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CALLER: Hello, Mr. Limbaugh? My name is David Beatty, and I'm 16 years old. I want to thank you for the work you do to educate America and reinforce what my parents teach us. Something I believe needs to be re-taught is the value of a strong work ethic. I want people to know that the American dream is still alive. I live in the northwest where many people sing songs of socialism. Kids at school have no idea what it really means to have a socialist society, giving up their freedoms to, quote, "Spread the wealth." And last year,...

SAN DIEGO — A Camp Pendleton Marine sergeant has been ordered to stand trial on charges of unpremeditated murder and dereliction of duty in the killing of an unarmed detainee in Fallujah, Iraq. Lt. Gen. Samuel Helland on Friday ordered the court-martial of Sgt. Ryan Weemer after finding there was sufficient evidence to send him to trial. Weemer is one of three current and former Marines accused of breaking rules of engagement and killing four men they had captured after a platoon commander radioed to ask whether the Iraqis were "dead yet." The killings allegedly happened in November 2004 during...

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- A forensic anthropologist is seeking clues to the identity of human remains discovered at a Marine base in California. A spokesman said Friday that the anthropologist determined the remains found at Camp Pendleton were those of a white male dead for a few months. Maj. Kristen Lasica (LAH'-seek-uh) says a groundskeeper discovered the body Thursday. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is also investigating. Lasica says there are no active investigations of missing people at the Southern California base.

A year after Cpl. Garrett Jones lost his left leg to a bomb in Iraq, he has rejoined his unit in Afghanistan. Improved medical care and prostheses -- and his determination -- made it possible. CAMP BARBER, AFGHANISTAN -- Just over a year ago, Cpl. Garrett Jones was one of thousands of Marines slogging through a tour of duty in Iraq. Today, he is deployed with the same unit in Afghanistan, but he serves now with an unusual distinction. On July 23, 2007, Jones was on foot patrol near the Iraqi city of Fallouja when he was injured by a...

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon has ordered roughly 1,250 Marines serving as trainers for the Afghan security forces to stay on the warfront about a month longer to continue a mission that military leaders say is a top priority, according to a senior military official. In addition, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has authorized the deployment of up to 200 other troops to Afghanistan to support the Marines. That includes eight helicopter crews that could be shifted from Iraq if commanders decide. The senior military official spoke to The Associated Press on Monday on condition of anonymity because the formal announcement has...

Here we are in year six of the Iraq war, which has receded in the media to a static-filled hum of casualty figures and reports of new advances in improvised weaponry. If it takes a re-created reality to make us think concretely about what's happening there, and has been happening there, so be it. Steven Bochco tried it a couple of seasons back with "Over There," half successfully, but it lasted only one season. And now David Simon(writer) and Ed Burns ("The Wire") have adapted Rolling Stone journalist Evan Wright's book “Generation Kill.” The HBO show recounts in seven parts...

(CAMP PENDLETON, Calif.) - We pick up now where we left off in the timeline of events surrounding the incident that put far too many Marines in prison for killing the enemy. If you didn’t see Part 1 yesterday, you can find it here: Pendleton 8 Exposed - The Real Story, Part 1 January 18, 2007: Marine Pleads Guilty to Iraqi Kidnap, Murder “The Marine said ‘Someone’ fired a shot,” and then he and the others in the squad opened fire. Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins III went up to the victim to make sure he was dead, [Cpl Trent] Thomas...

(CAMP PENDLETON, Calif.) - Two years ago the nation was shocked to hear of Marines coming home from the battlefield in shackles. This is not how we treat our heroes, not when they are highly decorated, highly trained, and even more experienced. It was preposterous, we said, to charge Marines with murder for shooting the enemy. Isn’t that what we train them to do? Marine Sergeant Hutchins"Yet that is exactly what we did–and the seven Marines, together with their Navy corpsman, became known as the Pendleton 8. For the last two years, these men have seen their families disintegrate, their...

WASHINGTON -- Army brigades from Texas, New York and Pennsylvania, and two Marine units from North Carolina have been ordered to deploy to Iraq early next year, the Pentagon announced Monday. The units _ which include about 33,000 troops _ would replace forces already in Iraq, and allow the U.S. to maintain 15 combat brigades in the country through 2009 if needed. The units are: _ 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas _ 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas _ 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y. _ 56th Stryker Brigade, 28th Infantry Division, Pennsylvania...

ANN ARBOR, MI – Military Judge Colonel Steven Folsom, USMC, this morning dismissed all charges against Lt Colonel Jeffrey Chessani on the grounds of unlawful command influence. He blistered the prosecution’s case in an opinion he read from the bench that lasted an hour. The ruling was without prejudice. Colonel Folsom gave prosecutors 72 hours in which to notify him whether they would appeal. The ruling was greeted with tears of joy from Chessani’s wife and several spectators in the courtroom.

ANN ARBOR, MI – Military Judge Colonel Steven Folsom, USMC, will issue his ruling on the crucial Unlawful Command Influence motion brought by LtCol Jeffrey Chessani’s defense counsel in a Camp Pendleton, California, courtroom on Tuesday, June 17, 2008, at 9:00am PST. Col Folsom had originally scheduled hearings in Chessani’s case to last for three days, June 16–18. However, in an announcement that might prove to be significant to the Chessani case, Col Folson indicated late last week that he will announce his decision on the defense motion to dismiss on June 17 in a hearing that should last approximately...

A Marine sergeant accused of murdering an Iraqi insurgent at Fallujah more then three years ago was returned to Marine Corps control Thursday after spending a week in a Los Angeles civilian jail on federal contempt charges. US District Judge Percy Anderson ordered Sergeant Jermaine Nelson released from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles a week after ordering him confined for refusing to testify against his former squad leader in a related federal murder investigation, his lawyer Joseph Low said. Nelson is charged by the Marine Corps with unpremeditated murder and dereliction of duty for allegedly shooting an Iraqi...

HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan -- U.S. Marines are crossing the sands of southern Afghanistan for the first time in years, providing a boost to a NATO coalition that is growing but still short on manpower. They hope to retake the 10 percent of Afghanistan the Taliban holds. Some of the Marines that make up the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit helped to tame a thriving insurgency in western Iraq. Some 3,500 newly arrived troops hope to move into regions of Afghanistan now controlled by the Taliban. The Marines are working alongside British forces in Helmand province _ the world's largest opium-poppy region...

I just saw THIS DISGUSTING PICTURE on DRUDGE! I am outraged! He despises the military and all it stands for.........

Camp Pendleton – The architect of Lance Corporal Stephen B. Tatum’s successful defense in the so-called “Haditha Massacre” case said that Gen. James N. Mattis “made a mistake” when he recommended his client be sent to general court-martial six months ago. Houston attorney Jack B. Zimmermann, a decorated, retired Marine Corps colonel and former military judge, said Gen. Mattis, should have accepted the recommendations of investigating officer Lt. Col. Paul J. Ware last summer to dismiss the charges against the 26-year old rifleman. At the time Mattis was “convening authority” in the investigation Ware made his recommendations to dismiss the...

Charges against a fifth Marine over a firefight with insurgents in Haditha, Iraq, in November 2005 have been dropped, leaving counts pending now against only three of the eight originally accused by military authorities after U.S. Rep. Jack Murtha, D-Pa., launched a verbal assault on the U.S. military forces. Charges already had been reduced against Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum from murder to involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and aggravated assault. But the military announced today, just before his court martial was scheduled to begin, that even those charges had been dismissed "in order to continue to pursue the truth-seeking process into...

A shadow legal body was set up by the Defense Department to manipulate the prosecutions of U.S. Marines accused of massacring Iraqi civilians in Haditha in 2005. That’s the bombshell disclosure from the Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm that is representing one of the accused Marines, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani. And it could prove to be the most damning piece of evidence showing the political motivations behind the ongoing prosecutions of the Haditha Marines. “The hysteria and media firestorm over Abu Ghraib and the Pat Tillman investigations led to fear of a similar media reaction...

A California judge rejected a foster teen's request for early enlistment with the Marine Corps — and a $10,000 signing bonus — reportedly on the grounds that the judge didn't approve of the Iraq war. Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Marilyn Mackel denied 17-year-old Shawn Sage's request to join the military last October, according to a report in the Los Angeles Daily News. "The judge said she didn't support the Iraq war for any reason we're over there," Marine recruiter Sgt. Guillermo Medrano of the Simi Valley U.S. Marine Corps recruiting office told the paper. "She just said all recruiters...

As the Haditha Marines case proceeds, defense lawyers find roadblocks that are worrisome. Various charges stem from the now-infamous Nov. 19, 2005 Haitha, Iraq incident where a firefight ensued after Marines were ambushed. There were 14 casualties — including one Marine. The insurgents, hiding amongst women and children in civilian homes, caused the death of 15 civilians as the Marines fought back. The latest roadblock has defense lawyers arguing that they cannot fully defend one of the Marines, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, because they are being denied the opportunity to obtain testimony from Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa. The defense contends...

WASHINGTON -- The Marine Corps has asked the Pentagon's inspector general to examine allegations that a nearly two-year delay in the fielding of blast-resistant vehicles led to hundreds of combat casualties in Iraq. The system for rapidly shipping needed gear to troops on the front lines has been examined by auditors before and continues to improve, Col. David Lapan, a Marine Corps spokesman, said Monday night. Due to the seriousness of the allegations, however, "the Marine Corps has taken the additional step" of requesting the IG investigation, Lapan said in an e-mailed statement. In a Jan. 22 internal report, Franz...

Poof! Within hours of the Berkeley City Council's backpedaling from earlier efforts to push the U.S. Marine Corps recruiters out of town, things were clean and quiet Wednesday morning around the old city hall that had been a culture-war battleground just the day before. Deciding they'd gone too far, even for their nuclear-free city with its own foreign policy, Berkeley's leaders voted 7-2 to reverse its decision ... "To err is human, but to really screw up it takes the Berkeley City Council," said Councilman Gordon Wozniak. "We failed our city. We embarrassed our city."

Eamon Kelly stood, a cane holding his battered body on one side, and his mother propping up the other. The young Marine, who had major back surgery only days earlier, needed to make a stand against the Berkeley City Council, which had denigrated the Marines, calling them “uninvited and unwelcome intruders.” After the Berkeley actions ignited a national uproar, members of the City Council responded by claiming not to have read the fine print of the resolutions they had passed. But their words reveal the dishonesty in their claims. Mayor Tom Bates has been hard-pressed to plead ignorance when he...

BERKELEY, Calif. (KCBS) -- Protesters have returned to the Berkeley Marines recruiting center just a day after a showdown between anti-war and pro-military demonstrators before the Berkeley City Council. This time, several dozen members of the peace group CodePink urged people to make love, not war. The Berkeley demonstration is one of 20 “Kiss Don’t Enlist” protests across the country. ”Polls show that the majority of Americans are opposed to the war, and this has given people a chance to really come out and show that. And it’s kind of fun to make out, instead of making war, right?” said...

TOLEDO, Ohio -- Turning away a squad of Marine Corps reservists planning a weekend of training downtown has put the city's mayor in the crossfire of veterans. Even some supporters wonder what he was thinking. Mayor Carty Finkbeiner told the Marines, based in Grand Rapids, Mich., to turn around when they hit town Friday, saying he didn't want them scaring unsuspecting visitors and office workers. City Council members have sent an apology to the Marines, and the local visitors bureau offered the unit's 200 members a free hotel stay, restaurant gift certificates and a visit to the zoo. "I'm shaking...

DELBARTON – The Delbarton City Council is ready to go to war with Berkeley, Cal. Apparently the Berkeley City Council told the Marine Recruiting office to get out of its downtown office. The city officials also voted to give the protest group “Code Pink parking space outside of the recruitment office and urged them to impede, passively or actively, the work of the Marine Corps. recruiters.” Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates agrees with the decision. Bates is quoted as saying that the Marines “don’t belong in Berkeley. Delbarton councilman Albert Totten is appalled by this decision and asked the city council...

The city council in Berkeley, Calif., is set to take action Tuesday night in response to proposed legislation to strip $2 million in earmarks from the liberal city in retaliation for its actions against the U.S. Marines. As Newsmax has reported, the council in January voted to advise the Marines that their downtown recruitment office was not welcome and that they would be considered “uninvited and unwelcome intruders” if they chose to stay. “This is a free country. The city of Berkeley can do what it wants to do,” Rep. John Campbell, R-Calif., told Newsmax correspondent Kenneth R. Timmerman in...

Reid’s move delayed rap on Berkeley By Manu Raju Posted: 02/11/08 07:22 PM [ET] Senate Democrats left two days of legislative business officially open last week, hobbling GOP efforts to bring up a bill punishing a liberal California city for scolding Marine Corps recruiters. Republicans said Democrats clearly wanted to avoid being forced to choose between the Marine Corps or Berkeley, Calif., known for its liberalism and fervent anti-war positions. Instead of adjourning at the end of a day as usual, the Senate “recessed” twice, a move that, under Senate rules, slows the process of adding new bills to the...

I have just had the privilege of returning to Iraq and more specifically to Al Anbar Province for my third tour. I say privilege for a number of different reasons, not the least of which is the opportunity to again serve with young Americans ---- the best of their generation ---- in combat. A second reason is there is no greater honor for any man or woman than to protect one's country in time of grave danger while wearing the nation's cloth. Finally, I do not think there can be anything more gratifying on this earth for an American than...

Senators Introduce Semper Fi Act of 2008. Bill Stops Berkeley Earmarks and Transfers Funds to Marine Corps. The bill would rescind over $2 million in hidden earmarks for Berkeley, California in the 2008 Omnibus Appropriations bill, and transfer the funds to the Marine Corps. U.S. Congressman John Campbell (R-California) is introducing a companion bill in the House of Representatives. Last week, the City Council of Berkeley voted to oust Marine Corps recruiters from their downtown office, saying the Marines were "uninvited and unwelcome intruders." Berkeley officials also voted to give the radical protest group Code Pink space outside the recruitment...

BERKELEY — Two Berkeley City Council members want to rescind an official statement that the U.S. Marines and their recruiting station are "uninvited and unwelcome intruders" in the city after the action sparked a national uproar. But Betty Olds and Laurie Capitelli, who wrote the proposal, did not move to rescind three other related items the council passed last week: calling on residents to impede the work of any military recruiting station in the city; asking the city attorney to investigate whether the Marines violate city laws banning discrimination based on sexual orientation; andgiving the protest group Code Pink a...

When you mention "Berkeley, California" to most conservatives, they picture a leftist community of graying hippies, radicals, and protesters. Activities in the last few weeks have only reinforced this image. The City Council of Berkeley last week voted to ask the U.S. Marine Corps to vacate their recruiting office in town, and that if they chose to stay they did so as "uninvited and unwelcome intruders." During debate of the resolution, one council member called the Marines "the President's own gangsters" and "trained killers." Another said the Marines had given the country "horrible karma" and said they had a history...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE INDIANAPOLIS (January 31, 2008) - “Osama bin Laden couldn’t have said it better,” American Legion National Commander Marty Conatser said of the Berkeley City Council Resolution, which tells the Marines that they are not welcome there. “Disgraceful, disloyal, ungrateful. These words are too kind in describing the actions of the public officials in Berkeley, who voted for this disgrace. Nonetheless, our Marines continue to bravely serve and in so doing, allow Americans to spout such foolishness. The American Legion not only strongly condemns this action by the City Council but also believes that a sincere apology is...

Some Berkeley business owners say they have received such a negative response from the recent City Council resolutions against the Marine Corps recruiting center in Downtown Berkeley that they may withhold city taxes in protest. Last week the council declared that the center was "unwelcome" in Berkeley and sought to aide Code Pink, a group that organizes regular protests outside the center, by reserving a parking space for the group in front of the center, among other actions. Since then, the resolutions have elicited a nationwide response. Last Thursday, United States Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., said he would attempt to...

A week after blasting the Marines as "unwelcome intruders" in Berkeley, two City Council members want the city to back off the declaration that ignited the wrath of the nation's right wing and inspired a Republican senator to try to sever Berkeley's federal funding. Council members Betty Olds and Laurie Capitelli on Monday proposed that Berkeley rescind its letter to the U.S. Marine Corps that stated that the downtown Berkeley recruiting center "is not welcome in our city," and publicly declare that Berkeley is against the war but supports the troops. The City Council will vote on Olds' and Capitelli's...

Society for years has endured the freakish antics of Berkeley dwellers. Naked people streaking in the streets; smelly hippies begging for money as they sing drunken renditions of '60s anti-war songs; adults sitting in trees like a bad zoo exhibit. But the Berkeley City Council and instigators from the extreme left have crossed the line this time. The council Tuesday night passed two anti-military, anti-American resolutions and agreed to send a letter to the city's only Marine recruiting office saying the military are "uninvited intruders." This is treasonous, hateful behavior that steals the First Amendment rights of the Marines, the...

Move America Forward’s Melanie Morgan sends word of a new petition protesting Berkeley’s discrimination against the Marines. She tells me: “We will be delivering the petition in person to the City of Berkeley at the next regularly scheduled meeting. Thanks for helping to spread the story of the outrageous conduct and slander against our troops.” The petition is here. The text: To: The City Council, Mayor and City Manager of Berkeley, California We, the undersigned, do register our complete outrage with the City of Berkeley for the recent resolutions that criticized our Marines, as part of an effort to harass...

CAMP PENDLETON – One Marine will stand trial forvoluntary manslaughter and another for obstruction of justice in connection with an alleged war crime that left 24 civilians dead more than two years ago in Haditha, Iraq, Camp Pendleton officials announced Monday. Lt. Gen. Samuel Helland has ordered Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich to be tried on charges of voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, dereliction of duty and obstruction of justice. Helland dismissed the charges of unpremeditated murder, soliciting another person to commit an offense and making a false official statement. As commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces Central Command and...

Charges against another U.S. Marine caught up in the political fallout from an ambush in Haditha, Iraq, in 2005 have been reduced, officials have confirmed. Authorities at Camp Pendleton, Calif., said in a statement that the remaining charges against Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, who was accused of leading the campaign that resulted in the deaths of two dozen Iraqis, are "voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault" and others. But Lt. Gen. Samuel Helland, the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Central commander, "dismissed the charges of unpremeditated murder, soliciting another to commit an offense and false official statement," according to a Reuters report. Eight...

I love the Christmas Holidays as I enjoy spending them with family and friends, but I am painful aware that some children will receive nothing for Christmas and that is where the Marine Corp Reserve Program "Toys for Tots," has always stepped to gift wrap a smile and simple toy for a needy and worthy child in the area. I served in the NAVY for 7 years and it was wonderful to watch as Marine Corp Reserve and their wives would collect and wrap toys in their spare time. One year I even had the chance to drive around several...

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 29 (OneWorld) - U.S. war veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan have announced they're planning to descend on Washington, DC this March to testify about war crimes they committed or personally witnessed in Iraq. "The war in Iraq is not covered to its potential because of how dangerous it is for reporters to cover it," said Liam Madden, a former Marine and member of the group Iraq Veterans Against the War. "That's left a lot of misconceptions in the minds of the American public about what the true nature of military occupation looks like." Iraq Veterans Against the...

RENO, Nev. – Orthopedic surgeon, Lt. Cmdr. William Krissoff received his commission as a reserve officer in the Navy Medical Corps during a ceremony at his home near Reno, Nev., Nov. 17. Krissoff applied for the commission as a tribute to his son, a Marine officer killed in Iraq last year. 1st Lt. Nathan M. Krissoff served as a Counter Intelligence/Human Intelligence officer with the 3RD Recon Battalion in Iraq. He was killed in action in Al Anbar province in December 2006. Krissoff’s youngest son, 2nd Lt. Austin P. Krissoff, also a Marine officer, recently completed training at The Basic...

WEST POINT -- World War I ended days after he enlisted, and his request for active duty in Vietnam in 1966 was denied on account of his age -- after all he was 68. But, Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller was a force to be reckoned with in every other war and armed conflict between those times. Long before he retired as a lieutenant general, he had become a Marine Corps living legend. Yesterday, a grateful hometown honored its hero, remembered that he is the only Marine ever to receive five Navy Crosses for bravery and expressed thanks that he was...

Cannot post. Here is the link: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2007/11/marine_birthdaylist_071112w/

Associated Press Rank-and-file Democrats expressed dismay on Friday over their party's latest anti-war strategy, with some members reluctant to vote to bring troops home around Veterans Day. The House was on track to consider legislation next week that would give President Bush $50 billion for operations Iraq and Afghanistan but insist that he begin withdrawing troops. The measure identifies a goal of ending combat by December 2008, leaving only enough soldiers and Marines behind to fight terrorists, train Iraqi security forces and protect U.S. assets. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushed off plans for a Friday vote after caucus members told...

Would anyone like a free dinner at Golden Corral? Well, there is an easy way if you are an American military veteran. Golden Corral just announced this year’s Military Appreciation Monday will be November 12, 2007, from 5 to 9 pm. For the past 6 years, Golden Corral has been honoring the US Military with a free “thank you” dinner and beverage at any Golden Corral restaurant on Military Appreciation Monday (first Monday after Veteran’s Day), to honor any person who has ever served in the United States Military. In the past the only requirement to receive the free meal...

It’s “AARUGHA!” not “oohrah.” In 1953, or so, "A" Company, 1st Amphibious Recon Battalion is thought to be credited with the birth of "AARUGHA!", or, as bastardized now by some, " OOORAH!". When Recon Marines were aboard the converted WW II fleet submarine USS Perch (APSS-313) about to dive, they would hear the words, "Dive! Dive! Dive!" followed by the klaxon horn sounding the "AARUGHA, AARUGHA, AARUGHA" (just like on the old model A cars). Sometime between 53 and 54, while on a conditioning run and singing out their cadence chants, someone in the company formation imitated the Klaxon diving...

Mclean, VA - Today on the steps of the State House in Columbia, SC, surrounded by numerous veterans, Senator Fred Thompson was joined by Major General James Livingston and Lieutenant Colonel Joe Repya to launch Veterans for Fred Thompson. Major General James Livingston, a 33 year veteran of the United States Marine Corps, will serve as the National Co-Chair of Veterans for Fred Thompson. On May 2, 1968, while serving as the Commanding Officer, Company E, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, he distinguished himself above and beyond the call of duty in action against enemy forces and earned the Congressional Medal...

A majority of likely voters - 52 percent - would support a U.S. military strike to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon, and 53 percent believe it is likely that the U.S. will be involved in a military strike against Iran before the next presidential election, a new Zogby America telephone poll shows. The survey results come at a time of increasing U.S. scrutiny of Iran. According to reports from the Associated Press, earlier this month Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accused Iran of "lying" about the aim of its nuclear program and Vice President Dick Cheney has raised...

My husband and I have 3 daughters and two sons. They have all been raised the same with conservative values. We have taught them about God and tried to be good examples. They were taught about work and to take responsibility for their own actions. The daughters turned out fine. However, the sons went off the deep end. The old boy has all kinds of facial piercings (I can look beyond that)and keeps on getting in trouble with the law for drug related offences. Lucky for him the felonies have been bumped down to misdemenors (sp?). I have told him...

A showdown between anti-war activists who last month defaced a Marine recruiting office and flag-carrying patriots took over a street in Berkeley on Wednesday with noise levels that reached a half-mile away at the University of California in town. Berkeley police officers kept the Code Pink contingent of about 150 separated from the group of about 500 led by Move America Forward, the nation’s largest pro-troop organization. The incidents of abhorrent behavior were rare, but included an anti-war demonstrator trying to knife a pro-troop supporter and two code Pink followers burning flags. A group of Code Pink protesters surrounded a...