...then perhaps you could explain:

If the economy is getting better, then why did new home sales in the United States hit a brand new all-time record low during 2011?

If the economy is getting better, then why are there 6 million less jobs in America today than there were before the recession started?

If the economy is getting better, then why is the average duration of unemployment in this country close to an all-time record high?

If the economy is getting better, then why has the number of homeless female veterans more than doubled?

If the economy is getting better, then why has the number of Americans on food stamps increased by 3 million since this time last year and by more than 14 million since Barack Obama entered the White House?

If the economy is getting better, then why has the number of children living in poverty in America risen for four years in a row?

If the economy is getting better, then why is the percentage of Americans living in "extreme poverty" at an all-time high?

If the economy is getting better, then why is the Federal Housing Administration on the verge of a financial collapse?

If the economy is getting better, then why do only 23 percent of American companies plan to hire more employees in 2012?

If the economy is getting better, then why has the number of self-employed Americans fallen by more than 2 million since 2006?

If the economy is getting better, then why did an all-time record low percentage of U.S. teens have a job last summer?

If the economy is getting better, then why does median household income keep declining? Overall, median household income in the United States has declined by a total of 6.8% since December 2007 once you account for inflation.

If the economy is getting better, then why has the number of Americans living below the poverty line increased by 10 million since 2006?

If the economy is getting better, then why is the average age of a vehicle in America now sitting at an all-time high?

If the economy is getting better, then why are 18 percent of all homes in the state of Florida currently sitting vacant?

If the economy is getting better, then why are 19 percent of all American men between the ages of 25 and 34 living with their parents?

If the economy is getting better, then why does the number of "long-term unemployed workers" stay so high? When Barack Obama first took office, the number of "long-term unemployed workers" in the United States was approximately 2.6 million. Today, that number is sitting at 5.6 million.

But there is some good news.

When Barack Obama first took office, an ounce of gold was going for about $850. Today, the price of an ounce of gold is over $1700.

The era of great prosperity that America has enjoyed for so long is coming to an end.

In fact, our long-term economic decline is about to accelerate.

So enjoy this "bubble of hope" while you can, because it won't last long.

As I have written about previously, many are warning that Europe is on the verge of a nightmarish financial crisis that could potentially plunge us into a global recession even worse than 2008.

So let us hope for the best, but let us also prepare for the worst.

Anyone with an ounce of sense knows that the economy isn't recovering in any meaningful way. Which excludes drones and legacy media.


Hat tip: Wolf Howling.

Rob Bluey: President Obama has used his executive power in many ways to expand the role of government. But there’s one area that stands out: Obama’s frequent and repeated use of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to issue emergency and disaster declarations.

Heritage’s Matt Mayer reports that Obama “eviscerated the record books by issuing 243 declarations in 2011,” continuing an alarming pattern that begin under President Bill Clinton and President George W. Bush. Mayer says FEMA has become a “political pork-barrel spending agency.”

The trend is illustrated in this week’s chart, which portrays the use of major disaster declarations, emergency declarations, and fire management assistance declarations. The data dates back to the Eisenhower administration in 1953.
Obama is averaging 153 declarations per year. Bush comes in second with an eight-year average of 129.6.

Mayer says it’s time to end the federalization of disasters. He wants Congress to clarify which disasters meet federal requirements, reduce the cost-sharing provision for all FEMA declarations, and overhaul existing FEMA processes and procedures.

---

Tags: Bill Clinton, Chart of the Week, disaster declarations, disasters, emergency declarations, executive power, Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA Declarations, George W. Bush, President Obama To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

I will not submit to the whitewashing and outright cover-up of honor killings in the West, despite the withering personal attacks on me.

That these monstrous crimes of murder do not unite rational men on the basis of sheer humanity is indicative of how debased and morally bankrupt the monsters on the left are. I hold them ultimately responsible. Devout Muslims who support or subscribe to religiously sanctioned gendercide are merely adhering to their faith. What's the left's excuse?

Imagine someone so twisted and dysfuntional that he would vilify those who are fighting against an ideology that oppresses, subjugates and slaughters women. Honor killings are a family affair, and there are as many accomplices as there are killers. Jessica Mokdad was subjected to years of strict religious punishment in that hellish house. Where was her mother? Who lured her back to that deadly house after she had run away?

The once fiercely counter-jihad now viciously pro-jihad Chuck Johnson is rabid with news of my human rights conference, mixing moral equivocation with good old-fashioned lies. Really nuts.

I/we asked the Hyatt for nothing. After they apologized profusely for canceling a Geller event in Sugar Land, Texas (the mistake of a weak, on-site tool), the Hyatt offered to give us space and pay for it at any of their hotels in America. I never bullied Hyatt. I never even contacted them.

I am always surprised when someone sends me a link from the green swamp. No one reads this boil on the ass of the blogsophere anymore, but look what's become of him. Once the pre-eminent blog on the right, the now notorious leftwing troll is mocking the fight for the right to live and live freely as a "ghoulish obsession": Pamela Geller's Ghoulish Obsession With 'Honor Killings' Takes an Ugly Turn. Fighting to save girls' lives is a "ghoulish obsession." I guess CJ would call Elie Wiesel's work on the Holocaust a "ghoulish obsession." Or any human rights group or anti-torture organization -- do they have "ghoulish obessions," too?

Does this not mirror the malevolent smear campaign waged by the Johnson back in 2009, when I was raising money to get a tombstone for honor killing victim Aqsa Parvez? Little Green Footballs -- How Not to Memorialize Aqsa Parvez -- he called it "one of the most disgusting publicity stunts I think I’ve ever heard of."

Evil.

And although no one takes this tool seriously anymore (he was us, now he's them, tomorrow he is Gregor Samsa), it is illustrative of the left's canny ability to paint good as evil. "Ghoulish obsession" -- think about that.

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/39875/comments/#cc9476613

It’s hard to imagine someone so twisted and dysfunctional that they’d intrude on a family’s grief over a murdered child, and use the victim’s name against the family’s wishes. But Geller is defiantly determined to exploit this murder for all the bigoted hatred she can wring out of it: Slain Woman’s Name on ‘Human Rights’ Conference Upsets Her Family.

But wait — the story gets even more repellent, because Geller and her followers bullied and harassed the management of the Hyatt Regency in Dearborn, Michigan into giving her a conference room for free to hold this ugly hatefest, after theycanceled a previous Geller hatefest. Unbelievable.

Here’s a page with contact info for the Dearborn Hyatt, if you’d like to let the management know how you feel about this disgusting event: Detroit Metro Hotel - Detroit Michigan Hotels - Hyatt Regency Dearborn. They backed down and tried to appease Geller, and as a result she’s now using their facilities to exploit a murdered woman against her family’s wishes. 

Then the necessary and expected Jewish moral equivalence post:

Obdicut 
Sat, Feb 4, 2012 11:39:26am

They're seriously taking this hatefest to Dearborn?

That's like holding a "Circumcision is torturing babies!" conference in Tribeca. It's like holding a "Blacks are lazy jerks" conference in Harlem.

They're looking for trouble.


Yes circumcision is like Honor Killing but Jewish

Yes, circumcision is like Honor Killing but Jewish -- get it? What a cesspool.

Then the threats of violence. Even the Dhimmi commies @ LGF know that Muslims act violently when facing criticism (how ironic, Charlinsky).

thedopefishlives  

Sat, Feb 4, 2012 11:41:00am

re: #3 Obdicut

They're seriously taking this hatefest to Dearborn?

That's like holding a "Circumcision is torturing babies!" conference in Tribeca. It's like holding a "Blacks are lazy jerks" conference in Harlem.

They're looking for trouble.

Of course they are. Then, when something happens (as it inevitably will), they have just bolstered their cause immeasurably.

"When something happens." Amazing. Who is the racistislamophobicantimuslimbigot? The expectation that Muslims will get violent is nakedly anti-Muslim.

Categories: Politics Long before Tebowing arrived on the NFL scene, there was ... (Read more...)

Hat tip: Wanda.

Al Gore hardest hit.

Bosnian authorities on Sunday used helicopters to evacuate sick people and deliver food to thousands of people who have been cut off by the heaviest snow the country has ever recorded... Across Eastern Europe thousands of people were digging themselves out from heavy snow that followed a weeklong cold snap that has killed hundreds.

More than 100 remote Bosnian villages are cut off by snow over 6 1/2 feet high in the mountains. More than three feet has fallen in the capital Sarajevo, where a state of emergency has been declared...

London's Heathrow Airport—Europe's busiest—canceled a third of Sunday's flights and warned of delays amid heavy fog.

...Rome is struggling under its first heavy snowfall in 26 years, and snow has also fallen on Spain's Balearic islands in the Mediterranean... Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday said the snowfall was beautiful, but he is wishing spring will come soon.

Please take note of the reaction of the global warming cult to news stories like these. When record cold temperatures savage the planet -- which some scientists believe herald the onset of a new ice age -- they screech that "weather isn't climate".

But when temperatures hit 100° in Manhattan during the month of July, they're the first to shriek about "evidence" of warmal colding.

How stupid do they think we are? Stupid enough to think that they can continue to pull off the United Nations' latest multi-billion dollar scam, courtesy of corrupt scientists seeking grant money and the Marxist left, who desperately want to regulate the economies of the West through cap-and-trade.

As those of us on the right have long known, a free-market economy, free of incessant Government intervention, is a hallmark of Conservatism in American politics. And, amid the skepticism, in regards to Romney’s sincerity on Conservative politics, and Limited Government, he recently made two statements that were very telling: 1. “My view is to [...]

More of the poisonous fruit from pro-Muslim Brotherhood Obama's post American foreign policy. Obama was instrumental in the ouster of Mubarak. Why?

Obama has been expediting aid to Egypt not cutting.

From the AP (hat tip Jack)

CAIRO (AP) -- Ignoring a stern U.S. threat, Egypt on Sunday referred 43 NGO workers, including 19 Americans, to trial before a criminal court for allegedly using illegal foreign funds to foment unrest.

The decision marked a sharp escalation of the dispute between Cairo and Washington over Egypt's crackdown on U.S.-funded groups promoting democracy and human rights. The two countries have been close allies for more than three decades, but the campaign against the organizations has angered Washington, and jeopardized the $1.5 billion in aid Egypt is set to receive from the U.S. this year.

On Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned Egypt's foreign minister that failure to resolve the dispute may lead to the loss of American aid. The Egyptian minister, Mohammed Amr, responded Sunday by saying the government cannot interfere in the work of the judiciary.

"We are doing our best to contain this but ... we cannot actually exercise any influence on the investigating judges right now when it comes to the investigation," Amr told reporters at a security conference in Munich, Germany.

Among the Americans sent to trial is Sam LaHood, the head of the Egypt office of the Washington-based International Republican Institute and the son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. Five Serbs, two Germans and three non-Egyptian Arab nationals are also among those referred to trial.

All 43 have been banned from leaving the country. A date has yet to be set for the start of the trial.

2/5/2012 Tonight on the Dark Side with Kira Davis – Breasts, wombs, choices and life…we’ll talk about this past week’s insanity involving Planned Parenthood, the Komen foundation and the Obama regime forcing Catholics to violate their religion.  Also, the uplifting story of a teacher who molested his students and gets rewarded with a big fat [...]

Here is a revealing account of a typically slick and disingenuous presentation by a spokesman for Hamas-linked CAIR. Note all the deflection, all the tough questions avoided, all the half-truths and distortions.

REPORT and Findings

The Snohomish County Executive Office and the Diversity Council invited CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations) to conduct diversity training to H.R. employees in Snohomish County. The meeting took place on November 14, 2011 at noon until 1:00 pm, in the Robert J. Drewel Bldg., Admin WEST, on 3000 Rockefeller, Ave., Everett, WA 98201
 
Those in attendance were Mr. Arsalan Bukhari, Executive Director of CAIR-WA
Bushra Rahim, Outreach Coordinator with CAIR-WA
Ms. Jessica (did not get her last name) - Diversity Committee Coordinator for Snohomish County
 
Two men sitting in the front row and supporting Mr. Bukhari who were not identified.  (These grim faced men with a tough demeanor looked like members of the Nation of Islam).  Later, one of the women whom I talked with afterwards identified one man as an Imam from a Seattle Mosque who works closely with Mr. Bukhari and the other man was from the ACLU.
 
I attended this meeting with another ACTforAmerica member who has collaborated my notes as accurate.
 
Ms. Jessica first passed out papers for people to write down their questions.  She said that Mr. Bukhari would read aloud one question just to get the meeting going and then would address the rest of the questions during the presentation.  Mr. Bukhari smiled as he glanced down at the first question and then read aloud, “Is it true that Muslims want to take over the world?” and to that everyone laughed wholeheartedly, a clear indicator of exactly who was in attendance.
 
101:Myths and Facts on Islam

(Q)  What have you heard about Islam?  What do Muslims believe?
·       Muslims believe in God
·       Muslims believe in angels
·       Muslims believe in the revealed Book
·       Muslims observe religious texts like the Torah and the Bible and believe in Judgment Day.
 
(Q)   What are the Five Pillars of Islam?
·       Shahadah – Testimony of Faith
·       Salaat – Prayer
·       Zakaat – Almsgiving
·       SAWM  Fasting during Ramadan
·       Hajj – the Pilgrimage to Mecca
 
(Q)   Some people feel that Jihad was the valid reason for on 9/11 as Muslims were oppressed.
Mr. Bukhari responded by saying that 9/11 wasn’t Jihad, it was an offensive measure.  I asked him to clarify his statement and said, “If it wasn’t Jihad then what was it?” and to that he said, “An act of terrorism.”
 
(Q)  If you’re in a Seniority based union, how do you accommodate Friday prayer observance with Muslims?
Mr. Bukhari said “you can pick and choose what is best.” (whatever that means?)
 
(Q)  A man stated that there are many people living in Snohomish County who live in fear of radical Islam and would Mr. Bukhari please address his concern.
 
Before Mr. Bukhari could respond, a man sitting behind us (whom we believe was a plant), piped in about how his father was a survivor of the Holocaust and that the Muslims were now being discriminated against just like the Jews and are suffering.  Thus, Mr. Bukhari never commented and the diversion worked.  This was a highly successful dissuasive technique that I’ve seen used in consensus building in groups when you want to detract from what is being said.  Mr. Bukhari never answered the question nor did the man who initially posed the question persist in obtaining an answer.
 
(Q)  Someone asked what Boeing was doing or how they were doing in the workplace with Muslims.
Mr. Bukhari said that Boeing is doing well with their workers as they have a place at noon for prayers and on Friday afternoons they can congregate on campus.  Boeing is making their employees very happy and this is good HR values, he said.
 
(Q)  Someone asked about discrimination distribution and whether CAIR was seeing the same level of discrimination or more across the city?
To that Mr. Bukhari answered, “definitely more discrimination.”
  
(Q)  Does Islam support tolerance for all Religions?
Mr. Bukhari answered, “Muslims believe all the books are works of God, but that Muslims respect more and feel more connected to the Jewish and Christian faith than say to Buddhists.”
 
(Q) Someone asked him to explain the difference between Jizya and Zakat.  Mr. Bukhari said that Zakat was one of the five pillars of Islam which is a religious tithe and that the Jizya was the poll tax on non-Muslims.  He didn’t explain the why of it and no one asked for further clarification until the woman sitting in front of us piped in and said, “the Jizya is a protection tax for dhimmi’s living under Muslim domination….she went on, “isn’t it true that in Islam you have the dhimmi code…the pledge that all non-Muslims must sign as infidels so they can be protected which is mandated by Sharia Law?”  
 
Mr. Bukhari pretended not to know what she was talking about and then the two men in the front row turned around and said that they were not aware of this either.  The woman ignored them and went on, “dhimmitude exists all over the world and it is even the mission statement posted on the Islamic State of America’s website.”  Then things began to heat up as Ms. Jessica using her body as a shield of intimidation moved closer to the woman trying to speak, “we need to keep the topic to the workplace now” she demanded.  At this point the two men got up from their seats and walked out of the room only to return a few minutes later.  It was now clear to all that one must not debate, confront or argue anything with CAIR…this was their show and they were in control.
 
(Q)  Does Islam support freedom of speech?
 
One woman piped in from the back of the room, “not under Sharia Law it doesn’t” to which Mr. Bukhari again ignored and went on about how the government can’t infringe upon a citizen’s right to free speech or a private parties right and Islam is okay with that, (did you get that, Islam is okay with that).
 
(Q)   Is female genital mutilation a common practice in Islam?
 
Mr. Bukhari said that it was not Islamic, but a tribal or cultural practice among African tribes and even Christian tribes were doing this in many countries.
 
FACT – Muslims fast during Ramadan.  Mr. Bukhari explained about the 9th month in the lunar calendar and fasted during the day.
 
FACT – Muslims pray Five times a day, before dawn, midday, late afternoon, Sun-down and at night at Ablution.
 
FACT – Mosques are for congregational Prayer.  Friday prayer – Muslims are obligated to go to Friday Prayer in the evening.  Muslims have major holidays (Eid) which are festivals similar to Christmas or Hanukah.
 
Mr. Bukhari continued on about the role of the employer in accommodating Muslims based on their religious practices. At this point I said:  “According to the doctrine of tayseer, Muslims living as minorities in a non-Islamic country are not obligated to follow strict Islamic Law as their burden can be made lighter – and so if it is not a necessity why then do Muslims insist on all these accommodations?
 
Mr. Bukhari did not know what to say and paused, I continued, “for example, at an unnecessary expense, the University of Michigan had to install footbaths and I ask again why must employers accommodate Muslims when it is not deemed a necessity? “
 
At this point Ms. Jessica came to Mr. Bukhari’s defense and moved her large imposing body closer to me as a form of intimidation and snapped, “employers like to create a happy work environment and do so willingly” and to that I retorted, “or perhaps coerced, for there is a fine line here, a very fine line.”
 
MYTH  - All Muslims are Middle Eastern.
He said 20% are African Americans and the rest are from various countries around the world.  100,000 are in Washington State alone with between 5,000 and 10,000 in Snohomish County.  He said Muslim Americans are a very diverse people and were mentioned in some study…don’t remember the name he mentioned.
 
MYTH – Every Muslim obeys Islamic Law the same?
He said cultural identification is stronger, not all Muslims practice according to Islam Law the same.
 
FACT - Pork is prohibited as well as alcohol, everything must be Halal or approved.  He said that Halal slaughter is the same as Jewish Kosher slaughter only they pray towards Mecca.  He went on, Muslims avoid foods that may be harmful, disease ridden or detrimental to their health and that is the rationale for everything being halal and must be approved. (The Jewish man sitting behind us did not correct or comment him as there is a difference between Kosher Slaughter and Halal Slaughter and he never said one word….that is why we think he might have been a plant).
 
MYTH – Muslim women are oppressed.  Mr. Bukhari said that Islam has given women rights over the 14 centuries.
·       Women can own property
·       Women can inherit property
·       Women can own businesses
·       Women can enter into contracts
·       Women can keep their own assets free from marital assets
·       Women can refuse marriage proposals
·       Women can initiate divorce
·       Women are respected and treated fairly even in the event of divorce.
 
MYTH  - Women are required to be more modest than men.  In fact, Mr. Bukhari said that both sexes are required to be modest.  He talked about hand shaking between the opposite sex and avoiding eye contact between the sexes.
 
FACT – Muslims prefer to interact with respect and modesty.  Mr. Bukhari said that Muslims have different comfort levels and some prefer to extend their hand and the more observant Muslims respect personal space the most.
 
MYTH – Jihad means war!  Mr. Bukhari said that there are three types of Jihad, the personal struggle, the verbal and then the physical.
·       Personal – inner struggle with the self and living up to the standards of Allah.
·       Verbal – Standing up to violent oppression
·       Physical – the point where you can take violent action.  When you feel threatened or are in danger then you are allowed to defend yourself.  He went on to say that now CAIR is working with local media to get them to remove the word JIHAD from the lexicon as only radical’s use Jihad, not mainstream Muslims.
 
FACT – American Muslims still face discrimination and the following are examples.  (This was written out in a power point presentation).
·       Accommodations – employees, school, at check points and in airports, at the DMV and in prisons.
·       Harassment and Discrimination
·       Malicious harassment, vandalism, bullying, misuse of government authority employers and co-workers, child custody and profiling
·        CBP, FBI, TSA, US Customs and Border Protection Agencies and the police.
 
 
 

FACT – Anti-Muslim hate is a growing problem in America.
Mr. Bukhari said the following are reasons that they feel hatred is growing in America towards Muslims.
·       Anti-terror training for law enforcement (the fact that there exists this training to protect citizens is considered an affront against Islam).
·       Representative King’s “hearings” in Congress
·       Blogs
·       Hate groups presented at colleges, in churches, in synagogues and in town hall meetings.  It is all hateful towards Muslims.
 
Mr. Bukhari went on and said that because of so much anti-Muslim hate CAIR is recommending the following two websites to counter the hatred.   (I’m not sure if he said that CAIR had actually created the website or that they were simply recommending the websites).  Here are the websites that CAIR is telling Snohomish County H.R. employees are hateful and against American Muslims.
 
Smearcasting.com - This website deals with how Islamophobia spreads fear, bigotry, and misinformation and is referred to as “Your Virtual Mosque.”
http://www.suhaibwebb.com/miscellaneous/smearcastingcom-how-islamophobes-spread-fear-bigotry-and-misinformation/
 
Loonwatch.com
http://www.loonwatch.com/
 
How to Identify a Loon-The Nuclear Card
http://www.loonwatch.com/2009/04/how-to-identify-a-loon-the-nuclear-card/
 
And who are the loons?  Robert Spencer, Pamela Geller, Bat Ye’or, Brigitte Gabriel, Daniel Pipes, Debbie Schlussel, Walid Shoebat, Wafa Sultan, Geert Wilders and The Nuclear Card. All people who are actively challenging them—you all made the grade, what a badge of honor to be among the loons.
 
Mr. Bukhari said that we are seeing a spike in hate crimes due to irrational fears on the part of the public due to hateful people and then he went on to compare this with the hysterics of the 1940’s when the US government interned Japanese-Americans.
 
He said that PBS has a series that will be aired in January 2012 called “The Illusion of Race” and if people want to attend they have to attend the first in the series in order to attend the 2nd and 3rd.
 
Mr. Bukhari hoped that people could walk away from this presentation feeling more positive towards Muslims.

Categories: Politics It’s Super Bowl Sunday where the Giants face the Patriots ... (Read more...)

Categories: Politics I get the feeling throughout this interview that Giuliani is ... (Read more...)

Just a few stories that caught my eye over the past week, whether I blogged them or not. Click the link under each picture for more information. Link: Gator Doug. Here’s the story, but I’m also linking Obi’s Sister on this one because she’s the only Dawg I know. Nickname-wise. Not metaphorically. Sheesh. Link: Trog. Link: Rumproast. Link: Mark America. Link: American Glob. And: Previously: This Week in Automotivators, January 16-22 This Week in Automotivators, January 23-29 Make your own automotivators.

PJMedia's Tatler characterized Newt Gingrich's concessionary press conference in Nevada last night as "odd". I just watched it and don't agree. In fact, I thought one particular interrogatory was especially insightful (hat tip to Biff Spackle for the transcript):

Question: Mr. Speaker, have you considered that voters just aren't buying what you're selling? You've been on the ballot now in five states and you've won one, but you've lost four. And you also talk about debates, but you've had 18 of them and generally you've been considered to have done well in them, but still that hasn't shown up in the polls?

Gingrich: I'm not going to defend the outcome in a state where I was outspent five to one. And I'd suggest you're sophisticated enough to understand that the idea that taking a state where the other guy spent five times as much money, and many of his ads were false as by both the Wall Street Journal and National Review, that maybe that's not a very accurate measure.

When it was an entirely positive campaign, up through mid-December, I was ahead by 12 points in Gallup. And this may happen again. I was actually ahead in Gallup a week ago. So I think in a few more weeks, I'll be ahead in Gallup again.

Question: But is that just ignoring the reality of the campaign? He has gone negative, it's working...

Gingrich: So the "reality of the campaign", to use your words, is that he has gone negative and it is working. And what I am asserting to you is that, over time, I don't believe the American people will approve of a campaign which actually suppresses turnout.

I think it's amazing that if you look in Florida, every county that I carried in Florida had an increased turnout; every county that Romney carried in Florida had a decreased turnout. Now that should sober every Republican in the country.

If the only way Romney wins is suppressing turnout, how's he going to do that in the fall?

If the only way he wins is outspending someone five-to-one, how's that going to apply to a campaign against Obama, who's going to outspend him?

Those are damned good questions.