Larry Birkhead Sounds Off to Greta about Debra Opri

Larry Birkhead appeared on Greta’s On The Record tonight in response to the new lawsuit filed against him by former attorney Debra Opri.

Larry said there were multiple situations between Debra Opri and Rita Cosby where information was exchanged that should not have been. He then continued to say though that this was not about that though. That this was about Debra Opri needing to get attention.

Birkhead wanted to make clear that despite Opri’s continous claims that she was not fired that he did in fact fire her for diverting his money without his consent. Birkhead claims he told she would be arrested if she showed up at the courthouse in the Bahamas

“Debra Opri trips up over her own words” stated Birkhead when mentioning that she is trying to get a percentage of money made off of Dannielynn while at the same time complaining that the baby girl is being exploited.

When Greta asked if Birkheads and Opri’s lawyers sat down and tried to work this out Birkhead claimes that Debra Opri wanted Birkhead to go on Opri and tell how great she was. “She only wants attention. Its just one PR stunt after the other which is exactly how she handled my case”, claimed Birkhead.

More to come!

Statement of Debra Opri

STATEMENT OF DEBRA OPRI:
"Today, I filed a lawsuit against Larry Birkhead for Defamation, as well as other actions.
After I chose to terminate our legal relationshiop, Larry Birkhead began a malicious and relentless media campaign to discredit me and to destroy my reputation.

It is clear now that Mr. Birkhead's attempts to discredit me concerned what I knew and what might be exposed publicly.....and not a legal bill. With the recent release of the Rita Cosby book: ‘Blonde Ambition,' Mr. Birkhead's attacks have escalated to include false and malicious allegations that I was a source for the book.

My message today to Larry Birkhead is... I have had enough.

My primary concern has always been for a child named Dannielynn, which is why I will donate the proceeds from the defamation action to the ‘Center for Missing and Exploited Children.'

It is my belief and my strong conviction that no child should be exploited in any manner."

Debra Opri's Statement can be viewed on her website at www.debraopri.com

Howard K. Stern's Sister Bonnie Stern

Bonnie Stern founded Flurtz Chocolate, which is supposingly some sort of chocolate enhanced with power Chinese herbs to heighten sexual sensation. Bonnie Stern had a booth promoting her chocolate on September 22 and 23. Where you ask? At the Adultcon show in Los Angeles. The Adultcon show is dedicated to porn stars. People get to meet their favorite porn stars, purchase movies, and other adult merchandise. There was 100,000 square feet of adult products, services (whatever services means I am not quite sure) sexy lingerie and more.

Bonnie and Howard’s parents must be so proud of their children.

Debra Orpi on Greta

Debra Opri appeared on On The Record tonight with Greta to talk about her new law suit against Larry Birkhead. Basically she said that she has listened to Larry Birkhead drag her name thru the mud for six months and has had enough. Debra Opri once again said that Larry never fired her which was kind of an out of place remark and then went on to say that Larry is trying to discredit her because she "knows to much"

Debra Opri and the National Center for Missing Kids

A recent article on ETonline.com says that Debra Opri is planning on giving any proceeds from her new defimation lawsuit against Larry Birkhead to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. First of all I believe there is no way Opri is going to win a defimation lawsuit.

Despite claimes that Birkhead is destroying her reputation, I think that it is very clear that she has been doing a very good job of doing that on her own. Opri knows she is finished. She knows that she is going to lose in the lawsuit against her that Birkhead already has, and probably future lawsuits result in the connections she allegedly has to Rita Cosby’s new book “Blonde Ambition”.

She knows she will not win this bogus suit she has filed and that is why she has decided to casually say that the proceeds will go to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. I think the only one she is trying to help is herself and her sinking career.

I think I should have titled this Debra Opri and the Missing Clients Funds.

Let the Inquest Begin!!!

The long and much awaited inquest to the death of Daniel Smith, Anna Nicole Smiths son is set to begin on October 30. There have been several delays in this inquest and many people have been questioning why Howard K. Stern seems to want this inquest delayed.

In other Anna Nicole news, Opri couldn’t stand that no attention has been on her and out of desperation has seemed to risen from the grave by filing a lawsuit against Larry Birkhead for defimation of character.

Meanwhile, Birkhead is kickin it in Hawaii with his daughter.

Birkhead Imposters

There are several myspace.com websites with people who are claiming to be Larry Birkhead. While there are many, one of the most popular fakes is htttp://myspace.com/larryebirkhead

On this page you will find about a gazillion women, who think they are actually sending messages. It’s kind of sad. Some of these women have multiple messages to this Larry Birkhead wanna-be. I am not sure which is more sad, the women who continuously post messages thinking they may have a chance with the blonde haired blued eyed boy, or the people pretending to be him.

There are several of these sites claiming to be the real Birkhead with claims that the other’s are fake. I am guessing that if there is a way for Howard Stern has already looked into the possibilities of a lawsuit.

Big Moe - "Flying With The Angels"

Big Moe is allegedly sending the following message out to his his myspace friends:

"Flyin' With The Angels" by Big Moe featuring Mone A heartfelt tribute song to the late Anna Nicole Smith, co-written and performed by Mone and Big Moe, Anna Nicole's former bodyguard and longtime friend. Available now on iTunes!A portion of the proceeds go to her favorite charity "CAMP KINDLE" Camp Kindle is a camp that helps kids affected & infected with HIV & AIDS.Help me spread this positive message in all this negative press.Repost Please!!! Get the word out..

I haven't heard the song personally, and have no intention of downloading/paying for it. If anyone has a copy feel free to send it my way. I was confused about one thing though, if it is a tribute to Anna Nicole Smith, why is there a picture of some dark haired women on it.

Ben Thompson Once Again a "No Show"

C. Ben Thompson was once again a no show in the Bahamas for court proceedings that took place on Wednesday. These proceedings were involving the items taken from the Horizon’s mansion after the death of Anna Nicole Smith.

Thompson had always claimed that he was instructed to remove these items in the event that anything happened to Anna Nicole for safe-keeping. That really doesn’t make for much of a defense because the entire world witnessed these items being released to news reporters. In Thompson’s defense though, I do believe that the items he released were to try expose the people who were surrounding Anna in her final days.

On Wednesday the court heard testimony from a maid as to the items that were removed from the home. The hearing is scheduled to continue on September 26. Thompson is not expected to show.

Mark Hatten's Obsession with Anna Nicole

Is it just me or does it seem strange that a man who's ex-girlfriend had him put in prison for stalking her spends all his time in jail posting pictures of the short time of life he spent with this woman?

I mean, of course there are many of us who are interested in the Anna Nicole Saga, and for many different reasons, but this guy was put away for stalking her. The fact that he still spends all his time trying to prove he had some sort of meaninggul relationship with her is kind of creepy.

Perhaps his need to constantly talk about his relationship with her stems from the fact that he is a person who has had no other accomplishments in life. I think that it is time that Mark move on and start thinking of building a life for himself on the outside and stop using Anna as his only identity.

For some reason though I do not think that will happen. I have a feeling that this guy is going to try to milk his one brief relationship with Anna Nicole for the rest of his life.

The Poll Results Are In

Last week OJT had an “unofficial” poll were you were asked who your least favorite person was in the Anna Nicole Smith drama.

These results showed Virgie Arthur being the least favorite with 36% of the votes, closely followed by Howard K. Stern with 33% of the votes. Birkhead came in next with 10%, followed by Rita Cosby and Jackie Hatton tied with 6% each, and then finally Debra Orpi and Boby Trendy tied at 3% each.

This weeks poll has to do with the Montel Williams interview with Rita Cosby where Montel mentions that someone had called Donny Hogan, the half brother of Anna Nicole, the night before the show and asked him not to appear. Montel, for unknown reasons, quickly told Donny not to say who it was who called him.

For this weeks poll I ask, who was it who called Donny Hogan and asked him not to go on the Montel Williams show? Poll can be accessed at http://ojtnews.blogspot.com/

Mark Spears on Birkhead

Geraldo did a piece tonight on Mark Spears, Birkheads former bodyguard. Mark Spears says witnessed numerous events that he felt very uncomfortable with. These things included things like Birkhead staging moments where photographers could take pictures of him while he was at the graveyard.

He says that he also heard disturbing converstaions between Birkhead and Stern. He says he overheard Stern saying "look, I’ll give you your baby if you leave me as the executor of your estate."

The most disturbing thing he witnessed were some photographs. He says they were photographs of Daniel dead in the hospital bed and that there were 50-100 of them. He also saw one of Anna posing with Daniel in while he was dead. Again there were over 50-100 of them. This is not the first time allegations of these pictures have surfaced. There have been other sources that have said they have been approached about purchasing these pictures.

Geraldo also showed clips of some guy named Craig attempting to interview Debra Opri. Basically he asked Opri if she was responsible for most of the information in the book. Opri says that she had nothing to do with the book, smiling, looking guilty as heck. Debra says "I read the book, I lived everything"

Donny Hogan Receives Phone Call From Mystery Person

Donny Hogan, Anna Nicole’s half brother was called last night and asked not to go on the Montel William’s show. Donny Hogan was about to say the name of the person who called him but Montel interrupted and told him not to say on air who this mystery person was.

Stay tuned…more to come.

Peter Nygards Love for Anna Nicole

Peter Nygard says he instantly fell in love with Anna Nicole and that she was one of the number one people he had ever met “when she was sober”. His first thought when he heard that Anna was dead is that Howard did not take care of her. “Howard kept putting himself of the position of a custodian and Howard did not deliver.”

Montel - Star Magazine on Birkhead

Star magazine reporter tells Montel that a while back when they ran an article alleging that Larry Birkhead had a 2 month relationshiop with a man Larry Birkhead was publicly making threats that it was false and that he would sue. As of today has never filed any such suit against Star.

Montel Defends Rita Cosby

Montel had emmy winning journalist, Rita Cosby, on this show to discuss her new book Blonde Ambition. Despite days of the Stern camp attacking Ms. Cosby's credibility, Montel begins show by reading Ms. Cosby's long list of journalist credentials, awards, and achievements.

More to come...

Why Howard Shouldn't Sue Rita Cosby

Greta Van Sustren had her legal panel discuss Howard K. Stern's recent comments made to Entertainment Tonight about his reaction to Rita Cosby's new best selling "Blonde Ambition" book.

Greta asked her panel wether or not they thought Howard would go thru with his threats to sue Rita Cosby for defemation.

Jim Hammer reponded that he did not believe Howard would not file a law suit because he will not want to open himself up to questioning in a trial.

John Q. Kelly agrees that filing a lawsuit will open up doors that they do not want open. John Q. Kelly also addressed Mr. Stern's statements that Dannielynn would need counceling as a result of having to read about all this one day saying that Mr. Stern was the one who caused a multi-month 3-ring circus and caused more damage than anyone by refusing to take a simple blood-test.

Bernie Grimm states also that to sue Rita Cosby knew it was false and went ahead with this anyway.

Another interesting twist was put on this saying that perhaps Rita Cosby should sue Howard for his recent comments stating that Rita was either stupid or a liar.

Greta then went on to poke fun at Howard saying that Howard didn't have anything worth suing for, that he was living in a house that wasn't him and borrowing money from his parents to live off of.

I personally don't think he is living off of his parents. Everyone knows he is still living off of Anna, and now off of Anna's baby girl.

Pinch Me... Am I Actually in Agreement With Howad ?

I must be dreaming because Howard K. Stern was quoted as saying things that actually made sense to me today.

Howard pretty much told Entertainment Tonight that all these people are suddenly saying that he and Larry were going at it in this wild gay relationship. These are the same people that came onto television every time they got a chance to talk about Howard. Why didn't they say this before.

I agree with Stern, this is absolutely absurt. I just want to be clear here though. I am not saying that Howard and Larry are not gay. I am just saying that if they were caught in a relationship and there was a sex video of it and these people knew it, they would have been out with that information on the news along time ago.

Another thing, if there was a sex video it would have been taken along with all of the other video's that Ben Thompson was airing on Greta every night or better yet, it would have been sold for a nice chunk of change.

Larry Birkhead Reality TV Show

There have been some rumors circulating that a television show may be in the works. One of the producers from Fox News contacted Larry Birkhead to ask if the rumors were true. and he was allegedly quoted as saying “I have been approached by various outlets about opportunities some being reality shows, but I am not shopping around for a deal and have not committed to anything at this time”.

I am sure Stern will be parading him and the baby around on TV just as soon as he can. If Birkhead does make a deal for a show I think that it would be in his best interest to not include Stern. What do you think?

Terrorist Threaten to Kill Britney Spears and Madonna

World Net Daily is reporting that jihad leaders are thretenting to kill Britney Spears and Madonna if they do not convert to Islam.

Senior leader of the Popular Resistance Committees terror organization, Muhammed Abdel-Al, is quoted as saying "If I meet these whores I will have the honor – I repeat, I will have the honor – to be the first one to cut the heads off Madonna and Britney Spears if they will keep spreading their satanic culture against Islam,"

He then goes on to say "If these two prostitutes [Madonna and Spears] keep doing what they are doing, we of course will punish them. First we will call them to join Islam. But if they keep what they are doing ... we can stone them or even we can kill them if they keep ... tempting men in order to put them far from Islam. ... A prostitute woman must be stoned or must be eighty times hit with a belt."

Montel Williams - Friday, September 14th Guest List

The following guests are scheduled to appear on the Montel Williams show this Friday.


Rita Cosby: She is an Emmy-award winning journalist who hosted the top-rated show on MSNBC, Rita Cosby: Live & Direct. Rita will be there to talk about her new book "Blonde Ambition." The explosive tell all gossip surrounding the death of Anna Nicole Smith.

She will have three of her sources with her. They are

Peter Nygard: He is a former boyfriend of Anna Nicole’s and a billionaire fashion mogul, best known for his “Night of 100 Stars” annual Oscar party at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

Don Clark: He is the former head of the Houston division of the FBI. He was hired by Anna's mom to reclaim Anna’s body

Donny Hogan: He is Anna's half-brother

What Peter, Don, and Donny have to say should be entertaining if anything.

While these guests are sharaing, Julia Allison will be responding with Larry Birkhead and Howard K. Stern's responses to the allegations.

Julia Allison: She is the Editor-at-Large for Star Magazine and a weekly columnist in Time Out New York.

This is one episode of Montel Williams you won't want to miss if you have been following the whole Anna Nicole Smith drama

Virgie's Back !!!

After months of not hearing a peep out of Virgie Arthur, TMZ is reporting that they received and exclusive statement from Howard K. Stern that during his second visit to Daniel Smith's grave yesterday he discovered some plastic flowers left by Virgie for her grandson.

According to TMZ he pretty much blasted Virgie for going there with Splash, commenting that she was telling people that she was the only one who visited her grandson's grave for the one year anniversary of his death.

Now, there are several things that I am wondering. The first is that if Virgie Arthur was appearing there with Splash news, why is it that Splash is not reporting on it. Are they saving all these moments for a documentary some day or something.

The other think I am wondering is how Howard knew that Virgie was there with splash. Does he have spies or something or some inside connection to Splash that informs him of this stuff.

The other thing I was wondering is how TMZ gets all these exclusives with the Stern camp. Do they pay him or something, does he have a direct line to call them and let them know every single new event that happens regarding this case to earn some cash?

Now, I don't want you to think I am defending Virgie or anything, because personally I think they are all crazy, but I think it was out of line for Howard to point out her using Splash to get her there. He and Birkhead have the media funding their entire lifestyles so I don't know why he thinks he is any different.

Inderia Saunders, Nassau Guardian Staff Reporter

There was a front page story in the Nassau Guardian today (http://www.thenassauguardian.com) Titled A year after Daniel Smith's death and still no answers By INDERIA SAUNDERS, Guardian Staff Reporter.

I was very happy that someone in the bahamas actually took the time to mention that after several delays, the inquest to the death of Daniel Smith still has not took place. As of today, young man's death is still a mystery and the topic of many debates.

Mr. Saunders also briefly mentioned Rita Cosby's new book "Blonde Ambition" but stopped short of mentioning the shocking allegations inside of the book.

I encourage you to contact this reporter and thank him for brining this to the attention of the Bahamas and encourage him to keep on it. His e-mail is inderia@nasguard.com

Rita Cosby to Appear on Montel Williams

As of now, Rita Cosby is schedule to appear on Montell Williams to discuss the shocking allegations in her new Blonde Ambitions book that has everyone talking. Another guest will be Donnie Hogan, as to what he is suposed to share I have absolutely no idea because supposingly he didn't even have any kind of relationship with his half sister Anna Nicole Smith.

This is set to appear on Friday, September 14th. Lets see if he gets one of the famous Lin Woods letters.

The Nuts Come Out on Geraldo

I was watching Geraldo tonight and they had some guy on. I don't remember what his name was but it was one of the guys who had previously claimed he could be Dannielynn's father. Anyway he was on their claiming that Birkhead was gay.

Alright lets say for one minute that he is. Why did no one mention this before? They all had their chance to make these allegations before. Is it just one more chance to get on TV for some of these nutcases?

Geraldo also mentioned some liar detector guy who offered to have Jackie Hatten and Larry Birkhead on his show to take a liar detector test. Yes, that might happen... NOT!

Birkhead's Baby Birthday Bash

Alright, today was the big birthday party in Kentucky. We will learn all about it bits and pieces as throughout the week as Entertainment Tonight is reporting that they will be sharing pieces of the event throughout the week.

I thought it was strange to read earlier on another sight, that people had to sign waivers at the door of the party agreeing to not take any photograghs. Don't you normally take pictures at birthday parties. Maybe that was part of Howard's deal with Entertainment Tonight - that they would have the exclusives. Who knows!

"Blonde Ambition" by Rita Cosby

I have just finished reading the newly released "Blonde Ambition" book and all I have to say is YIKAMUNDOS, lawsuits are going to be flying.

Big Moe Just Says No

Big Moe released a statement to Entertainment Tonight...

"After reading portions of Ms. Cosby's book, I wish to state for the record, I have never met Ms. Cosby, outside a brief encounter at Anna Nicole Smith's funeral," the statement reads. "Any quotes in her book, referring to Moe, Big Moe, or Anna Nicole Smith's bodyguard, are not from me. As I continue to mourn over the deaths of my two dear friends, Anna and DANIEL, I do not endorse Ms. Cosby's attempts to exploit lies and grief into profit. As we face the future, one day, the truth will be told."

I am not sure who to believe on this one. For those of you who have not read the book you may not want to read my next paragraph if you don't want anything to be given away. For those of you who have continue on to the next paragraph.....

...
...
One last warning...your last change to stop reading... ok.. here i go. I haven't read the entire book but right away there is an implied message that Big Moe the night before he was there with his wife Moe he was there with "another woman" if ya know what I mean. Well... if you remember back when all this was going down on the news there was news that Moe was being re-interviewed and questioned about someone he had been seen with in the hotel.

After that report on the news suddenly everyone was changing there stories. That can be documented too thru all the CNN transcrips. Anyway - I'm just on the first chapter. I won't give any of it away. Only what pertains to news articles that I comment on.

Feel free to share your own thoughts.

One More Clown Added to the Circus

Now that the Anna Nicole Circus is coming back to town, clowns from all over will want to come and join in on the fun. The latest clown to join the ring is Mark Hatton, Jackie Hatton's brother who is currently serving time for a past incident involving Anna Nicole Smith.

Mark Hatton is alleging that his First, Sixth, and Fourteenth civil rights were voliated and includes some other riduculous claims such as slander, defamation of character (he is a character all right), concealment of evidence.

Hatton claims also that Howard K. Stern tried to kill him with a toxic mix of drugs. He is suing for 100 million dollars.

ET - From Funeral to Birthday

Entertainment Tonight has a small story on their web page today to announce the arrival of of Dannielynn Birkhead in Kentucky. I am not sure I was suprised to learn in this article that Entertainment Tonight will be there inside the party filming.

I could see the need to sell some pictures in the beginning. I mean... Birkhead had been battling to get his baby for a while and unable to focus on a career or any want to receive a normal income... but come on... how long will this continue?

The longer this baby is paraded around in the media for the entire would, the longer it will take for all the crazies to stop spreading crap about this family. If he truly wants what is best for this little girl I think that he may have to make some tough adjustments and trade in the lime-light for a good old fashioned simple life. I would think he would want to prevent Dannielynn from getting sucked up into the life that consumed Anna Nicole Smith.

Opri Denied

TMZ has posted a court ruling at http://www.aolcdn.com/tmz_documents/0906_opri_v2_2_opt_wm.pdf which basically turns Opri down for her request to settle the disputed invoice thru arbitration. I am sure she will post some B*S* statement on her website where she will falsesly say that she is pleased with the judges ruling, as if this is what she wanted all along.

One way or another it looks like Opri's career is rolling downhill. Between her crazy failed tactics pulled in representing Birkhead and now the new allegations that she may have shared confidential documentation to Rita Cosby. If this is true then Opri could could and should be removed from the Bar.

OK Magazine Says Birkhead Not OK

OK Magazine is reporting that Birkhead is not the man the public think he is and that behind the camera is is quiet the opposite.

They are claiming that when they did the photoshoot with him, he was "more concerned with his hair then the baby" and that he quickly past the baby back to Howard once the cameras stopped.

They described his behavior as selfish.

I personally think OK is just trying to make some money and when they realized that Birkhead was talking to other media, realized they could make more money stirring up this crap.

Anna Shrinks Clients List Shrinking

Fox news is reporting that Anna Nicole's prescription writing friend/psychiatrist has been losing clients due to all the bad publicity and will be selling her home next door to Larry Birkhead.

Erosovich left yesterday for the Bahamas. Hmmmm I wonder who she is visiting. Perhaps she has to bring a special delivery.

No Fears

Well O'Reilly didn't back down despite threats from Lin Wood to go after media. NBC backed down and canceled Rita Cosby today but O'Reilly let her come on. He kept his nose clean though and it was a pretty boring interview. Rita said um-hmmm about a thousand times but beyond that it seems she knows what she was getting into.

I said it before and I'll say it again. I do not believe that Jackie Hatton is a credible source, but I do believe there are alot of questions left unanswered and I do not think this will ever go away until the complete truth is revealed.

These questions include the inquest into Daniel's death, what the private deal was between Larry and Howard and why Erosovich is allowed to still practice medicine after she supplied Anna with lethal amounts of medication.

Larry Birkhead will be appearing on CNN at 9ET on Larry King Live. He will be interviewed by his pal Harvey from TMZ. Harvey Levin alwasy has the goods. Should be interesting.

No Comment From TMZ

Out of curiosity I sent an e-mail to TMZ.com today asking why the two original stories they printed about allegations raised against Birkhead and Stern removed. I specifically asked if they were removed out of fear of retailiation from Stern's lawyer, Lin Wood. It is being reported that Lin Wood is sending letters around to the media threatening lawsuits if they reprint Rita Cosby's allegations.

As of now I have not received a response.

Threats From Camp Stern

Despite threatening letters being sent out by Lin Wood, the well known defamation lawyer hired by Howard K. Stern, O’Reilly has the guts to interview Rita Cosby to hear her side of the story.

It has been reported that the Today Show did not share the same bravery. Rita Cosby was cancelled from their show after receiving the Lin Wood letter.

I can understand the writer of the book being sued if it turns out that her book is a crock and judging from past interviews seen of Jackie Hatton I am sure the book is filled with a lot of bogus claims, but what I don’t understand is why Today show can be sued just for taking one person’s side of the story.

How can anyone every get to the bottom of the truth if everyone is silenced by camp Stern

Birkhead and the Missing TMZ Posts

A mysterious thing involving this whole Birkhead & Stern thing happened. TMZ had posted some shocking reports of of allegations that B & S had a sexual relationship. They also went on to report that there were threats to sue anyone reporting these stories.

Well shortly after - poof - the stories mysteriously disappeared from the site and old links to the stories were redirected to different stories. Suspicious bloggers have been posting that perhaps TMZ was threatened or asked to remove them.

Or perhaps it was just a co-inky-dink. What do you think?

When Larry Met Howard

There was an interesting exclusive article in NY Daily News which alleges that Larry Birkhead and Howard K. Stern were gay lovers. I am not sure about that but I don't think it would be far fetched to believe that both of them could possibly be bi-sexual. Rumors have already been circulating about Larry's sexual orientation and Howard, well come on, has anyone even heard of him ever having a girlfriend?

I don't know what their sexuality is and to tell you the truth I really don't care. If this is true though, that this pair had a relationship at one time then it would certainly make me questions everything about these two. I mean do you know a group of people that are this complex?

Supposing Jackie Hatton gives a first hand account of walking in on the two of them. I think Jackie Hatton needs to give it up along with the other Anna Nicole hanger-onner Bobby Trendy. The article also implies that Larry and Howard made a deal to exchange the baby in return for control over the estate. Well hello... like we all didn't know that already.

The book should prove to be interesting though and I am sure this story is no where near the end.