₦airaland Forum

ChristoBam:
All these attacks on United fans because Ronaldo can't find a way out of the club?

If anyone brings a good offer for him today, he'll be sold and we'll move on. No one's even talking about him and his performance last year. You're the one bringing different sh*ts up.

Are you just annoyed people aren't crying about Ronaldo potentially leaving the club?

Ronaldo is bigger than Man Utd.

This is why the Glazers had to go and carry Sir Alex from his retirement for yesterday’s meeting - begging Ronaldo to stay. Even with his rumored departure, his shirt was the first to be sold out at the megastore.

Commercially, The Glazers need Ronaldo. On the pitch, United haven’t had a prolific forward that could match Ronaldo’s output since RVP. Whichever way you want to shake it, this guy sacrificed his pride to join a sinking ship last season.

hensben:
At the emboldened, that statement is not true, you guys talk ignorantly sometimes due to sentiment and emotion.

Greenwood - 5 PL goals
Rashford - 4 PL goals
Elanga - 2 PL goals
Martial - 1 PL goal

Brainless fans.

Every United player should wash Ronaldo’s jersey, clean his cars, shine his boots, do some of his house chores.

He’s 37 and was by far the best player in the squad last season. What does that say about the dross you people are trusting to compete this season?

ChristoBam:
All these talks like he's got an offer from a UCL club. He's Mr Champions league but no UCL club is really interested in his services now.

They way some of y'all talk you'd think it's prime Ronaldo.

Grandfather Ronaldo outscored Mane, Kane, Vardy, Jota, etc in the worst Man Utd team in 30 years.

You should be ashamed of yourself for this rubbish post.

ovoP:
show me a club that signs 8 players I 1 window.. where are ypu going to get 8 quality players in 1 window, for you to bring in 8 players, you have to sell many players.. You can't do this just to appease a 37 year old.. rebuilding takes time.. in 2 to 4 Windows, the squad will look different..

Pep Guardiola signed 11 players in each of his first two summer transfers at Man City. That’s a club with ambition and direction. 22 players signed within a space of 12 months is making a statement.

Juventus signed about 13 players in one summer in 2017. None of these two clubs make as much as United but like I said United fans actually make excuses for the Glazers. “This is not FIFA or Football Manager, signing 7 players at once is impossible.”

The PL drought would clock 10 years next summer. Maybe United fans will borrow sense before it clocks 30 years.

TrebleChamp:
Finally, someone see it the way i see and have been saying it. Ronaldo didn't ask to leave when season ended, he didn't ask to leave immediately transfer window opened. He only ask to leave months into the window, after seeing United not signing any quality players, which by extension mean lack of ambition...

But you can bet some brainless United fans would make Ronaldo the enemy. Anyone who dares to stand up to the Glazers is automatically made an enemy by the media and the sheep who outsource their brains to the media.

When Mourinho shouted out the football heritage interview - demanding for some standards, United fans made him the enemy that he insulted the club. Rangnick implied the same rhetoric at the end of last season and he was hailed as the best philosopher the club has ever seen.

Ronaldo is the enemy now and some people have already started the Martial FC agenda. A player who couldn’t even start for Sevilla while on loan is being hyped again to score 30 PL goals next season. Few goals in the preseason against hapless teams was what was needed to convince a large section of fans that Martial is ready to win the PL golden boot.

We can blame the Glazers as much as we want but United fans are a bigger problem than the Glazers. They are by far the most useless in the world. Their lack of standards is disgusting. The only player to actually demand some standards at the club after so many years is being made a public enemy.

United’s PL drought would reach 30 years.

It’s inevitable.

andrewbaba44:
He has been betrayed by Man U by dragging the team to Europa league ? Interesting

No club Kuku want am ,so he might be forced to stay

Why can’t Man U allow that man leave ,Man U will always be Man U ,player wey no value the club ,make una Dey lick him ass Dey go as e go Dey rub una face for ground

He dragged the team to Europa league?

Man Utd did not win a single game in the games Ronaldo missed.

Anybody with an IQ higher than 10 knows United would have finished 14th without Ronaldo’s goals last season.

Like I said, he’s been betrayed by Man Utd.

andrewbaba44:
So Ronaldo wants Man U to extend his contract and go on loan to play champions league football then return back to Manchester United hoping they would have qualified for the Champions league the following season ?

Same Ronaldo some people Dey defend here ?

Ronaldo no rate Man U and una self no rate una club

Smh

Why should Ronaldo put up with the lack of standards currently at Man Utd? He’s Mr Champions League. He told Man Utd from the off that he doesn’t want to come here, make huge salary and finish 5th or 6th.

United forfeited an entire season in October when they kept on persisting with the Norwegian fraud. When the results got embarrassing to the point that fans walked out of OT in the middle of a game, they decided to sack Ole and they brought in a replacement.

The replacement asked for some signings to level up, the board refused. Rangnick later said the recruitment this summer should be huge and that maybe 10 new players would be needed. United have only bought 3 or 4 players and 8 players have departed.

If you are Cristiano, does this look to you like an ambition to compete with City or Liverpool? The season hasn’t even started and everyone already knows United cannot win the PL next season. That’s the lack of standards that is pissing Ronaldo off. Man Utd could have made a statement in the transfer market by bringing in at least 8 tier-A players to compete.

Why should Ronaldo waste his final years of his career playing for 5th or 6th? He scored the most goals for the club last season. He won PFA player of the month twice(highest in the country), he scored the most goals against the top 5 teams in the entire division. If the other dross players in the team contributed as much as he did, United would have finished 2nd or 3rd.

I support any decision he makes. He has been betrayed by Man Utd.

BlueRayDick:
I will rather leave u to the fantasy of believing once government doubles down on more taxation for the taxable population all financial problems of the country will be solved and Nigeria will prosper economically , the welfare of current and future security operatives will be taken care of and we will have workable system that will be oiled by the sweat of the tax paying citizens that are “useless” according to u.

You are muddying the waters with this puerile rejoinder. Not once did I say all the financial problems of the country would disappear.

I only said it would go a long way to help the government execute plenty of projects without having to borrow from China.

Secondly, this is when the citizens can also have all the constitutional rights to go after the government for not fulfilling their own side of the deal.

Come to think of it, it would also energize the passive average Nigerian who’s unconcerned with politics to be more interested in where his money goes.

If 40% of the average Nigerian’s salary is taxed and he comes home in the evening without electricity, he would take to the streets to fight the government.

However, the average Nigerian pays next to nothing in taxes. This is why he’s not really bothered if there’s no light or water. He himself knows he’s not done enough to demand constant light - so he spends the remainder of what he should have contributed in taxes to purchase a generator.

Backward mentality.

BlueRayDick:
Is the fact stated by Thisday in the report true or false ? I believe a smart person would check it out before saying stuff like “ u are showing me ThisDayLive as ur source in an intellectual discourse “ just to save face when cornered .

Your theory on more fiscal policies has fallen flat on its face right before ur eyes cos it’s obvious that is not the problem but rather what government spends on recurrent expenditures to pay salaries of unproductive public office holders .

And yes it’s appalling that u keep referring to those already paying their taxes as useless even as u call for more tax burden to be placed on their shoulders . I honestly do hope people like u do not get close to where economic decisions are being made ; at least for the sake of honest and reasonable Nigerians whose sweat and blood has been running the government of this country that’s yet to bring them joy .

You can continue to bask in your fantasy. I deal with facts, not emotions or sentiments. We can both continue to say a pig is pretty when it’s obvious even to the blind that the pig is dirty.

The tax gap for VAT(the difference between the potential and actual VAT revenues) is 71.2% in Nigeria. It means Nigeria is only able to collect about 30% VAT taxes from her citizens.

For corporate income tax, less than 6% of registered taxpayers are active. Nigeria raises less than 1% of GDP in VAT revenue, compared to almost 4% of GDP in the other ECOWAS countries.

If Nigerians cannot outperform people from Togo, Benin and Mali in contributing VAT to the GDP then your assertion concerning politician’s salary makes no sense. The citizens are contributing next to zero in the development of the country. This is why the country is fücked.

Look at South Africa, look at Nigeria(Giant of Africa).

Android17:
They owe him money too and it is easier to negotiate when you have an advantage which he currently does. Until they agree in writing about how they'll pay him the 17M or so owed, he does not have to leave. I am pretty sure he tried to buy Ole's house in Manchester which implies that he is considering playing for your team.

He can forfeit what they owe him. Herrera bought out his contract at Bilbao to join United while De Jong wants to remain stuck with salary issues.

Barcelona owe him and yet they continue to buy players? With which money? Barca will never pay the money they owe De Jong.

BlueRayDick:
lolz….

Here is a link to the full article

https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2019/11/10/paying-political-office-holders-to-promote-poverty

The attached screenshot is practically saying we spend so much on paying useless bogus salaries and allowances of public office holders than we actually do on infrastructures , but here u are saying u don’t give a flying 4ck about that….. All u care about is more taxation. Lmao

Ndi Economics professor . I greet u

You are showing me ThisDayLive as your source to debate me in an intellectual discourse. Please do not disgrace yourself further with this piece of fückery.

What Nigerian politicians spend is drops in an ocean of the revenue that the Nigerian state is capable of. It’s an excuse to be lazy.

Ahmed Lawan’s salary does not stop you from making N2m a month salary in chevron. If you don’t avoid taxes and everyone pays his dues to the GDP, the country would run efficiently.

But you hide under Shina Peller’s salary to be completely useless to the country. The reasons why you aren’t productive is because your personal income has been fused into Shina Peller’s salary.

How does that make sense?

Theflint1:
You're saying so many things you've not bothered to think about. The top 1% of Nigeria have a net worth of less than 30 million Naira. What's the cost of living today, if you're taxing 50% of that lean 30 million net worth, what's left?

I’d like to see a credible article that stated that stat.

Theflint1:
if this was all Tinubu said no one would laugh na, of course, we need more bodies in our armed forces, just not 50 million which was why people laughed.

70m should be in the army or other law enforcement agencies.

There are way too many unproductive youths in Nigeria - doing nothing and they become easy pickings for terrorist clerics to manipulate.

BlueRayDick:
I find this post quite distasteful and unnecessary, but for the sake of other people reading this I will choose not not to be be offended by this .

Back to the discussion , I clearly stated the so called “more taxation” u are calling for will never work, why ? Because those paying taxes have a feeling they are practically paying to experience failure in governance over and over again.

Attached to this post is an exposé by Thisday Newspapers on how Nigerians practically pay political office holders to promote poverty.

Like , does it make sense to you that 90 million Nigerians live on less than 1.9 USD daily while 469 legislooters pocket 1,357 USD per day ? Yet u say more taxation is the way to go . Like I said , this is not an academic discourse we are talking real life situations here . U can talk about % of tax contributions to GDP from the pages of ur textbook all day, but how u want to rationalize further taxing an already impoverished population is what I would like to see u explain .

I pay tax in Lagos state and I know for certain I’ve not enjoyed the benefits of the tax I pay that would encourage me to ever support increment in my tax rate . I don’t drive on good roads like one would expect , I don’t use government water ( the staff of water corporation practically collect free salary if u ask me ) , I even face politicians and their aides with escorts trying to bully me off the road even when they are driving against traffic in vehicles bought with my tax.

You have to make this make sense Abeg.

I don’t particularly give a flying fück about how much Nigerian politicians make. How many people make up Nigerian politicians. Are they up to 10,000 people nationwide?

I don’t think you have a grasp of what is being discussed here. How can Togo, Niger, Rwanda, etc have more tax contributions to their GDP than Nigeria(the “phantom” giant of Africa)?? Giants of uselessness!!!

Even if Nigerian politicians are making N50 billion a month, double their taxes and put the proceeds into infrastructure, job creation, good roads and sort the epileptic power supply.

There’s what we call progressive tax in the UK/USA. Put the top 1% earners in Nigeria on 50% tax. Premier League footballers in the UK are taxed that much and it’s one of the reasons their government can effectively run a country.

This idea of blaming the entire uselessness of a nation on the salaries of the politician is why the country is stuck in excreta. The average useless youth in Nigeria who wouldn’t even flourish in a developed country quickly blames a Senator’s salary as the reasons why he’s unproductive.

It’s such a pedestrian excuse.

raumdeuter:
That was why people laughing at Tinubus recruiting massively into the army are very funny

Nigeria has insecurity problems, we also have unemployment problem. Recruiting 50K willing youths into the army first takes away the source of recruitment for criminals, Then these people will in turn secure the country, Like I asked, If Nigerian youths are not ready to secure the country should we ask Tanzanian or Egyptian youths that will secure the country?
Tinubu said, remove the high barrier to enter the military and let us increase our army by 25%

What will they eat? That is simple agbado cassava food items that grow easily everywhere in Nigeria

These are realistic solutions to the problem at hand

Tinubu is the best candidate on offer.

Obi is a fantasist. He has no practical solutions or the objectivity to deal with the complexity of Nigeria. His best solution to solving Nigeria’s electricity problem is to visit Egypt that are almost completely submerged in debt.

Atiku’s desperation makes him unlikeable. This is his 6th attempt and as a former VP to the parasitic Obasanjo’s regime, I really don’t think he’s got any fresh ideas to offer. Atiku goes to Dubai to chill for 3 years and then resurface in the country to run for primaries. As soon as he loses the general elections, he would disappear again only to resurface after 3 years.

Oasis007:


FDJ get strong head sha. Xavi don follow you talk for secret say he no want you. He humiliated you at a Presser that you gonna be a good cover for CB position, yet you are adamant to leave?

He doesn’t want to play in Europa.

The Europa league that was forced on United fans by that Norwegian fraud.

BlueRayDick:
I don’t think u have a full grasp of what is the issue here . This is not Eco 102( Intro to Macroeconomics) , we are talking real live scenarios here.

U talk about double tax on the rich but it’s already happening maybe u don’t know . If u want to buy a a rolls Royce of 100m now , be rest assured u will pay imports duty of N70m which puts the cost price of the vehicle at N170m cos luxury vehicles are cleared at the customs for 70% of the value of such item. (That’s why u see people like Davido lamenting when they have their luxury vehicles shipped down here ) .

Places like Lagos, homeowners are already used to paying land use charge which the government collects directly . Even rich folks who own large companies pay corporate income tax like they ought to with FIRS always shinning touch for every corner. I don’t know about this more taxation u are talking about.

What I think u should be clamoring for is reduction in government spendings on political office holders . Mudashiru Obasa the speaker of Lagos state house of assembly practically collected money to go for a programme in Turkey along with six members of the house ; only for him to go to the country with a lawmaker to buy furniture with that money

Our politicians have tens of SUV’s in their convoy bought with tax payers money carrying practically nobody ….. Our lawmakers get paid ridiculous amounts as allowances yet they’ve not been able to delibrate on issues and come up with legislations that will move the country forward.

If any Nigerian government follows this ur advice of more taxation in light of this current economic realities , the government will not only have increase in crime rate to deal with, but a possible revolution that will take the survival of the country with it .

Data reveals your countrymen’s tax contributions to their GDP is only 6% - the lowest in Africa.

You can twist it, turn it, twirl that information anyhow you like, the fact reveals your countrymen are largely irresponsible.

OECD(EU) countries make 34% tax contributions to their GDP, LAC(Latin America/Caribbean) countries make 23.1% tax contributions to their GDP.

Your country is a pathetic 6% and you are blaming the government for taxing people too much already. What that tells me is that - about 85% of the Nigerian population are useless and unproductive.

How then do you expect the government to execute big projects, build good roads, invest in infrastructure, et cetera? Where should they get the money from? Should the CBN print money to bridge the gap of the useless people in Nigeria or what do you suggest?

It’s funny to me how Nigerian citizens can admire and love how things run in developed countries but they avoid the responsibility that the citizens of developed countries undertake. The world bank’s threshold is 15% and yet Nigeria(with 200m population) are way short of the minimum to eradicate poverty.

Nigeria is fücked!

ovoP:
same glazers that spent on maguire pogba etc.. they are not spending their money, they spend d clubs money.. so we have to spend wisely..

Lamptey is too injury prone, and his crossing is very average ... varane should be our best defender but never available.. sangare is in the same boat with Fred and McTom in terms of type of midfielders...


Like eth said, he doesn't just want to bring players, but the right players

The club’s money that doesn’t get spent is converted to dividends that buy yachts and helicopters for the Glazer kids.

They spent money on Maguire and Pogba and so what? The club makes £600m every year. So what’s the big deal in spending on Pogba or Maguire?

Pep has replaced every player in his squad bar De Bruyne. He arrived in the summer of 2016.

Do you know how many players United still have in their squad that was here before the summer of 2016?

That’s the difference in the ambition of both clubs.

BlueRayDick:
lolz ….I put it to u my friend that u don’t know what u are talking about .

So in order for u to feed millions of youth to be conscripted into the army u will have FIRS increase VAT, double the number of tax payers.

How ? Like how do u double number of tax payers when more and more people are getting out of jobs due to companies folding up , high operational and overhead costs which reduces the income of businesses and thereby affects the amount payable as tax ?

We are not talking theories written in textbooks here, we are talking practical realities we see almost everyday . Like some people practically rely on friends and relatives to feed now; people who used to earn decent living before now . How does FIRS want to increase the number of tax payers when such people increase in number almost everyday ?

Double the tax on the rich folks
Tax the artisans.
Raise enforcers in the villages - Tax everyone.

Nigeria has the lowest tax-to-GDP rate in Africa. The people from Togo, Ghana, Rwanda, Niger, Congo pay more tax contributions to their GDP than Nigerians.

The world bank actually said the minimum tax-to-GDP rate to eradicate poverty should be 15%. In Nigeria, it is like 6%. Meanwhile, the developed countries you people love to admire from a distance contribute a whooping 34% in taxes alone to their total GDP.

Yet, you want to eradicate poverty cos the money would fall from heaven like manna. Una never ready. Keep building castles in the air thinking the government would manufacture money like magic to sort the myriad of problems in Nigeria.

The problem of Nigeria is basically Nigerians.

Theflint1:
All of this won't still arm, feed and provide equipment for a 50 million-strong army. Tinubu goofed with that statement, he knows that and his team came out to say it was a slip of tongue.

It will more than feed & equip the army.

Nigeria currently falls short in the amount of taxes the government should be collecting. The amount is about $48 billion short every year.

If the FIRS gets his act together and level up, triple the current VAT rate, they should be able to feed the obscene number of jobless youths drafted into the military.

But then, Nigerians aren’t ready for this level of discourse. It’s above their pay grade.

BlueRayDick:
Can the government feed them ? The government could not even feed poor and vulnerable Nigerians for a month during COVID-19, yet u talk of the government feeding millions of youth forcefully conscripted into the army for 3 years max…..

Those currently in the army don’t even get paid well, they have to wear their uniforms to save transport fare in places like Lagos just to survive the current economic realities . Go to places like Mile 2, iyana iba, orile , festac side etc …. Most of the commercial bike men there are military and security officers using their bikes as side hustle just to survive with their families .

Where Government wan take see money take care of the soldiers welfare ?

There are various ways the government can raise money to feed them. Energize the FIRS to double the current number of tax payers, raise the tax rates as well or increase VAT.

Nigeria’s VAT rate is currently 7.5%. It was recently increased from 5% to 7.5%. For a country trying to eradicate poverty, it’s way too small. For instance, UK’s VAT rate is 20% - and that’s a developed country who has forgotten about poverty for donkey years.

Mikechinos:
Lamptey is too injury prone in my own opinion.
Sangare isn't someone that we need going forward. Watched his highlights he doesn't have what it takes just little above mctominay. We should be getting Fabian ruiz he's almost as good as FDJ.
As for Antony I have nothing to say considering the price being quoated he's overated

Lamptey is better than all the options we have got.

Sangare is the closest player in style to FDJ in Europe. He’s one of the best midfielders around. Just have him at the base of that midfield and watch him go.

Antony’s price tag shouldn’t be our headache. The more money we get from the Glazers going to player transfer, the better for me. They are the stingiest owners around so I don’t care how much they lose in transfer fees. My concern is squad investment.

onyemaair:
The policy itself which he flaunted was a very terrible one. No reasonable human being would hear that proposal and not scream.

"Recruit 50 million youths into the army, what they will eat, agbado, corn, yam in the morning".
The sheer stupidity of the statement is obvious.

First of all, you can't have a 50 million man army. It has never happened. It can never happen. The small army you already have is grossly unequipped and you want to add 50 million to that number. You want to send your workforce to their deaths and feed them only staple meals which lack the balanced diet. So you illequip them and underfeed them.

Such a shameless ancestor that should be in a retirement home.

So what are you going to do to the jobless 50 million youths in Nigeria? The job market cannot absorb them because there’s no vacancy anywhere. Nigerian universities produce more graduates than available jobs.

Russia has a compulsory military service for every male between ages 18-27. I think such programs should be introduced in Nigeria between ages 18-33 for 3 years.

We cannot just have an unproductive number of youths in the millions doing nothing. I would rather have them in the army fighting bandits than walking around aimlessly in Lagos.

Mikechinos:
Manutd should sign jeremie frimpong. He's a RB and pretty good. Too he's better than dalot imo

RB - Tariq Lamptey
DM - Ibrahim Sangare
RW - Antony

raumdeuter:
Realistically we cannot get a military regime and that comes with its own problems of human right abuses and nowadays in the day of Twitter and Social Media you cannot get away with. Military works when you have a media blackout where you can do anyhow. Ordinary serving BokoHaram terrorists wotowoto alone will have amnesty intl calling you

We have to work within the current structures of democracy and see what little progress you can make

In that case, we shall never have the progress we all seek. This whole idea that Nigeria will turn to Abu Dhabi once you replace the head of the executive arm of the government is a fantasy.

Democracy can never work in Nigeria, we are only postponing evil days. The issue here is simple. A father of obedient kids would use his cane fewer times than a father of stubborn kids. Now put that exponentially over 200m people and you would get the idea of the complexity of Nigeria.

Nigeria is a nation of stubborn/corrupt people. Without the cane(brutality, making example of people, dire consequences for bad behavior, etc), the people will not change. This is why the Buhari regime of ‘84 was able to bring about massive changes and reforms than what we can ever get now.

raumdeuter:
Below was what I wrote to this Buhari isue

Buhari we saw earlier in Nigeria is the one who ruled by command and fiats. Do this and that and everyone will obey. This Buhari does not have what it takes

Buhari's solution to everything is ban ban ban

You cannot rule Nigeria successfully without an iron fist and this is why only the Military can get this country back on track, set the foundations, set the structures and Democracy can take over from there.

Nigerians as people are the most unruly, the most corrupted, the most dishonest people in the world. Without an iron fist, you are just putting water in the basket.

Just look at the day to day micro-transactions in Nigeria and you get the idea that these army of crooks cannot be managed without infringing on people’s human rights.

Expert17:
Lol, I don't have any business with Shaw and Maguire.

I feel Mourinho and OLe played Rashford to the ground, he was playing with injury most times.

Rashford is a shyte player who only had pace to burn his markers. The pace is starting to leave him and he’s being exposed now as a headless chicken.

In terms of actual talent, Martial is head and shoulders above but the Frenchman is one of the laziest professional footballers that has ever graced the game.

He should have been sold instead of Lingard. His MBE is what is keeping him at the club. Pep would have got rid but these yes men at United don’t have the balls to send him to Sheffield Wednesday.

Expert17:
Lol, In-form Rashford will replace Campbell.

Sancho of Dortmund or United? He hasn't done anything at Old Trafford.

But Maguire, Shaw, Rashford, etc have done wonders at United?

Expert17:
De GEA, Bruno, Varane and in form Rashford will make the bench.

Rashford will make which bench?

Rashford has been gash for 3 years straight. Apart from Sancho, the English players at United should all be on the bench.

They have zero talents.

patrickmuf:
I will never forget the #OleOut days...You were one of the strongest men in our camp...

CapitalCee, nitrogen, TrebleChamp, nani667, Joezinho, LostMyZeal and co...What a gang we had...

I am hearing rumors that NFF are about to hire Ole.

elampiro:
The coach you signed for us ruined the club. I have never seen such a 'tacticaless' coach before. Gengen pressing

He didn’t ruin the club.

The English mafia in the team went to report him to the Glazers that the pressing system he implemented would cause them short/long term injuries.

The Glazers took the players side. After that first game, the gengenpressing stopped and the dressing room was divided.

Maguire led the English faction, Ronaldo(who was appalled at the low level standard tolerated by the Glazers) led the foreign players faction.

What could Rangnick have done? The owners simply gave up the entire season because liabilities like Maguire and Shaw couldn’t be bothered to implement high intensity games.

elampiro:
The comments I have been reading here since yesterday night are surprising. Everyone blames the players when we are playing the most disjointed football in the history of Manchester United.

No one says anymore that the coach is unable to organise his team. Terrible how blame has shifted from the coach to the players.

Wait, where is Illimitable?

I am right here…..

I am fully refreshed, polished and I am back for few months of madness.