It’s been difficult to write about any of this political crap in recent months because I am incandescent with rage at every single person who enabled Donald Trump. I have violent contempt for every single person who argued that Kamala Harris and Donald Trump were the same, or that voting for Kamala would be worse. I remain disgusted by all of the morons who still protest Kamala but refuse to ever criticize, protest or challenge Trump. Yesterday, Trump posted a social media message in which he threatened this: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.” He was explicitly threatening to use nuclear weapons on Iran unless they capitulated before last night’s deadline. Obviously, Trump was the one capitulating by the evening. Pakistan did some diplomatic maneuvering and Donny Dementia agreed to a two-week ceasefire. The ceasefire includes extremely generous terms for Iran – they’re getting a lot more than they had before Trump started his asinine war. Art of the Deal!!
President Donald Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran on Tuesday night — hours after he’d threatened “a whole civilization will die tonight” and about 90 minutes before a deadline he set for Tehran to reach an agreement with the U.S.
“Based on conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, of Pakistan, and wherein they requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran, and subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz, I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Earlier in the day, Trump had warned on social media that “a whole civilization will die tonight” if there was no deal between the two warring countries.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council confirmed the ceasefire agreement and claimed victory, saying “nearly all war objectives have been achieved.” In a statement, it also spelled out what it said was in the 10-point plan submitted to the U.S. It said it includes the following, which are direct quotes translated by NBC News:
“Controlled passage through the Strait of Hormuz coordinated with Iran’s armed forces”
“The necessity of ending the war against all components of the resistance axis” (Iran has referred to this axis as including the militant group Hezbollah)
“Withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from all bases and positions in the region”
“Establishment of a secure transit protocol in the Strait of Hormuz, ensuring Iran’s control under the agreed framework”
“Full compensation for damages to Iran”
“Removal of all primary and secondary sanctions and relevant resolutions of the Board of Governors and the U.N. Security Council”
“Release of all frozen Iranian assets abroad”
“The adoption of all these provisions in a binding U.N. Security Council resolution”
It’s not that I believe that Iran secured the deal which they spell out, I just think Iran’s Supreme National Security Council is more credible than the Trump White House and Whisky Pete’s Pentagon. I guarantee that at the end of this two-week ceasefire, the agreement hammered out will look more like Iran’s plan. A complete waste of blood and treasure, all for Trump to capitulate and give Iran everything they’ve wanted for years, including complete control over Strait of Hormuz and the release of Iran’s foreign assets. While I’m glad that there will be some humanitarian relief for Iranians, Trump is still going to make threats and he could still blow up this deal.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
-
- President Donald Trump conducts a press conference in the James S Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, expected to take questions on the Iran War and oil prices Featuring: Pete Hegseth Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 06 Apr 2026 Credit: Yuri Gripas/POOL via CNP/INSTARimages.com
-
- President Donald Trump conducts a press conference in the James S Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, expected to take questions on the Iran War and oil prices Featuring: President Donald Trump Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 06 Apr 2026 Credit: Yuri Gripas/POOL via CNP/INSTARimages.com
-
- President Donald Trump conducts a press conference in the James S Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, expected to take questions on the Iran War and oil prices Featuring: President Donald Trump Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 06 Apr 2026 Credit: Aaron Schwartz/POOL via CNP/INSTARimages.com
-
- President Donald Trump conducts a press conference in the James S Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, expected to take questions on the Iran War and oil prices Featuring: President Donald Trump Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 06 Apr 2026 Credit: Aaron Schwartz/POOL via CNP/INSTARimages.com
Hooray for TACO Tuesday, I guess.
I feel the same way! TACO Tuesday. While Dementia Don chickens out again, Israel & Iran are still lobbing missiles at each other, Israel is still trying to take over Lebanon (leaving Lebanon alone was included in Iran’s 10 point demand), the countries which house US bases (and that we were supposed to protect) are still at risk while recovering from damages already incurred, and some Americans are still stranded in the Middle East. Iran knows the Felon can’t be trusted bc he has bombed them during negotiations before. This a-hole has made the US look weak af, with the only “win” being the Strait of Hormuz reopening, with Iran charging huge toll fees per ship and I don’t know if the agreement will allow any US or Israeli and their allied ships to pass. The agreement is just that vague. And don’t get me started on the Felon’s agreeing to pay the Iranian reparations (which I doubt he will bc he loves ripping people off) while whining that “the US can’t afford to pay for child care, Medicaid, Medicare and other things”.
Of course Mango is going to pay the Iranians reparations—it’s what Putin ordered.
Exactly this! There’s no way Putin didn’t have a heavy hand in controlling his puppet.
Also, re the fees per ship for passing through the Hormuz, the Suez Canal also has a fee structure but I don’t think it’s as high as Hormuz at the moment.
As well he should. The US has destroyed vital infrastructure and have bombed multiple schools and killed hundreds of children. And I hope Iran extracts a hefty price
Not going to lie, I was worried. A man trying to start WWIII and no-one stopping him. Thankful for the ceasefire but wish the UK and dutch royals don’t go and visit that man(they both have visits planned)
You said it better than me.
And they are making a fuzz about the Hormuz strait that was already open to start with!
He and his team of as£!kissers are a threat to the world and deserve to be imprisoned.
I know – since the war started traffic through the strait never stopped, just reduced, thou quite drastically. I don’t think Iran had complete control over it – just the part their side but now the orange menace and his cohort of village idiots have just handed complete control over to them.
The US got their ass handed to them.
@digitalunicorn: they also started accepting trades in all the currencies except US dollars…this administration damaged you…
I like what the Spanish Prime Minister said best, “The Spanish government will not applaud those who set the world on fire just because they turn up with a bucket”.
This is…he’s throwing temper tantrums with nuclear weapons. This man is so unstable. I have no idea how much control he truly has over military decisions. So unnerving.
Remember when people would argue a woman couldn’t be president of the US, because she might start a nuclear war while PMS-ing?
And it was a successful enough argument that it has kept the US from being one of the over 80 countries that HAVE had a woman head of state?
Where’s that awful energy for a literally demented man starting literal wars and threatening to use actual nuclear weapons to commit genocide while sundowning?
Where are the grown-ups in the GOP? We are well beyond the 25th Amendment now.
Hold every single cabinet member responsible when this all done.
Another chapter in the Trump circus. The greatest showman.
The only ones happy with this mess are Wallstreet and his adjacent families.
I think Iran is pretty happy too. They’re much better off than they were before Trump ordered the attack.
Another TACO Tuesday from the Babyhands Wannabe Dictator
Hey dum dum’s who thought Trump was a good idea: remember when the rest of us said that you don’t give this psycho the nuclear codes? Welp. *gestures around wildly*
Republican congressional leadership refuses to call Congress back in session. Democrats are demanding it but can’t force it. So while this demented lunatic threatens nuclear annihilation one minute and surrenders our national security the next, his fascist enablers have Congress on extended spring break. And people calling for the 25th amendment to be invoked should understand that impeachment, as difficult as it is, is actually easier since it does not require any action by Trump’s cabinet of drunken dunces while the 25th does. Not that either remedy will happen in this totally disfunctional government but just so everyone understands how hopeless it is to remove him.
The 25th requires that 8 Cabinet members agree he is unfit but there are power struggles within that Cabinet that will impede it. Vance needs any removal to occur AFTER the midterms. If it happened today, he would be President until 2028. If he were to win election then, (yes, O know, nobody will vote for Vance) he would not be able to run again in 2032. If he waits until November, he would be able to serve 2 remaining years of Trump’s term and 2 full terms of his own, for 10 years total. Rubio would never go along with that and will block efforts after the midterms. And Hegseth is insane
Precisely why impeachment with its impossibly high bar for removal is actually the likelier option. Even if the majority of the cabinet went along, the temporary removal then must go to Congress and get a super majority. I have no idea why otherwise well informed commentators think the 25th amendment is some kind of magical escape hatch: pull cord and Trump is gone! And I will not accept Vance as president for one minute, much less ten years. YIKES!
Under this deal things will get worse in the ME – the Iranian regime will become more emboldened and things will absolutely get worse for the Iranian people. Then there are how things are going to get even worse for the rest of us if its true that he’s going to give complete control of the Strait of Hormuz to the Iranian regime.
Putin’s useful muppet strikes again. Also its unlikely the UN will agree to some of these terms.
Begs the question – what was this war really about? Neither the US or Israel get ANYTHING out of it.
The war was about Trump trying to distract us from him being a p3do grapist.
This war is about keeping Mango and his buddy Bibi out of the slammer.
Oh Israel gets plenty out of this war. They’ve got a blank cheque to bomb, invade or annex any place they want throughout the whole region. They are currently enacting their long-standing plan to pulverize Lebanon so they can take over parts of it. Israel absolutely comes out the winner here. The US? Not so much. Beyond committing war crimes, I’m not sure what they gained that couldn’t be achieved through diplomacy.
Yes, all of this. Unfortunately, I don’t think Trump has ever valued or been interested in diplomacy— or in prioritizing what might seem to be advantageous for anyone other than himself.
I’ve been shocked at how emboldened Bibi is with the US might backing him up. He literally wants parts of Lebanon now, after getting basically all of Gaza, with no establishment of a Palestinian state. I hope the people who screamed and threw up about Kamala not doing “enough” to protect Gaza and decided they would sit out the election are happy now.
@mumster: they’re never happy and won’t be until our constitutional democracy is overthrown. They hate us as much as MAGA. And they are very much like the Communists in Germany in the nineteen thirties who refused to join liberals to fight the Nazis early on. In fact, they have more smoke still for Biden-Harris than for MAGA. Just like the Communists in the thirties demonizing liberal Democrats while the Nazis grew more and more powerful.
This man is mentally unwell an unhinged from reality. How long will this be allowed to go on???
Seriously, if he were any other person, he would be in a hospital. The White House has 24/7 access to physicians — who were surely trained to recognize “danger to self-or others” as a major criterion for involuntary hospitalization. And, of course, that’s not the only sign of unfitness. So many legal and ethical balls are being dropped and undermined here.
I can’t stand him but it’s kind of cruel of them to let him lunge around in a foul diaper and dirty clothes making a fool of himself when they know he’s not competent. They all need to be under a jail somewhere.
I’m glad that we got a temporary lull, but we still have an impulsive, racist, demented psychopath— propped up by other psychopaths to deal with, both domestically and way beyond. Many of the people now in power are quite happy with this rollercoaster of insanity and abuse. While many Americans can’t risk losing their health insurance or their paychecks, others have a few more options. Anti-war efforts might actually pull in some of the Trump voters who are now beginning to realize that Trumps policies are hurting them too. At least some members of the military are reminding themselves of the oaths that they took — and are steeling themselves to living up to them. Trump himself is deteriorating rapidly — and becoming more unstable, but also more vulnerable. I’m not sure what the next steps should be strategically, but it’s time for We The People to wield what power we can: economically, socially and politically, by any means necessary. It’s way past time for a regime change. We deserve better. The entire world deserves better.
This is by far from over. As soon as Trump realizes that no one believes that HE got everything he wanted he WILL try to blow up Iran. Not only that I do believe that Iran will be conducting hits on US soil because they know that there is a deranged lunatic running our country and he cannot be trusted
Someone on bluesky called Trump a family annihilator, family being the human family, and I just keep thinking about that. Sigh
We’re in such an abusive relationship with him. Escalate the violence, people suffer, he backs down, then later escalates the violence even further.
And I often think he (and Netanyahu and others) would love to destroy the world before they die. If they’re dying and can’t get everything they want, getting rid of us too would be a consolation. But then I think they wouldn’t want to admit defeat, and so the abuse continues.
One of the lesser-noted stories that came out over the past year or two (honestly can’t remember when exactly) was the formal signing of a mutual defence pact between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Which… bespeaks an encirclement of Iran, and an ostensibly Sunni sort of initiative. But also? Pakistan has nuclear weapons. Saudi — to date — does not. But the fact that Pakistan has taken the lead role in mediating this negotiation, bodes well. It means the Saudis are in sync with the downshift in tension, they’re not for escalation. That bodes well. Also, the timing is interesting — the October 7th attack in 2023 (was it that long ago??? Was it 2024?) occurred whilst Saudi and Israel were contemplating a mutual acknowledgement. A kind of diplomatic breakthrough. Which, obviously, never happened. So the arc of the actual narrative, is that Saudi and Pakistan are on the same side, Iran is leaning in their direction, and the Israelis are totally isolated within the region. Jordan, Egypt, Syria — even in its current form, scrambled — as well as Iraq, all of them are pretty revolted by Israeli atrocities and the pretext that they need security seems like weak cover for a land grab. But even if they take over part of Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, they are still tiny compared to their neighbours. I mean. It’s like one Egyptian told me, about the United States & Israel, “you spit, they drown.” Cracked me up.
Oh, that is very interesting. I wondered why Pakistan was stepping in. Thanks for this.
Yesterday was something. I am trying to get over my anger. I do have questions. I apologize that I am viewing the situation from the lens of it’s dire, it’s urgent, and maybe it’s hopeless, cause that is what I am seeing from on the outside of this looking in. I understand there are many of you in this fighting and resisting, and a positive message from me would be more helpful but right now I have nothing.
Safe to say (someone correct me if I am wrong) there will be no national strike because Americans can’t risk missing work or losing their healthcare? And Congress is not in session, and when they are they don’t have the numbers to do anything substantive. The voters are protesting maybe monthly and waiting until November is that correct? Sorry I am just trying to ascertain what the plan is from the outside looking in.
So what is the way out of this? Is the only hope that the international community step in and arrest this current administration for war crimes? Is that the best shot? Because with impeachment you have Vance (who is worse). With the 25th you have Vance. I’m familiar with Article 2, Section 4 – but again Congress sat there while an illegal war was declared, they sat there through war crimes and the mass building of concentration camps. They sat there through trump’s personal army attacking and murdering US citizens. Please don’t forget how your elected representatives handled this Constitutional and global crisis or how they allowed this psychopath to continue his illegal war and commit war crimes with what looks like from here very little pushback cause we don’t really count strongly worded letters and speeches.
Can someone please chime in with what is the best way to get rid of this entire administration asap? Please don’t say vote in November. I’m sorry we’re in Canada and I don’t pretend to speak for all Canadians. I can only speak for myself. I don’t trust you to go out and vote or vote the right way (just takes one false flag one fake assassination etc. to get everyone all confused), I don’t trust the intelligence of the voting base a large portion of which has been brainwashed by propaganda, and frankly, I don’t even trust that there will be free and fair elections or that trump will even recognize the results and swear people in if he does lose the house and senate.
November is a long way away. What can be done today, tomorrow, this week, and next week? Someone please chime in because this looks pretty fucked to me right now. And the damage that can be done before November is incalculable.
The United States is a big country — in size as well as in population. While there might never be what people in smaller countries would view as a national strike, there will probably continue to be multiple significant strikes. Congress doesn’t have to be in session to be impacted. At this point, both houses of Congress have Republican majorities. My hope is that as Republican representatives begin to hear from their constituents— who continue to experience growing negative fallout from Trump’s policies — they will either vote differently on some critical issues or be voted out. Many Democratic politicians are being active and vocal throughout the country — not just in their own jurisdictions.
@Side Eye, the national protests are scheduled, but both scheduled and unscheduled protests are ongoing on local levels, especially in the DC area (which is the only one that I can really speak to firsthand.)
We do have a planned May Day ‘no work, no school, no shopping’ version of a national strike. As stated multiple times before, we’re a much larger country in both land & population so things necessarily happen differently. But the pressure is building, MAGA will be listening if only to save their own sorry asses.
One way out of this is for Trump to resign — “for health reasons”, if that will enable him to pretend to save face. Unfortunately, my understanding is that impeachment takes time and needs a lot of support from Congress, while the 25th needs Vance to spearhead any such efforts. I don’t see this happening without Trump’s cooperation— or complete inability to cooperate, both because Vance would be terrified of the possibility of pushback from Trump and his supporters, and because he’ll want to reach a point where he’ll be eligible to run for two terms with the advantages of being a sitting president.
I think Trump getting charged with war crimes would be an option, but I think that would be slow and messy. As more and more people— both within the US and internationally — are negatively impacted by the Trump regime, more and more people will feel that they have little or nothing left to lose. The potential results of that state of affairs are unpredictable, but might ultimately result in regime change.
A genuine health crisis would be faster, but Vance and a likely jockeying for power might not be the quickest way to world peace.
trump was impeached TWICE during the first iteration of his regime by a democrat-majority House but the republican-majority Senate refused to convict. We’re in a worse situation now with republican majorities in both houses of Congress but we still need to do it even without the votes. Congress cannot sit on its hands any more.
Last bit. What’s happening now took decades to put into place — starting with powerful people who were incensed by the gradual gains of the civil rights movements in the US. And what’s happening in the US has parallels in the rise of authoritarian leaders throughout the world.
While some things probably can’t formally change until November, a lot of people will be working very hard between now and November to create foundations that can lead to change. That it’s been at least somewhat effective is encouraging, as several Republican politicians are already announcing that they will not be running for their current seats.
These are just my personal observations and opinions.
It’s a long shot, but I read today that Iran has kompromat including videos on Trump. IF this is true, then something like this might provide opportunities for quicker resolutions that many of us, including those who have been threatened and attacked by Trump might regard as a Win-Win.
Thank you Blithe for your well thought out response.
I can most likely rule out the international community any taking action on the war crimes. If someone would just release the Epstein files, most of the people voting with trump would have to resign in disgrace. I doubt any of them would ever be prosecuted but the resignations would be a start.
This is for @Side Eye, a Democratic Congress is the best remedy for him. Impeachment is a political process, which means you need the votes to hold the hearings, and then you need votes to convict. The Senate convenes as a court, and if the third time’s lucky, (he’s been impeached twice before but let off) then he can be stripped of the office. Then, of course, Vance takes over. Which would be better, I think. I cling to the notion that Vance is a former Marine, which means he had to clear pretty high hurdles for mental & physical fitness. I don’t really like his politics, but, he’s not nuts. He’s just awkward. Offensive. But not a sociopath. The man did once refer to Trump as “America’s Hitler.” Who knows… he could pull off a radical bait-and-switch. Who knows? I mean. I cling to hope.
Thank you for your response. I just saw that a Republican backed by trump won Marjorie Taylor Greene’s seat agains a Democrat. I am just so tired.
So basically we wait till November. I am starting to think we’re all completely fucked. Like the whole planet. I hate this for all the countries that have been voting responsibly, governing in peace, and making the lives better for their citizens. We’re gonna all be dragged down in this shitshow over some Fox News imbeciles, their racist whaaboutisms, and the fucking idiots who couldn’t bother to go vote.
Vance is in too deep with the Heritage Foundation and Peter Thiel – I don’t think he’s changing course.
Eh, I wouldn’t worry too much about MTG’s seat. Based on demographics it’s solid red. No surprise he won. Wisconsin just flipped another state Supreme Court seat to Democrat, which is big. But yeah, we are pretty much stuck with crazy Orange until November, which is not good.
From inside, this also feels hopeless. The day he was elected, I had a panic attack and broke down. My husband thought I’d gone insane, but I knew what was about to happen. Anyone with ears willing to take this moron at his word knew what was going to happen. In reality, I don’t believe Trump won the election, he had Elon steal it. He has alluded to as much multiple times. Impeachment doesn’t help, bc as you say, Vance is likely worse. The line of succession, so to speak, is a parade of sycophants and christian nationalists, so it’s not like it changes anything.
I honestly don’t think the US will have free or fair elections again in the near future. I’m still waiting for him to find a way to make the mid-terms not happen, but barring that, he’s stacked it so that it’s unlikely to change much.
I have no idea how we get out of this. A huge swath of our population has had education cut to the point of making them incapable of the critical thinking needed to wake up, and the news media they’re consuming is reinforcing the false narrative they live under. This whole mess has shown without a doubt that pure capitalism is as evil as any other -ism out there. In America, the only thing that matters is getting more money for the rich. The rest of us are the beef cattle they feed on.
I personally think nations need to stop negotiating with this idiot, ice the US out and make us pay dearly for our stupidity. I’m sure it will never happen because once again…capitalism….but the only thing anyone in power listens to in this country is money. If nations won’t trade with us, deal with us, or help us, it would have to change.
I wish I had anything positive to add to the discourse. My personal dream is for these A$$hats to blast themselves off to mars and eat each other, leave the rest of us alone.
Oh EM I am so sorry. I relate to so much of what you are saying. The first time he was elected, I had a panic attack as well. I went outside and saw my neighbour across the street crying. We both knew what was about to happen. I was living in the States at the time (I am from Canada, but my child was too young to take home per our custody arrangement which of course, predated the orange asshole).
I don’t know how I got through the first 4 years. I broke down crying one day watching tv and hearing trump say we could ingest bleach to kill the Covid virus. I distinctly remember Dr. Fauci’s face and it was a mixture of pure disbelief and panic, and that’s when I had this awful feeling like we’re doomed. We’re done. Holy shit this guy is gonna kill us all.
After that day, I tuned into Trudeau or Macron’s Covid briefings for information. My first language is French, so those briefings became a source of comfort. They are both very reassuring. I still have a soft spot for both of them because they got me through Covid.
Today I am back home in Canada and PM Mark Carney does a great job keeping us up to date – I strongly recommend tuning into him. There’s a seriousness there but he’s also comforting in a sweet way. Yesterday and today I have been spiraling so I know today I need to take a walk, tune into Carney, try to let go of some anger. It’s hard.
Shitler continues to cause a massive amount of stress in my life. We are very stressed in Canada knowing we have the resources they want (fresh water, lumber, oil, etc.). We don’t trust him, Vance, or the entire administration. It’s like living upstairs from a ticking time bomb. I wish the entire GOP would take that trip to Mars with Elon. Take Zuckerberg, Bezos, Peter Thiel the whole administration with you. No one would miss you and the whole planet would heal.
I actually felt kind of disgusted by the TACO Tuesday comments last night — sorry to be annoying about this.
But he threatened to annihilate a whole civilization. None of this is funny. I can’t even appreciate gallows humor at this point. I am just so f*cking furious that we have to put up with this insanity. Yesterday, millions of people around the world were wondering if it was the end for them.
Today, he’s threatening again to leave NATO. Chris Coons and Mitch McConnell last week affirmed the Senate’s support for NATO, but if the president says the U.S. is out, what happens? (And f*ck you, McConnell. You could have saved us from this by voting to impeach the monster.)
I have so much rage towards McConnell and he doesn’t even have the decency to drop dead. I was hanging on by a thread yesterday. I was so sure he was going to nuke Iran and it was all over. I know they are intentionally doing this – flooding the zone so we are constantly reacting and feeling dread as they take away education, science, art, joy, music, ban books, and so on. People keep asking can we just have one day without his shit and we can’t that’s the point – they are trying to wear us down so we are too tired and too depressed to resist. I try to keep that in mind when I find myself losing it. The plan IS for us to lose it and give up.
Maybe Artemis happened this week cause we all needed just a brief moment of joy. I am so angry that half of my child’s life he has been seeing this insanity play out and having to hear me say it’s unprecedented, it’s not normal, etc. The sad thing is it’s HIS normal. He was young during the Obama years so he doesn’t remember all of it. He only knows this shitshow. I think that’s why he appreciates our government in Canada and how empathetic and caring they are.
Iran is much better off than before.
– They get to control the Straight and make a lot of money
– They’ve reasserted their position as one of the dominant countries in the region
– Status quo on nuclear activity
– No fight in the Supreme Leader succession. The late SL wanted his son but it’s not hereditary so it would be a struggle but thanks to the felon, that’s been worked out!
– They’ve shot down US fighter jets and depleted our reserves and sent US military in the region scrambling AND allies in the region may think twice next time.
It’s almost as if Iran’s ally Russia orchestrated this whole thing. Didn’t the felon ease restrictions on Russian gas too?
Anger doesn’t begin to describe this. Well said, Kaiser.
I take a little comfort from election results last night. We’re not alone in thinking this is fucked up and unacceptable. In a normal country, the threat alone would be enough to remove this piece of shit and his enablers.