Good stories, even fables, always come with a kernel of truth. Jess speaks from the heart which makes it both good and extremely frightening. Living in a deep blue state, California, I often feel helpless to make change. So, my wife and I support out of state races in ruby red states. It’s not much but it’s something. Stories like those that Jess tells hit us hard since I have siblings that unfortunately (?) live in those states like Ohio and Texas.
“ Red-states are the test run for Project 2025”. That is a chilling reality brought to light. A story wonderfully written, Have you sent this to the DNC and to President Biden?
I used to live in the UK. The Tories have used Scotland as the testing ground for all of their terrible policies forever. It's such a good point that Republicans are doing the same in red states.
in light of the recent civil judgement against the former president by a court in New York., the Scottish Green Party is calling for an investigation into Trump. Hopefully all over the world DT will have to face legal challenges.
Yes! I saw a video somewhere, might have been 60 Minutes a few years ago, that featured the golf course and revealed that the Trump Org has to pay the employees' salaries out of its general spending. I think this was part of a segment about Trump's unsuccessful attempts to get rid of windmills off the coast adjacent to the golf course because he claimed they were unsightly.
Born in Scotland myself and part of a huge migration of Scots people. I look homeward and see an influx of Parasitical Kleptocrats who are International Billionaires who are robbing you & yours every single day. You outnumber them. Eat the Rich comes to mind. You probably would not have to eat more than one or two.
“The sad thing is that many blue-state Democrats don’t know these rooms exist.”
I live in Upstate NY, Stefanik’s district. Up here, we know they exist. We are the minority, trying to get the word out. There are more pockets of us than people realize. You can be a blue state but still have all Republican representatives for local and state offices.
Just a remembrance. In one of my cross country drives as an art dealer, I recall passing through St Joseph I do believe. It was a Saturday afternoon. I looked over and saw the Stetson Hat factory. I thought to go in as I wanted a hat. But they were closed. My next thought was, since I am an occasional dumpster diver, that there must be a dumpster around the back and I drove around and sure enough, there was my dumpster just waiting for me.
So I heaved myself up and over hoping that I could climb back out, lol. I found a straw hat but not black felt Stetsons. When you’re on the road long distance, you have to amuse yourself with a few mini adventures. That was one back in the maybe late 1990s or early 2000. I’m still on the road a bit. As I drove through Indiana and Ohio and places heading to Seattle, I observed the abandoned factories, probably the result of that ole NAFTA agreement that Clinton signed. Yep, old struggles morph into new struggles. I don’t know what is in store for this land and government and people. I’m not in love with American never have been. I was a young teen Viet war protestor. I bought a one way ticket to Europe by the mid 1970s and settled in Florence, Italy. I’m thinking seriously of returning. It would be hard but I could pull it off. Then I’ll need to deal with the Italian swing to the right. Hey, a lot of this revolves around immigration. I’m in favor of immigration but not the horrible disaster at the southern border. Lawful immigration not running across the sands.
Cheers. I’ve not written on your blog before. You have a lot of… chutzpah. Stay strong. I’m from Connecticut.
Once again every time I read one of your stories like this one I realize that EVERY RED state must be the same ! You could easily have been right here in Indiana. Right down to the terrible roads to the little room in the back of a VFW ( Clinton County Indiana). If we could let all these groups nation wide know we are not alone Oh what a difference that would make. Keep up the good fight and i hope to see you one day in Indiana.
We no longer live in Missouri, but we follow you because we have loved ones who do. Brave souls have run in districts against all odds, and our friends and loved ones supported them and still do, when there’s a Democrat who steps up like you have done.
Keep up the good work, we love your writing! It’s depressing and scary but you give us hope!
Exactly — my fellow Kansan (KOCH) is underwriting that effort — started with ALEC and boilerplate legislation for every state house — and it’s spread to Heritage and Project 2025. Beware.
Jess, this made me cry. I'm a Missourian who did flee (from the bright blue dot of Columbia) to a blue state when I retired. There were other reasons besides politics, and we love where we are, but still...you and the people you write about are so brave. I did join Blue Missouri because I still think there's hope that things could change, especially when I read about what you are doing.
Just subscribed because you inform me about the details of the underhanded Republican actions here in Missouri. You’re speaking the truth that needs to be heard
Jess, this was a beautiful and inspiring piece. Sane and straightforward. You are an excellent writer, with an important message. Amazing commitment and courage.
Small drops over time can form stalagmites but we may not withstand a long event horizon. Drops into small cracks can break apart the rock of ignorance with the help of a freeze. Find the cracks. Create the freeze with cold truth.
Jess, your essays are terrific in shining some much needed light on the reality of our communities in rural America. Even these small groups make a difference. If nothing else, they give people with progressive perspectives some hope, some new insight, and some comfort in knowing that they are not alone.
The MAGA forces are very good at visibly showcasing their tribal presence. As I’ve said before, it’s no fun to feel like an unwelcome, lonely refugee in one’s own community. Small group meetings like these break the illusion of complete solidarity.
Your mentioning of driving on “letter roads” in Missouri is a fantastic way of noting your travel on county and township roadways. I can visualize those oh so well.
Jess, you do write beautifully and with soul. You really do. I am a 71 year old who has lived in Texas my entire life. My first vote was for Nixon in 1972 as a 19 year old. I almost immediately regretted —-even BEFORE Watergate. I voted for Jimmy Carter in both 1976 and 1980. I have never regretted it. Texas is a state that not all that long ago elected Ann Richards and Jim Hightower to statewide office. Jim Hightower would give Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren a run for their money……Our state government is now bought and paid for new rich oil billionaires. It is frightening.
Thanks for the old hymn reference. That is absolutely true. As a Christian, I literally believe the abortion issue changed our state and even our country. The pro life lobby convinced all the evangelical Christians—or almost all—-that R’s were good, D’s evil, and that is it. Many people literally are one issue abortion voters. I promise you that. I go to church with MANY. Now the R party is pushing and reveling in the most vile, immoral and unchristian policies I can imagine, but those D’s are the bad ones, right? I have about lost hope for a return to common sense and sanity.
If Trump, Abbott, Paxton, Cruz, et al. do not open people’s eyes to the debasement and degradation of our culture and our country, and the total abandonment of fundamental decency, integrity and honesty, by the Republican Party, we are lost as a country. Truth is no longer of value. It would be ironic and even humorous—-if not so tragic and with devastating consequences for all of us——-to see all these people who claim to believe in fixed not relative truth in their spiritual world, believe such an obvious, outrageous and despicable lie as Trump’s BIG LIE about the 2020 election. That was ludicrous on its face from day one. Boy, those Democrats are sure stupid to flip zero votes to win Congress, while stealing all those votes from poor DJT.
When we call wrong, right and evil, good, we are TOAST as a society. We are just about there. I am disgusted and heartsick for America.
Sorry for the rant! You inspire me but also depress me as I see where our Republican states are. Turning down free lunches for children from the feds????? They are so proud……..what have we become???????
It's been 20 years or so since my state of Oklahoma ceased to be much of democracy. It's why the quoted excerpt below resonates. This fall my state, like Missouri, will vote to similarly dragged down democracy for the rest of the America.
"Red-states are the test run for Project 2025. We are the lab rats for oligarchy. We are running the trial for the end of democracy. If we don’t stop the billionaires, and their bought-and-paid-for lawmakers, these red-state realities will spread to the entire country."
I’m in Oklahoma too. It would be so amazing if democrats would bring back the 50 state strategy. Folks here are unbelievably brainwashed. I retired early 7 years ago mainly because I couldn’t take the forced groupthink in the workplace anymore. I was becoming an outcast because I spoke up when the racist jokes went around, etc, etc. etc. it was miserable. This was a suit and tie type of profession not a warehouse.
Luckily my 401k is doing really, really well and thanks to my husband having one of the last great UAW jobs that used to exist here we have full pension and 100% paid excellent healthcare I’d be working at Walmart if it wasn’t for the support of a Union.
Folks here can’t seem to understand that republicans Hate the working class and everything they do is to advantage the most wealthy and take away from regular people. That’s my Oklahoma rant for the day. Thanks for listening.
On my Substack, I will be posting an essay on Saturday which will include several paragraphs on how important it is for Democrats to contest every single office, no matter how red the area has been. I never really thought about this much until I started reading The View from Rural Missouri. Thanks for enlightening me, Jess. As I'll say in my essay, if "Democrats let local races go unopposed, missing the chance to tell voters what they stand for, then who can blame voters for thinking Dems stand for nothing?"
I live far from your part of the country yet your ability to set the scene and describe the power dynamics puts me right on that country road, in the back of the VFW hall, seeing what you are sharing. While I live in the very blue state of CT, the machinations of arrogant billionaires impacts my life in very personal ways too. In that way, wherever we are, your message is relevant and relatable.
Thank you, Jess. Before my husband retired from medicine (rural family medicine - 40 years), we lived in a bright red county in North Carolina. Imagine my surprise when the Democratic committee person told me “by registration this county is majority blue, and if they all voted blue it would look very different.” If only there had been a room where it happened.
Jess, not only would I love to meet you, but I’d LOVE for you to meet Tom Nowlin. He is a democrat running in north central Arkansas. He is doing the work and meeting people. Extremely well-qualified. Running against a 26 year old young lady who homeschooled, has never moved out of her daddy’s house, never held a real job, and is funded by huge big red money…friends of the Huckabees. She mopped the floor with her opponent in the republican primary, a man who everyone knew and liked. Former law enforcement officer and well-respected. Blew everybody away, they couldn’t fathom how that happened. So now she is Tom’s opponent and the big red money machine will try to wreck him. I’m going to forward this essay to him and his wife. I know they can relate!
That story sounds very familiar. The same thing happened up here my neck of the woods. A 25-year-old woman who had no experience absolutely wiped the floor in her Republican primary. She was more extreme.
Republican sites often look like Soft Porn to me with their airbrushed Barbies dressed in tight dresses. Of course they use women this way. That is who they are. Men who like this can be led by their D**KS.
Sounds like here in WI where Robin "Boss" Vos, the assembly majority leader and as everyone here knows, our REAL governor, suddenly faced two failed recall petitions (failed because of mass illegality!) from the RIGHT. His sin? At a meeting of the state GOP where yet ANOTHER recount of the 2020 ballots was being discussed, he apparently grew quite angry and said, "We're gonna have to face it, folks: Biden won!"
Now, of course, Boss Vos -- who has a side gig as a slumlord -- is a heretic.
I live in TX and am so deeply ashamed of the vast majority of our state officials. Houston is still fairly liberal, but what troubles me is that I can see the inroads the right wing is making, particularly in the field of education. Book banning, school vouchers, closing school libraries , and eliminating school psychologists are showing up in the news on a regular basis. My heart aches for the teachers in our state who are trying to do their best for their students.
I’m grateful for the work you are doing in MO and pray that you are awakening a sleeping giant!
There are few people who are natural storytellers. You are one of them. Thank you
Good stories, even fables, always come with a kernel of truth. Jess speaks from the heart which makes it both good and extremely frightening. Living in a deep blue state, California, I often feel helpless to make change. So, my wife and I support out of state races in ruby red states. It’s not much but it’s something. Stories like those that Jess tells hit us hard since I have siblings that unfortunately (?) live in those states like Ohio and Texas.
“ Red-states are the test run for Project 2025”. That is a chilling reality brought to light. A story wonderfully written, Have you sent this to the DNC and to President Biden?
I used to live in the UK. The Tories have used Scotland as the testing ground for all of their terrible policies forever. It's such a good point that Republicans are doing the same in red states.
Ellen, I didn’t know this, but it makes sense as Trump was allowed to have a golf course there, and “ Trump International Golf Links course was last year included in a New York civil court ruling that the former president and his company had misrepresented his wealth, including a "false valuation" of the Aberdeenshire course. Mr Trump is appealing the ruling which ordered him to pay $464m (£365m).Mar 28, 2024”. I,am looking forward to watching the debate tonight on Robert Reich substack so I can hear both Roberts and Heathers commentary. https://robertreich.substack.com/p/the-first-presidential-debate-of?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=365422&post_id=145964611&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=f14pb&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
Trump's golf course in Scotland bleeds money every year.
in light of the recent civil judgement against the former president by a court in New York., the Scottish Green Party is calling for an investigation into Trump. Hopefully all over the world DT will have to face legal challenges.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/trump-scotland-wealth-assets-golf-b2569885.html
Yes! I saw a video somewhere, might have been 60 Minutes a few years ago, that featured the golf course and revealed that the Trump Org has to pay the employees' salaries out of its general spending. I think this was part of a segment about Trump's unsuccessful attempts to get rid of windmills off the coast adjacent to the golf course because he claimed they were unsightly.
And besides, it was causing all the sharks to die.
When he bought Turnberry, the RandA took it off the Open roto.( I'll bet the members are pissed!!)
Born in Scotland myself and part of a huge migration of Scots people. I look homeward and see an influx of Parasitical Kleptocrats who are International Billionaires who are robbing you & yours every single day. You outnumber them. Eat the Rich comes to mind. You probably would not have to eat more than one or two.
“The sad thing is that many blue-state Democrats don’t know these rooms exist.”
I live in Upstate NY, Stefanik’s district. Up here, we know they exist. We are the minority, trying to get the word out. There are more pockets of us than people realize. You can be a blue state but still have all Republican representatives for local and state offices.
Yup! I feel that!
Hi Jess,
Just a remembrance. In one of my cross country drives as an art dealer, I recall passing through St Joseph I do believe. It was a Saturday afternoon. I looked over and saw the Stetson Hat factory. I thought to go in as I wanted a hat. But they were closed. My next thought was, since I am an occasional dumpster diver, that there must be a dumpster around the back and I drove around and sure enough, there was my dumpster just waiting for me.
So I heaved myself up and over hoping that I could climb back out, lol. I found a straw hat but not black felt Stetsons. When you’re on the road long distance, you have to amuse yourself with a few mini adventures. That was one back in the maybe late 1990s or early 2000. I’m still on the road a bit. As I drove through Indiana and Ohio and places heading to Seattle, I observed the abandoned factories, probably the result of that ole NAFTA agreement that Clinton signed. Yep, old struggles morph into new struggles. I don’t know what is in store for this land and government and people. I’m not in love with American never have been. I was a young teen Viet war protestor. I bought a one way ticket to Europe by the mid 1970s and settled in Florence, Italy. I’m thinking seriously of returning. It would be hard but I could pull it off. Then I’ll need to deal with the Italian swing to the right. Hey, a lot of this revolves around immigration. I’m in favor of immigration but not the horrible disaster at the southern border. Lawful immigration not running across the sands.
Cheers. I’ve not written on your blog before. You have a lot of… chutzpah. Stay strong. I’m from Connecticut.
Renee -- I'm just making sure that we connected. I'm running against Stefanik. www.paulacollinsforcongress.com.
Get it, Paula! Dump Stefanik! Love from Maryland where we’re going to keep Larry Hogan out of the Senate.
Thanks for the love!
I'll take Joe Biden on a bad day over Donald Trump on a good day. Any time.
On July 11, 2024, one of the two men who were on the stage tonight will be sentenced on 34 guilty verdicts. I'm voting for the other guy.
Great comment. Thank you!
KICK HER ASS!!!💪💪👊💥
If anyone is interested, I'm hosting a Virtual Town Hall tomorrow at 7:00pm. Please register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEkc-uhqToiGdSSBf__6Ch9QDP_cGIIAIdj
Best of luck from Ottawa, Paula Collins! Kick Elise Stefaniuk out of the US Congress.
Once again every time I read one of your stories like this one I realize that EVERY RED state must be the same ! You could easily have been right here in Indiana. Right down to the terrible roads to the little room in the back of a VFW ( Clinton County Indiana). If we could let all these groups nation wide know we are not alone Oh what a difference that would make. Keep up the good fight and i hope to see you one day in Indiana.
Yes… we are all exactly the same because the same billionaires are paying for the same lawmakers to write the same legislation. Solidarity, friend.
We no longer live in Missouri, but we follow you because we have loved ones who do. Brave souls have run in districts against all odds, and our friends and loved ones supported them and still do, when there’s a Democrat who steps up like you have done.
Keep up the good work, we love your writing! It’s depressing and scary but you give us hope!
Exactly — my fellow Kansan (KOCH) is underwriting that effort — started with ALEC and boilerplate legislation for every state house — and it’s spread to Heritage and Project 2025. Beware.
Just substitute Missouri and Indiana for Iowa. Same thing happening here.
And today our state Supreme Court just upheld the 6 week abortion ban. But we knew that was inevitable. 😢😢
And, Tennessee!💔💔💔
If you want information about the Blue Tennessee group, text Blue TN to 33777. We'd love to help you!
Jess, this made me cry. I'm a Missourian who did flee (from the bright blue dot of Columbia) to a blue state when I retired. There were other reasons besides politics, and we love where we are, but still...you and the people you write about are so brave. I did join Blue Missouri because I still think there's hope that things could change, especially when I read about what you are doing.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
❤️
Just subscribed because you inform me about the details of the underhanded Republican actions here in Missouri. You’re speaking the truth that needs to be heard
Thank you!!!
That is why I subscribed, too. Jess knows!
Jess, this was a beautiful and inspiring piece. Sane and straightforward. You are an excellent writer, with an important message. Amazing commitment and courage.
Small drops over time can form stalagmites but we may not withstand a long event horizon. Drops into small cracks can break apart the rock of ignorance with the help of a freeze. Find the cracks. Create the freeze with cold truth.
Yes!
Jess, your essays are terrific in shining some much needed light on the reality of our communities in rural America. Even these small groups make a difference. If nothing else, they give people with progressive perspectives some hope, some new insight, and some comfort in knowing that they are not alone.
The MAGA forces are very good at visibly showcasing their tribal presence. As I’ve said before, it’s no fun to feel like an unwelcome, lonely refugee in one’s own community. Small group meetings like these break the illusion of complete solidarity.
Your mentioning of driving on “letter roads” in Missouri is a fantastic way of noting your travel on county and township roadways. I can visualize those oh so well.
So important, all of what you say, James.
Jess, you do write beautifully and with soul. You really do. I am a 71 year old who has lived in Texas my entire life. My first vote was for Nixon in 1972 as a 19 year old. I almost immediately regretted —-even BEFORE Watergate. I voted for Jimmy Carter in both 1976 and 1980. I have never regretted it. Texas is a state that not all that long ago elected Ann Richards and Jim Hightower to statewide office. Jim Hightower would give Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren a run for their money……Our state government is now bought and paid for new rich oil billionaires. It is frightening.
Thanks for the old hymn reference. That is absolutely true. As a Christian, I literally believe the abortion issue changed our state and even our country. The pro life lobby convinced all the evangelical Christians—or almost all—-that R’s were good, D’s evil, and that is it. Many people literally are one issue abortion voters. I promise you that. I go to church with MANY. Now the R party is pushing and reveling in the most vile, immoral and unchristian policies I can imagine, but those D’s are the bad ones, right? I have about lost hope for a return to common sense and sanity.
If Trump, Abbott, Paxton, Cruz, et al. do not open people’s eyes to the debasement and degradation of our culture and our country, and the total abandonment of fundamental decency, integrity and honesty, by the Republican Party, we are lost as a country. Truth is no longer of value. It would be ironic and even humorous—-if not so tragic and with devastating consequences for all of us——-to see all these people who claim to believe in fixed not relative truth in their spiritual world, believe such an obvious, outrageous and despicable lie as Trump’s BIG LIE about the 2020 election. That was ludicrous on its face from day one. Boy, those Democrats are sure stupid to flip zero votes to win Congress, while stealing all those votes from poor DJT.
When we call wrong, right and evil, good, we are TOAST as a society. We are just about there. I am disgusted and heartsick for America.
Sorry for the rant! You inspire me but also depress me as I see where our Republican states are. Turning down free lunches for children from the feds????? They are so proud……..what have we become???????
It is good to hear from you, Rick. Solidarity!
Have courage. I keep reminding myself HRC won the majority vote. We just have to overwhelm the EC this time! Jess is definitely helping!
You are spreading courage, Jess. Thank you from Iowa—another red state.
It's been 20 years or so since my state of Oklahoma ceased to be much of democracy. It's why the quoted excerpt below resonates. This fall my state, like Missouri, will vote to similarly dragged down democracy for the rest of the America.
"Red-states are the test run for Project 2025. We are the lab rats for oligarchy. We are running the trial for the end of democracy. If we don’t stop the billionaires, and their bought-and-paid-for lawmakers, these red-state realities will spread to the entire country."
I’m in Oklahoma too. It would be so amazing if democrats would bring back the 50 state strategy. Folks here are unbelievably brainwashed. I retired early 7 years ago mainly because I couldn’t take the forced groupthink in the workplace anymore. I was becoming an outcast because I spoke up when the racist jokes went around, etc, etc. etc. it was miserable. This was a suit and tie type of profession not a warehouse.
Luckily my 401k is doing really, really well and thanks to my husband having one of the last great UAW jobs that used to exist here we have full pension and 100% paid excellent healthcare I’d be working at Walmart if it wasn’t for the support of a Union.
Folks here can’t seem to understand that republicans Hate the working class and everything they do is to advantage the most wealthy and take away from regular people. That’s my Oklahoma rant for the day. Thanks for listening.
Thx. Following you now.
I’m sorry you had to retire early for standing up against racism but I also commend your courage for doing so. ♐️♐️♊️
Fat fingers correction:
This fall my state, like Missouri, will vote to similarly drag down democracy for the rest of America. 😉
On my Substack, I will be posting an essay on Saturday which will include several paragraphs on how important it is for Democrats to contest every single office, no matter how red the area has been. I never really thought about this much until I started reading The View from Rural Missouri. Thanks for enlightening me, Jess. As I'll say in my essay, if "Democrats let local races go unopposed, missing the chance to tell voters what they stand for, then who can blame voters for thinking Dems stand for nothing?"
You can also donate to “Forgotten Democrats”. They help to put blue bodies in areas where republicans run un opposed. 🤘🏼
Excuse my grammar, but damn you write good.
I live far from your part of the country yet your ability to set the scene and describe the power dynamics puts me right on that country road, in the back of the VFW hall, seeing what you are sharing. While I live in the very blue state of CT, the machinations of arrogant billionaires impacts my life in very personal ways too. In that way, wherever we are, your message is relevant and relatable.
Thank you for speaking truth to power.
Thank you, Jess. Before my husband retired from medicine (rural family medicine - 40 years), we lived in a bright red county in North Carolina. Imagine my surprise when the Democratic committee person told me “by registration this county is majority blue, and if they all voted blue it would look very different.” If only there had been a room where it happened.
Jess, not only would I love to meet you, but I’d LOVE for you to meet Tom Nowlin. He is a democrat running in north central Arkansas. He is doing the work and meeting people. Extremely well-qualified. Running against a 26 year old young lady who homeschooled, has never moved out of her daddy’s house, never held a real job, and is funded by huge big red money…friends of the Huckabees. She mopped the floor with her opponent in the republican primary, a man who everyone knew and liked. Former law enforcement officer and well-respected. Blew everybody away, they couldn’t fathom how that happened. So now she is Tom’s opponent and the big red money machine will try to wreck him. I’m going to forward this essay to him and his wife. I know they can relate!
That story sounds very familiar. The same thing happened up here my neck of the woods. A 25-year-old woman who had no experience absolutely wiped the floor in her Republican primary. She was more extreme.
Wow, it must be a deliberate trend. Using Barbie as bait. That was a tacky analogy that made me cringe, but that’s probably how they look at it.
The Shiny Happy People strategy uses pretty young ladies.
Republican sites often look like Soft Porn to me with their airbrushed Barbies dressed in tight dresses. Of course they use women this way. That is who they are. Men who like this can be led by their D**KS.
Sounds like here in WI where Robin "Boss" Vos, the assembly majority leader and as everyone here knows, our REAL governor, suddenly faced two failed recall petitions (failed because of mass illegality!) from the RIGHT. His sin? At a meeting of the state GOP where yet ANOTHER recount of the 2020 ballots was being discussed, he apparently grew quite angry and said, "We're gonna have to face it, folks: Biden won!"
Now, of course, Boss Vos -- who has a side gig as a slumlord -- is a heretic.
Sending this on to my brother in Gassville. Keep believing!
I live in TX and am so deeply ashamed of the vast majority of our state officials. Houston is still fairly liberal, but what troubles me is that I can see the inroads the right wing is making, particularly in the field of education. Book banning, school vouchers, closing school libraries , and eliminating school psychologists are showing up in the news on a regular basis. My heart aches for the teachers in our state who are trying to do their best for their students.
I’m grateful for the work you are doing in MO and pray that you are awakening a sleeping giant!