People involving just enough training. It wasnt the scale of 9 11. We thought, look, this is the sort of thing theyll try next to kind of spread the fear. And we didnt see it. Weve been working extremely hard over the years. Not a matter of luck that we havent had on the us soil. It surfaces again the same concerns that weve been having and some things have changed. The logistics for the terrorists their capabilities their reach because of isiss success. And the numbers of people, the sheer numbers of people, particularly from western europe that are going back and forth making those connections, getting sufficient training, and then coming back and being able to mobilize. Neil you know, at least two of the guys have ties back to fbn. Had discussions about yemen. Why does everything always go back to yemen. Theyre based out of yemen. Theyve always been more ambitious and motivated. Theyve had more of a global perspective than other elements of alqaeda, over the years. And aqap has grown as weve talked about into sort of the primary concern when you talk about alqaeda as an organization. But within you know, the bigger problem is really muslim extremism under which falls isis, under which falls aqap under which falls boko haram and the taliban. All this falls under the umbrella of muslim extremism. And were still reluctant. Were still concerned or overly politically correct about attacking this problem from that perspective. Neil and still we remain focusing more on planes than stuff on land. Mike baker, thank you. Its a potent combination for the terrorists taken down in france. Alveda king says its a reminder of what galvanizes them everywhere. More to the point of the eyes of Martin Luther kings niece. Dr. King. Always go good to have you. Its a common theme that frustration and out of the seeds of that and the high unemployment and the frustration grows this kind of stuff. What do we do . Well, you know, my uncle, Martin Luther king always said we must learn to live together as brothers and sisters or perish as fools. Daddy was saying god made everybody of one blood. Were brothers and sisters. All these feuds come when theres disagreements about philosophies. My grandkids neil, they want to punch and fight. And i say use your words. And let the words heal and not destroy. We can get people to talk and not to harm and hurt. And thats what i believe is also important. I do not support terrorism or violence, but sometimes were going to have to find a way to communicate even when we disagree. Neil i was thinking of you. The employment rate came out today. We are down to 16 for africanamerican men. Its soaring in our communities. Neil it is soaring indeed. In that environment impressionable frustrated men can be drawn to isis and isil influence and many an expert far smarter than i have commented on that and connected those dots. Do you . Opportunity is okay. But we need access. You have african africanamerican men with Great Potential and never have the opportunities. No access. Its not fair. I agree with you. Youre the experts. Youre looking at the charts and the money and the economy. But if youre not going to give people equal access, they will become frustrated, and they will be victimized by falling prey to violent tactics. Even the ones who commit the violence are victims of a sort of. Theyre destroying their lives with their anger and frustration. Neil what would your dad and uncle think of groups that act out over drawings they find offensive to muhammad. Knowing how both your dad and uncle freely and often mentioned jesus christ. He gets a lot more bad rap. Muhammad a different take. I wonder whether the world either has to develop a thicker skin or we have to understand what it is that drives them to the degree that theyre driven. Well, my uncle Martin Luther king jr. My daddy, they were really bible scholars. They would take us back through history, two different mothers, same father. Theyre brothers. So fighting over religious wars thats something that could be worked out without the violence and terrorism. People have to realize were all people. And when we are laughing at someones religion or poking fun and saying everyone is going to hell if they dont think like us, we need to know were brothers and sisters. The way is going to be love not condemnation. And we have to be satire has its place. I agree with that. Ive been a victim of satire. You should see of the cartoons. Oh lord. Neil you have thick skin. We had bill donohue, he said without condoning or excusing the violence, he said that some take it too far. That some of these drawings of muhammad and everything were to the point of being pornographic and extreme. We should be free to do what we want but we should give pause. And think about consequences. There are consequences to every action. We should use our words and drawings to heal. I believe we can do that. Neil you might have a future at this preaching thing. Thank you. Neil words to leave by and at least peaceably sleep by. All this same week, we quietly winded down all war operations in afghanistan that ended after 13 years. The longest war in american history. Its true. Overall cut in military spending is now on. Former House Republican leader dick armey says would be a big mistake. It would be a huge mistake by your reckoning. Right . Yes, it is a big mistake. This is a dangerous world in which we live. In addition to that beyond the singular question of the military budget, we need to straighten out our budget and set our priorities and be conforming to the priorities and the mandates of the constitution. So, for example, put it to the american question people. Would you rather increase funding for the marine corps or increase funding for americorps. They will say what the heck is americorps. What do they do . Lets put some discretion into discretionary spending. Use the budget committee. Make it clear. This is the tradeoff were making. Were cutting off things like americorps and the peace corps that have done this country virtually no good whatsoever. And putting it in the defense of our nation, our National Security which is an imperative fort security of our children. What if that military spending is not getting the desired result for all the money blood shed in that region and elsewhere. These nuts are still on the loose in cities like paris. Weve seen what theyve done in london and boston. So how in this new age of terror where its spotty but they pick their spots. We have to reassess how we appropriate that money, dont we . Yes, we do. And these have to be Defense MilitaryStrategic Decisions not political decisions. Virtually all budgetary waste in this country comes from the fact that people substance political objectives for civil objectives. Military security objectives. Let the politicians put their politics aside and focus on the real needs of the country. Evaluate the programs. Ill tell you who had the best budgetary plan for this country was jimmy carter. The democrats crucified him for it and the republicans werent happy about him either. The fact of the matter is we have to prioritize and make trade decisions. Among competing programs and cut out the wasteful inefficient unnecessary and oftentimes, unconstitutional programs and put the focus where we are. Now getting back to National Security in a world thats as bizarre and as cunning and as dangerous as this world we have to reprioritize how we allocate these resources between, for example, discovery defense, intelligence, and then motivation neil just reprioritizing everything. People always forget, we dont have any money. We cant absolutely right. Neil beggars cant be choosers. Thank you. The hostage situation is over. The actual threat is just beginning many people say. Tomorrow im hosting a live cost of freedom on fox ne you covered with kurk. And president bill donohue on the religious fallout. How far do we go with freedom of speech. How do we balance that with the interest of others . Its a special live program. Whats at stake for your money and your life maybe to the very core of this country and all freedomloving democracies. Jeb bush is ready to bring in big bucks. What about us . Troops have got the passion, but it always comes back to the money. Or does it . Mike huckabee next. Neil jeb bush continues to try to make himself look inevitable on a multi Million Dollar blitz. Hes trying to get the 2016 edge by having the 2016 biggest pot of money. Mike huckabee says its not always about the cash. Its the ideas that matter. Governor always a pleasure. The cash does matter. Your last president ial go around, you you had the passion, but you didnt have the money to follow through. Right . Money is a big part of it. We can look back to 2008 when i ran. We had more gallons than anybody, we had a dime to the dollar of guys like romney and mccain. Granted, you have to have more money than i had before if youll have enough money to go on television, answer the attacks that are inevitable. Sure, money is a critical part. You can have all the money in the world. Ultimately, you need something that will connect to the voters. Jeb bush is a terrific candidate. Good close personal friend of mine. I have no doubt that he will be formidable with or without money. In jebs case, hell have money no doubt. Neil how do you get the follow through . Should you choose to run for president , you will have more company on the religious right. Rick santorum would be there. Ted cruz would possibly be there. A host of others who would challenge you for that vote. Do you think that one of has to emerge as that alternative to, lets say, a jeb bush or should mitt romney enter the race. Mitt romney, those type of guys . You know, i think this narrative that i would be the religious candidate really is a narrative that i dont agree with. Neil i meant to say the one to jesus. Yeah, i know. But, you know, heres the thing, of all the people that are talked about running, none of them have been a governor has enough executive experience being a governor as i did. Ten and a half years. And i was governor for ten years, i didnt take the state dome and turn it into a steeple. Or require wednesdays bible night. Neil i thought you had. No. I would do that if i were president at the us capitol. It could use a little god. But the whole idea that the reason that i would run are the kind of president that a guy like me would be, would be to, you know, start every day with a prescribed prayer meeting misses the record that i had leading a state governing, and communicating and connecting with people. And so, you know do i have spiritual convictions . Absolutely. Am i ashamed of them . Absolutely not. But you dont run for president because you want to tell everybody about jesus. You run for president because you want to lead the country. Neil governor, always good seeing you, my friend. Thank you very, very much. Thank you neil. Great to talk to you. Neil we have one of those classic conundrums. More people getting jobs. All thats good. Despite the 5. 6 Unemployment Rate among Young Americans africanamericans its triple that. And now you hear that businesses are closing shop. 60,000 us corporations are shutting down each year and all because they say regulations taxes, you know the drill. To obamas outside advisor, robert wolf on what needs to change. The president s outside advisor. I agree its time for Corporate Tax reform. I think that the politicians want it. The president s want it. The business sector wants it. Neil why dont we get it . You know what, its the fact that hes come out that we should lower it to 28 for corporates. 25 for manufacturings, but we have to broaden the base to lower the rate. It needs to be revenue neutral. The rights would agree as well. We dont want to increase the deficit. The problem is how do you get to revenue neutral . Closing loopholes. Rigged pork. Thats the dilemma. Its a difficult thing to do. Neil do you think well have tax reform . Others on the right have expressed the same interest . I think listen, with congressman ryan and camp theyre bright guys. They know what needs to be done. I dont think youll get individual tax reform. Neil i think youre right. I think you could get Corporate Tax reform. Ideally put it at 20 . Well see where the pork is. Neil theres an idea. But its very difficult. Its why repatriotism is difficult. They score it as a net revenue. How do you bring back money without hitting the deficit. I think itsgh but doable. . with Republican Leaders right now in the house and the senate and the president saying he wants to do it as well neil theres a few months to do it because next year is a lost cause. Right . There are two things that both the president and the republicans are Corporate Tax reform and free trade. There are the only two things in my opinion that can get done in 2016. Neil free trade. Asia free trade. I think at which time the best possibility. Corporate tax reform is needed. Neil do you think Hillary Clinton is reading the same choir book, would she be for the same thing as well. You have to be a pro business president in 2016. Neil you dont think her drive to the left to satisfy the warrens and sanders wont hurt her . I was listening to your good interview with the governor. I heard about jeb. You have to be center right or center left. If you look at the last primary where governor romney was pushed so right. And im a massachusetts guy. I like him. He was pushed so far right. Impossible to run that way. Center. If the secretary runs, she cant be forced to the left where Elizabeth Warren would like. I think well stay more in the center. Neil youre hoping for some kind of Corporate Tax reform in the meantime. Yeah. Trade first. Corporate tax reform is more important and more needed. But i would give it at a 50 50. Trade i would give 51. Unfortunately. Neil no, i hear where youre coming from. Always good. President obama pushing for college. But one of my guests thinks hes pushing the tab on someone else. Who would that be . Neil all right. Well its time for neils spiel. President obama talked up Free Community college as long as kids work for it. Who is ultimately paying for it . Lizzie mcdonald, tracy byrnes. Kaley, the president is saying first two years on us. Work for it. Encourage people into college. The intentions are good. I can see this being way out of control. Way out of control. And heres the problem, neil millennials do not need more education. We have plenty of that. Were the most educated neil i dont know i get resumes from you. That might not be the case. We dont have jobs. 48 of millennials are employed in jobs that are not what they were studying. Theres a dearth of manufacturing jobs. A dearth of people skilled for manufacturing jobs. We need to push people out of education and into other areas. Neil the whole Community College, Community College is inexpensive to begin with, so why make it free . Thats true. Why make it free because its so cheap and its for that lower bracket. Neil in other words, helps the helps the middle bracket. This has to be put into context of how aggressive it is. Bill clinton was the last who had this idea in 96. He was only talked about tax credits for the last two years of college. This is paying for two years. Paying with tax fund for two years of college. It doesnt fix the underlying business of tuition costs going up. Neil this will only encourage that. Theyre Running College campuses with white bling stadiums. This is an underlying problem that we keep giving crap away. The bar is so low. You only need a c plus to maintain this . Thats ridiculous. The the whole 3 down. Where is the accountability . We have 46 people on food stamps. Its getting worst. Neil were getting stupid as a country. That everyone else are going to these fine schools. That were up against. Yet were giving away the farm. The perverted aspects, one the lower income individuals already have pell grants. Theyre already going to Community Colleges. The people this is helping are those living a comfortable life and cant afford to pay that. Number one thats the problem. Number two, it doesnt address the cost of college. Neil yeah, big difference between Community College i dont know why no one else in the media besides fox business is reporting on this. This is so important. These guys are tax exempt. Universities and colleges are tax exempt. If theyll continue to increase in tuition they should get a cut in their taxexempt status somehow. Neil good idea. If we give away the farm, i want as. The best is, the president doesnt even have a plan. We have no idea how much it will cost or where the money will come from. They dont even they dont even know how much it will cost. Thats what i mean. 41 billion, they say. Neil the problem is, were talking about Community College and college and we have john ratzenberger, and people say what about skill sets. People that are gifted mechanics and electricians. Those are real skill sets. 600,000 manufacturing jobs open. There was a lack of skilled workers. Push people into those areas. Instead, everyone has to have a college degree. Thats not the case. Thats a point. Countries like finland in norway they focus on those kinds of electrician and manufacturing jobs because theyre higher paying. But, you know, i think its wellintended, but the outcome will slam taxpayers. Neil my plumber has p pay anything to find a good plumber. Neil thats amazing. An entourage when he shows up. Our terrorists are scaring the funny out of us. Joe here to say, not even close. We better not let that happen. Neil you know you think about this crazy week. All the carnage over a cartoon. Say it saint so. Joe piscopo. A comedy thats come under attack. Were talking satire. Whether youre offended or not, you dont kill people. I think what we did on snl, i was at the forefront of right when lampoon came out. Then it goes to saturday night live. England was ahead of us with monty python. Neil and they had religious types and all. Youre criticizing jesus. Neil, and our hearts go out to everyone in france. My gracious. I remember it was snl, christmastime, Frank Sinatra singing silent night. Neil yeah. Did you ever get threats. People said you went too far . The crew would go silent night. Holy night. Its okay. Round that virgin chick. He grew up to be famous. You know what he did. Now im such a churchgoing guy. Im so religious now. Back then but honestly you can make fun of christians, you can make fun of that. You can make fun of your jewish friends. God forbid you make fun of neil bill donohue said he certainly condone the violence. He said theres such a thing as discretion. Im paraphrasing. Dont go too far when you parody or satire someone. You start policing yourself for fear. He said we hustlerrized it. This newspaper in france went too far. You should be able to to do what you want. Its a free society. Neil its satire. Even in the Koran Muhammad never said blasphemy. These are misguided thugs really. It has nothing to do with ideology. Thats whats upsetting. Neil what about the bill maher types that think this is something that tens of millions agree with it, that they might not vocally say go, go, go, but they agree with this. They think its blasphemy. I cant imagine that. You talked to gabriel as well. You see on the network. And Robert Spencer you had on. And we have him on our show as well. Jihad watch. I cant imagine that. I think these are totally misguided thugs. The question is how do you stop it. You should be able to say what you want. On snl, we were able to do anything. When eddie and i would walk the line. You are blind as a bat. Side by side you were my amigo and negro lets not fight. I would be killed today. The africanamericans neil you were thinking, if you start dialing this back even a little bit its dangerous . It is. You cant you cant. You have to let it go. It should be absolute freedom of expression. Neil heres what will happen in print and broadcast subliminally theyll start dialing it back. I think youre absolutely right. But you cant show fear. You cant show fear. We did it with reckless abandon on snl. Neil you did. You took a lovable character like gumby. We offended everybody. Frank sinatra didnt hate it. He loved it. He called me the vice chairman of the board. He told me i was a wacky kid. He understood. Neil he was cool with kids. Also, im offended by a lot of those religious cartoons. They take shots at christians all the time. But you cant neil you cant start parsing who you offend. No. But youre allowed to behead people and kill christians in the middle east but you cant write a cartoon about somebody. This is so misguided. You need a leader to lay it out and to say what is right and what is wrong. I feel these youth are so misguided. When i look in the eyes of the terrorists, when i go in the inner cities of the United States, you see these kids neil those kids theyre 18. Thirty years old. These young men. Theyre misguided. Neil what are these guys 18. Yeah. Stick to the point. Freedom of expression. And freedom of speech and do not marginalize it. Neil i think sinatra was offended. He just didnt say it. Joe piscopo. Thank you very much. When we come back, when jfk promised to moon walk by the end of the decade. Well, he got it. This guy promising the same for mars. Heres the difference he will take up the tab for the whole thing. Neil all eyes on 2016, not the election, how about the clonization. Billionaire elon musk wants to bring humans to mars. He wants to take the big steps early next year. Former astronaut tom jones. I guess, tom, you would wish him well. He will need a lot of help, but what do you think of it. Im glad someone is Getting Started sooner than later. Nasas problem is to get people in deep space. And its tough with the flat nasa budget. Elon musk says hell start this process up. Put unmanned flights to mars. Then get humans there. Neil weve done the unmanned trip to mars already. Whatever hes doing hell be doing on his own. How realistic is that . That would be a formidable undertaking right. Twenty, 30 years of homework. New propulsion systems. Much more reliable life support. Safeguard astronauts from the radiation. He can attack the launch cost end of it. How to get all this machinery up to space for something affordable. Thats where his innovation can pay off. Neil i think we need a vision again. Whether its a jfk vision. I know that was a born of a cold war, et cetera. We need a vision or goal. Whether its landing on mars i dont know. With spacex to get stuff up to the International Space station what have you, at least we wouldnt be hitching rides with the russian. How soon does that end, that were not dependent on others to just get to space. Again theres no emergency directive from the administration to speed that process up. It looks still to me like 2018 before we start flying humans out of Cape Canaveral out of the space station. Americans in particular. Thats partially elons job. Boeing is competing with him for that contract. I think we do need a directive from our leaders, congress, the president , to say, mars is the firm longterm goal. And in the meantime, we have to start industrializing, building an economy in space to pay for these future missions to get astronauts to visit and colonize mars. Neil what about the moon being a launching point for everything they want to do in space. Their calculation is that the moon is doable. Theyve seen it done by other nations in the past. Its a near enough goal that they they think they can get mileage out of it. Neil been there, done that. Really . But theyre using it as a base. Right . Theyll say, first of all, that they can do it and nobody else can. And that would be true. We dont have that capability. Theres a lot of hope that water on the moon, other metallic resources can be used to establish and sustain an outpost. I think the moon really offers the longterm hope that we can produce rocket fuel there on the moon. And that might lower the cost of getting people way out to deep space. The astros and mars multiply there. There are private Mining Companies that want to do that. Thats promising to industrialize space. Make a profit that might eventually lead to people going to mars. Neil i think you hit on it. It may not be the vision, but the money profit thing. That might drive this. Well watch closely. Happy new year. Thank you very much. Tom jones. All right, from the monkey dance to the fergie dance . Why you should wish your boss were more like this guy. Whats up . Neil all right. In our biz blitz bombers still going ballistic. I think in my opinion a good ballistic. The la clippers owner dancing to fergie. Some are mocking him. Why . You say there are benefits to having fun. Some of these ceos have the personality of an uncooked chicken cutlet. This guy has passion. I would love to work for him. He loves what he does. What did microsoft get . Xbox. Zune. Listen, i love a guy who cheers better than any nba cheerleader. I wouldnt want to stand near him. Look at the wide berth. Neil he does better than the predecessor of the clippers. We say theres a way we should be. He has a long history of getting emotional, which i think is fine. Its infectionuous. Its so refreshing to see someone enjoying life. It was fergie. Come on. I would dance like that for fergie too. Neil exactly. Hes done this at microsoft events too. This is his shtick. Neil why does it work for him and not chris christie. I was just going to say that. Neil and the horizontal stripes too. I deeply admire that. Thats a fashion faux pas. Neil china is already counterfeiting apple iwatch. At a mashable event got one for 27 bucks. Kaley, we must be doing something right in this country. America is the greatest innovator in the world. We embrace the free market. They copy us. China cant do innovation. Neil because theyre too busy murdering our pets. There you go. Neil im sure theres an app for that. The United States needs to realize we are where we are because of the free market system. China is gaining on us. The in your face forgery, were going to come to your event and mimic you and copy you i think thats scary. Neil didnt they have the apple stores that were a complete ripoff. If they dont like this, dont have your products made in china. Neil very good point. I dont think that watch will take off anyway. There are clocks on your cell phones. There are clocks on buildings. That thing, you wont wear it to a wedding. Neil you dont know yet. The mashable reporter said the person he bought it from, she didnt take her glasses off. She was covert. Didnt want anybody to know. Neil what does that mean. They slide them in. Dont want to know you there. Neil what i admire about the chinese, how some can be blatantly deceitful but brag about. They stole the whole everything like 95 neil its really. Stuff like the apple iwatch. Neil its too big admired. They came to your house and did it. Neil on issue three, the Justice Department is now announcing it is jumping in on the redskins trademark dispute. Really . Tracy, im thinking timing is everything. We have the cartoons now and the fuss about that. Now the redskins. Really . Theyre saying if the trademark brings contempt to a race or religion, it is no good. Neil didnt the judge dismiss this. Theyre saying, no, well side with the redskins. Everyone needs to relax a little. Everyone is so uber sensitive to things. No onens how this will play out because this is unprecedented. The Obama Administration only exists if they have victims to play off. This is an example of the Democrat Party trying to create a victim. Meanwhile, you look back in 2004 and 90 of native americans said they had no problem with the term. Its creating a victim. Its not okay. Neil its weird. Were looking at whats happening when People Killed people for cartoons. Were getting fixated on Something Like this. There are bigger things on burners. I totally agree. Took the words out of my mouth. I appreciative the sensitivities to our native americans. They would say Justice Department, get the real bad guys who are murdering people and acting like spree killers. Neil get our priorities straight. Were always on these wedge issues. They poll well. Thats exactly why the president proposed this thing with the colleges today. Native americans. Its all to get people in the voting booths. This is why we need term limits. Neil given the awful year the redskins have had let them go thats a great juxtaposition, a week were commending some of these magazines who have the right to say what they say. That the administration would try to abrogate freedom of speech. Its an odd juxtaposition. Neil its just a matter of time. Fallout from france. Worried about whats next . Wait until you hear what the head of the nasa just said to us. So ally bank really has no hidden fees on savings accounts . Thats right. Its just that im worried about you know hidden things. Ok, whys that . No hidden fees from the bank where no branches equals great rates. Back to that attack in france and whether we should fear one in america. Were getting warnings that one is coming, religious leaders are on high alert. They always say thats them, not us. Well, i really wish that it was just them that this was just the problem of france, but it is a problem for the entire free western world. Theres going to be either these guys former jihadi operatives coming here to do something or could just be more of the wannabes that see this on tv, see it on the internet, and decide theyre going to do their part. You might be onto something here. Isis hacking french websites after the shooting. The head of the nsa telling fbns matt dean isis could be very, very close to hacking us here listen to this. How concerned is the Intelligence Community and nsa and cybercommand that isis will somehow possess the capability of carry out cyberattacks . Im always concerned. We are watching groups youve seen do similar kinds of things in some ways, and i paid great attention to we see the terrorist organizations move along the same lines, something i pay great attention to. Theyre already doing it right now, right . To varying degrees . They are. Isis is much more sophisticated with use of the internet and use of social media than al qaeda ever was. That means theyve got the guys who know how to use this stuff. You dont have to be a nation state to do damage over the internet. What do we do in response to that . We have to be vigilant xerox to cooperate with the authorities. If the fbi calls your company to say it looks like somebody is getting in your stuff. Let them do their job, and we have to be common sense. Sony left itself wide open. You cant do that. Youve got to take those steps but still neil its very, very difficult to protect networks in an open society. You know this idea that isis, isil whatever, they have a very sophisticated way to reach out to disenfranchised, frustrated alienated the youth in various countries in france and england and boston the tsarnaev brothers. Rising economic tide lifts all boat. Focus on a job, fair and balanced economy for everybody, it wont be a problem. It will be much less of a problem, youre absolutely right, and were the example. We have much less of a problem with this than some of our european allies who have much more isolated, insulated immigrant communities. We incorporate people so theres less of them trying to do this stuff. But it doesnt eliminate it completely unfortunately. Steve, thank you very much, he knows what he speaks. Knows more about the stuff whats going on now. Fear that another shoe could drop. The terrorists have warned that tomorrow, this weekend could be signs of more agitation. Remember this thing in paris isnt fully resolved. They want to know how its happened so easily . Special live cost of freedom beginning at 10 00 a. M. Eastern time through noon some of the most powerful players politically, economically. Tomorrow. Kennedy 2014 was a kick in the stones for a lot of people. You, too, gentlemen, you spent money you didnt have basic liberties eroded like sand on a once pristine beach and didnt know whether to hug a cop or high tail it to a protest. In a word, youre hung over. You dont have to go on a tequila soaked fender bender when the prospects of peace and sanity seem grim its worse for you than bloated liver and dehydration after a big alcohol booze fest. From the military and d. C. To your bank account to bulging booty. We will get you in shape from stem to stern, welcome