunday. With that out of the way, this call was a complete joke. Not because there wasn't a penalty on the play, in fact there was. Chief linebacker Derrick Johnson clearly held Cowboy tight end Jason Witten, and deserved to be flagged on the play, even in an end of game situation. My gripe is with the timing of the flag. The official waited, by my count, six full seconds after the infraction, to throw his flag. He waited for the completion of the play, to make sure the Cowboys didn't score, before he reached for his flag. Had they scored, he never would've thrown it. This is a disgrace. If there's a foul on the play, just make the call, and don't wait for the play to end. This leaves a horrible taste in my mouth. Had the infraction not been as flagrant as it was, I would've gone completely bonkers. Terrible job by that official. He must not worry about himself, which he clearly was in waiting to throw that flag. If he sees something, he's got to call it, promptly, or else keep his hands in his pockets. (By the way, Cowboy right tackle Rob Pettiti got away with a flagrant hold on that play, and nobody seemed to mention it...okay THAT was sour grapes...damn zebras!)

3. If Peyton Manning doesn't win his Super Bowl this year, he can never be mentioned as an all-time great again.

There is absolutely no competition for the Indianapolis Colts this year. Peyton Manning has no excuses. If his loses a playoff game this year, it's because he choked. There's no good reason why the Colts shouldn't waltz through the postseason this year. The second best team, whoever you think it is (my reluctant vote goes to the Broncos), is lightyears behind the Colts right now. There couldn't be more pressure on Peyton Manning, but I couldn't care less. He's got the talent around him on offense, and, not a championship defense, but certainly a good enough defense. A failure this year, with this team, would be a complete disaster. He can keep his touchdown records and his other obscene stats. If he doesn't get it done this year, he's a choke artist, pure and simple. And that kind of player does not deserve a place on the list we've commonly placed him on, with the who's who of NFL greats. No excuses Peyton, just get it done.

4. Reggie Bush is good, but not good enough that a kicker should have to humiliate himself in order for his team to land him in the draft.

I want to believe that the Texans would not compromise the integrity of the game, I really do. Sometimes, I have more faith in the professional athlete than I probably should. But I just cannot get past that pathetic kick attempted by the Kris Brown of the Texans this past Sunday, with a last-second chance to tie the game against the Titans. Did you see this thing? It was a 33 yarder from the right hash, that was pulled so far left that it went outside of the netting. It was a kick so bad that, by comparison, it made Jay Feely look like Lou Groza. What a complete joke. It was definitely the funniest thing I've seen on a football field in quite some time. And yes, I'm not supposed to read anything into the fact that Dan Reeves has been hired by the Texans as a consultant for the last six weeks of the season. Right. Uh-huh. Whatever you say.

5. If Colorado's athletic department is smart, they will do whatever it takes to land Boise State head coach Dan Hawkins, and his imaginative offensive coordinator Chris Peterson.

It will take quite a lot. Hawkins is the last of a dying breed in this country that is truly not moved by the prospects of money, or fame. He has turned down, at least a hal####ozen offers to coach BCS conference schools in the past, including, rumor has it, one from Notre Dame (which he, in the past, called his dream job). But this is a special head football coach. If he comes as part of a package deal, with his brilliant offensive coordinator, and his elite 11 quarterback son (who is currently planning to walk-on at Boise State), he would be even better. Here's his Division IA resume. Five years at Boise State. An overall 52-10 record. Four consecutive conference titles (in the same conference as perennial mid-major powerhouse Fresno State). A three year streak in which his team was ranked in the top 15 at season's end. And only three conference losses over his entire tenure. Here's the most impressive thing about all of this, and why his success differs from that of all other mid-major coaches. Boise State's sustained success is unparalled in the BCS era. When a mid-major is good, it is because, in most cases, they were lucky enough to land a big-time quarterback (see Alex Smith, Ben Roethlisberger, Byron Leftwich, and countless others). Think about this, Hawkins has acheived all of this success without so much as a single first day NFL draft pick having ever been on his roster. His talent is his uncanny ability to motivate. He emphasizes the team concept like no other, and gets every last ounce of talent he can out of all of his players. He gets one and two star recruits to play like three and four star recruits. If given the chance, he will get three and four star recruits to play like five star recruits. And when he eventually lands five star recruits, he will get them to play like seasoned professionals. And his offensive coordinator, Chris Peterson, is an x's and o's mastermind. He masterfully combines a power, between the tackles running game, with a finesse throw it all over the lot passing game, that leaves opposing defenses dumbfounded. Boise State has averaged 45 points per game over the Hawkins era, and I assure you this is not a fluke. Hawkins is unbelievably loyal, and my guess is that he'll stay in Boise. If he does, he will eventually make the smurf-turfers into a perennial powerhouse, and his name will, one day, go on the list with Paterno, Bowden, and Osborne. Colorado is advised to ignore NFL retreads like Steve Mariucci and Butch Davis, and pursue Hawkins with reckless abandon.

6. Pat Riley is a snake, Stan Van Gundy is a wimp, and they both deserve the enormous amount of criticism they are getting.

I used to idolize Pat Riley. He masterfully guided my beloved New York Knicks for quite a few years while I was growing up. When I didn't know any better, I used to love the guy. I considered his book, The Winner Within, my personal Bible, before I realized that it was complete nonsense. He can coach, I'm not at all denying that. But he is also a backstabbing, image-conscious, selfish, two-faced weasel. Between his faxed resignation from the Knicks, and now his carefully manufactured manipulation back to the Miami Heat bench, this is not a good person, at all. He deserves no respect from anyone. Nor does outgoing Heat coach Stan Van Gundy, who rolled over and played dead at the press conference on Monday. I don't know how much money he got for his trouble, but there was no need to be so enthusiastic about getting #### out of his job. I have no sympathy for him. If he didn't put up a fight to keep his job, then why should I? He deserved exactly what he got.

7. ESPN had its head up its collective behind with its coverage of the Riley press conference on Monday morning.

I happened to catch the news of this sham going down in Miami early Monday morning, and was curious to see how Riley, the devil in Armani, would conduct himself at the press conference. So I went out of my way to check it out. I was tuned to ESPNEWS at 11am ET, where a message at the bottom corner of the screen informed me that coverage of the press conference would take placed once it got going. At 11:10, it still hadn't started. Thankfully, I got curious, and flipped to the other ESPN channels to see what was up. I found the conference, already in progress, on ESPN2. Stan Van Gundy was in the middle of his nonsenical speech, but fortunately, I hadn't missed too much. After Van Gundy finished, he was followed by Heat owner Micky Arison, and then by new coach Riley. After Riley finished, ESPN2 cut away from the press conference, just as it was being opened up for questions. They left the press conference to go to their moronic Cold Pizza show, where their baloonhead analysts were offering up their worthless commentary on the matter. What a disgrace. The whole point of covering the thing is to see Riley and Van Gundy squirm when the media calls them on their b.s.! To imply that what their knucklehead analysts have to say is more important, relevent, or entertaining than what Riles and Van Gundy have to say, is utterly nonsensical. It smacks of self-importance. It doesn't need to be said by me, because it's been said by countless others. But ESPN is truly about style over substance. The sports fan needs them, because they televise the games. But it is not for the sports fan. It's for everyone else. This is an intelligent marketing move, I suppose. But it becomes less desirable each day to its core audience.

8. The Yankees will rue the day they signed Kyle Farnsworth.

This signing by the Yankees made the Met fan in me smile from ear to ear. Kyle Farnsworth throws a 100 mph fastball. It, however, has no movement, and it will constantly be turned around by American League sluggers. Tom Gordon choked in the big game, granted. But at least he got them to the big game. Farnsworth will not even do that. If he lasts until June, I will be surprised. I'm thrilled to see that another rough year (by their standards) is on the horizon for the aging Bronx Bombers.

9. If King Kong isn't the greatest movie of all-time, every movie critic in the country should lose their job.

The hype for this movie has been absolutely sickening. Review after review has heaped mountains of praise on this stupid thing. It is as if these critics are trying to out-do each other in glorifying this movie, solely in an effort to get noticed. It's akin to what football analysts having been doing with teams like the Bengals for the last few weeks. They've been trying to make the craziest statements possible about that team only so that people will know their name. Same thing with this movie. King Kong is probably a really good movie that I'm going to end up not liking, because I walked in expecting The Godfather. Not that these awards mean anything, but the movie only got one Golden Globe Nomination (for Peter Jackson's direction). If the movie was truly on that level, I have to think it would've gotten, at the very least, a nomination for best picture. My cynicism leads me to believe that some of these critics might be on the take. With the movie's enormous $207 million dollar budget, and massive national promotional campaign, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if they had a few critics in their pocket. Or, at a minimum, hooked them up with some good champagne or something at the screenings. As a movie buff, I sincerely hope this movie does live up to the incredible hype, but I truly doubt it.

10. Richard Pryor was the greatest stand-up comedian that ever lived.

I'd like to take a moment to pay tribute to this man, who, in some way, inspired every good comedian that ever followed him. His irreverence was unparalleled for his time. His willingness to say anything and everything on his mind took an awful lot of guts, and for that he ought to be commended. The man was an absolute scream when he was in his prime. His best stuff makes the Chris Rocks and Dave Chappelles of the world look amatuerish by comparison. His drug addiction was heartbreaking, and his death was far too premature. Here's saluting a legend. He'll be missed.

11. President Bush has been given one last chance by the American people to save his administration.

With his approval ratings inching their way north of the forty percent threshold, the President has one final chance to unify the country, and do some good things with his Presidency. I'm not sure what exactly brought about the change in public opinion (my mind, for one, hasn't really been changed), but I'm willing to give this man another chance, as an alternative to living in a divided nation for the next three years. America, Mr. President, appears ready to give you one more chance to return our great nation to prosperity. I implore you to seize it.

12. As a culture, we should be ashamed of ourselves for...forgetting 9/11.

In New York this past week, two cops were shot to death in the line of duty. This inspired me to write about the incredible sacrifices made, on a daily basis by all men and women in uniform. Be they police officers, firemen, or armed forces, they deserve our humble gratitude far more often than they receive it. We all think these thoughts, but we must verbalize them more often. Because we do not let these people know nearly enough just how grateful we are for their service to our city, and/or our country. We acknowledged them after September 11th, as, of course, we should've. And, at the time, we swore we'd never forget. We lied. We watched NFL football on September 11th this past year. Hell, in New York, our television stations cut away from the Ground Zero tributes in favor of the damn pregame shows! This truly angers me. I implore each and every one of you to do what I did today. Find a serviceman, be it a cop, fireman, or soldier, go up to them, and thank them. These people need to know that we haven't forgotten them. Because, right now, I don't think they do. And, for this, we should be ashamed of ourselves.

Well, the first edition of my dozen declarations didn't go over quite like I'd hoped. I did get accused of having an East Coast bias, and someone undoubtedly related to Jake Plummer got on me for knocking him (and boy, old Jake really looked great on Sunday didn't he?) but still, the declarations didn't quite create the firestorm I'd hoped for. What really surprised me is that my criticism of Lance Armstrong went unchallenged. That means either people felt the same way, or nobody bothered to read it (and yes, I know it's the latter. Anyway, I've decided to take it up a notch this week. Enough with the preamble, let's get it going.

Jdeppa's Dozen Declarations (Volume II)

1. Despite an impressive road win over the Steelers, the Bengals are a year away.

Their offense may well be the second best in the game, but this team is just not where it needs to be on the other side of the ball to compete with the big boys. Honestly, unless they get the Jaguars in the first round, I don't even think the Bengals will win a playoff game. How annoying was it to listen to all of the pinheads in the national media fall all over themselves to praise the Bengals on Monday? It seemed like each one was making a more outlandish statement than the next about how far the Bengals could go this season. The Bengals day is clearly in the offing, that much is crystal clear. But they must improve defensively in order to take the next step.

2. Just because he helped rescue a team that he #### up doesn't mean that Mike Tice deserves to be coach of the year.

People are beginning to talk about Mike Tice deserving coach of the year honors for his work with the 2005 Vikings. This is an absolutely ridiculous notion, and anyone who perpetuates it with the slightest bit of seriousness (Boomer Esiason), should be fired on the spot. The Vikings grossly underacheived in the first 6 games of the season. Even factoring in all of the injuries this club has had, their current 7-5 mark is right in the neighborhood of where they should be in that putrid NFC North. How quickly we all forgot that this team was a trendy pick to go to the Super Bowl. I don't mean to throw cold water on what the Vikes have done in salvaging their season. For the last 6 weeks, Tice has indeed done an outstanding job. But he also did a horrible job in the first 6 weeks. Last I checked, the award was given to the Coach of the YEAR! And for the record, Mike Tice is not even the Coach of the Year in his own division. That honor would go to Mr. Lovie Smith, whose team can throw for 67 yards and win a game by double digits. Truly remarkable.

3. Seattle is not the best team in the NFC, but they are going to the Super Bowl.

The blog that seems to be creating the most discussion on this site is the one in which a crazed Seahawk fan proclaims his team as far and away the best team in the NFC, and is distuurbed that anyone would dare think otherwise. I commented on it a few days ago, but would like to take a minute to expand it on it further. I think that on a neutral field, the Giants, Panthers, and Bears, would all beat the Seahawks. I have questions about the Seahawk defense (bad day to ask them, I know, on the heels of a shutout last night againt the Eagles), despite the brilliant play of Lofa Tatupu. And yes, their offensive line is the best in the game, and their running back is not far behind. But I wonder whether Hasselbeck and those very shaky receivers can make plays down the field in a big game. The three teams I mentioned all have terrific front sevens. And I don't think the Seahawks are good enough to expolit any of those team's weaknesses in the secondary. But Qwest Field is a major advantage. To me, it's on par with Arrowhead Stadium, and Mile High, and any other stadium you could come up with. It's going to be very tough for a team to come in and win a close one there, and the 'Hawks are good enough to keep it close against anybody. By default, I think the Seahawks will go to the Super Bowl. But any 'Hawks fan who is whining about the lack of respect shown the team is absolutely lost. It's been 21 year since they won a playoff game, and their division is absolutely awful. People have a right to be skeptical. But, as I mentioned to the author of that blog, if the Seahawks keep winning, who in the hell cares about respect?

4. There will be a playoff berth at stake when the Chargers take on the Chiefs in week 16 at Arrowhead. And the winner will make some serious noise in the post-season.

This will, in my opinion, be one of the best games of the NFL regular season. Two teams, who can both play, in one of the greatest environments in the entire sport, with enormously high stakes. I think that both teams will split their next two games (Chargers vs. Miami, @Indy, Chiefs; @Dallas, @NY Giants), which will leave them both at 9-5 with two games to play. With 11 wins probably required for entry into the AFC playoffs, only the winner will be in a position to reach that mark. These are both excellent teams. I raved about San Diego in this blog last week, but I failed to add that I think the Chiefs have been overlooked this season. That was a big win they came up with last week over a very good Denver team, and it was nice to see the Chief defense make the big play at the end of the game, for once. If this game is not televised in your area, make plans to get to a sports bar, I think it will be that compelling.

5. The Rose Bowl will be a dud.

I can see it already. By the time January rolls around, the hype for this game will be absolutely sickening. The two-time defending champion Trojans, the 12-0 Longhorns, the media is salivating. I've already read certain columnists calling this, potentially, the greatest college game of all time. Funny, I remember reading a lot of the same things about last year's national championship game, which featured a dominant USC team taking on an undefeated Big 12 team who'd compiled a fat record against a dreadful conference. The Trojans, one last time, will show us their greatness, and this game will not even be remotely close.

6. The Boston Red Sox have officially overtaken that woman who sued McDonald's some years back because her coffee was too hot, for filing the most frivolous lawsuit of all-time.

Doug Mientkiewicz is a complete clown, let's start with that. He has no business possessing the "last out" ball of the 2004 World Series. The batboy could probably state just as good a case as to why he should own the ball. And the Red Sox, morally speaking, deserve to keep that baseball. But the fact that the Red Sox are suing Mientkiewicz for something they don't own is unbelievably ridiculous. What legal right do the Red Sox have to that baseball? It was an officially licensed major league baseball, used in a game that did not take place in their stadium. What is their case? This is a bad one, I've got to admit. The Red Sox couldn't possibly look more foolish filing this lawsuit, and I hope they lose.

7. By hook or by crook, Manny Ramirez will be a New York Met by opening day.

The handwriting is on the wall. The Mets trade for Paul Lo Duca, as opposed to signing big-ticket free-agents like Bengie Molina or Ramon Hernandez to be their catcher. They are desperately trying to get someone to take Kaz Matsui off of their hands. They're looking to dump Kris Benson to shave a few million off of the payroll. All of this points to one thing: Manny Ramirez. The Mets did not make all the moves they made this off-season to play second fiddle to the Yankees again. There's something else coming, something big. The only other possibility would be Alfonso Soriano, but that doesn't seem likely. Manny Ramirez gives their new sports network instant credibility, and gives their team an RBI machine. My position on this move is consistant with my position on the others. The Mets have no choice but to do this, which all of the aging pitchers they have. Hopefully, it will work this time, but franchise history offers nothing to suggest this will happen.

8. If being somewhat of a cute older woman is your one and only qualification, you should not be allowed to run for the United States Senate.

For those outside of New York, I'm talking about a woman named Jeanine Pirro. She's challenging (in theory, anyway) incumbant Hillary Rodham Clinton here in New York for her Senate seat. She's trailing badly in the polls, and there's pressure on her from the state republican party to abandon her candidacy so they can replace her with someone who stands a chance. There's a lot of pressure on New York republicans, who must field, at the very least, a competitive candidate in this race. They absolutely cannot let Hillary cruise to victory in this race, as Mrs. Clinton would likely then parlay it into a 2008 Presidential run. Pirro stands no chance because she is completely unqualified for the post. The highest poilitical office she ever won was the Westchester County Attorney General's post. I'm not sure that qualifies her to run for the State Senate, let alone the U.S. Senate. She's been an absolute mess so far on the campaign trail. She lost a page in her speech on the day she announced her candidacy and, with the cameras rolling, she didn't speak for almost a full minute (way to ad-lib, babe). Also, she's married to a man with suspected mob ties, who has done jail time, and has fathered an illegitimate child, whom he neglected for many years (until Jeanine announced her Senate candidacy). She was chosen to run simply because she is, for a fifty year old, attractive. Frankly, I think it ought to take more than that. I think I've opened up a can of worms here, though. Let's stay with this theme of women in politics for a second.

9. The United States is not ready for a female President, and may never be.

You can talk about all the decision making that goes along with being the President, you can talk about the enormous responsibility the job carries, you can talk about each and every one of the specific duties, and they all add up to nothing. Because, at the end of the day, none of this is what makes a great leader. A great leader has the uncanny ability to talk to his people after the fit hits the shan, when it all falls down, and assure them that everything will be okay. And if the people buy it, it's because the great leader sold it. Anybody think that the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina would've been close to as bad if you replaced Louisiana Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco with even a halfway decent leader? Did you hear her in the days following the hurricane? (Paraphrasing) "Oh my. It's bad, real bad. I don't know if we'll ever be the same..." Those words inspire you any? A good leader, be it a President, Governor, Mayor, CEO, or Head Coach, is someone you'd run through a brick wall for. It's someone who inspires you, someone you believe in. Partially for physiological reasons (higher voices, smaller, narrower frames), and partially for psychological reasons (more cautious descision making, greater tendency to worry), there are very few women who would make good leaders. And Hillary Rodham Clinton is not one of them. Unless you count Condeleeza Rice (and in this discussion we most certainly are not), Hillary is the only woman with a realistic shot at the job, so let's focus on her. Hillary has a very shrill voice. She is small, which does not help. She is, hands down, the worst orator in high-level politics in this country (ever hear her give a speech? She makes you think she's reaching a Crescendo, and then she just KEEPS ON GOING...UNTIL YOU THINK SHE'S FINALLY DONE...BUT SHE'S NOT SHE JUST KEEPS ON GOING AND SPEAKS IN SENTENCES THAT LAST A THOUSAND WORDS AND ARE ALL SCREAMED...UNTIL SHE FINALLY FINISHES UP SHORTLY AFTER YOU FORGOT WHAT THE HELL she was talking about). She would inspire absolutely zero confidence in a crisis. None. Now, I'm not discounting her qualifications (not thrilled with her first term in the Senate, but I'll probably end up voting for her, especially if she runs against Pirro), nor am I denying her intelligence. I'm not saying she doesn't belong in the Senate, or couldn't be a Supreme Court Justice or something. But she would make a very poor leader, like most other women. Here's an odd one. You know who I'd pick as the greatest female leader in America? Pat Summitt, coach of the women's basketball team at Tennessee. You listen to her talk for a while and, I swear, she has a little Bill Parcells in her. She's tall, has a deep voice for a woman, and clearly has a backbone. Now there's a woman who'd make (and who is) a great leader.

10. The Sopranos is not a good enough television show to take twelve years off between airings.

Now, I'm a huge Sopranos fan. I think the first two seasons of the show was the greatest television drama ever produced. But no longer is the show anywhere near good enough to take this much time off the air (almost two full years by the time it returns in March) and have people still care about it. The Sopranos isn't even a top 5 show anymore, frankly (did anybody catch that trailer for The Shield? How good does that look?). Their hiatus was simply far too long in duration. I completely forgot what happened last season, and I'm not too sure I care to remember. Ultimately, I'll watch, of course I will. But I won't care nearly as much.

11. U haf 2 make speeling eras + gramma eras if u want 2 haf ur blog red.

The writing on many of these blogs has been absolutely deplorable. And yet, many people are compelled to comment on these insightful works. My question to those who've left comments for anybody who's written a poorly constructed piece is; What the hell do you care about what this person thinks? The authors of these blogs do not think enough of themselves or their opinions to make sure they write them out properly. So why should you care about them? Now, this does not apply to everyone. There are many talented, thoughtful, intelligent writers on this site. But there are many blog writers who are the complete opposite. I'm appalled to see that all it takes to incite an argument is some stupid, poorly written statement written by a crazed fan and backed up by exactly zero facts. Which leads to...

12. As a culture, we should be ashamed of ourselves for...being awfully damn stupid sometimes.

If anybody bothers to read this blog, I guarantee you I will get a comment that reads something like this. "Ur a snob. U think ur smarter then everyone becuz u can speel and stuuf and u put ur commaz in the, rite place and all get a lif looser." What a sad commentary, that you have to be a snob or a loser to write properly. Is America, on the whole, really that stupid? I promise you folks, I'm no snob, and I'm no Ivy Leaguer. I'm a lower middle class kid from Queens who goes to City College, and is fighting to sneak his GPA above 3. Again, I'm not directing these comments to those of you who've written some good stuff so far, and there are many of you. And I'm not talking about just the people on this site either, this is a national problem, in my opinion. I took a phone call from a telemarketer the other day, and was greeted with a pre-recorded message. They message delivered an apology, on behalf of the company, for inconveniencing me. And then, the message proceeded to ask me to hold on for a live operator, so that they could personally apoligize to me. Do they think I'm that stupid? Yes, because people have become so stupid that I'm certain this ploy has worked from time to time. Test scores are going down across the board. The Dukes of Hazzard remake pulled in over a hundred million dollars at the box office,  while Good Night and Good Luck is struggling to get to ten. There are endless examples of stupidity becoming the norm in this country. It is imperative that we, as Americans, reverse this trend as quickly as possible. We should be ashamed of ourselves.