(Natural News) The medical establishment, in collusion with the establishment media, has for decades pushed the narrative that vaccines are all good, never bad, and absolutely vital to keeping disease and pestilence at bay. No dissenting opinions are allowed, even when they are based on sound, duplicable research. Now, the stranglehold of the medical/media/government cabal...
(Natural News) It is incredibly ironic that leftists — who have spent the past eight years saying, “Thanks, Obama,” as a way to poke fun at those who blame the president for things that he has no control over — are now blaming President Donald J. Trump for things that are completely out of his control....
(Natural News) Every mature person in America is fed up with all the “snowflake” crybullies, whiners and “faux outrage” activists screaming and protesting on cue with blind obedience. So today, I’ve released a message that every “snowflake” needs to hear: NO, you are not special by default. You are not remarkable simply for existing. There’s...
(Natural News) Recently, the state’s highest court ordered prosecutors to drop a significant portion of the more than 24,000 drug convictions to resolve a scandal – where thousands of people were wrongfully convicted on drug charges in Massachusetts – that has plagued the legal system since 2012. For years, a state-employed chemist named Annie Dookhan...
(Natural News) Values-based disagreements over genetic engineering are likely to be a major source of conflict between states in the coming decades, warns a recent report from the National Intelligence Council. “How people think about the very nature of life and how people love and hate is likely to be challenged by major technological advances...
(Natural News) A probe is currently underway to determine just how cozy the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is with world’s most evil corporation, Monsanto. And thus far, it is becoming more than apparent that the EPA functions as little more than a pimp for the biotechnology industry, routinely approving chemicals like Roundup (glyphosate) without proper...
(Natural News) As if the left-wing media couldn’t get any further from reality, a recent article from The Atlantic went so far as to proclaim that fetal heartbeats are “imaginary” and that ultrasound technology is used to perpetuate the “myth” that unborn children are actually people. Following the article’s publication, many people were quick to point...
(Natural News) The overuse of prescription drugs in America has long since reached epidemic proportions. One of the driving forces behind this mass over-prescription, of course, is Big Pharma. And despite the evidence that certain drugs aren’t always necessary, reports indicate that doctors continue to prescribe them indiscriminately. If that wasn’t bad enough, many people...
(Natural News) There is still this prevailing idea that if a scientific paper has undergone rigorous peer review and been published in a reputable scientific journal that it must be flawless. But one cancer researcher, a professor of molecular oncology with a solid track record of success in her field, has come to the shocking...
(Natural News) In my last two articles, ‘How Globalists Predict Your Behavior’ and ‘How To Predict The Behavior Of Globalists’, I explained the base fundamentals behind a concept with which most people are unfamiliar. They are so unfamiliar with it, in fact, that I didn’t bother to name it. In this article I hope to...
(Natural News) “Can you hear me?” It is a simple question, but police say answering it could make you the victim of a scam. (Article by Misty from Fromthetrenchesworldreport.co) Police in Virginia are now warning about the scam, which has also been recently reported in Florida, and, in 2016, in Pennsylvania. “Anytime you become...
(Natural News) Oklahoma State Senator Ervin Yen continues his crusade to introduce mandatory vaccination legislation for all children in his state, except those exempted for serious medical conditions. For the third year in a row, Yen is seeking to push a bill through the Oklahoma legislature that would remove “non-medical” exemption options for parents. From...
(Natural News) It is no secret that corruption is an industry-wide problem when it comes to pharmaceuticals. But now, it seems that corruption has taken an even more sinister twist. As the number of Americans overdosing on Big Pharma’s golden ticket — the opioid painkiller — continues to increase, it seems that one pharma company...
(Natural News) Due in large part to the incessant lying and deliberate false reporting of the “fakestream” media, the United States of America is now precariously close to descending into armed revolt and a new civil war. While President Trump is doing exactly what’s needed to protect America, root out the deep corruption of the...
(Natural News) If ever there was a more pertinent threat to individual liberty and the God-given freedom of parents to care for their children how they best see fit, it is the entity known as “Child Protective Services” (CPS), which all across the country has ripped apart the lives of thousands of families. But an...
(Natural News) Could a retail giant help give more traction to the movement against pesticides that harm bees? The popular big-box retailer, Costco, has called for their suppliers to limit their use of non-essential pesticides in their products that will be sold in Costco stores. Specifically, the retailer is discouraging the use of neonicotinoids, a...
(Natural News) George Soros has been manipulating economic markets, funding revolutions, and promoting multicultural societies for many years. His billions from investing are strategically placed in hundreds of philanthropic and social engineering non-governmental organizations (NGOs) via his Open Society Foundation (OSF), founded in 1993 and operating in every continent throughout the world. Under the guise of a desire to build “tolerant...
(Natural News) It seems that the French are bidding farewell to free re-fills and saying hello to an over-inflated government. Late last week, it was announced that restaurants in France would be subject to prosecution, should they continue to offer unlimited amounts of sugar-sweetened beverages for free or at a fixed price. The French government...
(Natural News) Google Earth’s technology is allowing people to uncover many mysteries surrounding Antarctica and the South Pole. The Secure Team has put together some videos showing a couple of mysterious pyramids, and they suggest that those pyramids have been visited before. Regardless, a secret history undoubtedly exists in Antarctica. The undocumented second pyramid was...
(Natural News) Amid yells of “PEACE!”, a mob of enraged, mindless left-wing zombies physically attacked a Donald Trump supporter at the PDX airport yesterday. The video below depicts the mayhem and madness that has now gripped the zombified Trump-hating left-wing mobs being openly encouraged by a traitorous, dishonest media run by Soros-funded journo-terrorists. (They even...
(Natural News) As multi-drug resistance continues to spread throughout bacterial populations, we seem inexorably headed toward a future in which antibiotics cease to be of any use whatsoever, experts have warned. Antibiotic resistance is a natural product of bacterial evolution. Throughout their history, many bacteria have evolved some degree of resistance to toxic chemicals in...
(Natural News) After decades of attempts to find a cure for cancer and billions of dollars spent on cancer research, we are still fighting the war on this disease. While heart disease remains the number one killer of Americans, cancer is rapidly catching up. With so much money and time having gone into cancer research, one...
(Natural News) While the lying media is freaking out over President Trump‘s (temporary) travel ban for seven Middle Eastern countries deemed security risks, they didn’t give a damn about Obama bombing them. (Article by Chris Menahan from InformationLiberation.com) Though the media is currently in a tizzy because Trump’s executive order held up around 300 people...
(Natural News) Eighty-seven percent of the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims are not affected by President Donald Trump’s Friday decision to temporarily withhold visas from citizens of seven Middle Eastern countries. Approximately thirteen percent of the world’s Muslims, or 199.4 million out of up to 1.6 billion, live in those seven countries, according to a 2015 Pew...
(Natural News) Most Americans understand that in order to continue maintaining the world’s leading economy, corporations have to be regulated as lightly as possible and allowed to make a profit. But most also understand that there should be limits to both; regulations cannot be so light as to allow corporations to harm people or the...
(Natural News) There are several “fluffers” at CNN and MSNBC that must keep the script exciting upon “delivery” for the people who love fictional news. Some of the top thespians include Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, Erin Burnett, Chris Hayes, and of course, Rachel Maddow. From massaging a fake Russian dossier about Trump to caressing the...
(Natural News) It seems that no matter what McDonald’s does to hang on to its American market share, customers are staying away in droves. McDonald’s Corporation shares were down 0.5 percent after the company’s 2016 fourth-quarter report was released on January 23. Sales were down at U.S. McDonald’s franchises – despite their efforts to boost...
(Natural News) Buzzfeed, a Left-wing entertainment company loves to promote feel-good stories and other such tripe. Their recently published story about how the average American woman is now between a size 16 and 18 is surely indicative of that. Writer Chrissy Mahlmeister proclaims, “A recent study revealed that the average American woman wears a size...
(Natural News) This may come as a shock to anyone stupid enough to still believe the lying left-wing media, but there is no Muslim ban in America. President Trump‘s executive orders, signed last Friday, are only a temporary halting of immigrants and refugees from seven countries with strong ties to international terrorism. None of those...
(Natural News) For decades, cannabis advocates have pushed for universal legalization of medical marijuana. Citing scientific study after scientific study, they have forcefully (and truthfully) argued that legalization would provide much needed relief to millions of people suffering from a host of medical ailments. But the federal government has only responded with continued bans and...
(Natural News) After decades of prohibition, hemp is once again an agricultural commodity in the US. Hemp is a variety of Cannabis that lacks THC, the plant’s psychoactive constituent, so hemp is not used as a recreational drug. Real Farmacy tells us that hemp was first grown in Kentucky in 1775, and that nearly all...
(Natural News) We are edging closer towards the end of the first month of the 2017 legislative session, and we have been busy because your state legislators have been busy. Many new bills have been filed since our last national email update. If you live in one of the following states, there are already vaccine...
(Natural News) This week, a separate content division using my publishing technology is launching several new websites focused on topics of curiosity about the cosmos, consciousness and the unexplained. One of those sites, now live, is called UFOs.news, and it covers topics like ancient astronauts, the search for life on other planets, faster-than-light travel and...
(Natural News) The dairy industry has seen their profits plummet over the last several years. Health-conscious consumers have been ditching calorie-laden beverages in favor of water and other low-calorie alternatives. Even though there have been studies that demonstrate milk offers nutritional benefits, people still aren’t buying as much of it as they used to. And...
(Natural News) An iron deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency in the United States. Up to 30 percent of the world’s population are anemic, mainly due to low levels of iron. Women in their 30’s and 40’s are among those at greatest risk. Iron is an essential mineral which plays a role in many...
(Natural News) Mark Zuckerberg is an evil globalist turd who just sued local Hawaiians so he could confiscate their eight acres of land to add to his 700 acres of beach-front property. He also built a massive wall around his entire estate to keep out the local Hawaiians (yet he’s opposed to building a wall...
(Natural News) Researchers from the University of Exeter Medical School and University of Zaragoza in Spain have uncovered a new way that the community of microorganisms symbiotically living in the human gut may contribute to helping regulate brain chemistry. The remarkable study was published in the journal PLOS ONE. The human gut alone hosts approximately...
(Natural News) Since graphene’s discovery just over a decade ago, scientists have been exploring its remarkable properties and potential uses in a wide range of applications, including that of a superconductor. Superconductivity is the ability of certain materials to enable the flow of an electric current with little or zero resistance. This is usually only...
(Natural News) When children spend more time outside, they are less likely to develop nearsightedness later in life. These are the results of a new European study published in the Dec 1, 2016 issue of JAMA Ophthalmology. Also known as myopia, nearsightedness is when a person struggles to see clearly at a distance. Objects farther...
(Natural News) The number of people killed by the painkiller fentanyl doubled in just a single year, according to a recent report from the FDA and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Fentanyl overdose is believed to be responsible for the accidental death of singer-songwriter Prince in April 2016. For the first...
(Natural News) It’s no secret that cannabis is illegal in the United States; the controversial decision of the DEA to keep marijuana as a schedule I drug in mid-2016 has been much-talked about. And their more recent announcement that cannabis extracts — including CBD extract which has been used medicinally to treat intractible seizures in...
(Natural News) In one of the more absurd acts of fascist behavior imaginable, students at Kellogg Community College in Battle Creek, Michigan were actually arrested for handing out copies of the United States Constitution without first asking the administrators for permission to do so. Unsurprisingly, the students were members of the Young Americans for Liberty chapter of...
(Natural News) Do you get enough potassium in your diet? The overwhelming majority of American citizens fail to get enough of this valuable nutrient on a daily basis. In fact, some estimates indicate that 98 percent of people in the United States aren’t getting enough potassium from the food they eat, thanks to the infamous...
(Natural News) Foods high in saturated fat, such as cheese and cream, may actually improve health and reduce the risk of obesity, heart disease and diabetes, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Bergen, Norway, and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The findings contradict previously held wisdom —...
(Natural News) Facebook has been at odds with both the right and the left for various reasons over the past few months. What began with silencing conservative opinions via their algorithm has led to absolute cyber chaos in nearly every respect. People on the right feel like Facebook is suppressing their voices. People on the...
(Natural News) If you’re an American who is tired of big, fat, inefficient government stealing your liberty and freedom, you’re thrilled that Donald J. Trump was sworn in as President. That’s because all throughout his campaign (and since), he pledged to cut the federal bureaucracy and curb its power. Presumably, that also includes the Drug...
With so much going on ( election, political turmoil, hurricanes), you may have missed the latest in diabetes news this week. Not to worry! We’ve got you covered with the Diabetes Health Weekly Roundup to share the latest news, podcasts …
This crossword puzzle was inspired by this week’s news and podcast reports. Play along with us to test your knowledge and comprehension on topics we post Monday-Friday.
Please click the link below to download this week’s Diabetes …
You know that your credit score is one of the most important bits of financial information about you.
Where you fall on the credit score scale is often considered to be a way of determining what kind of person you are when it comes to managing your money.
Lenders – and plenty of others – use your position on the credit score scale to make decisions about how they will treat you in regard to money matters.
The only problem is that many of us don’t know our credit score.
And when you head to one of those websites to get your “free credit score,” it’s really not free, and it’s not your real credit score, it probably makes you pretty frustrated.
I found this out the hard way when I was trying to find my real FICO® Score.
If you’re just as confused as I was, here’s a quick look at determining your credit score scale.
What is the Credit Score Scale?
When most of us think of credit scoring, we think of FICO® Score, put out by the Fair Isaac Corporation.
This credit score ranges between 300 and 850, with 300 representing the lowest possible credit score.
However, it is important to realize that this is not the only credit score available.
Other companies use variations of FICO’s formula to create their own scores. Additionally, there are companies out there that have created their own credit score scale altogether. However, for the most part, you are likely to run into some version of credit scoring that uses a model similar to the FICO® Score. (Non-FICO® Scores are commonly referred to as FAKO scores, but they can have some use which I’ll explain in a moment.)
The point of the credit score scale is to allow lenders and other financial service providers (like insurance agents) to immediately ascertain whether or not you are a credit risk. If you have a low credit score, then service providers, like cell phone companies – and even a potential employer – might make assumptions that your level of financial responsibility is low, and that you might prove irresponsible in other areas as well. Clearly, lenders view a low credit score as something that increases the chance that they won’t be repaid the money they lend.
Your position on the credit score scale is usually calculated by using a formula that takes into account the following information (and I included how much emphasis your FICO® Score places on each):
35% – Payment history on loans and credit cards
30% – How much of your available credit you are using
15% – Length of your credit history
10% – Recent credit inquiries
10% – The types of debt/credit you have
It is important to realize that, even though lenders see your credit score as a big piece of the puzzle, they may also look at other items – such as your income and your employment history – when making a decision.
FAKO vs. FICO® Scores
Your FICO® Score is the one that everyone wants to know: home mortgage lenders, the car loan officer at your credit union, and even your car insurance company looks at some variation of your FICO® Score. Unfortunately, you have to purchase access to your FICO® Score from myFICO unless you apply for a loan and can get the lender to tell you what your score was.
That having been said, keeping track of your FAKO score can still be beneficial. It won’t be as accurate as the FICO score your lender is looking at, but you can track the ups and downs of your credit score by using a FAKO score. Any significant increases or decreases in that credit score would be an indicator to check things out on your FICO® Score.
The most popular FAKO scores include: VantageScore® (a partnership among all three credit bureaus that scores on a 500 to 900 scale), TransUnion’s TransRisk (scored on a 300 to 850 scale), Equifax’s Score Card (scored on a 280 to 850 scale), and Experian’s Scorex PLUS(SM) (scored on a 360 to 840 scale).
As you can see there are several popular FAKO scores and several credit score ranges. This can lead to a lot of confusion as you try to keep track of your score and determine whether or not you have a good credit score.
What is a Good Credit Score Range?
For the most part, a good FICO® Score depends on the current market conditions. Prior to the financial crisis, a 680 was considered good enough to get a good interest rate on many loans. Now, many lenders want to see a score of at least 720 to offer you the best deal.
Generally, though, a credit score below 600 is considered quite poor. If you score between 650 and 699, you are considered to be in the fair to good range. Some won’t have a problem with you when you have a score of between 620 and 700, but you probably won’t be offered the best terms.
A good credit score can mean more than just a good interest rate on a loan: it can also lead to lower insurance premiums and the ability to qualify to move into a better rental.
A good FAKO credit score varies based on the score you are using. Each score has its own scale which can make comparing it to a FICO® Score challenging. It still holds true that the higher the number, the better your score is. Most of the FAKO credit scores will show you their version of your credit score on a scale in order to show where you fall in the range of poor to excellent credit.
How to Monitor Your Credit Score
So I’ve convinced you that keeping track of this number is important? Great!
I bet you’re thinking: “But wait . . . what exactly is the best way to track my credit?”
Don’t worry. I’m going to make this as easy as possible for you.
Free Resource #1: AnnualCreditReport.com
Getting a copy of your credit report used to be difficult. Now it is easy as a few clicks of your browser thanks to the government. The government forced the three credit bureaus to give consumers access to a free credit report from each bureau once every 365 days through a website called AnnualCreditReport.com.
This is just your credit report. When you log in you won’t be able to see your full credit score. However, this is a great starting point because you can look for errors or unfamiliar accounts that might indicate identity theft.
Note: You get one free report from each bureau every year. You do not – and should not – have to get all three free reports at the same time. The best strategy is to check only one report from one bureau every four months. You can check TransUnion today, Experian in four months, and Equifax in eight months. This gives you a very basic version of credit monitoring. And don’t worry, the bureaus are required to talk to each other if something happens on your report so you’ll have updated information no matter which bureau you are pulling from.
Free Resource #2: Companies That Monitor FAKO Scores for You
With so many popular FAKO credit scores out there, it can be difficult to keep tabs on them. Yet having a snapshot of the ups and down of your credit report – even if it isn’t a FICO® Score that a lender will look at – is a good thing.
My two favorite companies to track my scores are Credit Karma and Credit Sesame. Each company will track a credit score for you absolutely free. Unlike other websites that say they are “free” but hit you with monthly membership fees, Credit Karma and Credit Sesame are both absolutely free. (They make money in other ways like offering you a better deal on your mortgage or credit card.)
Here’s a quick comparison of the two:
They are both free to join.
They both offer a free credit score.
Credit Karma offers access to three different scores: TransUnion’s TransRisk, VantageScore®, and an auto insurer score.
Credit Sesame offers access to Experian’s Scorex PLUS(SM) credit score.
Either company is a great place to start, but Credit Karma seems to have more options. Whichever route you go being able to keep track of the ups and downs of your credit score is a smart financial move. (Or better yet use both services since they are free and track two different versions of your score each month.)
How to Improve Your Credit Score
Okay, if you just checked your credit score and discovered that it stinks, don’t worry . . . there’s hope!
There are a lot of ways you can improve your credit score, and I’m going to show you what works. So don’t freak out. Please.
I would recommend that you make a checklist from this list of tips and systematically check them off as you complete them. Don’t leave anything out. All of these tips may help your situation, so raise your chances of improving your credit score and try them all.
Let’s begin!
1. Get a secured credit card.
A previous intern of mine, Kevin, once had absolutely no clue what his credit score was and had a few lessons to learn.
One of those lessons was that with bad credit, it’s really difficult to get a credit card. In fact, none of the banks he applied with for a credit card allowed him to have one.
But then he got a tip. He was told to get a secured credit card.
A secured credit card has terms that favor the lender much more than the borrower, but the results were astounding.
Kevin, in an article he wrote for GoodFinancialCents.com, explained that secured credit cards are like traditional credit cards, except you have to make a deposit. That deposit is usually the same as your credit limit.
Whoa. Wait a minute. Isn’t that money you can just spend?
No, it’s money that is on deposit should you default on the secured credit card. Now the “secured” part makes sense, doesn’t it?
There are some other details regarding secured credit cards, but for the most part, it’s a great way to build up your credit history – and thus help your credit score.
2. Look at and dispute errors on your credit report.
Remember how I showed you how you can look up your credit report earlier in the article? I showed you because it’s important to regularly check your credit report for errors.
These errors can actually be disputed with the credit bureau, so if you do find an error, take advantage of the opportunity to have them correct it.
Sometimes, it’s these errors that are lowering credit scores, so resolving these errors may lead to a better credit score. However, errors are probably not as common as you might hope if you have a poor credit score, so while it’s good to check for errors, don’t give your hopes up thinking this is the best solution for you.
3. Make your credit payments on time.
This is a huge part of your credit score. Remember, I said above that payment history has to do with 35% of your FICO® Score, so make sure you always pay on time.
How do you do that? Well, there are a couple of techniques.
YouNeedABudget.com believes you should “age your money.” A practical way to do this is to spend this month’s income next month (or spend last month’s income this month, either way).
How can this help you? Well . . . .
If you’ve ever been in the situation where you can’t pay a bill because you didn’t have the money available to you yet (let’s say you get paid on the 15th but the bill comes on the 12th), you can probably immediately see how this will help you.
By having a money buffer (spending your income much later than you receive it) you’ll be able to make your credit payments when they are due.
But there’s another reason why people don’t make their credit payments: they simply forget!
That’s why it’s a good idea to set up a reminder system to ensure you can’t forget about the bills you have to pay. Do you really think you can remember all of those bills? Of course not! Make sure to have a system in place that works for you.
If you still can’t make your credit payments on time, talk with your creditors to see if you can work out a deal. Perhaps you can lower your payments. Perhaps you can change the payment date. Try whatever you reasonably can to work out a deal so you can start paying on time and transition into good standing with the institutions.
4. Keep your credit card balances on the down low. Literally.
If you have a lot of outstanding debt, that can negatively affect your credit score. Besides, it’s pretty stressful anyway!
One way to keep your credit card balances low is to pay off your debt in a timely manner. Don’t rack up credit card debt. Make sure when you spend money with a credit card, you can actually pay it off at the end of your billing cycle.
Are you taking notes? You should be!
Listen, credit card debt – especially credit card debt that has gotten out of control – can feel pretty crushing. If you’re going to use credit cards, use them responsibility (yes, sort of like alcohol).
If you already have a high amount of debt, you’re going to have to start paying it off. There are some online tools designed to help you pay off debt – use them (some of them were already mentioned in this article).
Also, I have a lot of articles regarding getting out of debt. Find a few articles relevant to your situation and make a determined effort to reduce your debt as much as possible.
5. Don’t increase your available credit by opening a bunch of new cards.
You might think to yourself: “You know, if I open up some new cards, I might be able to increase my available credit – thus making what I owe look like peanuts.”
Yeah, it’s a clever idea, but it can actually backfire and lower your credit score. Tricks like these are normally accounted for in the calculation, so thinking that you can fool your way through the system is a bad idea.
6. Be smart and take things slow and steady.
Yeah, there are some pretty fast ways to raise your credit score. But you know what? The best strategy is to just make smart choices and take things slow and steady.
By improving your finances as a whole, and making sure you don’t entirely avoid the use of credit, you can get – and maintain – a great credit score.
You see, you need to approach the problem of your poor credit score from a long-term perspective. You might not have the stellar results that Kevin, my former intern, achieved. That’s okay!
Let’s do a quick review of FICO® Score factors that matter (and how they are weighted) . . . .
Remember that 35% of your FICO® Score depends on your payment history on loans and credit cards. Also recall that 30% of your FICO® Score depends on how much of your available credit you are using.
These make up the majority of the factors. So, as you can see, these are largely linked to behaving properly with credit – paying properly and not maxing out your credit cards (for example).
The length of your credit history (15%) is something you really can’t do anything about (unless you don’t have a credit history yet and need to start one). Recent credit inquiries might be something you can affect going forward, but it’s not a huge part of your FICO® Score (at 10%). And, the types of debt/credit you have counts for a measly 10% as well.
Concluding Thoughts
Where you fall on the credit score scale matters in a few ways.
However, if you have a poor credit score, please don’t let that get you down.
Remember that there is a lot more to financial health than where you land on the credit score scale. While having a good credit score allows you to sign up for more services and get better discounts, it’s not the end of the world if your credit score stinks.
Think about it. You can still buy things. You can still work hard for your money. You can still function in society. While there may be some financial obstacles to overcome with a poor credit score, it’s not going to destroy you.
Let’s highlight two of the key takeaways from this article:
Monitor your credit report and score – This will help you understand how you’re doing with your credit score over time and it will allow you to spot credit report errors so you can correct them (try out Credit Karma or Credit Sesame).
Work to improve your credit score – You don’t have to settle for a poor credit score. Remember to focus on making your payments on time and try out a secured credit card.
By monitoring and improving your credit score, you’ll discover better access to credit. It’s not always an easy road, but it’s worthwhile. Which steps are you going to take today to get on a better path? Take them!