Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein feels bad about crashing our economy. To make up for it, he's said he's sorry and has decided to give back $500 million of the money his company has made to small businesses.

It's a gesture so empty, it's insulting. Never mind that $500m is one good day of trading for Goldman Sachs. Never mind that it's less than 1% of what they got in taxpayer-funded assistance; or that it doesn't even compare to the $11.4 billion they paid themselves in the first half of 2009 alone.

What's really insulting is that it doesn't even begin to undo the damage Goldman Sachs has done to small businesses - like the Stella D'Oro bakery - in the last two years: http://action.seiu.org/helpstella

Yesterday, Lloyd Blankfein said he's committed to job creation. He should tell that to the 150 Stella D'Oro workers in New York who lost their jobs when a Goldman Sachs-owned company bought the business and shut it down. The workers, whose tax dollars bailed out Goldman, have tried to meet with Lloyd Blankfein repeatedly. They wanted to show him the harm he was doing to their already struggling community.

He didn't listen. Maybe we can get his attention. Will you call Goldman Sachs and ask them to use the tax dollars we gave him to help the workers at Stella D'Oro? http://action.seiu.org/helpstella

We gave Goldman Sachs $63 billion of our tax dollars so they could clean up the economic mess they created. But they've only made it worse. Call Goldman Sachs and tell them to stop with the PR stunts and start helping Stella D'Oro workers and all the small businesses they've forced under: http://action.seiu.org/helpstella

One of our favorite images from today's protest was a fabulous visual representation of Goldman Sachs, depicted as writer Matt Taibbi so richly described in Rolling Stone:

"The world's most powerful investment bank is a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money."

Every couple of minutes the squid would wrap its tentacles around a globe on a stick, adding to the hilarity of the image. Other rally visuals included with "wanted" posters for Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein, as well as other handmade signs expressing taxpayers' desire for Congress to take immediate action on real financial reform:

Check out a photo slideshow of the protest:



Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein memorably said in an interview that he and the team at Goldman are "doing God's work." At today's protest, Reverend Tony Pierce, Board President of the Central Illinois Organizing Project, made a point to set the record straight on what God's work really is.

"When Goldman Sachs and Mr. Blankfein crashed our economy by inflating the housing bubble, that wasn't God's work. When they took $10 billion in bailouts--instead of using that money to stop foreclosures, to help the homeless and to rebuild local economies, when they instead used that money to enrich themselves--that's not God's work.

"When they're paying themselves $23 billion in bonuses, that's not God's work. In fact, I don't even believe by that action they even know what God's work is."

Public Citizen President Robert Weissman rallied protesters with his stark truth on how bailed out banks and the financial industry continue to try to buy Congress and fight reform:

Even though they've crashed the national economy, even though they've destroyed their own industry, even though they've taken trillions of dollars from public support to stay in business, nothing has changed in the way that Wall Street does business: They are still showering money on Congress.

Weissman revealed to the crowd that Wall Street has deluged roughly 2.5 times more money on members of Congress who sit on the financial services & banking committee than other members of Congress. This money results in bigtime payouts from Congress and the Treasury Department. "Because after all, you don't go to Wall Street to do God's work, you go to Wall Street for money," said Weissman.

The protest ended with the delivery of a poster-sized letter addressed to Blankfein proposing use their anticipated $23 billion bonus pool to help families facing foreclosure.

For a Twitterific recap of the action, check out our live tweets from the ground:

Update: Video is below, check out our Flickr page for photos.

Goldman Sachs is starting to figure it out - we're not going away. Today, on the heels of a massive mobilization in Chicago, hundreds of taxpayers rallied outside Goldman's DC office to deliver a letter for their CEO, Lloyd Blankfein. The letter asked that Goldman Sachs forgo paying out its multi-billion dollar bonus pool and instead use that money to help the millions of families facing foreclosure due to Wall Street's risky behavior.

SEIU President Andy Stern spoke at the event, condemning what he called the "Goldman Rule"; those who have the gold get to make the rules. "Companies like Goldman Sachs seem to love their company more than their country," he said. "And in the name of maximizing profits and their huge bonuses, they will foreclose on our homes and take jobs from our families while short selling America without a second thought. The $23 billion dollars Goldman is planning to pay out in bonuses could prevent every single expected foreclosure in America in 2010."

Members from National People's Action came from across the country to attend the rally. NPA executive director George Goehl said Lloyd Blankfein and Goldman Sachs have earned the leading role in the story of "all that is wrong with Wall Street. Now is the time for them to start making amends for past transgressions. A good first step would include showing a little holiday spirit by directing a significant portion of their estimated $23 billion-dollar bonus pool to a fund to prevent foreclosure. It's the least they could do."

Here's a video wrap-up of today's action:

Hundreds of taxpayers from across the country are gathered outside the Goldman Sachs office in DC right now to speak out against the financial giant's Wall Street greed. We'll be delivering a letter to Goldman CEO Lloyd Blanfein asking him, once again, to stop paying himself and his cronies big bonuses and to start helping the millions of families losing their homes because of Wall Street's risky behavior. From the letter:

Every billion dollars in bonus compensation you direct to preventing foreclosure could save 200,000 families from losing their homes. For just 10% of your bonus pool you could both prevent those 200,000 families from losing their homes and lift an additional 100,000 families out of poverty because they lost their jobs in the recession. Imagine what could be done with half or all of your bonus compensation pool. Donating the entire Goldman Sachs 2009 bonus pool would prevent every single anticipated foreclosure in America in 2010, and Goldman Sachs would lift one million American families out of poverty at the same time.

Keep checking back to SEIU.org for photos, video, and updates from the rally. And make sure to follow @SEIU on Twitter for live updates from the action.

The Ken Lewis horror story may be in its final chapter, but it isn't over yet.

Today, newspapers are reporting that the scene inside Bank of America HQ is chaotic. Lewis' sudden ousting caught them off guard - and the man responsible for finding a new CEO cannot be reached because he's "on vacation on a ship" until the end of the month.

Since it's our tax dollars being pumped into BofA, we decided to help with the hiring process. Click here to see the 'help wanted' ad we've placed today: http://action.seiu.org/newceo

The frenzy inside BofA right now isn't new. It's part of the same failed leadership and poor decision making that drove our country into economic turmoil. And it's the exact opposite of what we need in Bank of America's next CEO.

Let's send a clear message to BofA. Stop foreclosing homes. Start lending money again. And no more Ken Lewises: http://action.seiu.org/newceo

In an effort to protect consumers from what the Federal Reserve called "unfair or deceptive" practices by banks issuing credit cards, Congress passed the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act in May 2009. You'd think that since passing this law, unfair, deceptive practices by credit card issuers would have abated, right? Survey says....Not even close.

According to recent report by the Pew Health Group, anti-consumer practices haven't abated in the slightest since the law was passed -- they're actually on the rise.

Credit-card lenders have been increasing fees and interest rates, raising minimum payments and lowering credit limits. Some Citi card holders, for example, have seen their credit limits cut, their interest rates skyrocket as high as 29.99%, or their cards canceled altogether. And just last month, Bank of America announced it was testing annual fees (ranging from $29 to $99) on a select number of card holders.

Pew's report found that a shocking 100 percent of the credit cards offered online by the 12 leading bank card issuers continue to include practices that will be soon be outlawed, once the Credit CARD Act takes effect. Banks surveyed include Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, American Express, USAA and Capitol One.

Want a better credit card? Check out a credit union: Pew's study didn't just look at big card issuers--they took a look at credit unions as well. Their findings: although the largest 12 credit unions control only 1 percent of overall credit card lending, many of their prices are significantly lower compared to those of the largest banks. In addition, credit union penalty charges were both less frequent and less severe than those of banks. Let's take a look at some of those numbers:

Avg. interest rates on missed payment deadlines on unpaid balances:

Credit Unions: 17.9% vs. Banks: 28.8%

Average overdraft fees:

Credit unions: $20 vs. Banks: $39

According to the the Center for Responsible Lending, overdraft fees collected in 2008 have increased by 35% since 2006.

Highest interest rates (in July 2009):

Credit Unions: 13.75% vs. Banks: 21.24%

Interest rates on cards issued by Bank of America, Discover Financial Services and Capital One Financial have actually increased their interest rates by 20% in the last six months.

Making money on the backs of consumers: Though banks aren't compelled to disclose how much of their profit comes from fees, our research shows how JPMorgan Chase's bank fees comprised $3.45 billion, or 71 percent of its profit for the first half of 2009. Citigroup earned $326 million, or 95 percent of its profit, for the same period. Bank of America made 70 percent of its profit, or $5.26 billion, in bank account fees.

Although it was originally slated to take effect in staged phases--upcoming implementation dates were to be February 2010 and August 2010--U.S. lawmakers recently voted to speed up the implementation of new rules to guard against such abusive practices like those documented in Pew's study. The sooner we can hold credit card companies accountable for intentionally trapping consumers into debt from which they cannot recover, the closer we'll be towards fostering a financial system that puts long-term economic growth over short-term, expedient profits.

View Pew's full report: Still Waiting: 'Unfair or Deceptive' Credit Card Practices Continue as Americans Wait for New Reforms to Take Effect.

I have been going to church for many, many years. And, I have to say, this is not something I've ever heard preached from the pulpit before.

Bloomberg reports that, last night, executives from the big banks went to churches across London to spread the word that their billion dollar bonuses are actually inspired by biblical teachings. According to Goldman Sachs bigwig Brian Griffiths, Jesus' teachings were an "endorsement of self-interest." He went on to say, "we have to tolerate the inequality as a way to achieving greater prosperity and opportunity for all."

The term "inequality" doesn't even begin to describe the situation, though. Wall Street banks - Goldman Sachs included - are still paying out record bonuses in the billions of dollars. In fact, Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein was one of the highest paid executives in the country last year. All this while millions of Americans are filing for bankruptcy, foreclosures are at record high rates, and unemployment has skyrocketed - largely due to the risky behaviors of these big banks.

That's not just inequality, that's injustice.

I don't pretend to be an expert on religious teachings; and I wouldn't dare presume to know what Jesus thinks of Wall Street's behavior. I want, instead, to post a few Bible passages that address this subject directly:

35 ' If one of your brethren becomes poor, and falls into poverty among you, then you shall help him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you.
36 'Take no usury or interest from him; but fear your God, that your brother may live with you.
37 'You shall not lend him your money for usury, nor lend him your food at a profit. (Leviticus 25:35-37)

17 Who has withdrawn his hand from the poor And not received usury or increase, But has executed My judgments And walked in My statutes -- He shall not die for the iniquity of his father; He shall surely live! (Ezekiel 18:17)

10 "I also, with my brethren and my servants, am lending them money and grain. Please, let us stop this usury!
11 "Restore now to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their olive groves, and their houses, also a hundredth of the money and the grain, the new wine and the oil, that you have charged them." (Nehemiah 5:10,11)

It's up to us, regardless of our faith, to decide if we want to live in a country that allows this behavior to continue.

McClatchy Newspapers has launched a multi-part exposé on financial giant Goldman Sachs and their role in the economic collapse. For the millions of Americans who - until recently - had never heard of Goldman Sachs, let alone done business with them, it's a sobering look at how the banking leviathan has managed to take our money from us six ways to Sunday.

Yesterday's article from McClatchy looks at why Goldman, above all others, seemed to walk away from the financial crisis relatively unscathed. What they find isn't particularly new information: Goldman Sachs was buying up dangerously lax mortgage agreements with one hand, and placing bets that they would fail with the other.

That's just the tip of the iceberg, though. According to McClatchy, Goldman Sachs:

• Bought and converted into high-yield bonds tens of thousands of mortgages from subprime lenders that became the subjects of FBI investigations into whether they'd misled borrowers or exaggerated applicants' incomes to justify making hefty loans.


• Used offshore tax havens to shuffle its mortgage-backed securities to institutions worldwide, including European and Asian banks, often in secret deals run through the Cayman Islands, a British territory in the Caribbean that companies use to bypass U.S. disclosure requirements.


• Has dispatched lawyers across the country to repossess homes from bankrupt or financially struggling individuals, many of whom lacked sufficient credit or income but got subprime mortgages anyway because Wall Street made it easy for them to qualify.


• Was buoyed last fall by key federal bailout decisions, at least two of which involved then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, a former Goldman chief executive whose staff at Treasury included several other Goldman alumni.

[emphasis mine]

On its own, it's infuriating. They didn't just find the loopholes, they created them to make sure they never had to face the consequences of their actions. But, what's really upsetting is reading about how millions of unsuspecting Americans got caught up in Goldman's financial shell game. From today's McClatchy piece:

Goldman spent years buying hundreds of thousands of subprime mortgages, many of them from some of the more unsavory lenders in the business, and packaging them into high-yield bonds. Now that the bottom has fallen out of that market, Goldman finds itself in a different role: as the big banker that takes homes away from folks such as the Beckers.

[The Becker family of California] alleges that Goldman declined for three years to confirm their suspicions that it had bought their mortgages from a subprime lender, even after they wrote to Goldman's then-Chief Executive Henry Paulson - later U.S. Treasury secretary - in 2003.

Unable to identify a lender, the couple could neither capitalize on a mortgage hardship provision that would allow them to defer some payments, nor on a state law enabling them to offset their debt against separate, investment-related claims against Goldman.

[emphasis mine]

Goldman is now employing the same tricks they used gaming the financial system to dupe working families. These are families that never signed a single contract with Goldman Sachs, but watched their financial future bought and sold up the banking food chain until it reached Goldman as nothing more than one cell of data in a massive spreadsheet.

Of course, each cell of that spreadsheet is actually a person. And each one of those people has a life story. And as we speak, those stories are being drastically rewritten by Goldman Sachs and their cronies on Wall Street.

For millions of families, the ending is not going to be a happy one.

What happened outside the bankers' conference on Tuesday was a reminder of the power of our voices together.

For three days, thousands of us from every corner of the country and all walks of life came together to demand change from the Wall Street banks.

Together we stood up to the big banks that have done so much harm to our communities;

See pictures and video from the bankers' conference in Chicago: http://action.seiu.org/whatsnext

But, as amazing as Chicago was, everyone I talked to had the same question:

"What's next?"

What's next for the family having their home foreclosed because mom and dad lost their jobs? What's next for the ABA lobbyists using our tax dollars to fight reform? What's next for the big bank CEO paying himself billion dollar bonuses with our money?

The answer is up to us. For too long, we've let Wall Street write the story - and we know how that one goes. Staggering unemployment. Record foreclosures. And complete financial meltdown as their final act.

Chicago was the end of that chapter, will you help us write the next one? http://action.seiu.org/whatsnext

If the big bank CEOs think what happened in Chicago was the last they've heard from us, they're very, very wrong. We're just getting started.

There are millions of our friends, neighbors, and coworkers who want to see an end to business as usual on Wall Street. Will you show them what we did in Chicago, and what we can do if we all work together?

Click here to get started: http://action.seiu.org/whatsnext

The protests at the American Bankers Association Conference in Chicago may have finished on Tuesday, but the campaign to demand that big banks stop using our tax dollars to lobby against financial reform is far from over. Big banks took $17.8 trillion in taxpayer bailouts and then turned around and spent $35 million of the taxpayers' money fighting reform and lobbying against the most basic measures to protect consumers.

Adding to the frustration of the situation is the complete lack of responsibility the delegates from the American Bankers' Association accept for the financial crisis their banks' harmful business practices perpetuated. "Bankers care," the ABA's chairman, Arthur Connelly, told more than 1,000 senior executives from banks across the nation gathered at their annual convention in Chicago. "We want to make life better in our communities...[and] traditional banks are the solution to getting this country back on track."

Newsflash, Mr. Connelly: Taxpayers (and their empty wallets, foreclosed homes, and drained pensions) beg to differ. The ABA's annual convention in Chicago was the scene for the series of major protests this week, as thousands demonstrated to show just how sick and tired they are of having big banks treat them like personal ATMs. We're still enjoying the amazing visuals that resulted from the five demonstrations held outside the ABA convention, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs in downtown Chicago. Check out the photos from the October 27th march and rally, which mobilized 5,000 taxpayers to take to the streets:

You can check out photos from the four other demonstrations protesting the ABA, Well Fargo and Goldman Sachs after the break.

To see our live updates and blog posts from the Showdown in Chicago, visit SEIU's Blog here.

Bank workers across the world have been hit from all angles as a result of the financial crisis. That's why a recent victory for workers in one of SEIU's partner unions is such good news.

Following a ten-day strike, Brazilian bank workers have won an increase in wage and improvements in their working conditions, as a result of a wage accord between union leaders and banks October 9. The workers are members of Confederaçao Nacional dos Trabalhadores no Ramo Financeiro (CONTRAF).

In the settlement, workers accepted a 6 percent wage hike offered by the banks. The banks also will extend maternity leave for workers to 180 days, increase profit-sharing payments, and will offer other benefits. The workers asked for a 10 percent wage hike, while banks originally offered only 4.5 percent.

The Brazilian bank workers were confronted daily with anti-union practices imposed by the financial institutions operating in the country, suppressing the legitimate actions of workers in their national wage campaign. During the strike, one of CONTRAF's union leaders was violently taken to the district police in an attempt by lawyers to forcefully open a bank branch.

The strike left many consumers, especially in big cities, without key banking services. However, the strike had little effect on financial markets, which rely heavily on electronic systems.

Bank workers--in Brazil and worldwide--have been pressured by their employers to "sell, sell, sell," rather than to advise their customers. Then they are hit by massive job cuts and put out of work. Bank workers can sometimes be harassed by customers, who may blame them for the mess that big banks have made of their finances.

A delegation from SEIU, including Rocio Saenz, president of SEIU Local 615 in Boston, will be visiting Brazil the week of November 5 to visit with bank workers, celebrate their victory and learn about the country's ongoing banks campaign.

---

CONTRAFS is a member of the CUT (Central Unica dos Trabalhadores), with whom SEIU has partnered since 2005.

While thousands of Americans were delivering a letter to Goldman Sachs on Sunday demanding they stop using our tax dollars to lobby against financial reform, Goldman Sachs was ...using our tax dollars to lobby against financial reform.

Matt Taibbi has an excellent find on his blog at True/Slant about a Goldman Sachs lobbying document being circulated to US senators right now. From the document (via Taibbi's blog):

"ALTERNATIVE TRADING PLATFORMS AND THEIR EFFECT ON LIQUIDITY

The equity markets provide perhaps the best example of a highly evolved complex ecosystem, where care must be taken to preserve the benefits that have evolved from competition and innovation...

Crucially, liquidity is what helps to solve this mismatch problem. Market makers that see large volumes are best positioned to match differing size transactions. In traditional exchange trading, bids and offers are public, and this transparency helps buyers and sellers to achieve the best price.

For some market participants, however, the openness and transparency of the equity market actually mean they are unlikely to achieve the best price. The risk, particularly for large transactions such as those undertaken by pension funds or large mutual funds (where most small investors have most of their equity exposure), is that other market participants will use this transparency to undercut the intended transactions."

From a Goldman Sachs lobbying document (emphasis mine)

This is... wow. Take a minute to soak this up. The big banks are arguing that allowing for openness and transparency would be bad for the shadow markets they've created, because it might cause them to make less money on each trade. Currently, they trade stocks in something they've termed "dark pools." Dark pools are a creative accounting trick to sell large amounts of stock to people without having to disclose to them the risk of their stock's value plummeting.

Most reasonable people get uncomfortable just hearing the term "dark pools." But, the Wall Street bankers love them. Because, while they create losses for most of the people involved, the folks at the top clean up nicely on these deals. Sort of like how pyramid scams work.

This is the exact type of behavior the fueled the economic collapse. It's still going on as we speak. And here's the worst part: banks are using the money that they got from bailouts to help fund the entire scheme.

My apologies if I just spoiled your appetite before lunch.

It was an intense and often emotional conclusion to three days of action against the ABA in Chicago; and a powerful beginning to a taxpayer-led campaign to bring an end to Wall Street greed.

More than 5,000 taxpayers marched over the Chicago River and to the front door of the American Bankers Association this morning. Chanting "enough is enough," the crowd came to deliver an invoice to the big banks for the $17.8 trillion they took from us to pay themselves big bonuses and lobby against reform.

The rally featured stories from Americans across the country who have been impacted by Wall Street's harmful behavior. Here are some of the highlights:

Standing in front of the American Bankers Association conference in Chicago, Anna Burger led more than 5,000 taxpayers in demanding an end to the greedy Wall Street practices that led to economic meltdown.

"We know who the architects of our economic collapse are - they're right over there. Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon. Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis. Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf," she said. "We have to investigate them and, if necessary, we have to prosecute them for what they've done to our country."

Watch video of Anna's speech as well as taxpayers delivering a past due invoice to the big banks for the money they've taken from us:

Video and photos now posted below.

The marchers just took the first steps towards the ABA conference to protest what Andy Stern called "the people who put company before country."

They're being led by people from across America that have been directly impacted by the greedy actions of the Wall Street bankers gathered at the ABA conference. People who have worked all their lives, but were kicked out of their homes, watched their life savings dry up, and seen their interest rates skyrocket.

So, we're marching directly to the bankers right now. Demanding our money back. Demanding our country back. And demanding that they stop using our money to pay themselves huge bonuses and lobby against reform.

The crowd is starting to gather along the Chicago River for the largest protest against bank greed since the economic crisis began. We're about 30 minutes out from taking the first steps toward the ABA conference - and the first steps in our campaign to end Wall Street greed.

We'll be posting live updates to our blog, so keep an eye on SEIU.org. You can also get realtime updates from the march on our Twitter feed and photos from the action at our Flickr page.

Of course, the best way to get involved is to come join 5,000 of your fellow Americans at the corner of Michigan and Wacker right now.

The working people taking to the streets this week in the Showdown of Chicago think the amount of money the ABA is spending to lobby against the Consumer Financial Protection Agency is downright scary. To drive their point home, some protesters donned their "Scary Movie"-like costumes a week before Halloween:

At the grand finale of Day 3 of the Showdown in Chicago, a group of protesters dressed like the Grim Reaper held plastic knives that read "making a killing" and "death bonds" at today's protest in front of the American Banking Association's meeting place the Sheraton Hotel, following the protests in front of Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo.

As the lobbying arm of the American banking industry, the ABA's members include the big banks that helped cause the crisis that has resulted in widespread economic devastation and led to $17.8 trillion in taxpayer funded bailouts and backstops for the banks. These banks include Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Citibank, which together account for 60% of all bank industry assets and mortgages in the U.S---and all received TARP money.

Now the ABA is spending millions of dollars to obstruct meaningful financial reform. Taking on the banksters has never been so imperative---and tomorrow's Showdown in Chicago will be the biggest event so far this week, where roughly 5,000 union members, farmers, small business owners and activists will descend upon the ABA's annual meeting to demand an end to bank's greed.

The march begins at the corner of Stetson and Wacker Drive at 10:30, followed by a march to the Sheraton, and will also feature speeches by Andy Stern, Anna Burger and Tom Balanoff. Will you join us in making our voices heard?

Another amazing day in Chicago. Americans are fired up to put an end to Wall Street greed. Everybody is excited for tomorrow; it's going to be the largest protest against bank greed since the financial crisis began - over 5,000 people.

Here's a wrap up of today with a few faces of the Showdown in Chicago:

Outside the ABA conference today are more than 1,000 people with more than 1,000 stories of bank greed hurting families and small businesses. I wanted to share one in particular that grabbed me.

Meet Mary from Cincinnati:

Updated: Video now included below

More than 1,000 taxpayers decided to take a walk down Wacker Drive to see how their money is being used by America's bailed out banks - and to ask for a few changes to prevent another financial meltdown.

Having tried to deliver our letter to the ABA last night and being kicked out, we went directly to the banks today - Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo. The demand, as always, is a simple one: stop using our tax dollars for toxic loans, big bonuses, and anti-consumer lobbying campaigns.

Both banks took our letter. We're two for two right now. With a streak like that, why not try our friends at the ABA one more time? The crowd is headed back to the ABA conference with the letter in hand. Will we go three for three today? Or will the big bank lobbyists give us another cold shoulder?

The rally outside of Goldman Sachs stretched more than a block long:

From inside Wells Fargo: