A government-provided basic income with no minimum wage would still help the poor and provide the safety net
Except that no it won't. The problem here is that the definition of poor will shift, and there will still be "poor" people, i.e. those people on "Basic Income" will suddenly become "poor" regardless of how much income is actually provided. Additionally, all forms of nominal expenses (food, housing, energy etc) will summarily increase in price (supply/demand) and suck up every inch of that "Basic Income", making it actually worse in the long run. Irresponsible people buying drugs and alcohol, and gambling away their "basic income" will still need to be supported. After all, nobody wants those people starving to death in the streets, when they run out of money every month.
The idea that Government has a solution for every problem, is the actual problem. It "solves" the problem, creates ten more that it now has to solve, wash rinse repeat.
So yeah, the answer is there is no way Basic Income will actually solve anything for anyone. It is an expensive experiment that cannot actually work. And once implemented, nobody will have the guts to kill it when it does fail (Just one more tweak, and it will work!)
While technically true, there is this secret thing called Anchor Babies, and pretending they don't exist is a fun game.They come here, have kids and don't ever have to go home. It is a well known secret. Because if you say "Anchor baby" you're a racist! so SHHHHH don't tell anyone about how to stay here forever. SHHH It is a secret only RACIST people know about (never mind that race has nothing to do with it, at all)
Let me ask you this, what happens when you drop an anchor baby, and your H1B expires and you can't get a job?
Money is money, and it is the voters that are under the influence
Money is a tool. It is neither good nor bad. Ascribing motivation to money is your particular bias. You really need to reevaluate your views.
You are contradicting yourself.
Your lack of comprehension isn't really relevant here. The Federal Reserve is a private banking infrastructure. While you and I may agree on its influence on the government (and legality, and need for auditing) it is still private. It is also artificial construct; a creation of man. You can say the same thing for "Government(s)". That makes them similar in construction. But then again, so is money. And Democracy. And....
Because all of these things are man made creations, they all have related problems in their operation. Those related problems are simply, man is corrupt.
Or as I like to say: Man cannot rule himself, what makes you think he can rule over others?
Which is the basis for limiting the power and scope of Government, because power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely - Lord Acton
Liberal Democrats and Conservative Republicans both support H1B visas (immigration in general), for different reasons. Liberal Democrats because those coming tend to vote Democratic, and Conservative Republicans because they provide cheap labor for all their corporate buddies.
In neither case, are the two major parties actually concerned about Americans first. And that is where the problem arises. And while I am all for Free Enterprise, and Capitalism, this isn't either.
But when trampling an American Flag is considered "free speech" but doing the same to a Mexican Flag is "hate", "bigotry" and "racism", you have a problem with the narrative. America is screwed.
There is more to me buying a burger than price. I'm not paying $1 for frozen patties fried on a griddle, I don't care how cheap it is.
But when Machines can make a custom gourmet burger (they can) with minimal human help (they can) and produce an excellent product for a cost of $.50 more than the crappy version being sold at McWindysJr the end for no skill workforce is nigh. And you all can start talking about basic income and minimum wage all you want, you're just accelerating the end. Price controls do not work, never have, never will.
Unfinshed wars (still unfinshed) we're back in Afgahanistan and Iraq, in case you missed the daily dead American drill from the press (oh wait, they don't care now that GWB is out of office)
Economic Depression is still here, and as bad as it has been. The nearly 100 Million Americans out of the labor force, record levels of Food Stamps etc etc etc. But I am sure you're going to point to the "Official" unemployment rate to justify your view, while ignoring the fact that Obama hasn't had a single 3% growth rate GDP in nearly 8 years in office, a first for the US.
unprecedented, uncompromising blockade of Republicans in congress is laughable, since they gave Obama just about everything he wanted for the last six years in terms of budget. Continued funding of all of Obama's illegal Executive orders. Which is one of the reasons the Republican voters rejected every single mainstream republican presidential candidate this year, without exception.
And the rich white people were those running for the DNC, the Republicans (which I am not one) at least had variation in color, economic status from Very Rich (Trump) to someone who grew up as a poor black boy and became a world famous surgeon. The only "poor" person on the DNC side is that way because he wasn't successful until he figured out how to run for office.
But yeah, keep parroting the same tired lines, while ignoring the real racism of low expectations. After 50 years and three generations, black people would realize that voting DNC hasn't help their community at all. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results.
Sander's Money isn't political (no PAC) and neither is Trump's. Yes, they have Money, but it isn't the rich and powerful controlling the purse strings. And Trump has used such a small amount of his own money that it is almost laughable in today's political landscape.
Your particular view of the world is quite novel. Big Money Pacs have lost big time this election cycle. I would even suggest to you that Obama's first campaign was very similar to Sander's this year. And that doesn't bode well for Hilary, before or after she wins the nomination (Super Delegates).
I'm not sure if you're a Democrat or Republican (or something else??), I just find your view very narrow.
As for the government and money, you're under the mistaken understanding that the US government is in control of anything having to do with money. It is the privately held Federal Reserve (which isn't federal or reserved). Not knowing how our Monetary system works simply means you're ignorant.
And if there is no "state" please try not paying your taxes (any government level) and see what happens. You're under threat of the state, the moment you don't comply with the rules the state has set up. Which basically means you're not only ignorant, but illiterate.
Austin, Trump and Sanders all show that Political Money is almost irrelevant in the open markets of today.
And Statism, is a general subhuman motivation. "I don't like what you're doing, so I am gonna get my buddies and stop you". Which is exactly what you see in Austin. And enough people buy into the notion that Government role in society is to use the threat of force to stop people from doing things they don't like.
The whole "fingerprint" thing in Austin is just a ruse, by the Cab companies to squash competition. Uber/Lyft drivers are more that likely less dangerous than the dude your friend is about to meet on that Dating app. Between Disease and Rape, I would suggest that we require all dating apps to require background fingerprints and regular disease testing of all their customers/clients.
Would Austin support something like that? I don't think so.
No, I didn't get us into this mess, because while I participate, the people who keep voting for the same thing, expecting different results got us into this mess. My candidates actually have a real platform (some of which I disagree) and sound principles beyond "say anything to get elected, then take bribes from lobbyists to get elected again (wash rinse repeat).
If you have any confidence in your views about how the country should be run you have to find a candidate (or run yourself)
I do, Get the Government out of our fucking lives. Government creates more problems than it solves, then creates more "solutions" in the form of more problems that it then solves in the worst possible way.
I will give you the best current example, the whole Bathroom debate is caused by %.01 of the population having an issue figuring out what sex they are. So in order to allow anyone into any bathroom of their own personal choice, you're also allowing perverts into female bathrooms. My question is, how many sexual deviants (perverts) are there compared to transgendered people? My guess, is there is a hella more perverts.
So, instead of solving a problem (it doesn't solve anything), you're creating more of a problem. My guess, is that we'll need to have gender identity cards (another government program) at some point to solve the new problems that arise out of this stupid idea.
Finally, will we need "Dragon" bathrooms when people start to self identify as a dragon?
You measure success by not beating out of people. Socialism hates success, and rewards failure. Guess what happens when you do that? Bread lines! Because those people who are able to grow crops, produce grain, process it into bread are taxed to the point of poverty, they stop growing food, and bread lines form, and Bernie called that a success. He is a nutjob.
SuperDelegates: The racist idea of protecting minorities so that they can be "represented" adequately by the party elites.
It is a Plantation system at best, and overtly racist social engineering to keep the minorities voting DNC. You might want to look at the LBJ quote regarding certain minority voting DNC for the next 200 years. Racism is actually a Democratic theme. They NEED racism to keep their power.
Blaming GOP for being Racist is just a very nice trick.
Take a look at who ran on the GOP vs DNC for the ticket this year, four old white people vs a diverse group of 17, black, white and hispanic. But the GOP is racist!
The republicans had 17 candidates, the Democrats had four. One and three "Token" opposition candidates with even less appeal and she's losing to a Socialist failure on a regular basis. Everyone knew it was gonna be "Hilary", but just about everyone thought "Its not gonna be Trump". You can even see that sentiment even now, in your comment.
Mind you, I am a libertarian and from the sidelines I can tell you why I think Trump and Sanders are both causing problems for the political establishment. The people are fed up with politics as usual, and are raging against the machine. Their problem (IMHO) is that they are waging that war from the inside of the political machine, and haven't decided to leave it yet.
My only hope for revolution is that Bernie gets shut out at the DNC convention, runs as a Socialist Party Candidate, they would love to have him run again. And have the Republicans actively supporting a third party candidate against the GOP nominee Trump. A true four way battle, and really screw up the Electoral College.:-D
Unknown junior Senator from Chicago, who was a "Community Organizer" prior to that, who started his political life in the home of a terrorist is your hope that freedom and democracy are alive and well? I would suggest to you, the ONLY reason why he was elected was because he was 1/2 black vague outsider, of mostly unknown qualities.
And quite frankly, he sucks, on multiple levels. He makes GWB look competent by comparison, something that I think would have been impossible 8 years ago.
The vote in Austin is simply a reflection of the Statists who believes that regulation is better for everyone, even when it isn't. The Fingerprint thing is pure hyperbole, using FEAR to restrict commerce. It doesn't actually prevent any of the things it claimed to prevent. FURTHER if you really want to protect people from using Online services, you'd be better off targeting Dating App participants, requiring both Fingerprinting and regular testing for Diseases.
Let me ask you this, why are you opposed to REAL protection (dating) and for illusion of protection (Uber/Lyft)?
Is it because the regulations actually protect the racket called Taxi Medallions?
Sander's ideas fail on the small scale, as working people migrate away from taxes, and the poor migrate towards the entitlements. In the end, socialism requires little or no choice to most people, forcing participation. Which is why it almost always works with big centralized governments who use the threat of government power to subdue the Liberties of the people, just to make the system work right.
"Democratic Socialism" is using mob rule, to suck the productivity from people, and give it to others, under threat of government guns, and a fence (national boundary) to keep them from fleeing.
Or, as Margaret Thatcher once said, "The problem with socialism is that eventually, you run out of other people's money".
Besides meeting the bare minimum requirements to run for President, what "qualifications" does one need, that Bernie was complaining about?
For that matter, besides the bare minimum requirement, what Qualifications does Bernie have to be president. Aside from actual tenure as a politician, what has he done in life that is successful?
Bernie represents failure. And does it so well, that he thinks breadlines are a measure of success.
And I can guarantee you, the IOPS and transfer speeds of SSD exceeds your RAID, by a long shot. But if you are pinching pennies, I can see why you'll wait till your Hard Drives start to fail (and probably will). 8 Year old hard drives shouldn't be counted on as reliable. Please tell me you have recent backups.
If the news that is "trending" isn't really "trending", and the news that is actually "trending", is missing, then the whole idea of "trending" is false labeling. Which is all this really is. And quite frankly, is typical of left leaning "news" sites.
It does represent a bias, one that ought to be exposed. This is all that is happening. And the left doesn't like getting caught misleading people, because only Faux news can be accused of that!
Never mind all the free press given to Donald Trump during this election cycle.
1) The MSM tried to ignore Trump, saying he was a "reality TV star" and not a "real politician". You can find those stories in August. That didn't last long, but it existed
2) You your self have just given him "Free Publicity" by mentioning him...again. Much of the publicity is organic
3) Protesters protesting Trump, create news stories for Trump. Again, the free publicity by protesting Trump.
While I cannot tell if you're Pro or Anti Trump from your post, my guess is that you aren't really in favor. You might want to consider actually standing for someone who is also running. I don't know ANY actual "Pro" Hilary people. Most of the left leaning people I know want Bernie, and the rest will vote for anyone with the (D) after their name.
And while I have addressed Trump here, I am also going to point out, that I will NOT be voting for him, as I don't vote (D) or (R). I'm voting Libertarian. Don't blame me for what happens when people elect the unqualified and the scoundrels to office, I vote, just not for any of them.
Is Amazon going to form its own "Social Networking" too? Is Amazon going to form its own Search Engine? Is Amazon going to form its own Email services?
Doing the "Me Too" thing now, is like closing the barn doors long after the horses have left.
Let me know when the Federal Government actually uses "equal protection under the law". Laws are what the rich and powerful use to control us common people (aka Citizens).
Slashdot Mirror
A government-provided basic income with no minimum wage would still help the poor and provide the safety net
Except that no it won't. The problem here is that the definition of poor will shift, and there will still be "poor" people, i.e. those people on "Basic Income" will suddenly become "poor" regardless of how much income is actually provided. Additionally, all forms of nominal expenses (food, housing, energy etc) will summarily increase in price (supply/demand) and suck up every inch of that "Basic Income", making it actually worse in the long run. Irresponsible people buying drugs and alcohol, and gambling away their "basic income" will still need to be supported. After all, nobody wants those people starving to death in the streets, when they run out of money every month.
The idea that Government has a solution for every problem, is the actual problem. It "solves" the problem, creates ten more that it now has to solve, wash rinse repeat.
So yeah, the answer is there is no way Basic Income will actually solve anything for anyone. It is an expensive experiment that cannot actually work. And once implemented, nobody will have the guts to kill it when it does fail (Just one more tweak, and it will work!)
Their American Citizen Babies will vote. It is a long term play.
H1-Bs aren't citizens and can't vote.
While technically true, there is this secret thing called Anchor Babies, and pretending they don't exist is a fun game.They come here, have kids and don't ever have to go home. It is a well known secret. Because if you say "Anchor baby" you're a racist! so SHHHHH don't tell anyone about how to stay here forever. SHHH It is a secret only RACIST people know about (never mind that race has nothing to do with it, at all)
Let me ask you this, what happens when you drop an anchor baby, and your H1B expires and you can't get a job?
Money is money, and it is the voters that are under the influence
Money is a tool. It is neither good nor bad. Ascribing motivation to money is your particular bias. You really need to reevaluate your views.
You are contradicting yourself.
Your lack of comprehension isn't really relevant here. The Federal Reserve is a private banking infrastructure. While you and I may agree on its influence on the government (and legality, and need for auditing) it is still private. It is also artificial construct; a creation of man. You can say the same thing for "Government(s)". That makes them similar in construction. But then again, so is money. And Democracy. And ....
Because all of these things are man made creations, they all have related problems in their operation. Those related problems are simply, man is corrupt.
Or as I like to say: Man cannot rule himself, what makes you think he can rule over others?
Which is the basis for limiting the power and scope of Government, because power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely - Lord Acton
Liberal Democrats and Conservative Republicans both support H1B visas (immigration in general), for different reasons. Liberal Democrats because those coming tend to vote Democratic, and Conservative Republicans because they provide cheap labor for all their corporate buddies.
In neither case, are the two major parties actually concerned about Americans first. And that is where the problem arises. And while I am all for Free Enterprise, and Capitalism, this isn't either.
But when trampling an American Flag is considered "free speech" but doing the same to a Mexican Flag is "hate", "bigotry" and "racism", you have a problem with the narrative. America is screwed.
Isn't Globalism Great?
There is more to me buying a burger than price. I'm not paying $1 for frozen patties fried on a griddle, I don't care how cheap it is.
But when Machines can make a custom gourmet burger (they can) with minimal human help (they can) and produce an excellent product for a cost of $.50 more than the crappy version being sold at McWindysJr the end for no skill workforce is nigh. And you all can start talking about basic income and minimum wage all you want, you're just accelerating the end. Price controls do not work, never have, never will.
Unfinshed wars (still unfinshed) we're back in Afgahanistan and Iraq, in case you missed the daily dead American drill from the press (oh wait, they don't care now that GWB is out of office)
Economic Depression is still here, and as bad as it has been. The nearly 100 Million Americans out of the labor force, record levels of Food Stamps etc etc etc. But I am sure you're going to point to the "Official" unemployment rate to justify your view, while ignoring the fact that Obama hasn't had a single 3% growth rate GDP in nearly 8 years in office, a first for the US.
unprecedented, uncompromising blockade of Republicans in congress is laughable, since they gave Obama just about everything he wanted for the last six years in terms of budget. Continued funding of all of Obama's illegal Executive orders. Which is one of the reasons the Republican voters rejected every single mainstream republican presidential candidate this year, without exception.
And the rich white people were those running for the DNC, the Republicans (which I am not one) at least had variation in color, economic status from Very Rich (Trump) to someone who grew up as a poor black boy and became a world famous surgeon. The only "poor" person on the DNC side is that way because he wasn't successful until he figured out how to run for office.
But yeah, keep parroting the same tired lines, while ignoring the real racism of low expectations. After 50 years and three generations, black people would realize that voting DNC hasn't help their community at all. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results.
Sander's Money isn't political (no PAC) and neither is Trump's. Yes, they have Money, but it isn't the rich and powerful controlling the purse strings. And Trump has used such a small amount of his own money that it is almost laughable in today's political landscape.
Your particular view of the world is quite novel. Big Money Pacs have lost big time this election cycle. I would even suggest to you that Obama's first campaign was very similar to Sander's this year. And that doesn't bode well for Hilary, before or after she wins the nomination (Super Delegates).
I'm not sure if you're a Democrat or Republican (or something else??), I just find your view very narrow.
As for the government and money, you're under the mistaken understanding that the US government is in control of anything having to do with money. It is the privately held Federal Reserve (which isn't federal or reserved). Not knowing how our Monetary system works simply means you're ignorant.
And if there is no "state" please try not paying your taxes (any government level) and see what happens. You're under threat of the state, the moment you don't comply with the rules the state has set up. Which basically means you're not only ignorant, but illiterate.
Austin, Trump and Sanders all show that Political Money is almost irrelevant in the open markets of today.
And Statism, is a general subhuman motivation. "I don't like what you're doing, so I am gonna get my buddies and stop you". Which is exactly what you see in Austin. And enough people buy into the notion that Government role in society is to use the threat of force to stop people from doing things they don't like.
The whole "fingerprint" thing in Austin is just a ruse, by the Cab companies to squash competition. Uber/Lyft drivers are more that likely less dangerous than the dude your friend is about to meet on that Dating app. Between Disease and Rape, I would suggest that we require all dating apps to require background fingerprints and regular disease testing of all their customers/clients.
Would Austin support something like that? I don't think so.
No, I didn't get us into this mess, because while I participate, the people who keep voting for the same thing, expecting different results got us into this mess. My candidates actually have a real platform (some of which I disagree) and sound principles beyond "say anything to get elected, then take bribes from lobbyists to get elected again (wash rinse repeat).
If you have any confidence in your views about how the country should be run you have to find a candidate (or run yourself)
I do, Get the Government out of our fucking lives. Government creates more problems than it solves, then creates more "solutions" in the form of more problems that it then solves in the worst possible way.
I will give you the best current example, the whole Bathroom debate is caused by %.01 of the population having an issue figuring out what sex they are. So in order to allow anyone into any bathroom of their own personal choice, you're also allowing perverts into female bathrooms. My question is, how many sexual deviants (perverts) are there compared to transgendered people? My guess, is there is a hella more perverts.
So, instead of solving a problem (it doesn't solve anything), you're creating more of a problem. My guess, is that we'll need to have gender identity cards (another government program) at some point to solve the new problems that arise out of this stupid idea.
Finally, will we need "Dragon" bathrooms when people start to self identify as a dragon?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem...
We are pandering to the INSANE in an effort to look tolerant and compassionate, and in the process, showing we are neither.
You measure success by not beating out of people. Socialism hates success, and rewards failure. Guess what happens when you do that? Bread lines! Because those people who are able to grow crops, produce grain, process it into bread are taxed to the point of poverty, they stop growing food, and bread lines form, and Bernie called that a success. He is a nutjob.
SuperDelegates: The racist idea of protecting minorities so that they can be "represented" adequately by the party elites.
It is a Plantation system at best, and overtly racist social engineering to keep the minorities voting DNC. You might want to look at the LBJ quote regarding certain minority voting DNC for the next 200 years. Racism is actually a Democratic theme. They NEED racism to keep their power.
Blaming GOP for being Racist is just a very nice trick.
Take a look at who ran on the GOP vs DNC for the ticket this year, four old white people vs a diverse group of 17, black, white and hispanic. But the GOP is racist!
The republicans had 17 candidates, the Democrats had four. One and three "Token" opposition candidates with even less appeal and she's losing to a Socialist failure on a regular basis. Everyone knew it was gonna be "Hilary", but just about everyone thought "Its not gonna be Trump". You can even see that sentiment even now, in your comment.
Mind you, I am a libertarian and from the sidelines I can tell you why I think Trump and Sanders are both causing problems for the political establishment. The people are fed up with politics as usual, and are raging against the machine. Their problem (IMHO) is that they are waging that war from the inside of the political machine, and haven't decided to leave it yet.
My only hope for revolution is that Bernie gets shut out at the DNC convention, runs as a Socialist Party Candidate, they would love to have him run again. And have the Republicans actively supporting a third party candidate against the GOP nominee Trump. A true four way battle, and really screw up the Electoral College. :-D
A man can dream!
Unknown junior Senator from Chicago, who was a "Community Organizer" prior to that, who started his political life in the home of a terrorist is your hope that freedom and democracy are alive and well? I would suggest to you, the ONLY reason why he was elected was because he was 1/2 black vague outsider, of mostly unknown qualities.
And quite frankly, he sucks, on multiple levels. He makes GWB look competent by comparison, something that I think would have been impossible 8 years ago.
The vote in Austin is simply a reflection of the Statists who believes that regulation is better for everyone, even when it isn't. The Fingerprint thing is pure hyperbole, using FEAR to restrict commerce. It doesn't actually prevent any of the things it claimed to prevent. FURTHER if you really want to protect people from using Online services, you'd be better off targeting Dating App participants, requiring both Fingerprinting and regular testing for Diseases.
Let me ask you this, why are you opposed to REAL protection (dating) and for illusion of protection (Uber/Lyft)?
Is it because the regulations actually protect the racket called Taxi Medallions?
Sander's ideas fail on the small scale, as working people migrate away from taxes, and the poor migrate towards the entitlements. In the end, socialism requires little or no choice to most people, forcing participation. Which is why it almost always works with big centralized governments who use the threat of government power to subdue the Liberties of the people, just to make the system work right.
"Democratic Socialism" is using mob rule, to suck the productivity from people, and give it to others, under threat of government guns, and a fence (national boundary) to keep them from fleeing.
Or, as Margaret Thatcher once said, "The problem with socialism is that eventually, you run out of other people's money".
Besides meeting the bare minimum requirements to run for President, what "qualifications" does one need, that Bernie was complaining about?
For that matter, besides the bare minimum requirement, what Qualifications does Bernie have to be president. Aside from actual tenure as a politician, what has he done in life that is successful?
Bernie represents failure. And does it so well, that he thinks breadlines are a measure of success.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...
$328
And I can guarantee you, the IOPS and transfer speeds of SSD exceeds your RAID, by a long shot. But if you are pinching pennies, I can see why you'll wait till your Hard Drives start to fail (and probably will). 8 Year old hard drives shouldn't be counted on as reliable. Please tell me you have recent backups.
If the news that is "trending" isn't really "trending", and the news that is actually "trending", is missing, then the whole idea of "trending" is false labeling. Which is all this really is. And quite frankly, is typical of left leaning "news" sites.
It does represent a bias, one that ought to be exposed. This is all that is happening. And the left doesn't like getting caught misleading people, because only Faux news can be accused of that!
Not any different from a Democrat controlled congress? Yeah, that is true! I never saw that before. Thanks!
Never mind all the free press given to Donald Trump during this election cycle.
1) The MSM tried to ignore Trump, saying he was a "reality TV star" and not a "real politician". You can find those stories in August. That didn't last long, but it existed
2) You your self have just given him "Free Publicity" by mentioning him ...again. Much of the publicity is organic
3) Protesters protesting Trump, create news stories for Trump. Again, the free publicity by protesting Trump.
While I cannot tell if you're Pro or Anti Trump from your post, my guess is that you aren't really in favor. You might want to consider actually standing for someone who is also running. I don't know ANY actual "Pro" Hilary people. Most of the left leaning people I know want Bernie, and the rest will vote for anyone with the (D) after their name.
And while I have addressed Trump here, I am also going to point out, that I will NOT be voting for him, as I don't vote (D) or (R). I'm voting Libertarian. Don't blame me for what happens when people elect the unqualified and the scoundrels to office, I vote, just not for any of them.
Your computer from 2008, would feel almost new once you install an SSD in it and maybe some more RAM (assuming you haven't yet done it).
The processors haven't improved that much over time.
Is Amazon going to form its own "Social Networking" too?
Is Amazon going to form its own Search Engine?
Is Amazon going to form its own Email services?
Doing the "Me Too" thing now, is like closing the barn doors long after the horses have left.
Let me know when the Federal Government actually uses "equal protection under the law". Laws are what the rich and powerful use to control us common people (aka Citizens).