The Commentariat -- August 17, 2020
Afternoon Update:
Daniel Lippman of Politico: "Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has agreed to House Democrats' request for him to testify next week about his controversial Postal Service changes that have raised hackles around the nation, according to two people familiar with the matter. On Sunday, Democrats moved up a request for DeJoy to testify to Monday, Aug. 24, calling it an 'urgent' matter.'... [House Oversight Committee Chair Carolyn] Maloney [D-NY] also has requested the testimony of Mike Duncan, chairman of the Postal Service's Board of Governors. Duncan also agreed to testify, according to a person familiar with the matter. Duncan is a former chairman of the Republican National Committee.... The House is also expected to vote as early as this Saturday on a proposal to block DeJoy's plans to overhaul the Postal Service." Mentioned on MSNBC: The Oversight Committee has also asked the USPS for production of documents.
Brad Plumer & Henry Fountain of the New York Times: "Overturning five decades of protections for the largest remaining stretch of wilderness in the United States, the Trump administration on Monday finalized its plan to open up part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil and gas development. The decision sets the stage for what is expected to be a fierce legal battle over the fate of this vast, remote Alaska habitat. The Interior Department said it had completed its required reviews and would start preparing to auction off leases to companies interested in drilling inside the refuge's coastal plain, which is believed to sit atop enough oil to fill billions of barrels but is prized by environmentalists for its pristine landscapes and wildlife. While the agency has not yet set a date for the first auction, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said on Monday, 'I do believe there could be a lease sale by the end of the year.'"
Digby in Salon: "One of the more tedious tasks in writing about politics is that every single election year it's necessary to discuss the latest cheating schemes cooked up by the Republican Party to suppress the votes of minorities, challenge the legality of perfectly legal votes and otherwise make all elections they do not win look suspect in the eyes of American voters. Needless to say, this year is worse than usual because Donald Trump makes everything worse than usual.... At some point, this country is going to have to come to terms with the fact that the Republican Party is fundamentally hostile to democracy and do something about it."
~~~~~~~~~~
Presidential Race, Etc.
An Unconventional Convention. Astead Herndon & Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "... the stretch of downtown Milwaukee where Democrats were supposed to hold their nominating convention this week was quiet and sparsely populated -- another reminder of a summer lost.... And the Democratic Party, shamed for not adequately investing in Wisconsin during the 2016 election, was to showcase its commitment to an all-important Electoral College state [here].... Some realities have not changed: The convention, which begins Monday and ends with a speech from [Joe] Biden on Thursday evening, marks the beginning of the formal general election between Mr. Biden and President Trump. Mr. Biden's running mate, Senator Kamala Harris of California, will have her largest audience yet, in a speech on Wednesday evening. A who's who of Democratic Party politics will also deliver addresses to the nation -- including former President Barack Obama, former first lady Michelle Obama, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Hillary and Bill Clinton. Aside from the five major speeches from Mr. Biden, his wife, Jill Biden, Ms. Harris and the Obamas, the average length for remarks will be just two minutes, convention organizers said.... Mr. Sanders and Ms. Obama are the headline speakers for the opening night." ~~~
~~~ Michael Scherer of the Washington Post: "Faced with a complex problem, Democrats decided to go big, aiming for a solution that has more in common with Netflix, Facebook Live and the cheering fan screens courtside in Orlando's NBA bubble than the C-Span-style cattle call typical of past national party gatherings. Over four nights starting Monday, a behind-the-scenes crew of about 400 with operation centers in New York, Milwaukee, Los Angeles and Wilmington, Del., plans to broadcast to the nation hundreds of live video feeds from living rooms, national monuments and stages around the country.... That includes dozens of speakers who have been mailed video-production kits, with basic equipment such as microphones, lighting and advanced routers, so they can produce and transmit their own shots. Other homebound delegates will be dialed in to quick feeds of the live speeches, so their real-time reactions can be broadcast ... as if they were in the same room as the speakers.... For a typically antiquated and long-winded event, the remade unconventional convention could set a new standard for national political gatherings, which have evolved since the 1960s from their roots as actual smoke-filled rooms...." ~~~
~~~ Terri Rupar & Amber Phillips of the Washington Post: "The [DNC's] public events start at 9 p.m. Eastern time. Speakers on the first day include some big Democratic names, notably Michelle Obama and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and one prominent never-Trump Republican, former Ohio governor John Kasich. Democrats' plan on this first night seems to be to convey just how big their tent is for any voter who does not like President Trump: from the far left to the center of the Democratic establishment to Republicans.... Monday night will also feature governors whose star has risen in the party while fighting the coronavirus, such as Michigan's Gretchen Whitmer and New York's Andrew M. Cuomo." Mrs. McC: I've read elsewhere that the broadcast networks will carry only one hour; in the past that's been the 10-11 pm ET hour. I assume that CNN & MSNBC will carry the 9 pm hour, too. The Post says it will have live coverage beginning at 8 pm ET, so maybe that will include a video feed.
Jeffrey Gettleman & Suhasini Raj of the New York Times: "Although [Kamala] Harris has been more understated about her Indian heritage than her experience as a Black woman, her path to U.S. vice-presidential pick has also been guided by the values of her Indian-born mother, her Indian grandfather and her wider Indian family who have provided a lifelong support network that endures even from 8,000 miles away. Her grandfather [P.V. Gopalan], wearing Coke-bottle glasses and often a necktie during strolls, may have looked like many other upper-crust Indian gentlemen. But he defied the conservative stereotypes of his era, embodying a progressive outlook on public service and unswerving support for women, especially in terms of their education, that was years ahead of his time. He instilled great confidence in Ms. Harris's mother, Shyamala Gopalan, who came to America in the late 1950s young and alone and made a career as a breast cancer researcher before dying of cancer in 2009." Mrs. McC: The sepia-toned photo of Harris' maternal family is ridiculous; Harris is 55 years old, not 155.
Ali Vitali of NBC News: "Sen. Kamala Harris said she is 'very clear-eyed' about the kinds of attacks ... Donald Trump will lodge against her in the coming months, telling The Grio in an interview out Sunday that she expects the president and his allies to engage in 'lies' and 'deceptions.' The interview -- Harris' second publicly release since being announced as Joe Biden's running mate last week -- comes on the heels of Trump fanning false conspiracy theories about whether Harris is eligible to run as vice president." (Also linked yesterday.)
Richard Luscombe of the Guardian: "Bernie Sanders praised Kamala Harris as Joe Biden's pick for his running mate on Sunday, as the Democratic party attempted to project an image of unity ahead of this week's national convention, where Biden is set to be officially nominated as the party's presidential candidate. Sanders, the progressive Vermont senator who clashed with both Biden and Harris earlier this year when the three were vying for their party's presidential nomination, lauded Harris as 'an asset'. 'I believe that Kamala, as somebody who has known her for a number of years, is incredibly smart, tough, and I would not want to be Vice-President [Mike] Pence in a debate with her,' Sanders said in an appearance on ABC's This Week."
Robert McCartney of the Washington Post: "There's a plausible way that independent voting experts worry President Trump could try to steal the election: by blocking the counting of mail-in ballots. Democrats are much more supportive of voting by mail than Republicans, according to recent polls. That's partly because Trump has falsely smeared mail-in voting as subject to widespread fraud.... So, on election night, initial returns based on in-person voting could show Trump winning, even though large numbers of mailed ballots remain uncounted. At that point, the experts warn, Trump could declare himself the victor, saying the mailed ballots should be ignored.... In states where Republicans control the voting process, he might get away with it." Mrs. McC: Good to see that a major American newspaper is now putting on its front page the concerns of a former Republican-appointed FEC Chairman -- Trevor Potter -- that Trump could try to flat-out steal the election.
Yes, You Should Be Horrified. Jennifer Agiesta of CNN: "Joe Biden's lead over Donald Trump among registered voters has significantly narrowed since June, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, even as the former vice president maintains an advantage over the President on several top issues and his choice of California Sen. Kamala Harris as a running mate earns largely positive reviews.... Overall, 50% of registered voters back the Biden-Harris ticket, while 46% say they support Trump and Pence, right at the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points." ~~~
~~~ You Should Still Be Very, Very Worried. Mark Murray of NBC News: According to "the latest national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll..., Biden leads Trump nationally by 9 points among registered voters, 50 percent to 41 percent, and the former vice president holds double-digit advantages over Trump on the coronavirus, immigration, health care, race relations and uniting the country.... Still, Trump maintains his lead over Biden on the economy -- which the poll finds is voters' top issue heading into the election -- and the president's overall numbers have improved from last month...." ~~~
~~~ Don't Stop Worrying. Dan Balz, et al., of the Washington Post: A new Washington Post/ABC News poll shows "Biden and his running mate, Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), leading Trump and Vice President Pence by 53 percent to 41 percent among registered voters."
Emily Cochrane & Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California announced on Sunday that she would call the House back from its annual summer recess for a vote this week on legislation to block changes at the Postal Service that voting advocates warn could disenfranchise Americans casting ballots by mail during the pandemic. The announcement came after the White House chief of staff on Sunday signaled openness to providing emergency funding to help the agency handle a surge in mail-in ballots, and as Democratic state attorneys general said that they were exploring legal action against cutbacks and changes at the Postal Service.... Senator Chuck Schumer ... demanded on Sunday that Senator Mitch McConnell bring senators back to Capitol Hill to take up the House measure...." An AP story is here.
Jacob Bogage & Joseph Marks of the Washington Post: "The House Oversight Committee will hold an emergency hearing on mail delays and concerns about potential White House interference in the U.S. Postal Service, inviting Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and Postal Service board of governors Chairman Robert M. Duncan to testify Aug. 24, top Democrats announced on Sunday. Democrats have alleged that DeJoy, a former Republican National Committee chairman, is taking steps that are causing dysfunction in the mail system and could wreak havoc in the presidential election. The House had earlier not planned a hearing until September.... On Thursday and Friday, [the USPS] began removing public collection boxes in parts of California, New York, Pennsylvania, Oregon and Montana. The agency said Friday that it would stop mailbox removals, which it said were routine, until after the election.... The Postal Service is in the process of removing 671 high-speed mail-sorting machines nationwide.... White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said on CNN’s 'State of the Union' on Sunday that it would also halt sorting-machine removals. Meadows also said the White House is open to Congress passing a stand-alone measure to ensure the U.S. Postal Service is adequately funded to manage a surge in mail voting in November...." (Also linked yesterday.) Mediaite has a story here. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: My, my. It does sound as if there's panic in the White House following the public uproar over Trump/DeJoy's cavalier moves to "kneecap" the postal service. ~~~
~~~ Justine Coleman of the Hill: "White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on Sunday denied reports that several U.S. Postal Service (USPS) letter sorting machines were decommissioned after orders from the postmaster general. Meadows told CNN's 'State of the Union' that reports about hundreds of postal service sorting machines being taken out of service are a 'political narrative' and 'not based on fact.' NBC News reported on Friday that an internal document showed that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is decommissioning 671 of USPS's letter sorting machines across the U.S." Read on for Meadows' exchange with Jake Tapper. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Kevin Bohn & Sarah Westwood of CNN: "Chris Bentley, president of the National Postal Mail Handlers Union Local 297, which covers Kansas and part of Missouri, previously told CNN that postal management had already taken out four machines in Kansas City, two machines in Springfield, Missouri, and one machine in Wichita, Kansas. [Mark] Meadows told CNN that was not part of a new initiative but was part of a pre-planned reallocation. Documents obtained by CNN last week indicated 671 machines used to organize letters or other pieces of mail are slated for 'reduction' in dozens of cities this year. The USPS's own document calls the move a 'reduction' of equipment. A letter sent Wednesday from the National Postal Mail Handlers Union to the Postal Service headquarters asked, 'Why are these machines being removed?'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Zeeshan Aleem of Vox tries to figure out WTF Mark Meadows was claiming: After citing news reports about downed sorting machines and recounting the exchange between Meadows & Jake Tapper of CNN, Aleem asks, "If Meadows is claiming that a new machine removal initiative doesn't exist when in fact it does, then his promise that new ones won't be taken offline is, at best, questionable. How can the White House reverse a policy it claims doesn't exist?" Mrs. McC: Oh, and if you want to know how a former member of the Freedumb Caucus "reasons," there's this: ";When CNN's Tapper pointed out to Meadows on Sunday that there's 'no evidence of widespread voter fraud,' Meadows retorted: 'There's no evidence that there&rsquos not either. That's the definition of fraud, Jake.'" IOW, if you can't prove a negative, then the positive is true, or "Absence of evidence is evidence of absence." Yeesh! This is sometimes called an argumentum ad ignorantiam or argumentum ex silentio. But whatever you want to call it, it's a logical fallacy, and one that should be inherently obvious even to someone who hasn't taken Logic 101. Unless he's a Republican, I guess.
~~~ New York. Matthew Rink of the Erie Daily Times-Morning News: "The U.S. Postal Service in recent weeks unplugged two of its six delivery bar code sorters from its East 38th Street processing facility in Erie. The machines read addresses, apply bar codes where there are none and sort mail -- 36,000 pieces per hour with 99 percent accuracy -- by the locations to where they will be delivered. The loss of the equipment in Erie is part of a larger purge of hundreds of sorting machines at Postal Service processing facilities across the country.... During the June 2 primary, 29,559 ballots -- half of all votes cast in Erie County — were by mail. Democrats outvoted Republicans nearly 3-to-1 in mail-in voting, while more Republicans cast their ballot at their polling places on Election Day." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Generally speaking, reports from smaller newspapers are not as well-written as those from big-city papers like the NYT & WashPo. Rink's story is one of the best I've read covering the background of the USPS's problems. A pleasant surprise.
Adm. William McRaven, in a Washington Post op-ed, compares Trump to General Bethlehem in the 1997 Kevin Costner film "The Postman." "... Costner plays a drifter trying to restore order to the United States by providing one essential service, mail delivery. In the story, hate crimes, racially motivated attacks and a plague have caused the breakdown of society as we know it.... But Costner's character is opposed by the evil General Bethlehem, who is fighting to suppress the postal carriers so he can establish a totalitarian government. Fortunately, our hero ... fights on against Bethlehem and saves the country.... The movie was panned by critics [largely because the plot seemed so unrealistic. But now!]... President Trump is actively working to undermine every major institution in this country. He has planted the seeds of doubt in the minds of many Americans that our institutions aren't functioning properly."
North Carolina. Fernando Alfonso of CNN: "Given the crisis facing the United States Postal Service before a presidential election, the last thing John Herter expected to receive in the mail Saturday was an absentee ballot request form with ... Donald Trump's face on it.... Herter ... is among a group of voters in North Carolina to receive the mailer over the past few days after Trump said that he opposed crucial USPS funding because he doesn't want to see it used for mail-in voting this November.... The mailer was sent out by the North Carolina Republican Party, press secretary Tim Wigginton told CNN." N.C. voter Chandler Carranza is so confused. ~~~
Got my mail in absentee ballot request form from @realDonaldTrump that will allow me to mail in my vote if I need to... but I can’t remember if this is a good thing or bad thing. Mail in is bad but absentee is good??? ๐๐๐ pic.twitter.com/fbdgiq4hwc
— Chandler Carranza (@ChandlerC226) August 13, 2020
Puerto Rico. AP: "Puerto Rican Gov. Wanda Vázquez on Sunday acknowledged losing the primary of her pro-statehood party to Pedro Pierluisi, who briefly served as the U.S. territory's governor last year amid political turmoil. With more than 66% of electoral colleges reporting, Pierluisi received more than 58% of the vote compared with nearly 42% for Vázquez.... Meanwhile, Carlos Delgado, mayor of the northwest town of Isabela for 20 years, was poised to win by a landslide the nomination of the main opposition Popular Democratic Party. Conceding defeat was Puerto Rico Sen. Eduardo Bhatia and San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, known for her public spats with ... Donald Trump."
The Trumpidemic, Ctd.
The Washington Post's live coronavirus updates Monday are here. The New York Times' live updates for Monday are here: "Amid alarm over the inadequacy of coronavirus testing across the nation, Los Angeles schools on Monday will begin a sweeping program to test hundreds of thousands of students and teachers, as the nation's second-largest school district goes back to school -- online. The program, which will be rolled out over the next few months by the Los Angeles Unified School District, will test nearly 700,000 students and 75,000 employees as the district awaits permission from public health authorities to resume in-person instruction, said Austin Beutner, the district's superintendent."
Dave Lawler of Axios: "Over the past several weeks, the coronavirus has killed Americans at six times the average rate in other rich countries. And we're recording about eight times more infections.... The virus burned through the rich world like wildfire in the spring, but this new data confirms that the U.S. is one of very few wealthy countries that have failed to suppress it since then."
Jonathan Swan of Axios: "To the alarm of some government health officials, President Trump has expressed enthusiasm for the Food and Drug Administration to permit an extract from the oleander plant to be marketed as a dietary supplement or, alternatively, approved as a drug to cure COVID-19, despite lack of proof that it works.... The experimental botanical extract, oleandrin, was promoted to Trump during an Oval Office meeting in July. It's embraced by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson and MyPillow founder and CEO Mike Lindell, a big Trump backer, who recently took a financial stake in the company that develops the product. Lindell told Axios that in the meeting, Trump 'basically said: ...'The FDA should be approving it."' ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Seems like a good idea: "The oleander, or Nerium oleander, is considered by many to be the most poisonous plant in the world. All parts of the beautiful oleander contain poison -- several types of poison. Two of the most potent are oleandrin and neriine, known for their powerful effect on the heart. An oleander's poison is so strong, in fact, that it can poison a person who simply eats the honey made by bees that have digested oleander nectar.... A single ingested oleander leaf can kill a child. Ingestion of oleander results in diarrhea, vomiting, intense stomach pain, drowsiness, dizziness, an irregular heartbeat, and often, death."
Jill Colvin of AP: "Trump last week announced that Dr. Scott Atlas, a frequent guest on Fox News Channel, has joined the White House as a pandemic adviser. Atlas, the former chief of neuroradiology at Stanford University Medical Center and a fellow at Stanford's conservative Hoover Institution, has no expertise in public health or infectious diseases. But he has long been a critic of coronavirus lockdowns and has campaigned for kids to return to the classroom and for the return of college sports, just like Trump.... Atlas, the sole doctor to share the stage at Trump's pandemic briefings this past week..., has called it a 'good thing' for younger, healthy people to be exposed to the virus.... In an April op-ed in The Hill newspaper, Atlas bemoaned that lockdowns may have prevented the development of 'natural herd immunity.'" --s ~~~
~~~ ** Mrs. McCrabbie: Although it's impossible to know with any certainty, scientists estimate that nearly 3 million Americans would have to die for the country to have developed herd immunity. So thanks to Dr. Atlas for his brilliant suggestions. Shutting out Fauci & bringing in Atlas is like rejecting a neurosurgeon & asking your dentist to perform brain surgery.
Aishvarya Kavi of the New York Times: "President Trump said on Saturday that he would consider pardoning Edward J. Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who faced criminal charges after leaking classified documents about vast government surveillance. 'There are many, many people -- it seems to be a split decision -- many people think that he should be somehow be treated differently and other people think he did very bad things,' Mr. Trump said during a news conference at his golf club in Bedminster, N.J. 'I'm going to take a very good look at it.' The remarks signal a shift for the president, who repeatedly denigrated Mr. Snowden as a 'traitor' and a 'spy who should be executed' in the years before his election. The disclosures by Mr. Snowden, who sought asylum in Russia in 2013, set off a broad debate about surveillance and privacy." Mrs. McC: This is weird for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that Trump goes batshit when someone in his own administration leaks something fairly inconsequential. (Also linked yesterday.)
Caitlin Dickerson of the New York Times: "The Trump administration has been using major hotel chains to detain children and families taken into custody at the border, creating a largely unregulated shadow system of detention and swift expulsions without the safeguards that are intended to protect the most vulnerable migrants. Government data obtained by The New York Times, along with court documents, show that hotel detentions overseen by a private security company have ballooned in recent months under an aggressive border closure policy related to the coronavirus pandemic. More than 100,000 migrants, including children and families, have been summarily expelled from the country under the measure. But rather than deterring additional migration, the policy appears to have caused border crossings to surge.... The increase in hotel detentions is likely to intensify scrutiny of the policy, which legal advocacy groups have already challenged in court, saying it places children in an opaque system with few protections and violates U.S. asylum laws by returning them to life-threatening situations in their home countries."
Way Beyond the Beltway
Belarus. Ivan Nechepurenko< & Andrew Higgins of the New York Times: “Minutes after President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of Belarus vowed to stand firm against protesters he reviled as 'rats,' 'trash' and 'bandits,' antigovernment demonstrators staged their biggest protest yet on Sunday to oppose a fraud-tainted presidential election a week earlier. Tens of thousands of protesters -- some estimates put their number at well over 200,000 -- turned out in the center of Minsk, the capital, dwarfing a rally of Mr. Lukashenko's supporters earlier in the day. It appeared to be the largest protest in the history of Belarus, a former Soviet republic that Mr. Lukashenko has led since 1994.... The protest had a festive air, in stark contrast to the tense moods of far smaller rallies last week that were violently suppressed by security forces, leaving at least two people dead, many injured and more than 6,000 under arrest." A Guardian story is here. ~~~
~~~ Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post: "With mass protests calling for his ouster and workers at major factories, enterprises and state television on strike, embattled Belarusan President Alexander Lukashenko issued a plea for help over the weekend, saying he urgently needed to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin. That request was granted with phone calls between the two leaders on Saturday and Sunday. Lukashenko then claimed that Moscow is willing to dispatch 'full assistance' at 'first request' -- a veiled threat directed at an opposition movement that has accused Lukashenko of rigging last week's election results to say he garnered more than 80 percent of the votes. But Russia's promise of intervention appears to be limited to an external military threat, and after months of Lukashenko turning down closer ties with Russia, Putin's backing isn't a certainty.... Cracks in the typically close relations between Belarus and Russia started late last year, after Lukashenko resisted the Kremlin's push for the two countries to form a unified state -- something they agreed to in 1999." The Guardian's story is here.
New Zealand. Emanuel Stoakes of the Washington Post: "Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday postponed New Zealand's general election, scheduled for Sept. 19, for four weeks as authorities grapple with a new wave of coronavirus cases that has set back the country's pandemic recovery. The decision follows confirmation last Tuesday that several members of a family in Auckland had tested positive for the virus, ending the Ardern government's record of more than 100 days without a known case of community transmission. Ardern's move followed calls from leaders of other parties, including Winston Peters, deputy leader of her ruling coalition, to postpone the vote.... Judith Collins, leader of the main opposition National party and Ardern's rival for the top job, welcomed the move...."
Thailand. Shibani Mahtani of the Washington Post: "Student-led protests gained momentum in Thailand on Sunday, as thousands gathered in Bangkok in the biggest anti-government political rally in years to demand the prime minister's resignation and changes to the constitution. The protests, which have been going on almost daily for the past month, are for some demonstrators also now morphing into a repudiation of a long-untouchable institution -- the monarchy, and its constitutional role in politics in Thailand. On Sunday, thousands rallied at Bangkok's Democracy Monument..., periodically bursting into chants of 'Prayuth, get out!', a reference to Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha who, after taking power in a 2014 coup, won disputed elections last year." Mrs. McC: No news of what's happening in Thighland.
Larry Elliott of the Guardian: "Developing nation debt has more than doubled in the past decade and left more than 50 countries facing a repayment crisis, according to a campaign group. Data from the Jubilee Debt Campaign shows that even without taking full account of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, there has been a sharp jump in the number of poor countries in debt distress since 2018. Debt relief was provided for poor countries at the end of the 1990s and in the mid-2000s, but the JDC said external debt payments as a share of government revenue had more than doubled from 6.7% to 14.3% since 2010 and were at their highest level since 2001." --s