Podcasts about Andaman Sea

Tadifi's legendBook 3 in 18 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.Meanwhile, Elsa was quietly amused. It wasn't like I could request the SD to force my House Guard to not do something they had been told to do by someone in my hierarchy. That would lead to chaos, and it was unfair to Juanita."Fine," I decided. "Get us three some water. Elsa and I will be practicing."Now Juanita was stuck. I wasn't asking her to leave the room, just leave me alone. I was technically her leader, respect notwithstanding."It is good to see you have not become drunk with power," Elsa smirked once Juanita had left on her errand."Your mockery is unappreciated," I glared back. I was only kidding. "I haven't seen you around recently. It is good to see you.""It is good to see you too," Elsa said in a voice far softer and compassionate than I would have preferred. After all, she had me drugged, beaten, then beaten me up again in the not so distant past.Of course, I had also sexed her up, bringing her to orgasm with my fingers alone. We had also exchanged a burning French kiss in Katrina's office that Buffy was aware of. Then there was the Buffy-Elsa personal feud and the Elsa-Rhada family feud. Balancing that was Elsa's super-hot body and intriguing personality. Sex with her promised to be memorable, more memorable than normal."What have you been up to? I'd like to say I've been behaving myself, but I don't want to advance our relationship by lying (right now, about this).""You are largely responsible for what I've been up to the past two weeks," she stepped back. She tossed her spear aside and entered her fighting stance. How nice of her to warn me, and get rid of her weapon. How erotically odd of her to give me the illusion of a chance."I deny everything," I rocked back. She was blindingly fast. The fact that I was able to block most of the blow was a testament to how much I had learned in the past two and a half months."Watashi wa nihongo o hanashimasu', 'Wǒ shuō pǔtōnghu ', 'Wǒ shuō guǎngdōng hu ' and 'Aku isa basa jawa'," she lectured me as she maneuvered me into a corner with a series of kicks and feints. She spoke Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese and Javanese. That was nice to know."Wait," then she kicked me off the mat."Amazons don't have a 'time out'," she smiled. I cautiously worked my way back onto the practice area."What part did you play?" I readied myself. This time, I went on the offensive. I used my greater strength and reach to compensate (rather poorly) for her superior reflexes."Someone had to ride herd on those disparate forces. My status was respected by the Amazons, I had experience dealing with outsiders, plus your person Addison nominated me, and Katrina suggested that you and I were close. That was enough for the Khanate. Your embassy and earlier aid to the Seven Families brought the 9 Clans along.""And you stole the carrier?""It was an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to humiliate the Seven Pillars," she grinned. "Riding in a nuclear submarine was interesting, right up there with running around, spray painting translations next to all the markings onboard the captured vessel. Herding regular civilians wasn't nearly as much fun.""In the annals of the SD, that is going to be a victory hard to surpass," I got out right before my legs were swept out from under me. Before I could roll over, she landed on top of me. She didn't go for a pin. Elsa simply sat there, straddling my hips and looking down at me. We were both breathing heavily."I owe you for that," she patted me on my bare chest."Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?""I'll let you figure that out during the Great Hunt," she gave a sliver of a smile."Not you too," I groaned."Who else are you worried about?""You and twenty-nine other Amazons. By name, Rachel. She's pretty upbeat about her chances and believes she has a score to settle.""Rachel will be a tough one," Elsa acknowledged."Comfortable?" Juanita muttered."Yes, I am," Elsa grinned her way. "Thank you for asking." Juanita gave me a look that suggested I do something like protest, or actually try to fight her off."Why are you being nice to me?" I wondered."I've learned to appreciate your numerous qualities," Elsa enlightened me. "I am also honest enough to admit I was completely wrong about you. You make a good Amazon." That was huge praise indeed and more importantly, it was to a public audience. I was double fortunate that no one was close enough to see Elsa's camel toe resting against my lightly covered hard-on."Thank you. Is there anything I can do for you?""Aren't you engaged to someone?" Juanita reminded me. What she was really saying was 'don't you know you belong to the maidens of House Ishara?' Trust me, I know these things. Had she meant Hana, she would have said Hana."She has the patience of Job," I reasoned. "Oh, Elsa, Job is a figure in the Old Testament of the Bible." I doubted she knew."Oh. Is he a bloody-handed butcher, raging misogynist, or one of those pacifistic wimps?""He's a nice guy who gets swallowed by a whale.""That's Jonah," Juanita corrected me. "Job is the one who was tested by God. Job accepted God taking away all his family, wealth and health, only to be rewarded for his loyalty to God with more than he ever had before.""Wimp.""I would never turn away from Ishara," Juanita rumbled."Zorja would never feel the need to test my loyalty so," Elsa riposted."Oh look," I thrust my hips up. "I seem to need a shower." Elsa's expression was of superiority and lust combined into a lethal cocktail of my demise."Let's go. You can wash my back," she said as she rose over me. She even offered me a hand up. That was unexpected and accepted warily."Is there some battle wound that makes you incapable of bathing yourself?" Juanita got feisty. Holy Hell, she was my Caribbean Buffy-twin."None," Elsa smugly commented. "I like the feel of his hands on my body. He possesses non-threatening masculinity wed with sisterly solidarity. It is a unique experience that you seem woefully unaware of.""Yippee!" I whispered."You really are a man-whore," Juanita declared under her breath."Check," I gave her a thumbs-up. Sadly, Elsa gave me enough respect to walk at my side, not in front of me (so I could have been mesmerized by her buttocks.) As I was stripping down in the locker room, I noticed Juanita hovering close by. "Are you going to follow me into the shower?""Yes.""Why? I am not going to be in danger in the middle of Havenstone.""I'll be the judge of that," she insisted."You do realize I've had sex with an audience before, don't you?""I've been warned about that and know proper counter-measures.""What? What kind of measures?" I was now naked and, towel in hand, was making my way to the communal showers."Charlie horses, trips, stun-gun if applicable," she informed me with relish."You are threatening to damage my prestige," I enlightened her."Cáel, I was chosen for more than my martial skills. I was selected because I will not wilt before your childish ways.""Are you a lesbian?""No. Why would a woman have to be a lesbian to withstand your wiles?""You'll figure it out eventually," I chuckled. Actually, knowing what a playboy-cad I was turned out to be a counter-intuitive edge for me. Expecting me to be a letch just meant I totally ignored the woman. Then the doubt would set in. 'Why wasn't I hitting on her?' she would think. She'd go through the phase of her not being good enough for me to knowing that wasn't the case, definitely, and would come at me to prove herself right. Wham-bam, another one in the can. Oink.Step One: reduce the amount of time talking to her as a fellow human traveler of life. From here on out, I would address her by her name when I wanted something and otherwise treat her like furniture ~ furniture I was comfortable with. In this case, I treated her like a towel rack. She promptly dropped it. That was okay, I was planning to get dressed wet anyway.I rinsed off my hair quickly as Elsa settled underneath the showerhead beside me. As soon as I finished, she handled me a bottle of (scentless) body soap. It was probably one of those the jaguar will smell me coming ten miles away excuses Amazons used to avoid being girlie. I got my hands all sudsy and began working on her shoulders and neck from behind.Wordlessly, Elsa followed my physical directions, allowing me to wash her arms before working my way down her back in languid, amorous circles. Around the 10th thoracic vertebrae, Elsa gave me a deep, cleansing exhalation. I dug my fingers into her taut back muscles, racking them down to her buttocks, deftly ran them along the sides of her glutes and finished up caressing them along the line between her thighs and ass.I worked her buttocks apart, worked my fingers along her perineum, tickling the back of her labia then up, across her anus and back to her tailbone and the small of her back. A crazy idea came to me: maybe I could talk her into a tramp stamp; something like If you are reading this, know I'll kill you next. That would be so Elsa.I lathered her ass up for another half-minute before working my way down to her thighs, starting with the hip joints and then coaxing of her parted lips. I knelt down so that I was resting on the balls of my feet. Elsa obliged me by parting her legs, standing on her toes with her feet over a foot apart, then placing her hands against the shower stall while arching her back so that her hips were thrust back."Oh, come on," Juanita protested. "What kind of bath is this?""Did you hear something?" Elsa looked down at me."Nope. I was focusing all of my attention on you," I smiled up at her. I was really liking the way her muscles were stressed through her exertions. I couldn't seem to pay enough attention to her robust calves. I didn't pass up the opportunity to plant gentle kisses on each cheek either.Elsa's ankles and feet happened all too fast and the pretense of a bath was complete. She looked at me while she soaped up her breasts then let the water cascade all over her body."Thank you, Cáel," she gave me a regal nod of her damp head, turned and left. "Train harder for the Hunt. You are going to need every edge you can get.""I'm stalking oysters over the weekend. They are cunning and stealthy adversaries," I replied sagely. Elsa snorted, then started toweling off as she left, going toward her own locker. I walked past my soaked towel on the floor without a single glance. Juanita stalked behind me, clearly with a lot on her mind she was now waiting for the proper moment to share. I got dressed."Not going to dry off?" she grumbled."I never use towels," I lied. "I like the rain-washed feel." By ignoring her act of defiance, I really steamed her. I wasn't done. As we headed toward the elevator, I opened up with my next jibe. Buffy really shouldn't challenge me so. I'm a past-master of dealing with clingy, bossy women."Regretting you made that bet?" I mused while we waited."What bet?" she simmered."The bet where you assured Buffy and whomever else was in the room that you wouldn't break down and physically harm me ~ punishing me for my wicked ways?""What? How did," she groused then, "You are playing me.""Yep.""You really are full of yourself," she seared me with her gaze."No, but I know what I'm good at and I'm good at frustrating women. I've been working at it for the past four years and I've got over 200 women who would agree that I'm very good at doing it.""Why are you doing this to me? I'm on your side," she turned all pouty and hurtful."Because if I don't, I'll go mad, Juanita," I enlightened her. "You want to protect me, right?""Yes," she sensed a verbal trap. The elevator opened and we stepped in."See, I don't want to be protected," I started."That's,""Let me finish, please," I stopped her. She gave me the visual 'go-ahead'. "I don't want to live a life where I need to be protected. I don't want to worry that women I hang out with could be cornered by some unsavory types at an eatery because those women happen to know and like me.""I admire what you are doing, I really do. This is not the life I wanted, though. This is not what I wanted to be doing four months after leaving college. I wanted to be some corporate worm, barely scraping by on my work reviews and being, as you said, 'a man-whore'.""You don't have that luxury," she pointed out."Am I not doing my job?" I countered."I guess you are," she grudgingly admitted."Yet you feel you have the right to critique my personal life and how I approach it," I related. "I'm not beating you up by playing the I am Ishara bullshit. I certainly don't expect anyone to be grateful to me for the opportunity to be in a House. I don't because I believe that every member of House Ishara has already proven they belong here before I ever meet them. I believe in you. Sometimes I would appreciate it if my sisters would give me the same respect."She looked away because my harpoon had struck home."Unlike the rest of you, I inherited my place in this madhouse. Unlike every other Amazon here, I am only a part of House Ishara because I am the choice of a thousand ancestors to be our leader. Notice that no one asked me if I wanted to do this. And I don't think I ask too much of you because frankly, there are times when I feel unworthy to be in your company.""You are still Ishara and I must still be your guardian," she held her ground. I glared at her. She glared back. I coughed. She kept glaring."What's my name?""Oh," she shrugged. "Cáel Wakko Ishara.""That may sound silly you to, but I have chosen the designations for myself, my First Ancestor and the Goddess for a good reason."We rode in silence. When we got to the ground floor, we made our way to our bikes and got ready to head home."What is the reason?""To never take ourselves too seriously. The worst thing I can think to befall my House is we become as humorless as the rest of the bitches around here. 'Laugh at Death' should be our motto.""Isn't that a bit childish?""Of course it is," I groaned. "You clearly haven't been paying attention to a damn thing I've been saying. I swear I'm thinking about bringing back 'National Clown Nose Day'.""We had a 'National Clown Nose Day'?" she pedaled to keep up."God help me," I muttered.(Where is my Serge?)"You are not going to let me go through my door first?" I sighed in exasperation. Juanita insisted that she go through every door first, because today was so very different than yesterday, when I had Pamela, perhaps I protest too much."You have a gun," a somewhat familiar voice said from inside my/Timothy's apartment. Oh, fuck. Ya know, because Juanita was as pretty as she was lethal, which is to say 'too much for the given company'."Don't make any sudden moves unless you want to see it," Juanita cautioned her."Oh, it's okay," Odette intervened. "This is Anais Saint-Armour. She's a Mountie.""Oh, she's on the List too," Juanita grumbled. "What has he done wrong this time?""Why don't you tell me who you are first?" Anais growled at Juanita while I pushed my way into the room."I don't like your attitude," Juanita glared."Anais, this is Juanita Leya Antonio Garza; she's my latest bodyguard. Juanita, this is Anais, a good friend of mine who helped save my life in Hungary when the 'terrorists' were closing in," I somewhat exaggerated,, she had helped me catch up with the rest of the team when Pamela and I got sidetracked."Why did he chose you?" Anais fumed. Did I mention she's insanely jealous with an aching need to know why I was marrying anyone else, but her."What list?" Odette proved to be on the ball."He didn't chose me. I volunteered for the spot.""Buffy made an anti-girlfriend list. Elsa is on it too," I mumbled."I bet you did," Anais (responding to Juanita)."It is not like that," I moved to interpose myself between my Mountie and my non-mounted (for now) guardian. "I'm on the board of directors for Havenstone now and,""How did that happen?" Anais turned 'The Force' on me. (That's Canadian for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, really) "You insisted (reference back in the days we were seeing one another) you were impoverished.""I inherited it from my Father,""He's poor too. I ran a background check when we first started dating," Anais kept up the pressure."My Mother?""She's dead.""Okay, it was my Father through a convoluted meandering of genetics," I went back to attempting the truth (shame on me)."Which is it?" she glowered."My Father, but it's too complicated to get into now," I tried to touch her. She recoiled. She was still pissed with me."He's telling the truth this time," Odette rose to my defense."Why didn't you tell me this when you were in Hungary? For that matter, if you are rich, why didn't you use those resources to get yourself out of trouble instead of involving me?" She really was a great cop."I had to make a call to someone I trusted and who couldn't be traced back to me, or Havenstone, or the Irish Embassy," I fibbed."What have you gotten yourself into?" Anais thawed somewhat."I believe I promised you dinner," I reminded her."You did.""Where are we going?" Juanita stressed our lack of privacy."'We' aren't going anywhere. Ms. Anais Saint-Armour and I are going to a restaurant of her choosing. Don't worry about it. She carries a gun.""I'm not carrying a gun," Anais torpedoed my plan."Where are we going?" Juanita repeated herself. I had to switch mental gears quickly to take in the new looks I was getting from Anais. I shouldn't have ignored those cues."I can't get around my personal security service," I sighed. Why did I give in? Anais was all about gathering evidence and then drawing conclusions from the facts in available.I had been involved in some significant bad-assery in Europe that was way beyond anything she would have associated with the old me. Terrorist cells duking it out with me (and others) in a Budapest metro station? A rustic inn being reduced to ashes after a suspected firefight? Bomb threats? A full-scale military operation in Romania?I had been kidnapped with a resultant massive manhunt for me then returned under highly mysterious circumstances. There had been a young girl with me, we were close for reasons not really gone into and I had saved her despite all forms of parenthood had been anathema to me.I was a man who others deemed necessary to protect, thus a man making secretive phone calls, getting snippets of information and being involved in the deaths of way too many people to be the old, playboy me. Who had I become?I therefore might be a man who 'needed' to marry a billionairess due to some unspeakable political reasons, not out of any romantic/sexual desire of my own. Anais knew that I was a commitment-phobe, not a gold-digger. That meant she could be involved with me without it really being cheating. I needed her help, I had reached out to her when I was in crisis and she was in the people-helping business, right?There was clearly more evidence out there for her to discover and she had the good fortune to be able to have me in a spot where I could be interrogated."Where do you want to go?" I disengaged and went to my room. The door was only partially shut as I changed."Eleven Madison West," I was told."Oh," Odette cooed, "that place is expensive.""I know," Anais remarked."Why did you pick it?" Odette inquired."To remind Cáel that meals can be very expensive." That was my 'date' reminded me that I'd cheated with her over the course of a home-cooked meal, cooked not-by-her in someone else's home. I wondered how Maya was doing.Eleven Madison West meant I pulled out one of my Havenstone suits. They were tailored after all and I suspected that getting into this place at this time of night was going to take some charisma and finagling. Dressing as causal-me wouldn't do. When I stepped out, jaws dropped ~ I do look good all gussied up. Odette dispelled the shock by jumping into my arms."You look hot," she squealed. "Too bad I'm not going out with you.""You might want to remember that," Anais griped."We need to stop by Havenstone so I can attempt to dress up for this affair," Juanita stated."How about we call in a replacement? Give you the night off?" I suggested."Who?""Chaz?""You want that British SSR non-commissioned officer to be your personal bodyguard for tonight? You've got balls," Juanita coughed. I took out my phone and got ready to give him a call."Hey, Anais, why didn't you call me to tell me you were coming over?" I carefully avoided the word 'warned' as she would take that the wrong way."I don't have your personal phone number. I called your home phone and got the answering service, last night and again this morning," she narrowed her eyes."Odette, did Timothy get lucky last night?" I looked past the Mountie."No. A good friend of his rolled his motorcycle and he went to the hospital to help him out," Odette shook her head. Poor Timothy. My roomie/fuck-buddy misinterpreted Anais's pique. "Timothy is gay, not a sexual enabler.""Huh?" Juanita wondered."Wingman," I translated. "Sometimes the three of us go to gay clubs where I act as his wingman,""And they feed me to lesbians," Odette sounded enthusiastic. Thanks to me she was hardly a same-sex virgin."If there are three people living here and two bedrooms, who sleeps on the sofa?" Anais skewered Odette with her eyes."If Cáel has company and isn't sharing, I sleep with Timothy," Odette refused to wilt, or cut me some slack with Anais."Isn't sharing?" those ocular death orbs flicked my way."Hmm, if we are going to Elven Madison West, I had better make that call," I evaded. I rang Chaz."Nyilas," he answered. "How are you doing this evening?""I'm good. I have an ex-girlfriend from out of town visiting, she wants to go to a swanky place and Juanita isn't dressed for the detail so,""You want me to double date?""No, I need a bodyguard.""You are assuming I have something appropriate to wear.""You are British!" I protested. "Even your chicks have tuxedos.""Very well. Will this be a personal protection detail, or close support?""Aahhh,""Close support," said Anais."Personal Protection," countered Juanita."The one most likely to save me from being stabbed with a steak knife," I muttered."I am not going to physically attack you," Anais simmered. Yeah, right, I had heard that one before, and not just from her."Personal Protection it is," Chaz informed me."Oh, and she's a Mountie.""Is she armed?""No," I thanked the goddesses."Does she want to be?""Huh? Are you going to arm her?" I panicked."No. You have a NYPD liaison. Give Officer Kutuzov a call and make a formal request. If she is a law enforcement officer in good standing, it shouldn't be a problem.""Oh, I can do that?, I'm not sure that's the best idea," I prevaricated."Man up, Nyilas," he chided me. "You should work on making it so women don't want to shoot you instead of thinking of ways to disarm them.""Spoken like a man who wisely prefers the company of other men," I grumbled."Good use of the word 'wisely'. Next question: what are we using as a means of conveyance?""Umm,""I have my motorcycle," Anais was less than helpful."If you weren't one of the bravest human beings I'd ever met, I would determine at this moment that you are a dolt. Call Havenstone and arrange for one of those Mercedes Armored GL550s. Bring your license. I drive on the correct side of the road and I'm not keen on having a distraught paramour driving into a storefront at 80 kph.""Man, I like the way you speak," I joked."I took advantage of a proper English education.""I was joking with you.""I know.""Can I date your sister?" I didn't know if he had a sister, but he'd hinted there were multiple Tomorrow's out there. Anais' mood didn't improve."Yes. I like you. You are a good bloke.""Does your sister know how to kill people?""Yes. I'd say she's relatively proficient with a variety of small arms and hand-to-hand techniques," he enlightened me."Just checking.""Cáel, every woman you are interested knows how to kill people, or how to have people killed," Chaz reminded me."What about Odette? She's neither well connected nor lethal.""Odette is indeed an enigma. She counters that by being well liked by people who are capable of killing others who hurt her, except where you are concerned. You live a treasured life.""Have you made dinner reservations? If you need me for a black tie event it has to be, what is the American for it, swanky.""That's more of a Cael/Pamela thing," I corrected him. "American's say 'high class', expensive, or 'hot spot'.""Thanks for the update. Make those calls.""O-kay. Will do. I'll meet you at Havenstone in thirty minutes. Does that work for you?""Yes. Make those calls. I'll see you at, 7:52 pm, EDT. Mark.""Huh?""Goodbye Cáel," and he hung up."Who is this 'Chaz' character?" Anais questioned me."He is Color Sergeant Charles Tomorrow of the British Army's Special Reconnaissance Regiment, he's a badass and he's delicious," Odette answered for me."How do you know him, either of you?" came next."He was with," Odette began blabbing 'National Security' stuff."Odette, don't. Anais, he is member of the Joint International Khanate Interim Taskforce along with me. Odette helps out in an auxiliary role," I answered."Cáel, how did you end up doing this kind of work?" she was perplexed. "You were devoid of anything approaching civic responsibility when we were last together. Quite frankly, I didn't think you cared for anyone but yourself.""Hey now," Odette got feisty. She was my friend after all."We can talk about that over dinner?" I suggested. She didn't like that answer, so I lied. "I grew up," which was what she wanted to hear. I was spared any more interrogation at the moment by the necessity of making those three phone calls. Nikita liked hearing from me again, though she was less pleased that it was official business. She did agree to contact the appropriate agency for me, despite me making it for a different female law enforcement agent.I'd wised up about Havenstone. I called Executive services to have the car delivered to my door step. I cautioned the operative that, in my neighborhood, they might be stopped on suspicion of purchasing guns, drugs, and/or a good time. I would have the car in fifteen minutes and agreed to take the delivery driver back to work afterwards. I'd have done it even if I wasn't meeting Chaz.At Eleven Madison West, I got a snooty 'exactly who do you think you are?' followed by 'you will be placed on the waiting list, a spot may open up around 9:50'. Was I going to inform Chaz and Anais of this? Of course not. I planned to beg like a big dog, suggest that while I was a nameless face, I actually knew people, a person, and we'd see how far that got me.While waiting for the S U V to arrive and on the drive back to Havenstone, this is pretty much what followed:"Do you know who was behind your father's murder yet?""Yes, but I can't talk about it.""Was that the reason people are trying to kill you?""Yes. That and other reasons.""What other reasons?""Things I can't talk about.""Why can't you talk about it?""Secret society stuff ~ decoder rings, secret handshakes, writing in cyphers, holding clandestine meetings in public places after dark, and various other things world governments don't want me talking about.""Are you pulling my leg?" I wished I was running my hands over her legs. This wasn't the time for that revelation."No. Most of what I am telling you is the truth.""Were you in a shootout at the Chicago Medical Examiner's morgue?""Yes. I was unarmed at the time.""Was your life in danger?""It depends on what you mean by 'danger'. My allies had guns and were expert shots. I was shot at, but they missed me, so I not sure how much my life was at risk.""Can you please be serious?""I'm trying. You scare me.""You don't need to be afraid of me. I only want to help." That was mostly true. She was a diligent, hard-working incorruptible public servant,well, as long as you overlooked her charging me with bestiality when she was truly pissed with me."I'm not afraid of you hurting me. I'm afraid for you. You are an excellent peace officer and I'm worried that you will learn too much. Then your life will be as screwed up as mine.""I can take care of myself.""The reality that you are going out with me unarmed speaks volumes about what you don't know, Anais.""Don't think this line of questioning is over, Cáel.""Don't worry. I know you are not done.""Very well. How is your aunt?" The crab-fisherwoman, not the Irish menagerie."Happy as a clam, working a real job and living life on her own terms.""Where did you go wrong?" That was a loaded question. I had to tread carefully."A girl humiliated me in high school. I decided to take control of my life and somehow, despite my best intentions to be an unreliable lothario, I've ended up with people closer to me than family,and this constant need for physical protection.""Why are you engaged?" Finally, the real reason she was here. Had she come by to pick up her accoutrements, she would have been gone by the time I came home. She wanted answers, answers that allowed her to be in charge of our relationship again. It was the double-barreled impact of exceptional sex and wondering why she wasn't 'the one'.(Me) "Are you seeing somebody?""You didn't answer my question.""I've answered plenty of your questions. Answer mine.""No. Men expect too much from a career woman." Translation: 'I'm a bitch that, regardless of my dynamite looks and raunchy sex drive, repels men because I'm a compulsive control freak with abysmal trust issues.'"You do put your career first." Translation: 'I've totally forgotten that you are a compulsive control freak with abysmal trust issues.' It was what she wanted to hear."Your turn.""Put on your tin-foil hat. I did it to save lives in Central Asia when the anthrax strikes were going on. I have this friend over there that people listen to.""Who? The Great Khan?"I didn't respond which wasn't the answer she was expecting."How?" as in how could I possibly be good friends with the master of arguably the third or fourth most powerful nation on the face of the Earth"That's one of those things I can't talk about.""Do you love her?""I don't know. I'm lousy at relationships. I get along with her daughter. Her father wants to bury me alive in the Nevada desert. The rest of the family seems to be coming around to the idea that I might be one of them.""That isn't a 'yes'.""No, it isn't.""Do you think you can ever love someone?" If you need translated, sigh, okay, 'why don't you love me?'"Do you mean 'when am I going to stop stumbling from botched relationship to botched relationship and make something constructive of my personal life?'""Yes.""Did I mention that I've discovered I have a grandfather?""No. That isn't answering my question.""It is in a way. Did I mention that Mom had ten sisters I wasn't aware of? I had an uncle, but he died in my arms.""No. My condolences on your uncle. What does this have to do with you becoming more of an adult and becoming accountable for your life?""Did I mention I have an adopted grandmother who is my spiritual twin?""No.""Don't worry about my uncle. He died trying to kill me. My aunts murdered him, though I can never prove it.""Oh.""My grandfather? He was the one who sent those terrorists to kill me. It was his litmus test to see if I was worthy of being in his family. I passed.""Are you serious?""Yes. My spiritual grandma? She's a retired professional assassin. Daily I interact with a half-dozen people who have killed multiple human beings in their lifetimes. You want to know why I'm not behaving responsibly? I am acting responsibly. I'm trying to not get the decent civilians around me killed."She took awhile digesting that. By that time, we had returned to Havenstone and picked up Chaz. I made introductions."So, are you really with the SRR?" she asked him."Yes.""Why are you with Cáel?""My mandate contains multiple answers. Suffice it to say, since my RAF contemporary will not be returning from the UK until tomorrow, I am presently chief liaison officer for Her Majesty's government with JIKIT.""Why are you coming along as Cáel's bodyguard? Don't you have something better to do with your Friday evenings?" Subtle and polite, Anais ain't. Why was I putting up with her? She was a sexual tornado who would try anything once. She was a real prize."First question: Cáel is a friend, his life is in perpetual danger and I consider it my duty to keep him alive. He would do the same for me. Second question: the nature of my present assignment doesn't leave much room for any meaningful romantic associations.""Hmm," I contemplated what wasn't being said. "Chaz, you are nailing one of my security chicks, aren't you?""Yes.""Which one?""A man of character doesn't brag about such things."Chaz was getting some Amazon nookie. I had to find a way to tell him how dangerous that was. She might decide he's make good father material, not a good thing where Amazons were concerned."Are all of his security personnel women?" Anais pressed."Miss Saint-Amour, Havenstone is a corporation that employs over ten thousand people. There are precisely five men currently on their payroll. All their security personnel are woman. Cáel has very limited, if any, input on the matter.""Are you sure about that?""Yes, Miss Saint-Amour. Who would trust a man of Cáel's dubious experience with his own security?" Chaz pointed out."Oh." She hadn't thought of that."Can you tell me why you think his life is in danger?""He is far more likely to be kidnapped than murdered. He possess certain sensitive data that powerful entities would like to access, thus I am his bodyguard tonight. Considering the quality of the women who normally guard him, I consider it an honor.""To guard Cáel, on a date?""He was kidnapped visiting a child at a playground. Yes, we believe his life is in constant peril. The training and experience of his security service is top flight and it has been a pleasure to serve among them.""Were you with him in Budapest and Romania?""The metro station?""Yes.""Yes.""Romania?""Do you mean the counterterrorism action south of Miercurea Ciuc?""Yes.""Yes."Wow, these two were lousy communicators. I could imagine Chaz propositioning one of my Amazons.Chaz: 'You have a superior feminine physique which I find appealing. Want to fuck?'Amazon: 'You look like you have the prerequisite stamina and battle scars to be part of the New Directive. Sure.'"Were you involved in the actual combat? The SRR is normally an intelligence gathering unit.""I was gathering battlefield intelligence, Miss. That required my close proximity to armed and actively hostile enemy aliens (as in they were in Romania illegally, not that they were all supernatural beings). My involvement resulted in two KIA's and one WIA.""Damn Chaz, you rock.""I am a professional.""How many did Pamela gak?""One KIA.""Just one? Whoa, that's so unlike her.""She kept trying to bracket the cell leader (aka Ajax). He had the Devil's Own Luck.""Cáel, why are you making light of all those deaths?" Anais chastised me. "How many terrorists did you wound, or kill?""I wounded one guy.""That is disingenuous," Chaz chided me. "You orchestrated the operation, showed tactical expertise in seizing the most critical terrain feature and engineered the death of the terrorist leader.""My Cáel did that? When I knew him, he was adverse to violence," Anais shook her head."Considering the considerable number of people he's killed, he's still adverse to physical confrontation where his own life is involved. But God help you if you threaten someone he is close to, though. He's the man who can get things done when the team is in a pinch.""Cáel, what happened to you?" she didn't sound upset at all."I learned to care for people beyond my immediate interest, you know, actual long-term relationships," with the unspoken 'as opposed to women I'm currently having sex with'."It took you long enough," she snipped. Reference her being a compulsive control freak with abysmal trust issues.The interrogation was put on hold while we entered the restaurant and,"Mr. Nyilas?" the maytre dee greeted me."Yes.""We will get you a table right away," he nodded obsequiously. What the hell was up with that? Where was my two hour wait time? Oh yeah, I was a minor, fifteen seconds of fame celebrity."Will Ms. Sulkanen be joining you this evening?""No. She had to oversee a packaged Erythrosine-monosaccharides explosion in Boca Raton. Flaming plastic pink flamingo bits were raining down everywhere. I imagine it is taking an Everest-sized load of hush money to keep this out of the media," I replied. I was so eerily sincere, he bought it and a look of horror snuck over his face. I had become the public face of corporate malfeasance."Your table (gulp) is ready, Sir," he began to sweat. He took us to our table for four then beat a hasty retreat. Undoubtedly his civic-mindedness would have him calling up TMZ within a minute. After all, it was unlikely he owned any plastic pink flamingos, or invested in their construction. Once he was gone, Chaz let a thin smile break through his hard-earned military unfazed-ability."What exactly are packaged Erythrosine-monosaccharides?" he inquired."Packaged is self-explanatory. Erythrosine is pink food coloring and monosaccharides are,""Sugar," Anais frowned."Exploding pixie sticks, I have nieces and nephews. You are a genius at misdirection, Mr. Nyilas," he nodded."Thank you, Color Sergeant Tomorrow. It is nice to be appreciated for my bizarre and useless preoccupation," I grinned."You practice lying?" Anais' view of me dimmed."Miss, he excels at extraneous, outrageous utterances. No harm is intended.""Things like I was helping her find her contact lenses?" That had been my excuse when caught coming out of Maya's apartment. Sadly, Anais is highly perceptive and knew the lady didn't wear contacts. The copious female aroma wafting off me certainly hadn't helped."That's unfair," I countered. "Back then, I was a college nitwit suffering from undiagnosed nymphomania. I'd like to think I'm getting better."" tes-vous mieux?" she retorted in French."Je suis assez intelligent pour aller vers vous lorsque des vies  taient sur la ligne." That's right, Anais. When my life and the lives of others were on the line, she was the first one I thought to call. Letting a woman know that you admire her profession, professionalism and reliability never hurts."Are you really a nymphomaniac?" she returned to English. French is the language of sex, as is any derivative of Sanskrit, Farsi and Portuguese. Reference the multitude of Indians, the hotness of Persian women and the outpouring of lust that is Brazil."I had a magnetoencephalography recently. The neuroscientists didn't know what to make of my brain patterns. I appear to be somewhat unique in my madness."She didn't believe me. I didn't blame her. No one really likes hearing a truth they don't want to accept."Here," I leaned forward and pointed to the tiny divot in my forehead. "I was stabbed with a needle in the skull. That is why they looked at me, not because of my sexual malfunction."She touched it to makes sure. We were interrupted by the waiter stopping by to see if we were ready to order yet."We will have three of the most expensive appetizers, dinners, deserts and wines," Anais preempted us. Ugh. I was either a millionaire by the wonders of Havenstone accounting, or broke. I foolishly never looked into such things, never having had much money before. I needed a distraction."Hey Chaz, nice suit," was what came to mind. It was a swell masterpiece of the tailoring arts I hadn't expect from a ground-pounder from a family of ground-pounders serving Queen and Country for generations."Thank you. Pamela picked it out for me, suspecting an event such as this would transpire. She told me you paid for it," Chaz answered."I did?""I made the reasonable deduction that she forged your signature on whatever medium was used for payment," he shrugged, "in the same way she exhibits a criminal tendency toward every other aspect of her life.""What does Pamela look like?" Anais glowered."She's his grandmother," Chaz responded politely. "They make quite the pair. Normally we don't let them alone in the same room. Bad things happen.""Bad things?""Things like that scenic hostel being reduced to ruin," he enlightened her."This is the supposed assassin?""Retired assassin," Chaz corrected her. "So far she's only, what is the term you two use?" he looked at me."Sending a Get-Well card to their next of kin? Pumping up the volume? Making a critical attitude adjustment? Retroactively revoking their lease on life? We have a few.""Yes, those. Pamela has assured the team director that she no longer accepts assignments of a murderous nature. These days she only practices her skills on those we determine are a threat to the greater endeavor," he explained."She murders people? You all murder people?" Anais furrowed her brow. "Cáel, do you engage in these activities?""What? Who? Me? No!" I waved off any conspiratorial associations. "The vast majority of people I've killed was totally by accident.""How do you accidently kill people?" she pierced my soul with her voice."Okay, I let them kill themselves because warning them would have resulted in me and some friends meeting very immediate violent ends," I pleaded."Miss Saint-Amour, I've talked to trustworthy people who were on the scene when this happened. It was a paramilitary action with the lives of children on the line. Cáel acted to save the lives of innocents," Chaz defended me. That is what Anais wanted to believe; that I was basically a decent human being. I was a pig, but a courageous one. I had confronted her after my infidelity, on the other side of the US/Canadian border where her jurisdiction didn't apply.I knew my revelations were hideously hard to believe. In my favor, I had been in dangerous places doing dangerous things. The Metro firefight had been captured on the place's security system (which had been leaked to the public thus leading to some delusional admirers into thinking I would make a great new King of Hungary even though they hadn't had a monarch since 1918 nor was I from the right (Hapsburg) family. In case this whole Havenstone thing came crashing down in flames, I needed to keep my options open).There had been a bomb threat at Mindszent which I had reputable sources call in (and where I had admittedly hung out with a few of the women who saved me from an earlier disaster) and Miercurea Ciuc had made the international news. Well over 100 people had died and some of the terrorists were still at large. The Romanian government declared I had been 'instrumental' in the confrontation without saying what 'instrumental' meant.I was heroically vague, more mature than where we left off and clearly incited pussy-twitching memories. We'd once fucked so continuously hard and long one weekend that neither one of us could stand until an hour after we stopped. Anais was well worth the pain I was contemplating. Sex with her wasn't the pain I was worried about. It was dodging all her calls afterwards. Once again reference her being a compulsive control freak with abysmal trust issues.Oh, how did I know she was reveling in our past coital moments? She hadn't walked out on me yet. She hadn't walked out when she found Odette in my domicile, when she met Juanita, or when she found out that I worked with highly experienced killers as part of my new daily routine.Normally Anais was smarter than this and had a career in law enforcement to contemplate. Lastly, she hadn't asked to be armed, despite getting permission from the NYPD. Had she decided to get a gun, Anais was sure in her hormonally-cascading mindset she would have shot me by now. I incite all kinds of passion in women. It is a curse.The rest of dinner was unremarkable. Anais continued to interrogate Chaz who proved that he was both skilled in counter-interrogation techniques and not willing to spill anymore secrets about what anyone at JIKIT did. However he had provided her with every logical reason to beat feet back across the Canadian border and she hadn't taken the hints about what a disaster sleeping with me could be.We drove Anais back to her motel, then Chaz and I headed home in silence. Despite his earlier declarations, he knew how to drive the 'right' way all along. As he was letting me out in front of my building, he gave me this pleasant warning."I'm not going to lecture you about not going back there, or avoiding the crazy ones. You already know better and are going back by her place anyway. I do advise that whatever you do, don't let her restrict your movements in any way. She's likely to make you pay double for your past indiscretions and take payment out on your cock. Good luck, Mate.""Wait," I stopped him. "Can you help me hotwire her bike? I can use that as an excuse to darken her doorway.""Dolt," he muttered. He helped me anyway because that's what really good friends do ~ assisting you in your self-destruction so we could joke about it later. At least that was what I hoped was going on. Chaz being a closet sadist was an unsettling idea. I didn't get to immediately pursue my plan because,(We work for you, don't we?)At 9 am, the President of the United States of America, after a late night briefing and a good night's sleep, decided that for the sake of world peace he had to intervene in Southeast Asia ~ Thailand to be specific, though he had some vague notion that a summit of regional leaders was in the offing and the US needed to establish some sort of game plan instead of looking impotent and disinterested.Based on carefully selected bits of information supplied to him by us (JIKIT), he ordered two carrier taskforces to move to the Gulf of Thailand to enforce an anticipated UN arms embargo and 'No-Fly Zone'. It would take four days (September 3rd) for Carrier Strike Group Nine (built around the USS Ronald Reagan) and the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (2,200 souls) to take up a position in the South China Sea close to the Gulf of Thailand. By fortuitous circumstance, 500 Marines and sailors were already deployed to Malaysia on a joint training mission with the Malaysian Marines.The second one, the USS Carl Vinson's Carrier Strike Group One wouldn't arrive until the 9th, six days later. What the US government wanted to know was what the Khanate and Vietnam would do in those long, lonely six days. The Khanate had as many modern, up-to-date combat aircraft on Woody Island as the Reagan could send up. The Vietnamese could add another 48 planes worth worrying about.There was the added complication that Thailand hadn't asked for help yet. His experts (us again) were suggesting that he was about to wake up one morning and find Khanate tanks rolling down the streets of Bangkok, which

Hana finds a place in Cáel's Amazon Life.Book 3 in 18 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.You never really know what you can't do until you've tried to do it and failedI saw Iskender at least once a week, so I didn't know this was a bad sign. My superiors were wary to meet Iskender because intelligence types like their routines. When assets start acting strange, strange things happen. I knew this to be true. When your normally suspicious girlfriend suddenly acts all lovey-dovey,, she knows ~ she knows.Iskender's face showed that he didn't much like this change to our meeting schedule either. Introductions went around. Odette was the only one to say 'Glad to finally meet you' and mean it."Cáel Nyilas," he finally turned to me, "I bear a request from the Great Khan himself." No beating around the bush with this crowd."What do you need?" I replied. Irrationally, I found myself hoping 'please say you need a second for 'beer-pong''."Here is a flash drive with the particulars, but the basics are that we need the United States and the United Kingdom to lend diplomatic support to our efforts to obtain war material and other equipment from other aligned nations," he said."Things like?" Addison asked."Ships from the United States, tanks from Germany, helicopters from France and computer components for Japan and South Korea," he replied. "This is a list of roughly five thousand items we are attempting to procure.""Sure, we'll help," I volunteered."Cáel, before someone has an aneurism, why don't you find out what your team can do," Pamela burst my bubble."Sir, what exactly does your faction think we at JIKIT can do? We are a covert interim unit with limited authority and oversight," Addison stated."Wouldn't this be something you could accomplish through your own extra-ordinary resources?" Yum-Yum asked."We can only get so much through back channels and shell companies," he replied. "With the quantities the Khanate needs," he trailed off."You can't make that many purchases," I nodded. Even I knew an eighteen year old could buy a six-pack with little effort and a so-so fake ID. Buying five kegs was a totally different matter.There was a silence."Iskender, give the team 48 hours to go over this data. We will either return it as if we never received it, or act upon the information on your behalf," Yum-Yum spoke with finality."I understand," he bowed his head. "I will await your response.""I'll see you out," I told Iskender. "I get the feeling you knew this would be our reply.""I didn't, but the Great Khan did," he gave a weak smile. "Honestly, I don't know what to make of the request.""We do and I think we can get it done," I assured him. I escorted him to the elevator then returned to the room.I didn't have to be told what was wrong with this. If your girl finds out you ate fast food with another chick, you can explain it away. If you got take-out, or breakfast at some nice nook, then you had trouble by association. By giving us their Christmas list, Temujin had told us more than what he needed. He was telling us what he didn't need as well.This gave us incredible insight into Khanate economic and military policy over the next three years. See, you could go to Best Buy and purchase a 72" widescreen TV. It was what Best Buy did. You couldn't show up expecting to buy 500,000 TV's though. To get them you had to tell the manufactures they needed to build them because there was a market for that many systems.In turn, they need to buy the various components they didn't build themselves. That meant you would need to smelt more copper, produce more plastics and mine more cadmium, because they would be needed. Therefore, what the Khanate was ordering was stuff they expected to get three to thirty-six months down the line. This went beyond the war with China.As an example, the Khanate was ordering 265 Leopard 2A7 tanks from Germany to be delivered within two years. Germany didn't have those tanks lying around. They needed to build them. They had to expand the factories to build them and therefore produce all the components you needed for a brand new cutting edge tank at a faster rate than ever before.This also told us the Khanate didn't expect to build enough tanks for their own use, much less export to allies such as Vietnam. Maybe they didn't have the construction capacity, or maybe they were busy building something else. We could figure that out by seeing what else they were purchasing abroad, things like cars, trucks, tractors and locomotives.This was an excellent and powerful gift. It was also,"This is poison," Addison began the next phase of the meeting."I disagree," Mehmet Ali Sharif (our State department analyst) countered. "This will provide JIKIT with exceptional insight into what the Khanate's medium term goals are.""It is both," Yum-Yum nodded."The question is 'who are we going to share this with?'" I sighed. That was the critical juncture. After all, the UK and US had team of analysts whose sole job was to make forecasts like this."We decide that in 47   hours," Yum-Yum stated. "Mehmet, lets farm out 15% of this packet to different agencies and see what they come up with. Keep things compartmentalized.""Will do. Addison, let's burrow through this data to see what we can send to who," he got to work."Cáel, what is your insight into the Great Khan's thinking," Addison turned to me. "Are we being suborned?" I had to think that over."Yeah," I nodded. "He's got six months to figure out who is friends and enemies are and he might as well decide where we stand right now. If we share this data, he gets hurt, but it will mean the end of our taskforce and the end of real hard information about what the Khanate is up to as well.""Serving three masters never turns out well," Yum-Yum smirked. "Still, our regular intelligence agencies are months away from piecing together the inner workings of the Khanate and we have jack-off HUMINT on the ground. Our respective countries have 'back-burner-ed' Central Asia and now that's biting us in the ass. Barring an excessive NBC (Nuclear, Biological, or Chemical weapons) platform, I think we buy in."That meant becoming a true intermediator between our respective governments and the Khanate. That also meant continuing to work with the Amazons and 9 Clans, because if we betrayed the Khanate at this juncture, how much could the others really trust us? No, to keep JIKIT going, we were going to hide this information, thus becoming complicit in what the Khanate planned.We had already wandered past the point of intelligence-gathering and analysis to actual policy-making some time ago. This was the point of no return though. This wasn't plausible deniability. This was actively helping the Khanate achieve their national goals and meant moving beyond the realm of covert activities and into one of co-conspirators. I honestly thought we'd all buy in."So, what's next on the agenda?" I posed the question."Someone is late for their knife-fighting training," Pamela gave me a shark's smile. I smiled too. Finally I had something to do that I didn't understand, but didn't mind being ignorant about. If I fucked up, it would all be on me.{9:45 pm, Thursday, August 28th ~ 11 Days to go}Brooke Lee was many things, but being a cook wasn't one of them. What inspired her to cook dinner was almost beyond me. It had to do with that checklist women go through when seeing what a guy doesn't see in them. Brooke was gorgeous, fun to be around (if a bit snobby) and good in the sack. So, what made me closer to Libra and Hana than her? She wasn't trying to compete with the Amazons, thank God.She was better looking than Libra (true) and just as much fun, and if Libra was a better lay she would have hung herself, so it had to come down to womanly stuff ~ things like housecleaning, buying stuff and cooking. House-cleaning was a continuous menial effort and she had a maid service for that. Buying stuff? She had that down pat.Cooking? How hard could that be? very, but she hadn't accepted that, so here I was eating charred prime rib, rubbery asparagus tips, lumpy mash potatoes (made from real potatoes, I'd seen the peals in the trashcan) and some sort of Tomato salad. When she informed me she was cooking, I began looking for a reason not to come over for a late night rendezvous. Then she dropped the E-bomb."If you don't come over, it will be just me and Casper (Winslow) again.""Casper's still in town?" I asked. Since that horrible weekend where I first met Hana (good for my life), her father (hates my guts) and her cruel brother Brennan (now dead by my indirect intervention), Casper's life had been one of healing from the worst kind of treatment (by Brennan's now deceased posse) possible. I couldn't treat her like a pariah."I'm coming over to see you, but it will be great to see Casper again as well," I elaborated/exaggerated."Great," she gushed. "I'll see you at nine.""Make in nine thirty," I said. "I need to see a girl about a bed.""You are horrible," she chided me playfully, clearly not believing me."No I'm not. I'm tucking Aya into bed. She has an early start tomorrow and she's going to be gone all weekend, so this will be the last time I'll see her until Monday night. I'll be at your place as soon as possible after that," I told her. Aya was going to Doebridge and I was making a habit of steering clear of that Amazon municipality. Their security and I had a disagreement last time I was there."It is sweet of you to keep up with that little girl you were kidnapped with," she cooed. "You are a cool, great guy.""She's a special kid. We share a bond," I said. That was true and then some."I'll see you at nine-thirty. You won't be disappointed."And so I was at Brooke's at nine-thirty, getting ready to eat a largely indigestible dinner. Casper had stammered a greeting while looking at me happily. The smoke from the kitchen was warning enough of what was to come. I made light of the charred disaster. I didn't point out that two hours at 350 didn't equate to an hour and a half at 450. It just didn't.Brooke made up for her culinary inadequacies by looking good enough to eat off the plate, off the floor, or between the covers. She had on an Aqua tank top, black bra and khaki shorts with open-toed sandals on her feet. Casper was in the same general get up, except her tank top was white as was her bra.I carved up the beast while those two stood around drinking wine. The roast beast (original species uncertain) was as dry as leather, but the knife was sharp. We discussed Brooke's job hunting lack of success. The jobs she was qualified for didn't pay enough, required her to ignore too much leering and were generally an insult to her intelligence. Basic 'intern' stuff really.I mentioned Libra's job with Hana. She created some excuses about making her own way in the world then followed that up by asking if I could use my newfound influence to send some job offers her way. 'Surely not everyone at Havenstone was that way'. No. She had seem them being polite. They could be much, much worse."Why don't you become a consultant?" I suggested."That would be nice," Casper said. Brooke had become her closest friend."What would I consult in?" Brooke inquired."Employment," I mused. "You know networking and you know people who are looking for specific kinds of jobs. Start your own business.""I like that idea," Brooke grinned. "I could create a web page and get business cards, raise the start-up capital and start getting listings and finding clients.""I know some people who could help out," I offered, "as long as Central Asia is an acceptable location.""What kind of work do you think you can find?""Well, they need to build a government," I worked on my idea quickly because Brooke was literally dripping with sex. I was thinking 'tapping that booty all night long' sex.Women love sex, romance and sensuality. They also want to love their lives, feel successful and have just as much independence as they fantasize to be a good thing. I was coming through for Brooke yet again. I'd bolstered her when her former fiance's life imploded, casting her aside. I'd later given her the strength to make a moral stand for Casper and now I was helping her out of her career doldrums. God, she was going to let me fuck her silly. She was going to be freaking animal.But first we had to pretend to eat before we somehow shuffled Casper off to bed. The tomato salad was edible. It turned out to be Casper's contribution to tonight's festivities. I made sure to compliment her on it, while not mentioning the rest of this disaster. Brooke didn't mind. Midway through the meal, she stood up and paced about while calling her parents. Her Mom answered, so she gave that woman the good news first.My name came up, to her father, and not in a bad way, which was rather rare.'Yes, I was engaged to Hana Sulkanen. I was also her friend as well as Libra's.''I had friends in the Khanate, where business opportunities were aplenty.''Security concerns? No. She knew some people (my Amazons) who did that kind of work. Besides, it wasn't like she was going there.'"You might want to consider going there and meeting some of their people on the ground before sending your friends to that part of the world," I whispered.'Oh, I'll probably go to,'"Astana."'Astana, their capital. Father, there are extraordinary opportunities there. I'll be fine.'"I'll hire you some private security," I suggested. I wouldn't use the Ghost Tigers I had guarding Hana. That would be inappropriate. I couldn't use Amazons for that kind of work either.I was thinking about using Captain Delilah Faircloth of Her Majesty's MI-6. They had all kinds of contractors they'd used in China who would be looking for work now that the shooting had temporarily stopped. For all I knew, Lady Yum-Yum could use Brooke's new business as a cover to insert British operatives into the former capital of Kazakhstan.Now that I thought about it, that was a good idea. Brooke would have her hand in an espionage operation and not even suspect it at first. Later on, she'd probably love the peripheral risks and experience was experience.'Cáel can hire some private security using his government contracts.''I know you know people in the government Papa, but Cáel's people actually kill people.' Which went over like a bamboo hut in a tidal wave, but Brooke was irrepressible. Her parents wished her luck, Brooke did a happy dance and Casper snuggled close to me."Hey Casper," I put an arm around her. I was relieved she didn't flinch. I remained a good guy in her estimations of such things. I'd also hack my own hand off if it tried anything overtly sexual. "How are you coming along?""Better, day by day and my therapy group is good, very caring.""Glad to hear it. If there is anything personal that I can do, don't hesitate to ask. It is not a matter of debts to one another. You are worth it.""I'm glad you still think so," she stared up at me. I could easily dismiss her being needy. She was truly a damsel in need of a shoulder, a warm hand and a kind word. I didn't owe her because of Brennan and Anima. I owed her as a fellow human being."Isn't he the best guy in the world?" Brooke beamed. "We need to find ourselves one just like him." I couldn't see how that was going to happen. I was born in the wrong neighborhood, went to the wrong school and hung out with a different brand of friends. The convergence of me with Trent, which then led to Libra and Brooke, had been beyond bizarre.Felix was such an idiot for not buying into Brooke instead of stupidly trying to use her against me. Even that had backfired when I sucker-punched him in front of nearly a hundred Amazons. I'd knocked him out cold because he had shown more balls than brains in that one encounter. I wouldn't get that lucky again. I'd have to figure a way a new way to kick his Alpha-male ass."I'd argue with you, but I'm a hell of a guy. I'm a prince among men," I joked. "I mean that literally, I'm a Prince of Hungary and Transylvania.""Does that come with one of those cool sashes and lots of medals and ribbons?" Brooke teased."I'm sure the Hungarians are working on that right now," I chortled."Magyarorszag es Erdely Hercege" Casper murmured. "I read it in USA Today. They said it was something the Romanians gave you, but I wasn't sure what it was.""In Romanian it is "Prinţul Ungariei şi Transilvaniei", I clarified. "Prinţul is,""Is what?" Brooke said after a moment's lapse."When I went into battle with the Romanians, that is what they called me. It was a jest of sorts, not real," I sighed, recalling that dark day. Casper patted my hand."Is Magyarorszag the name for 'prince'?" Brooke requested." Magyarorszag is the name the Hungarians call their homeland," I clarified. "Hercege is their word for prince, but let's not buy into the hype. I'm just a guy with a job that entails greater risk than a pizza delivery driver.""A Jewish pizza delivery driver in downtown Gaza, Cáel. Every time I see you, you are sporting a new scar, or scratch. What do you have for me this time?" she gave me a sultry 'come-hither' look. I caught it and liked what I saw. Casper caught it and sighed slightly."I'm sleepy," she yawned. "I should be going to bed.""Oh no," Brooke protested. I almost believed her. "Are you sure?""Yes. I'll take an Ambien then be out like a light," Casper said before giving my hand another squeeze."You don't have to do this," I whispered into Casper's ear. "I'll brave another one of Brooke's home-cooked meals to spend time with her." Casper giggled."Hey now! What was that about?" Brooke pouted. She was definitely going to be wrapping those scrumptious lips around my sceptre in the next three hours, of that I was certain."He, ah, was wondering if we could do this again real soon," Casper babbled, caught between fright and comedy."Soon," Brooke shot me more of the 'sexy'. "He hasn't even made it out of the door yet.""I like the way you think," I winked to Brooke."What do you think is on my mind," she was provoking me. I didn't say a word. I chose to undress her with my eyes instead. She knew what I was doing too."Bedtime," Casper put both hands on the table then stood. "Thanks for coming over tonight." I stood as well, hugged her then briefly watched her walk away. Just because she was 'handle with care' didn't mean she wasn't a handful. My miniscule number of rules included not doing it with girls not in their right minds. I wanted them to be free to hate me when the time came.Brooke saw Casper off to the bathroom for her meds and the whole pre-bedtime ritual stuff while I cleaned up the dinner table. Five minutes of work now meant not waking up to the smell of ruined food later. The only thing in need of saving was the salad. I Saran Wrapped the rest of it. I was going to claim I was taking it into work for breakfast then dispose of it at our HQ ~ One MiMA Tower.Once I was finished, I puttered around noisily until Brooke came looking. I could have gone to her bed and stripped naked, eagerly waiting for sex. Since Brooke was trying to play in the same league as Hana, she might have misconstrued that as me taking advantage of her. If not tonight then in the morning when she replayed the encounter. Brooke liked to be 'in charge', so I fed that instinct.I had come here for sex. We both knew that, but we could pretend we didn't. Brooke could then want to have me and got to make sure I wanted her with or without sex, so we could have guilt-free sex together. Brooke was not overly complicated, for a girl, and she was hot enough to be worth having to go through these sorts of games."Whatchya thinking about?" Brooke said as she sashayed into the kitchenette."You," I met her gaze. She licked her upper lip."I've been thinking about you too," she moved within my comfort zone. I obliged her aggression by placing my hands first on her hips then, as I pulled her close, to the small of her back. We were groin to 'growing' and I was very aroused by her presence and her scent."Are you going to toy with me some more so that I go home tonight stiff and moaning with lust?" I groaned."I like toying with you," she snickered. "You are fun.""You are fun and sexy. We need to try another beach weekend with less drama before the season ends," I played to her amusement."I don't think I can wait for the weekend," she protested by shimmying her hips against me. "While you were out saving the world, I've been all alone.""Oh hell no!" I hissed. "What brought that on?""You are a hard act to follow," she teased. "I've missed you.""I've missed you too," wasn't a total lie. I hadn't been celibate by a long shot. That didn't mean I didn't miss her."How about we do a little bit less 'missing'?" she suggested."I'd like to have you on the sofa," I pressed into her."I'd like to have you in the bedroom ~ my bed is bigger," she grinned. My eyes shown with anticipation, which was what she was looking for. Brooke took my hand and led me through the living room and around the corner to her bedroom.She cat-crawled onto the bed while I hurriedly stripped down. She languidly lay back on the pillows, hair billowed around her in a dark halo while she hungrily watched my physique being revealed to her. Brooke's left hand traced a line down around her breast to her pubic mound where she started playing with herself. Her eyes fluttered, her lust blossomed into womanhood and I was beside her in a flash.Instead of falling in beside her (she was close to her side of the bed), or to her far side, I came at her from the foot of her bed. I spent only a few seconds kissing her toes, shins and kneecaps. While my kisses made moist lip-prints up her thighs, I unbuttoned her short shorts and undid the zipper. Brooke raised her hips so I could pull her clothing down ~ no panties.To change things up slightly, I finished the removal by turning her over onto her stomach, then pulling on her hips until she was in the doggy-style position. She looked back at me, her eyes framed by dark lashes and darker eyebrows on her tanned flesh. I pressed her shoulder blades down until her breasts were squeezed against the bed.After that, I slid down until I was on my belly. Using my shoulders and neck, I began licking her labia from the hood to the anus. That got her going and before long, I was drinking from her nectar and loosening up her asshole with some quality rimming. Brooke had prepped for me carefully and cleanly and this made me attack her nether regions with renewed gusto. Butt sex was in the offing.Not yet though. I got her all nice and gushing, but I wanted to try something more. I kept my tongue action going on while I coiled my body behind her. With a quick, graceful repositioning, I rose up on my knees, her thighs resting on my shoulders while I made furious suction actions onto her."Yep, Yeah!" Brooke exhaled. "This is, aha, new."True to my predations, while I worried and nibbled her accoutrements, Brooke took one hand (the other she was using to pull her hair aside) and began stroking me. Her tongue touched my spongy head several times before she stopped the outright teasing and placed her lips upon me. She didn't suck it in. On no. She sucked on my angry red helmet, running her lips right to the edge then back again, as if I was a Popsicle.I was leaning back on my haunches because of the awkward hold on hips with the weight I had to support. Not that Brooke was at all heavy."Crawl forward," I mumbled from between her legs. It took her a few seconds to figure out I wanted to return us to our starting position. She made a great display of slithering forward. My tongue stayed in her cunt until both her knees hit the comforter.At that stage she was ready to go and my forcefulness lifted her knees temporarily off the sheets.With my third lunge, Brooke reached back and stopped my rocking motion. I stilled which allowed her to reach over to the side table, open the drawer and pull out a designer bottle of lubricant."I know this is what you like," she panted in anticipation. I knew this was what we both wanted by the way she ran her fingers along my palm before making the hand-off.This was one of those bottles with the glass stopper, so it make a slight grinding sound as I opened it. Brooke want down onto all fours, her palms resting on the comforter. Her head was down and her waist-long black hair masked her features, but not her sounds of pleasure."Arch your back Brooke," I said as I inhaled her intoxicating aroma. She did so willingly. I let the oil pour down in a thin stream and rubbed it in with my thumb.I had to carefully aim my phallus because Brooke hadn't been lying about her lack of sexual attention. She was tight and hadn't been plundered by anyone in my long (for me) absence. Hell, this long and I was normally back to 'make-up' sex. I certainly wasn't going to be ramming my rod home with any great passion for a few minutes.I didn't want to cause her (too much) pain nor have her anal muscles constrict the skin off my love missile."Oh," she moaned. "I love it when you are gentle, Cáel. It reminds me how much you care for how I feel." She punctuated that statement by rolling her hips, driving in my entire length in her lubricated alternate option. Her body tensed up then bucked. I popped out."Put it back in," she gasped. There was so much to love about Brooke and her enthusiasm. Once back in, I rested my left hand on the small of her back to keep her back arched while I reached around with my right and began twisting and palming her right breast through her shirt and bra. As I was slowly twisting and thrusting, Brooke's arms gave out and she went face first into her pillow. Her breast pressed my hand down on the comforter and her repositioning drove a full inch of me suddenly into her.Brooke gave out a strangled sob followed by a whimpering sound. My left hand took my weight. My right came around and pulled her hair away from her face so she could breathe easier and I could judge her pain through her facial expressions."Oh God," she spat a strand of hair out of her mouth, "It feels like you are going to split me in half.""Too late to back out now," I teased her."I can, hiss, take anything you can give me, Cáel Nyilas," she taunted me through clenched teeth. I gave her another inch for her impertinence. She tried to crawl forward before she surprised me by thrusting up and back."God damn!" she howled. "You're huge!"I imagined that I would feel like a fucking Sequoyah shoved up my ass if I pulled off a stunt like that too. Brooke was game for more. I had enough in that now I could start a rhythm  without fear of popping out. Her hands bunched up the comforter around her head as she hung on for dear life. This felt so good that squeezing my last bit in felt rather inconsequential after all the physical and erotic ground we had covered up until then.Brooke's stomach clenched up as her spontaneous ecstasy jumped her and me. Every muscle in her body spasmed, including her rectal ones. I was shooting off into her bowels inside a second. My heat only made her climax come that much harder. I kept humping away like a chimp on crack while Brooke began to squeal out between baited breathe."Damn, that was intense," I remarked as I fell to her side. Brooke was still face down/ass up with her eyes squeezed shut, still riding through her own aftershocks of her sensual seismic waves."Oh, oh, oh," she panted hoarsely. "I want to, (pant), do that again, real soon."I spanked her ass loudly and prepared on shaky legs to remount her."No," she moaned. "Give my ass a minute's rest. Can't we do something else for a while?""How about I get cleaned up and get you a hot wash cloth?" I suggested as my nostrils flared."I'll just lie here and feel sated," she murmured. Her knees slid down until her stomach was down on the bed. I gave her abused backside another tender spank then slid off the bed. I quick-stepped it out of Brooke's room, and nearly tripped over Casper who had been out in the hall watching us."I," she stammered. I shut the door then crossed the hallway from her."No problems, Casper. I was hoping that we wouldn't wake you up," I coaxed her down the hallway to her door, and away from Brooke's room. I noticed her eyes constantly flicking down to my crotch. "Hang on," I held up my hand. When she nodded, I quietly sprinted down to the living room, grabbed up a throw pillow then sprinted back. Now I could be covered up."Why didn't you get a towel out of the bathroom?" Casper whispered."I'm an idiot," I shrugged. She sniffled then giggled."You make Brooke very happy, but,""But?""But you are engaged to Hana Sulkanen.""I'm a Love Monkey," I shrugged. "I find it difficult to be with just one woman. It is never that a woman isn't enough for me. It is that there is something wrong with me that is never truly satisfied so I keep roaming.""Don't you, worry about the women you are with?""I'm not a wonderful human being, Casper. That is all I can think to say.""You aren't like Brennan, not like that, hold on." Casper retreated to her room then came back with a folded up piece of news print. By the size it was one of those articles you found on page 17. "Here," she handed it over. "It was delivered here in an envelope with my name on it."I looked it over. A 'Jane Doe' had been found in Charleston harbor, SC, dead from an overdose."Three days before I got that, I got a call from Anima," she told me. "She told me," Casper gulped. "She told me that she was very sorry about all that had happened. She was sorry. That was it.""Oh.""Anima is dead now, isn't she?""Yeah, I think so," I noted sadly. "Does that change anything with you?""I don't know. I mean, Brooke told me that you would make sure none of those people would ever be around to bother me again, but, was this you?""No and yes. I told someone with the power to make a difference what happened to you and who was responsible. After that, I never heard about the matter again. Anima did stop by once, crazy with fear but unrepentant. I honestly feel that how she ended up feeling wouldn't have made a difference on whether she lived, or died. I don't know what to make of her call.""She, it doesn't help. I still have to take a sleeping pill to keep the nightmares away. I haven't told my therapist about the death, or how everyone else is either dead or disappeared. I don't know what to think. I was hoping you would.""I'm not normally the person people go for answers. I'll make up an answer, if that's what you want."She reached up and touched my forearm."I prefer honesty," she smiled. "I guess I was hoping for you to be more, perfect than you are. That was unfair of me.""You wouldn't be the first person to mistake me for a decent human being," I joked. "Usually that misconception only lasts a week or so. I promise you... I'll be living down to your expectations in no time.""Brooke thinks highly of you, and so do I. We've known you more than a couple of weeks," Casper feebly jibed."I've been behaving myself," I teased her.'"Brooke sounded," she trailed off. I waited. "You two sound like you enjoyed one another.""That's how it is supposed to be. You'll feel that one day too. You'll meet someone who thinks of your pleasure first. And, if he doesn't, you will have to train him to do it right.""You make it sound so easy," Casper sighed."Do you really think I'm that unique?""A prince, avenger, soldier-of-fortune, titan of the bedroom?" she lightened up. We'd crossed a barrier. I was 'joke-able'."We have union meetings every third Wednesday," I grinned. "We kick back, drink a few beers and figure out what hot spots and hotties we need to concentrate on for the next month.""I, thank you, Cáel," she smiled."For what?""For not disappointing me. You are a nicer guy than you give yourself credit for.""Thank you, Casper," I reached over and hugged her. She didn't flinch. "For treating me like I can make a difference.""I need to go to bed now," she yawned. I hugged her again then stepped back. She walked to her door and began to shut it. I swore I heard her whisper 'you do', but I wasn't sure. I had to hurry to the bathroom, heat up a wash cloth while cleaning up, before finally getting back to Brooke. I found her reclining on the bed, totally naked."Sorry I took so long," I told her."I know. It is okay. I heard most of it," she glowed happily. "Casper needs someone, someone who isn't me. I'm not the most patient friend in the world. I sort of feel responsible for her and she needs someone to talk to about normal stuff, but I miss going to clubs and hanging out with friends who talk back." I sat on the bed and began to run the warm cloth up her thighs."What was it like, that fight in Romania?" she asked as we switched off with the washcloth. She tenderly worked over her abused anal region."The battle? A skirmish really,""Yes," she paused. "Between that and being kidnapped, you've had a mentally draining time since we last spent some time together. You act like you haven't changed much, but,""It's okay. I know it sounds clich , but it is hard to explain those things unless you've lived thru them.""If you don't want to talk about it," Brooke gave me an out. I could tell this was a part of my life she wanted to be a part of; my manliness on display."I'm okay. I can't really say I was scared for myself either time. During the kidnapping I was concerned for Aya. All of the normal human stuff came later, after the crisis was over. During the kidnapping, there isn't much to talk about. As for the fight, at the time I had a plan and was waiting for the opportunity to implement it. Bullets were flying. Men around me were getting wounded. I can't recall seeing any of the men on my side getting killed.""Did you get shot?" she stroked my abdomen."Bruised, though my flak jacket had to do its job once or twice," I sighed. I could almost hear the sounds of the bullets whizzing around me once more. Wounded men hadn't screamed out when they were hit. They'd grunted. The cries would come later when the enormity of their pain sunk in."I made sure the main bad guy ~ the Boss ~ didn't get away. I think I wounded one guy. That was it; my contribution to the battle.""It was your plan that won the fight though, right?""Yes. I did what leaders are supposed to do, but that didn't mean I could save all my guys and gals.""You are very courageous," Brooke cuddled in. "You don't back down often, but you are not an ass about it. You are the least 'macho-asshole' macho-man I've ever met, and I'd like to see more of you," she purred."I'm already naked," I played naive. Brooke pushed me down and straddled my lap."I guess I'll just have to appreciate the naked you some more then," she chortled. Brooke took charge long enough for me enter her then we combined our efforts, her moving with her thighs and me with my hands on her hips, to engage in some serious love-making.This is not a political commentary, public personalities have been butchered in order to make the story light-hearted{4:45 am Friday, August 29th ~ 10 Days to go}"Hey," Brooke asked softly, "can I join?"I was halfway thru my clean up when she'd opened the shower stall door, but I had some time. "Sure. I'll wash your back if you wash mine," I offered.She gave me a sly grin as she stepped in and closed the door behind her. I signaled her to turn with her back to me (never a safe position), poured some liquid soap in my hands and began lathering her up."Did you think you could leave me with only a kiss," she said as she backed up against me."I thought you were asleep when I kissed you," I whispered into her ear."I was. You are such a romantic, I assumed you kissed me because that's what you always do. You have a light touch.""We were up late," I teased."You are up early," she let her left hand travel down between us until she could wrap her fingers around my cock."Being with you, it is hardly a surprise," I chuckled."Are you implying you like me?" she serpentined her body against mine."Me likey, me likey a whole bunch," I told her as I nibbled her ear. Brooke responded by pulling my phallus around like a clock arm until it was fixed between her thighs and rubbing up against her. We left it there a while, she rocking her hips back and forward while I soaped up her front the way I had lathered her back. After all, this was foreplay.This was kisses planted along her shoulders, neck, ears and, as I turned her head around, on her lips. Brooke was whining with need after our last French kiss, so I pushed my hips back and pressed her down with a hand on her mid-back. At the perfect angle, I let her slip me in."Ah, this is never going to get old," Brooke moaned. She punctuated her statement by rolling her hips back and forth. In the interlude, I cut off the water so it would cease to be a distraction. Then my hands went to her hips and the rhythm began. It was a slow steady wave-like motion.Brooke had one hand against the tiled wall while the other reached under to play, as I went in. This was an excellent symmetry we had developed.I pulled out suddenly."No," Brooke protested. She turned around to see me pull a condom from behind the shampoo and quickly apply it. Brooke giggled. "Thank you for that, but don't you think it is a little late in our night together?""Would you rather I went without?" I smiled."No," she sighed happily. "It is so you." I took that as a sign to slip back in. I felt her fingernails run over the condom as I pressed forward. This time around, I let Brooke do all the work. I placed my torso onto her back so I could worry her shoulders and neck (yes, I gave her a hickey) and fondled her breasts."No fair," she whimpered. "No fair, I wanted you to, cum first.""I'm working as fast as I can," I huffed. Her fingers were strumming furiously, I was picking up my pace, pounding her with growing ferocity, and her breath was coming in labored gasps."No!" she howled as her climax gripped her. She bucked up once, twice, then a third time, holding herself tightly against me."I'm cumming," I growled and I did. Brooke's groans became longer and lower. She wiggled her cute ass against me, urging out every spurt of my semen into the condom. As I was pulling out of Brooke, she stopped me."Wait, I want to try something," she told me. She turned around and went to her knees.Brooke rolled off the condom and made deep, meaningful eye contact before tilting her head back and draining the contents of my condom down her throat. Oh, that was so sexy."Yummy," she gulped down my seed."Wow, that was so, unforgettable," I stroked her cheek."I've been reading some porn and wanted to try, oh, it has an aftertaste of spermicide. At least I think that is what it is," she snickered."I wouldn't know," I shrugged."Let me find out," she gave me more of that sultry eye-contact. She put her hand around my turgid phallus, stuck out her tongue then slipped it past her lips."No," it was my turn to moan. She was getting me hard again and I had a date I couldn't be late for. Maybe. The moment her gag reflex kicked in, I pulled her up into a kiss. My hands cupped each ass cheek, I raised her over and impaled her in one rapid motion. Face to face, I began bouncing her hard and deep.{8:00 am}I wasn't late, but it was a close thing. I had arrived with three minutes to spare, only to find Hana and Libra waiting for me at Amy's Bread on 9th Avenue. Over some coffee and scones we soaked up the city's morning ambience. I was in my biker clothes with my bike locked up within sight of the counter."So," Libra started off after the initial hugs and kisses (Hana on the lips, Libra on the cheek, no titty snuggle for me at the moment), "how was dinner with Brooke last night?"I didn't believe Brooke had given anyone any details in the period between since we'd had our last round of high octane love-making at one a.m. and before I grabbed my shower, or the two quickies in the shower, or feeling her up at the door. I had kissed her before leaving and she had been out like a light, naked and curled up with my pillow while resting her weary head on the other one. I had whispered a farewell to Casper, but not looked in. After that, I had biked over to Havenstone for my six o'clock firearm's practice.There, I had picked up my current minder, Juanita Leya Antonio Garza. She was a mocha-skinned Dominican, twenty-nine years old and a brand-spanking new member of the Isharan House Guard. She came to me by way of Havenstone's Buenos Aires' Acquisitions department. Juanita had earned her spot as my guardian by qualifying for that office's Rapid Response Team. (She had been good enough to qualify for that team's lead. Since there were not enough Security Detail (SD's) to staff all the satellite offices, the offices made do with teams trained by the SD as part of their normal career training.)She had spent the past week as part of an ad-hoc training program addressing how to bodyguard from on top a bicycle. (The SD had actually been planning this since I had been kidnapped.) Juanita had been identified by Buffy and Halen as a Runner to be brought into House Ishara and she had a seal of approval from both Buffy and Rachel as a bodyguard, so I was more than willing to put up with an aggressive road buddy."Entertaining," I grinned. "Definitely something we are going to have to work on together next time.""Next time?" Hana regarded me studiously. "Was last night that good?""We are not going to go there, Hana. I'm doing my best within my limited Code of Sexual Misconduct. I'm trying to be discreet.""Hana," Libra added her voice, "when you first met Cáel, he was simultaneously dating me and Brooke. At the same time he was also seeing that police officer,""Nikita," I clarified, "and we are keeping it at the 'strictly friends' level right now.""I was hoping to have something more than just a part-time husband," Hana stated softly. Hana wasn't whining. She was testing our boundaries, for the long term control of my being. After all, wasn't that what marriage was all about?"At this point in my life, I'm not that guy," I pushed back. Most of the women I'd been with hadn't been happy about sharing my attentions, often violently so. Those who did found ways to emotionally blackmail me into spending more time with them. Up until now, that had never worked."When I saw you with  Annela, I realized that you are much more than some sort of playboy," Hana countered."I'm learning to like kids," I shrugged happily. "I never thought I would, quite frankly. I wasn't called 'Captain Condom' for nothing.""I'm not on birth control," Hana enlightened me. Oh shit!"Good thing we are getting married," I joked feebly. "So, does  Annela want a baby brother, or sister?""Would there be a problem with a boy?" Libra asked."Not anymore," I guaranteed them both. "I couldn't,""Couldn't?" Hana requested what I had let slip."What used to happen to Amazon boys?" Libra pressed."Not something that I feel at liberty to discuss," I hedged."That doesn't sound good," Libra mused."Would our child be at risk if something happened to you?" Hana worried."No," I reached over and squeezed her hand. "There are plenty of people that know how I feel and wouldn't let anything happen to my children," I didn't quite lie. Honestly I had never talked over such things, even with Buffy. Would my sons be okay? Would my daughters?I needed to reexamine my future plans, which is to say I needed a plan."So how would we deal with your grandfather?" Hana redirected my thoughts."Oh," I had been worried about my Amazons, not my family."I will find a way to deal with Alal," I promised her. What a bold-faced lie. I hadn't a clue how to counter the man yet. I was still playing catch up with several thousand years of what he had already accomplished, much less plumbed the depths of his future conspiracies."You big liar," Hana smiled warmly. "That man has your number, even though you don't see it yet. We will have to work on something together.""I'll help," Libra offered. "That guy weirded me out.""He did?" I looked her way. I'd been good at avoiding ogling her cleavage for Hana's sake. "I wish I could clarify how I feel about him.""That man is evil," Hana insisted. "Don't you see that?""It isn't that simple for me," I shook my head. "It is, I can get inside his head and figure out what motivates him, and sometimes it is scary. In a way, he's lost faith in humanity. His friends have all long since died and he has carried on alone. I get the bizarre sense he is even looking forward to having something he's never had before, a family.""What about your, umm, aunts?" Libra challenged me."They don't count because he," I couldn't say 'made them in a lab'. "He never knew them as children, only after the fact and they have always lived in his shadow and under his control. This time, with me, us, things can be different.""He doesn't deserve a family in my book," Hana shook her head. "Not my family."I had to think about Katrina and Aya. How different was Katrina, who purposely sacrificed Aya to achieve her long term goals of screwing over the Seven Pillars of Heaven? Aya would bear a permanent scar of that betrayal, and Katrina had an ironclad faith I would save us both, a faith I didn't have in myself. I liked Katrina and even trusted her somewhat. Could I afford to feel the same way about Grandpa Cáel?"Hana, I'm not looking to give you a sane reason for dumping me, but my family is more than a little fucked up," I began. "I have to face the fact that right now, I really can't stop Alal from doing what he wants. That doesn't mean I accept the situation, yet it is what it is. When I have a chance at putting him away, I'll take it and that decision goes beyond my family. He needs to be stopped. As you said 'he's evil'.""Will you let us help you?" Libra inquired. 'Yeah right, what can you do versus a 5000 year old criminal mastermind' wasn't the appropriate thing to say. The truth rarely is."What would you suggest?" I did say. "Considering the resource gulf between what we can bring to bear versus his legions of followers and unspeakable power, what chances do the three of us have?""Is that a concession, insult, or genuine inquiry?" Hana questioned."Genuine inquiry," I answered. "I hardly feel I know it all. And the more insight I can gather, the better my long-term chances are.""We can start by finding a way to get rid of my Irish 'minders'," Hana gave me a quirky grin. "They are very good at fitting seamlessly into the background, but I can spot them.""Keep them around for a while, because all we can accomplish right now is getting a few more we can't identify," I pointed out. "The Ghost Tigers?""Oh, they are out and about," Libra snorted."They stop by long enough in the morning to get my itinerary, then, I guess they are out there somewhere," Hana told me. "A few times they have acted on my behalf, so I know they are close by, and that people really are trying to kill me. But they work their way, and that includes not being seen with me, it seems.""They are assassins, so I guess I should have expected that," I shrugged. "Still, while they are on the job, you are safer than you realize. None of the others ~ groups ~ will bother you while they know those two are close by. It is two, right?""I've seen two. A young woman and an older man," she elaborated."They both come across as diligent sociopaths," Libra added. "I've never seen them emit a single emotion, and they don't like my sense of humor.""I'd rather have you two alive than have them chucking at your innate comedic talents, Libra," I smirked. "Besides, the things they find funny you might not appreciate.""Good point," Hana nodded. "Some of the Great Khan's people certainly have an odd sense of humor, things that don't translate over well."I had an alternative to telling what I knew about the Earth & Sky and why they were so grim: that they saw their father's lifetimes, their own and that of their children filled with warfare and struggle. They were geographically trapped between two of the world's greate

Welcome to "All About Thailand," a podcast brought to you by Lonely Traveler Productions! Join our enthusiastic host, Mike, as he takes you on an exciting exploration of Thailand's enchanting destinations. In this episode, we shine a spotlight on Phuket, the jewel of the Andaman Sea. Mike dives into everything you need to know about this tropical paradise—from the finest hotels and accommodations to the breathtaking beaches and vibrant nightlife. Whether you're a first-time visitor or a seasoned traveler, this podcast is your ultimate guide to experiencing the magic of Phuket. Tune in and discover the island's hidden gems and essential tips for an unforgettable adventure! Link to subscribe below to special edition podcast https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/lonely-traveler-productio/subscribe

Dugongs are grey sea mammals, also called “sea cows”, partly because of how they look and because they graze on seagrass. The dugong can be found off the coast of 48 countries between East Africa and Vanuatu in Oceania. They are listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. There used to be common sightings off the coast of Thailand but now, at least 70 dugongs have been found dead along the southern coast of the Andaman Sea over a period of 22 months. In October 2024 alone, 30 dugongs were reported dead in Thailand. What's behind this? Panisa Aemocha from BBC Thai, explains the importance of dugongs to local eco-systems and why their numbers are declining. We also hear what the Thai government is trying to do to save them. Numbers have also gone down in East Africa. Evan Trotzuk from the African Parks NGO, explains why and tells us about the measures being taken to protect dugong in Bazaruto Archipelago National Park, Mozambique.Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Julia Ross-Roy and Maria Clara Montoya Video Journalist: Tim Hodges Editor: Verity Wilde

Charles and Jon chat with two Bangkok-based mammalwatchers, Alexander Coke Smith and Jirayu 'Tour' Ekkul. Coke, an American, moved to Thailand a decade ago. He has travelled extensively and many mammalwatchers will be familiar with his superb photos and trip reports. Tour, a Thai citizen, began running trips in the Gulf of Thailand in 2012 to watch the resident Eden's Whales. His company, Wild Encounter Thailand, has grown to offer birding and mammalwatching trips across Thailand and beyond. We talk about the rapid growth of ecotourism in Thailand and ask what that means for conservation, before discussing Thailand's mammalwatching potential in largely unexplored areas. Coke remembers an epic adventure across the Gobi desert in China in search of Bactrian Camels. And Tour describes a strange dolphin - with a very long-beak - from the Andaman Sea which, if indeed a new species, might be named 'Delphinus pinocchioensis'.For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcastNotes: There are many trip reports on mammalwatching's Thailand page. Coke's report from his trip into China's Xinjiang autonomous region in search of wild camels is here.Cover art: Eden's Whales feeding off of Bangkok, Coke Smith.Dr Charles Foley is a mammalwatcher and biologist who, together with his wife Lara, spent 30 years studying elephants in Tanzania. They now run the Tanzania Conservation Research Program at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.Jon Hall set up mammalwatching.com in 2005. Genetically Welsh, spiritually Australian, currently in New York City. He has looked for mammals in over 110 countries.

Join us for a compelling episode of the Fruiting Body Podcast as we journey through the intricate and often tumultuous history of Phuket and Thailand with Colin Mackay, a distinguished Scottish author and historian. Based in Phuket since 1998, Mackay's deep dive into the region's past offers unparalleled insights into some of the most significant and intriguing aspects of Thailand's history.In this episode, we explore the dark and thrilling tales of pirates and slavery that once plagued Phuket's shores. Mackay sheds light on the "Lord of The People," an influential figure whose legacy has shaped the region. We also discuss the brutal realities of the spice trade, a driving force behind much of Southeast Asia's historical development.Mackay takes us through the history of global navigation and the fierce competition for ownership of the world's wealth, highlighting the story of the infamous pirate Captain William Kidd. We delve into the evolution of ASEAN trade, examining how this region has grown from its tumultuous past into a thriving economic zone.One of the episode's highlights is the dramatic tale of Koh Lanta, an island that took bold steps to rid itself of pirates, reclaiming its peace and security. We also explore how the British attempted to colonize Thailand and the impact of these efforts on the country's history.Finally, we uncover the fascinating story behind the word "Siam" and how it became synonymous with Thailand, adding yet another layer to the rich tapestry of this nation's past.This episode is packed with historical insights and untold stories that bring to life the history of Thailand, Phuket, and Southeast Asia. Don't miss out on this deep dive into the captivating events that have shaped this vibrant region.#ThailandHistory #PiratesOfThailand #PhuketHistory #ASEANTrade #SoutheastAsiaHistory #ThaiPirates #KohLantaPirates #CaptainWilliamKidd #UntoldStories #ThaiCulture #PirateLegends #HistoricalThailand #AndamanSea #ThaiIslands #maritimehistory #fruitingbodypodcast 

  If there was ever a podcast where you're better off seeing the video, this is it! It features lots of footage that I shot the first time I visited. In mid-November 2024, hear me speak at the Extraordinary Travel Festival in Bangkok, Thailand! Timeline 00:00 Intro 00:50 History 03:05 Temples 04:10  Islands 05:38 Snorkeling, SCUBA diving, & fish 07:15 Lodging 08:15 People 09:00 Dance & nightlife This video gives you an exciting overview of Thailand! You'll learn about Thailand's history, beaches, aquatic sea life, temples, languages, culture, nightlife, and dancing. Subscribe to watch my video kissing a Thai elephant! Video script Welcome to the Land of Smiles! Thailand is a country that tantalizes your taste buds, tickles your senses, and leaves you wondering if you've accidentally stepped into a vibrant dream. Thailand has got to be one of the most aptly named countries on the planet. The “Land of Smiles” delivers grins at every turn with its beautiful scenery, delightfully eccentric cultural experiences, and some of the most blissed-out, friendly people you'll ever encounter. Just be prepared for lots of bewildered head-scratching and delighted laughter as you embrace the organized chaos and tongue-in-cheek whimsy that makes traveling here such an endlessly entertaining adventure. A History with More Spice Than Your Pad Thai Thailand boasts a history as rich and complex as a bowl of tom yum soup. Kingdoms rose and fell, leaving behind a trail of magnificent temples and enough intrigue to make a soap opera jealous. We won't bore you with dates (because, let's face it, remembering your anniversary is hard enough), but here's the gist: powerful empires, epic battles fought on elephant back (seriously!), and a whole lot of cultural exchange. The Thais like to refer to their nation as the “Land of the Free” since they proudly managed to avoid getting colonized by myopic European powers who were too distracted trying to invent terrible ideas like bloodsports and obesity. The origins of this glorious nation trace back to the ancient Sukhothai kingdom, which ruled large swaths of present-day Thailand from the 13th to 15th centuries and essentially laid the groundwork for all the mischief to come. They invented the Thai alphabet, converted the nation to Theravada Buddhism (a spirituality that preaches detachment yet somehow birthed the Muay Thai boxing culture), and kick-started a prolific period of temple construction that persists today. Thailand maintained a rich, quirky cultural identity through a delightfully convoluted pageant of kingdoms and capitals. Thailand's history is like a spicy curry – full of twists, turns, and unexpected ingredients. Imagine a time when Ayutthaya was the New York City of Southeast Asia, bustling with trade, culture, and probably a few epic food fights. Then came the Burmese invasion, like a hangry Godzilla stomping through the city. But fear not! The Thais rebuilt, and today, Ayutthaya's ruins are a testament to resilience and the importance of investing in sturdy walls. Thailand's history is as colorful as its temples and diverse as its cuisine. From ancient civilizations to modern-day monarchy, this country has seen it all. Fast forward to today, and Thailand is a vibrant mix of tradition and modern life. You'll find glittering skyscrapers sharing the skyline with ancient temples, monks in saffron robes browsing smartphones, and grandmothers selling mango-sticky rice beside sleek cafes. The Grand Palace complex is a must-see if only to check off “tour the wildly ornate milieu of one of the world's most eccentric, propaganda-addicted royal dynasties” from your bucket list. The palace grounds feature the famous Emerald Buddha sculpture - a diminutive jade figure that looks like something you'd win at a county fair but is priceless to Buddhists. Nearby sits the aptly named Wat Pho, home to the epic Reclining Buddha statue that's so colossal you half expect it to pop up and start rapping about all the golden donuts it ate. Temples and Religion: Where Buddha Takes Center Stage Thailand has more temples than there are grains of sand on its beaches. Wat Pho's reclining Buddha is so chill it's practically horizontal. And the Grand Palace? It's like a wedding cake made of gold and gemstones. As for religion, Thais blend Buddhism with a dash of animism, like adding chili to mango sticky rice. It's a spiritual cocktail that keeps the universe in balance. Thailand is steeped in Buddhism, and the magnificent temples testify to the country's rich spiritual heritage. Wat Pho will leave you speechless with its reclining Buddha and towering golden chedis. In Ayutthaya, explore the crumbling ruins of ancient temples, remnants of a once-great kingdom. Island Hopping: The Aquatic Adventure Now, let's get to the good stuff: the islands! Thailand's coastline is dotted with gems – Phi Phi, Koh Lanta, Krabi – each offering a slice of paradise. But getting there is half the fun (or mild terror, depending on your seafaring tolerance). Imagine yourself crammed onto a longtail boat, the wind whipping through your hair (and possibly carrying off your hat). The turquoise water stretches out before you, but don't get too mesmerized – keep an eye out for the inevitable spray that might leave you looking like a contestant on Wipeout. Thai's islands are like a buffet of paradise, and you're the hungry traveler with a plate (or boat) to fill. The joy of island hopping is like speed dating with beaches – each has its personality. Some are shy and secluded, while others flaunt limestone cliffs and party vibes. And let's not forget the snorkeling – it's like attending a marine masquerade ball, where fish wear sequined scales and dance to the rhythm of the tides. The Andaman islands like Phuket, Ko Phi Phi, Ko Lanta, and Ko Lipe have appeared on approximately one zillion desktop wallpaper screensavers with their sugar sand beaches, cliffs of swirled limestone karsts, and forests of coconut trees casually minding their own bad hair day business. Offshore, the islands offer some of planet Earth's most insane snorkeling and diving thanks to absurdly vibrant coral reefs and a psychedelically promiscuous marine life community. Marine Life: More Than Just Nemo The minute you slip beneath the waves in Thailand, you enter a technicolor wonderland. Let's talk fish – we're not talking goldfish crackers here. You've got graceful angelfish gliding by and maybe even the occasional grumpy-looking moray eel poking out of a hole. For the more adventurous, vibrant coral reefs are teeming with life. Picture schools of shimmering blue tangs, trumpetfish with their Pinocchio noses, and perhaps a majestic manta ray gliding past like a giant underwater spaceship. Underwater, Thailand's marine life is a kaleidoscope of colors. The Phi Phi islands have emerged as the undisputed snorkelers' playground thanks to their rockin' reefs populated by residents like the omnipresent clownfish–yup, the one that found Nemo – but also the elusive seahorse, basically the James Bond of the sea. And then there's the triggerfish, with a face only a mother could love. But hey, beauty is subjective, right? The coral reefs are like underwater cities, bustling with activity. Remember, don't touch the coral – it's like graffiti on the Mona Lisa. With 4000 km of coastline, Thailand's incredibly biodiverse marine ecosystems delight snorkelers, divers, and beachgoers alike. The warm, clear waters of the Andaman Sea and Gulf of Thailand allow optimal visibility to witness vivid coral gardens and drifting schools of tropical fish. Some of the most colorful aquatic life you may spot includes the electric blue-and-yellow regal angelfish, the aptly named clownfish darting in and out of swaying anemones, vibrant parrotfish, and powder blue tang swimming through staghorn coral mazes. Stay very still, and you may even catch sight of free-swimming moray eels slithering across the reefs or skillfully camouflaged scorpionfish. Luxury Hotels: Where Dreams Come True (and Wallets Cry) Craving a touch of luxury after your island adventure? Thailand has you covered. We're talking opulent beachfront resorts with infinity pools that seem to melt into the horizon, private plunge pools big enough to host a pool party, and service so good you might start questioning your ability to tie your own shoes. The best part? These luxury digs won't leave you needing a second mortgage. Thailand offers incredible value for money, so you can live like royalty without needing to win the lottery. Thailand's luxury hotels redefine opulence. Imagine waking up in a floating villa. Or sipping champagne in a rooftop pool overlooking Bangkok's skyline – it's like swimming in liquid stardust. And the spa treatments? They're so relaxing, you'll forget your own name. Friendly People: Hugs, Smiles, and Tuk-Tuk Negotiations Thais are the friendliest folks on this side of the Milky Way. They'll greet you with a wai (a respectful bow) and feed you until you waddle.. Thais are renowned for their hospitality, their smiles as warm and welcoming as a bowl of khao tom (chicken rice soup – trust us, it's amazing). Communication might be a challenge sometimes but don't worry, a little game of charades goes a long way. Plus, the locals often appreciate the effort, rewarding you with a hearty laugh and maybe even a discount on that souvenir elephant keychain. Of course, there's always the grumpy taxi driver, the one who seems to have forgotten the “Land of Smiles” motto. But hey, even grumpy adds flavor to the experience, right? Dance Performances and Entertainment: Hip-Shaking Extravaganza Thailand's dance performances are like a fusion of Cirque du Soleil and a tropical storm. The traditional khon dance tells epic tales of gods, demons, and love triangles. Meanwhile, the ladyboys of Pattaya leave you questioning your hip flexibility. And the nightlife? It's a neon jungle where cocktails flow like waterfalls, and neon signs promise enlightenment (or at least a blurry selfie). Thailand's nightlife is as vibrant as the orchids at every market. Want to be dazzled by elaborate dance performances with glittering costumes and gravity-defying moves? Head to a cabaret show – just be prepared to have your gender stereotypes playfully challenged by the stunning ladyboys. For something a little more low-key, wander through a night market, where you'll find street performers juggling fire, musicians filling the air with soulful melodies, and puppet shows that will transport you back to your childhood. So there you have it – Thailand, where elephants roam, tuk-tuks zigzag, and every street corner smells like a stir-fry adventure. Pack your sense of humor, an empty stomach, and an extra pair of flip-flops – you're in for a wild ride!

Today, you'll learn about a newly discovered deep sea ghost shark, the best way to treat prolonged grief disorder, and how the blood vessels in our brain coordinate to improve brain functioning. Ghost Shark “‘Ghost shark' with enormous head and giant iridescent eyes discovered off Thailand.” by Elise Poore. 2024. “Chimaera.” Shark Trust. 2020. “Chimaera supapae (Holocephali: Chimaeriformes: Chimaeridae), a new species of chimaera from the Andaman Sea of Thailand.” by David A. Ebert, et al. 2024. Grief Treatment “Which therapy works best to treat prolonged grief disorder?” by Lachlan Gilbert. 2024. “Cognitive Behavior Therapy vs Mindfulness in Treatment of Prolonged Grief Disorder.” by Richard A. Bryant, et al. 2024. “Comparing the efficacy of mindfulness-based therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy for depression in head-to-head randomized controlled trials: A systematic review and meta-analysis of equivalence.” by Kristine Tretto Sverre, et al. 2022. “Prolonged Grief Disorder.” Psychology Today. N.d. Blood Vessel Coordination “Coordinating Blood Vessel Activity Might be Associated with Better Brain Performance.” Tohoku University. 2024. “Plastic vasomotion entrainment.” by Daichi Sasaki, et al. 2024. Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Calli and Nate — for free! Still curious? Get exclusive science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Famine risk is real for 14 areas of Sudan amid ongoing fighting Andaman Sea among most deadly for migrants zones for migrantsRoad safety experts wheel in fix for pedal error accidents 

Drift into the soothing embrace of Koh Yao Noi's nighttime serenade. Nestled between Phuket and Krabi in Thailand, Koh Yao Noi remains an oasis of tranquility, its untouched beauty resonating in every sound. Be transported to its serene shores, where the gentle laps of the Andaman Sea mingle with the delicate crackle of a beachside fire. Above, countless stars glitter, while native cicadas compose a timeless lullaby. Let the undisturbed charm of Koh Yao Noi lull you into a peaceful slumber, bringing you the relaxation you deserve.

EXPLORING THAILAND: FROM BUSTLING CITIES TO TRANQUIL BEACHESThailand is a country rich in culture, history and natural beauty. It offers a variety of experiences for travelers, from bustling cities to serene beaches, from ancient temples to modern skyscrapers, from spicy street food to fine dining. Bangkok is the capital and largest city of Thailand, and a hub of commerce, entertainment and culture. It is a city of contrasts, where you can find traditional markets and temples alongside modern shopping malls and skyscrapers. Bangkok is known for its vibrant nightlife, diverse cuisine and friendly people. Some of the must-see attractions in Bangkok include the Grand Palace, Wat Pho, Wat Arun, Chatuchak Weekend Market and Khao San Road. Bangkok is also a city that cares about sustainability, as it has many initiatives to reduce traffic congestion, promote public transportation, recycle waste and conserve energy. Chiang Mai is the largest city in northern Thailand, and a center of culture, education and spirituality. It is surrounded by mountains and forests, and has a cooler climate than the rest of the country. Chiang Mai is famous for its hundreds of temples, many of which date back to the 13th century. It is also a hub for arts and crafts, as well as wellness and meditation. Some of the highlights of Chiang Mai include the Old City, Doi Suthep, Elephant Nature Park, Night Bazaar and Sunday Walking Street. Chiang Mai is also a city that values sustainability, as it has many organic farms, eco-friendly hotels and social enterprises. You can visit an organic farm or a community garden to learn about sustainable agriculture, or stay at a hotel that uses solar panels or rainwater harvesting systems. You can also volunteer at an elephant sanctuary or a dog shelter to help the animals in need, or shop at a fair trade store or a handicraft market to support the local artisans.Phuket is the largest island in Thailand, and a popular destination for beach lovers. It has over 30 beaches, ranging from busy resorts to secluded coves. Phuket is also known for its water sports, nightlife and seafood. Some of the best beaches in Phuket include Patong, Kata, Karon and Kamala. Phuket is also a city that supports sustainability, as it has many projects to protect marine life, preserve coral reefs, clean up beaches and promote local culture. For example, you can join a snorkeling or diving trip to see the colorful fish and corals in the Andaman Sea, or participate in a beach cleanup or a coral restoration program to help the environment. Hua Hin is a seaside town in southern Thailand, and a favorite getaway for locals and tourists alike. It has a laid-back atmosphere, with long sandy beaches, golf courses, spas and markets. Hua Hin is also known for its royal heritage, as it is home to the summer palace of King Rama VI. Some of the attractions in Hua Hin include Hua Hin Beach, Cicada Market, Hua Hin Railway Station and Klai Kangwon Palace. Hua Hin is also a city that embraces sustainability, as it has many initiatives to reduce plastic use, promote renewable energy sources and support community development. Why wait? Book your trip now!!Support the showTripCast360 --- It's all about travel, lifestyle and entertainment.Web: TripCast360.com.Twit: https://twitter.com/TripCast360FB: https://www.facebook.com/TripCast360Insta: https://www.instagram.com/tripcast360/

Good afternoon, I'm _____ with today's episode of EZ News. Tai-Ex opening The Tai-Ex opened marginally higher this morning from yesterday's close, at 17,340 on turnover of 2.5-billion N-T. The market lost ground on Tuesday, to close below the 17,400 point mark as investors opted to move to the sell side following losses on Wall Street overnight and the bellwether electronics sector led the downturn. NSTC Lists Critical Technologies to Face Tougher Controls The National Science and Technology Council has unveiled a set of key technologies that it says will be subject to tougher controls to prevent (防止) technology leaks and boost industrial competitiveness. The 22 key technologies cover five industries. Those being defense, aerospace, agriculture, semiconductors and information and communications technology. According to the council, the term "key technologies" refers to tech that, if exported to China, Macau, Hong Kong or "external hostile forces," would significantly harm national security, industrial competitiveness, or economic development. MOFA Opens 4th Representative Office in Canada The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has officially opened a news representative office in Montreal. The office is Taiwan's fourth in Canada. The foreign ministry says it chose Montreal as the site for the office because it is the largest city in French-speaking Quebec, and is known as a technology hub, notably (尤其) in video game and artificial intelligence development. Foreign Minister Joseph Wu says the latest office in Canada showed Taiwan's determination to expand its relations with the North American country on all fronts. Taiwan's main representative office is in Ottawa, while other branches are located in Toronto and Vancouver. UN: Adrift Rohingya in Danger The United Nations refugee agency says as many as 400 Rohingya Muslims could be adrift (漂流) in the Andaman Sea without adequate supplies. It's warning they could die if more is not done to rescue them. Patrick Fok reports. Peru Fujimori Allowed Humanitarian Release Peru's constitutional court has ordered an immediate humanitarian release for imprisoned former President Alberto Fujimori. The 85-year-old former leader has been serving a 25-year sentence in connection with the death squad slayings of 25 Peruvians in the 1990s. The court ruled in favor of a 2017 pardon that had granted the former leader a release on humanitarian grounds but that later was annulled (被廢除). Fujimori was sentenced in 2009 to 25 years in prison on charges of human rights abuses. Venezuela Maduro Orders Immediate Exploration of Essequibo Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is ordering the country's state-owned companies to “immediately” begin to explore and exploit the oil, gas and mines in Guyana's Essequibo region. Maduro's announcement comes a day after Venezuela's electoral authorities announced that the five questions with which the government wanted to claim sovereignty over Essequibo were approved in Sunday's referendum. Guyana has denounced the referendum as pretext (藉口) to annex the land. The International Court of Justice, the United Nations' top court, has ordered Venezuela not to take any action to change the status quo until the panel can rule on the two countries' competing claims, which could take years. That was the I.C.R.T. news, Check in again tomorrow for our simplified version of the news, uploaded every day in the afternoon. Enjoy the rest of your day, I'm _____.

Tai-Ex opening The Tai-Ex opened down 19-points this morning from yesterday's close, at 17,401 on turnover of 2.4-billion N-T. The market closed slightly lower on Monday as the bellwether electronics sector lost ground on the back of growing concerns the U-S will tighten controls on chip sales to China. Despite the slump in investor interest in the bellwether electronics sector, the transportation sector, in particular bulk cargo shippers, trended higher, due to increasing freight rates, which lent some support to the broader market. ---- AIT Head Stresses Need to Combat Election Disinformation American Institute in Taiwan Director Sandra Oudkirk is stressing that Washington and Taipei are "on the frontlines" as they seek to tackle the spread of disinformation. Speaking at the National Taiwan University, where she delivered her End-of-Year policy address, Oudkirk said both sides are working closely to combat online information manipulation, as such threats are especially worrisome in the context of democratic elections. Oudkirk also said Washington and Taipei and other democratic partners recently participated in the Global Declaration on International Information Integrity Online and that declaration has now been joined by more than 30 countries. The declaration was launched by Canada and Netherlands in September. ---- Academia Sinica scholar Awarded Germany's Humboldt Research Award A distinguished research fellow at Academia Sinica has been awarded the 2023 Humboldt Research Award by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany. Wang Fan-sen, of the Institute of History and Philology, received the award in recognition of his achievements and impact on historical scholarship. Along with being a research fellow at Academia Sinica, Wang also currently serves as chair professor at the National Cheng Kung University, National Chengchi University, the National Taiwan Normal University and the National Sun Yat-sen University. The Humboldt prize is for internationally renowned scientists and scholars who work outside of Germany in recognition of their lifetime's research achievements. ---- Putin Plans to Visit the UAE and Saudi Arabia Russian media outlets are reporting that President Vladimir Putin plans to visit the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia this week. Russian state news agencies say that Putin will travel to the two countries for a working visit, during which he will meet the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. The U-A-E is currently hosting the United Nations Climate Change Conference. However, it's unclear whether Putin will attend the conference. Putin currently risks arrest if he leaves Russia after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him in March for war crimes, accusing him of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine. ---- UN Concerned about Rohingya Muslims aboard Two Boats The United Nations refugee agency is raising the alarm for an estimated 400 Rohingya Muslims believed to be aboard two boats reported to be out of supplies and adrift in the Andaman Sea. The agency is worried that all those aboard could die without efforts to rescue them. The captain of one of the boats says he had 180 to 190 people on board and that the engine was damaged. There is a seasonal exodus of Rohingyas, usually coming from overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh. About 740,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar to Bangladesh since 2017 after a brutal counterinsurgency campaign. ---- CBC to Cut 600 Jobs And Canada's public broadcaster says it will cut 600 jobs and reduce its English and French programming budgets. The move comes as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is struggling with monetary pressures. The bulk of the layoffs will come from corporate divisions such as technology and infrastructure. The broadcaster says it has also identified 200 vacancies that will go unfilled as it contends with 125-million Canadian dollars in budget pressures. Along with the job cuts, C-B-C will be reducing its English and French programming budgets, resulting in fewer renewals and acquisitions, fewer new television series and less episodes of existing shows.

This week, the mystery deepens as, in the days after MH370's disappearance, the Malaysian authorities first deny, then confirm that their military radar detected the missing 777 as it turned back from its planned route to Beijing just a few seconds after it passed the final waypoint in Malaysian airspace. The plane reversed course, flew back over the Malayan Peninsula, then flew up the middle of the Malacca Strait toward the northwest before disappearing again over the Andaman Sea. Jeff and Andy discuss the difference between primary and secondary radar, and Jeff explains why the timing of the turnback struck him as suspicious.

From the first day MH370 went missing, it was the subject of an intense surface search. Planes, ships and satellites scoured millions of square kilometers of ocean, first in the South China Sea, then in the Andaman Sea, then in the remote southern Indian Ocean. Not a single piece was ever spotted. Today we're going to talk about how the search went down, and what we might conclude from its failure to find any debris. We'll also discuss a new discovery that Jeff made while researching today's episode, and revisit a strange coda to the search, that involved an attempt to find the plane by listening for audible pings from the plane's black boxes. For show notes and links to the video-only version of this podcast, visit deepdivemh370.com.

The Thai government is pursuing a $27.4 billion land bridge project in the south that would link the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea through road and railway, giving shipping operators the option of bypassing the Straits of Malacca. How would this impact the Malaysian shipping industry? We get reactions on this and also initiatives to improve the maritime sector in Budget 2024 with Ooi Lean Hin, Chairman of the Shipping Association of Malaysia.Image Credit: Shutterstock

Drift into the soothing embrace of Koh Yao Noi's nighttime serenade with our latest episode, "Beach Fire Cicada Choir | Nighttime Cosy Ambience". Nestled between the bustling hubs of Phuket and Krabi, Koh Yao Noi remains an oasis of tranquility, its untouched beauty resonating in every sound. As you listen, be transported to its serene shores, where the gentle laps of the Andaman Sea intertwine with the delicate crackle of a beachside fire. Above, the heavens glitter with countless stars, while the island's native cicadas compose a lullaby that's been perfected over millennia. This episode isn't just a soundscape; it's a journey to one of Thailand's most enchanting hideaways. Allow the undisturbed charm of Koh Yao Noi to provide the peace and relaxation you seek   Sleep Sounds YouTube: here  

We delve into the prosecution faced by the Rohingya minority in Myanmar, and the treacherous journey many make across the Andaman Sea in search of asylum and a better life. We speak with Michelle Cicic, head of the regional office for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO) in south-southeast Asia Pacific, as well as Lilianne Fan and Hassan bin Rashid from the Geutanyoë Foundation.

#ecuador #folklore In the first story, we learn about a Pre-Colombian fortune teller, who foretells the end of an empire. She is born of the sea and returns to the sea. In the second story, a boy dismisses tales of a strange orange tree. It is the most delicious oranges ever, but you cannot take it away. The boy learns his lesson quickly. Source: Thirteen Ecuadorean Legends And A Ghost: Trece Leyendas Ecuatorianas Y Un Fantasma By Mario Conde Narrator: Dustin Steichmann Music: claveles y rosas.mp3 by milton. on Freesound.org Sound Effects: Hua Hin Ocean by Dustin Steichmann Podcast Shoutout: A history of the Inca Covering the origin, rise and eventual fall of the Inca Empire Listener Shoutout: Phnom Penh Khmer: ភ្នំពេញ, is the capital and most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since the French protectorate of Cambodia and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its economic, industrial, and cultural center. Video Made by Headliner "Andaman Sea foam" by The Foreign Fox is licensed under CC BY 2.0. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sandman-stories/message

Born in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (a union territory of India at the junction of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea), Honeyboy Des has been busking in Melbourne since 2006. Interview recorded on April 16, 2022 (Bourke Street Mall, Melbourne Central Business District) by Daniel Bacchieri. Music excerpts from the song "Lawrence School Reunion Song", written by Honeyboy Des. Photo credit: Honeyboy Des personal archive https://www.youtube.com/@HoneyboyDes https://www.instagram.com/honeyboydes/

Pete Atkison is an award-winning underwater photographer and Author of the popular book – ‘Polynesia an Ocean Realm'.Pete was born and raised in the UK and attended Bangor University, North Wales where he studied marine zoology. In 1982 he bought Eila, a 1935 classic yacht, which he sailed all over Polynesia, taking photos and writing articles. Pete's journey to Phuket took him around the world on a yacht for 23 years. Shooting underwater photos, swimming with sharks, and living his dream of being Jacques Cousteau. After finding love, Pete and Thai photographer Darin Limsuansub got married and decided to set anchor in the beautiful Andaman Sea.Don't miss out on this expedition as we sail through Pete's lifelong adventure as an underwater photographer and writer. We take a deeper look at what it would be like to travel mostly alone across the South Pacific, how one prepares for such a journey and find out more about the trials and tribulations one must endure when spending your life at sea. Join us for another grand adventure with the Fruiting Body podcast, our guest Pete Atkison shares with us his stories about his time taking pictures of sharks, writing articles for Sailing Magazines, and finding his treasure. Learn more about Phuket's marine life, the Polynesian islands, and if the flat earth theory is true. #retirement #thailand #retirementplanning #expatlife 

Police raids have uncovered a gambling network tied to the husband of a Thai actress. Studio Ghibli co-founder Toshio Suzuki has been accused of spending company funds on his Thai girlfriend. An Australian man was arrested over a restaurant brawl in Phuket. Tourists in the Andaman Sea were treated to a rare display of Bryde's whales. Finally, the world-famous New York burger joint Shake Shack opened its flagship Thailand store in Bangkok today. This news highlights the diverse and exciting news stories coming out of Thailand. From police raids to whale sightings, there is always something new and interesting happening in the country. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thaigerpodcast/message

The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 represents one of the greatest mysteries in modern aviation history.  On March 8th 2014 the plane left Kuala Lumpur on a scheduled flight to Beijing. Forty minutes later, the captain and Kuala Lumpur Air Traffic Control bade each other good night. That was the last communication between MH370 and the outside world. Less than two hours later, having been tracked by military radar, the aeroplane disappeared from sight somewhere over the Andaman Sea. In MH370: The Plane That Disappeared, a three-part Netflix docu-series, director Louise Malkinson, tells the story of how the plane vanished, and the nine-year aftermath. Louise and her producer, Harry Hewland, join Matthew Sherwood to discuss their new documentary. At the heart of the MH370 story are the families of the 239 passengers and crew who were on the plane, as well as those who, over the last decade, have sought to find out what happened. MH370: The Plane That Disappeared puts both groups front and centre as it explores what Harry calls, ‘the human story of the impact of MH370 and what this kind of mystery can do to people.' In order to tell their story as authentically as possible, Louise and Harry were determined not to lead the viewer to any particular conclusion. When they present the various theories regarding MH370's fate, they provide argument and counter-argument. The question of what happened to flight MH370 is yet to be solved. The docu-series is, therefore, a story without an end. It is also, however, the story of a ‘strong community': the next-of-kin who, as Louise tells Matthew, still ‘come together, every year around the anniversary' to remember their loved ones, and who are still intent on finding the truth about what happened on that dreadful day in 2014. “I spoke to people in China, we spoke to people in Malaysia, we spoke to people in France... everybody's the same: we all need closure. We all need it. We need to be able to say goodbye, and the fact that they haven't been able to do that...[it's] an unimaginable torture that they've had to go through, through all this time.” – Louise Malkinson

Meet Yuttana "Charlie" Madsatul, a friendly and knowledgeable local tour guide for 5 Star Marine, a premium private speedboat operator conducting tours of islands in the serene Andaman Sea. Born and raised in beautiful Phuket, Thailand, Charlie has a deep passion for showing visitors around the serene Andaman Sea. He studied tourism & travel at a vocational college right here on the island, and his years of experience have earned him the respect and trust of the local community.We're so excited to have Charlie on the Fruiting Body Podcast, where he shares some of his craziest stories and gives us a glimpse into his daily routine. From the top destinations to visit, to the differences between tour companies, Charlie has insider knowledge that he's eager to share.During our chat, we also learn about the lifestyle of Thais working in Phuket and the infamous Wen-Wen gangs. Plus, Charlie takes us on a virtual tour of his life in Phuket and offers some local perspective on the area's rich culture and history.Join us for this 5-star episode as we explore the world of tourism with our friend Charlie. We'll discuss everything from career options for young Thais to the importance of balancing family matters. You won't want to miss it!

爆片、爆卦不間斷，全新的壹蘋新聞網。App免費下載：https://app.nextapple.com/GMQ7 －－－－以上訊息由 SoundOn 動態廣告贊助商提供－－－－ Good afternoon, I'm _____ with today's episode of EZ News. **Tai-Ex opening ** The Tai-Ex opened up 25-points this morning from yesterday's close, at 14,310 on turnover of 1.34-billion N-T. Shares in Taiwan edged slightly higher Monday after moving in a narrow range on low turnover as many foreign institutional investors were away for the Christmas holiday. Although the bellwether electronics sector finished little changed, contract chipmaker TSMC ended higher to stabilize the broader market, and buying also rotated to the biotech sector as COVID-19 infections spike in China. **CWB: Rains Coming for Northern Taiwan ** The Central Weather Bureau says rainy weather may be coming for northern Taiwan. The CWB says skies should remain clear to cloudy today, but moisture is gathering over the island, leading to possible rain over Keelung and other parts of the north coast. Lowest temperatures this morning were recorded in Hsinchu County's Er-mei Township, at 5.2 degrees Celsius, and in general, daytime temperatures remain relatively warm, between 18-22 degrees in the north and east, and 24 to 26 degrees in the center and south. And weather expert Wu Der-rong also says a cold front may pass over Taiwan from January 2nd to 5th next year, after a mild New Years' Day. **Dwight Howard to join Taoyuan's New Year countdown bash ** Eight-time NBA All Star Dwight Howard will be at the countdown party in Taoyuan to celebrate the New Year with his fans this coming weekend. The T1 LEAGUE's Taoyuan Leopards basketball team says Howard will be participating in the city's "2023 Show Taoyuan" this Saturday. The team says at the event, a lucky spectator (觀眾) will also be chosen from the crowd to get on stage for a photo with Howard. The countdown party will be held at the square outside the Taoyuan high-speed rail station from 7 p.m. that day, featuring firework displays and performances by artists from Taiwan and abroad. **Indonesia Rohingya Muslims Land on Beach ** A second group in two days of Rohingya Muslims has landed on a beach in Indonesia's northernmost province of Aceh after weeks at sea. Police say at least 185 men, women and children disembarked (下船) from a wooden boat at dusk on a beach, weak from dehydration and exhaustion (虛脫). They were taken to the village hall and will stay there while they receive help from residents, health workers and others. Immigration officials and police are trying to identify the refugee to determine if they were from the group of 190 Rohingya who were reported by United Nations to be drifting in a small boat in the Andaman Sea for a month. The UNHCR on Friday urged countries to rescue the refugees, saying reports indicated they were in dire condition with insufficient food or water. **Aid Groups Suspend Work in Afghanistan ** Foreign aid groups are suspending (暫停) operations in Afghanistan following a decision by the Taliban leadership to ban women from working at international and local non-governmental organizations. The AP's Ed Donahue reports. That was the I.C.R.T. news, Check in again tomorrow for our simplified version of the news, uploaded every day in the afternoon. Enjoy the rest of your day, I'm _____.

In this episode of Add To Cart, we dissect the year that was 2022 and look forward to what 2023 may bring with Shaun Broughton, Managing Director for APAC and Japan from Shopify and Zhoe Lowe, General Manager of July. Now, I made sure I asked the pointed questions in this chat and my guests didn't disappoint. We deconstruct the year that's been and get predictions around value propositions, key channels and tech going into next year. Shaun gives us all the important (and often surprising) stats, he shares why value and longevity will be key going forward and we hear his plans for a spot of revenge travel in 2023. Zhoe shares the affiliate marketing platforms she's most interested in, how she thinks sexual wellness is a category worth watching in 2023 and why she spent Black Friday on a yacht in the Andaman Sea.Links from the episode:Athan Didaskalou from July Luggage: Reinventing the Wheel | #231Shopify Plus (sponsored)Packleo (sponsored)Questions answered:What were Black Friday results like for July? What is the marketing channel that will give retailers exceptional returns in 2023?What are your 2023 picks for technology or apps that retailers should have on their radar for experimentation?This episode was brought to you by… Shopify PlusPackleoAbout your co-hostsShaun Broughton from ShopifyAs APAC Managing Director, Shaun is spearheading Shopify's expanding presence in the world's largest market for retail eCommerce amounting to nearly $2.992 trillion in 2021. Under his leadership, Shopify teams across APAC are on a mission to make commerce better for everyone by providing local businesses with the technology tools, apps and services they need to easily sell and scale online and tap into the continued growth of ecommerce.You can contact Shaun at LinkedInZhoe Lowe from JulyZhoe Low is the General Manager of direct-to-consumer lifestyle brand July. Joining the business in 2019, Zhoe has delivered data-driven creative campaigns that have helped the business grow exponentially. Prior, she developed deep expertise in digital marketing, communications and customer acquisition as Marketing Lead at CoinJar, Australia's leading cryptocurrency platform. Zhoe's stewardship is a key reason July continues to grow and impress across Australia, US, and the world.You can contact Zhoe at LinkedIn Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ukraine rights probe highlights destruction of energy and transportation gridsDramatic increase in Andaman Sea crossings: UNHCRGlobal food prices hold steady in November: FAO

Phil Blizzard hosts this 'Land of Smiles' special by joining Surf Fm broadcaster Richard Jackson, in Hua Hin, to talk about the post COVID  'bounce back' of tourism to Thailand. Richard  also offers his 'local' knowledge of flydubai's new destinations - Krabi, on the Andaman Sea and Pattaya at the top of the Gulf of Siam.Aviation News starts off this podcast with an overview of the new routes being launched by flydubai in 2023

ABOUT OUR GUEST AUTHOR PETER CRITTENDEN Peter Crittenden is a retired US Army Special Forces NCO with extensive experience in Southeast Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Australia, and the Americas. The son of an Australian ex-pat, Pete, grew up in Sumatra, Bangladesh, and Thailand. During the course of his military career, among other duties, Pete served as a survival instructor at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Since retirement from active duty, Pete has worked as a security consultant and personnel recovery advisor for government agencies and corporate clients. “SURVIVAL MINDSET” Nowadays, more and more people are expressing concern and interest in personal safety and security issues. This book addresses safety, security and survival information in a primal approach since we all came from the cave, that is, humankind in nature. The natural, animal side has not left us - man is still a wild animal. One cannot separate the primitive, natural side from our daily existence; it is always there in everything we do - every observation and gut reaction - whether one is aware of it or not. The veneer of civilization is eggshell-thin. All it takes is an emergency situation of some type, a natural disaster, civil unrest, or a criminal event to bear witness to the savagery humans are capable of. Given this reality, the author imparts basic survival and security awareness skills with the intent to provide the reader with a survival mindset as a strong foundation for personal security skills adaptable to any environment. The ultimate objective of this book is to impart to the reader a safety, security, and survival mindset. Ironically, survival mindset - the most deciding aspect of any survival situation - is a subject that cannot be taught. It can be discussed, but ultimately Survival Mindset is a human quality that must come from within oneself. It is the author's hope that this book can serve as the key that unlocks this capability. “A THOUSAND DROPS OF RAIN” A professional adventurer sits down to write his memoirs but is plagued by distraction; the result is a collection of fantastic stories filled with high diversion, amusement, and amazement. In southern Thailand, an unorthodox hotel is perched upon a jungled cliff overlooking the Andaman Sea. Bungalows located at various levels up and down the cliff are connected by decks and ladders to a large traditional Thai dwelling up on stilts. On the upper deck is a colonial-style bar, a relic from a bygone era, where hotel keeper Mike holds court with fellow soldiers of fortune, explorers, and comrades from his previous life. Written in an inviting prose style by a retired Green Beret who has worked as a security consultant and problem solver on six continents, A Thousand Drops of Rain is not just for fans of the action-adventure genre, but for anyone who appreciates a good tall tale. BARNES & NOBLE LINK: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/peter%20crittenden AMAZON LINK: https://amzn.to/3DhqtSo Avoid Censored News - Subscribe to US News Behind The Facade: https://patriotsperspective.com Donate To Help Fund Truthful Journalism Support Directly - https://patriotsperspective.com/support-independent-journalists-researchers/ Buy Me A Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsbehindtruth Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/patriotsperspective PayPal: https://paypal.me/patriotsperspective or @PatriotsPerspective Mail To: Patriots Perspective - 150 SE 25th RD 12-K Miami FL 33129 Listen to our Podcasts for Free: https://patriotsperspective.com/podcast Follow Patriots Perspective Blog: https://patriotsperspective.com FOLLOW US AND WATCH ON: Website: https://PatriotsPerspective Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/c-1445051Telegram: https://t.me/patriotsperspectiveFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/PatriotsPerspective/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/patriotsperspectivenews/Bitchute: https://www.bitchute.com/channel/patriotsperspective/ Truth Social: https://truthsocial.com/@patriotsperspective YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/PatriotsPerspective Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@patriotsperspective2 Banned Video: Hello Alex Jones! We can't upload - do you know how? Gab: Gettr: https://gettr.com/user/patriotnew Twitter: https://twitter.com/newsbehindtruth Parler: SafeChat: BrighteonTV: https://www.brighteon.com/channels/patriotsperspective PODCAST: Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/patriots-perspective-todays-news-behind-the/id1629136116 Podbean: https://patriotsperspectivenews.podbean.com/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0x9njQQSIF7HRQIlRk615o iHeart: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/338-patriots-perspective-today-98175893/ MIAMIFREEDOMFOOD.com    

Shaun Stenning, CEO of  @5 Star Marine Phuket chats to us about his life in Phuket, Thailand, and discusses multiple secret islands off the coast of Phuket, Thailand. In this episode we will discuss how to island hop off of Phuket and make your way from Koh Phi Phi, Krabi, Railey Beach, Koh Lanta, Koh Mook and even all the way down to Koh Lipe.Shaun made the transition from living a fast paced, 9-5 life in Australia to a life of shorts and thongs on the tropical island of Phuket, Thailand. He has been based in Phuket for more than 15 years and has extensive experience in planning tours, managing private boats, and delivering unique experiences to travelers from all over the world. Join us for another exciting episode with Fruiting Body Podcast, Shaun takes us on a unique tour through the Andaman Sea where we discover more about the many beautiful islands that surround our very own special island, Phuket. Find out what's the best way to island hop from Phuket and explore these islands such as Koh Lipe, Ko Yao Yai, Koh Lanta, the Similian islands and many more. Don't miss out on this captivation experience with Fruiting Body and 5-Star marine's very own Shaun Stenning. Today we discover the best way to travel around Phuket and its fellow islands, why its important to trust your local captain, the best way to get the most out of your journey, and find out what secret locations you have been missing out on!#thailand2022  #thailandtravel #fruitingbodypodcast 

As a frequent visitor to Asia, I will typically stop over for a few days in Phuket, Thailand.Located in the Andaman Sea, just west of Thailand, Phuket offers much.Great beachesCheap hotels and luxurious resortsScuba divingGolfNightlifeCost effectivenessGreat ethnic foodRich cultureHistorical sitesSafetySingha, Leo and Chang beer

CNN to be Prosecuted for Invasive Massacre Coverage in Thailand | GMT Thailand's 5 national parks raise entry fees for foreigners by 100%. Govt kickstarts WFH policy drive. Andaman Sea coast set for UNESCO recognition. 4 tragedy survivors 'recovering' well. CNN to be prosecuted for invasive daycare massacre coverage. Pope prays for massacre victims. Fake monks solicit cash donations for drug money. - all are coming up today. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/thaigerpodcast/message

Raja Ampat is a place not known to many, except maybe avid scuba divers.It is not exactly the easiest place to get to, however the tolerance of nighttime flights and unreliable ferry and boat rides was well worth it for me.After diving in well-known places like the Caribbean, Palau, Sipadan, Fiji, Andaman Sea, to name a few, I quickly came to the conclusion that this area comes out on top, primarily because of the pristine condition of the coral reef system and the variety and quantity of marine life. I know it is a strange comparison, but activity-wise, underwater around Raja Ampat reminds me of Atlanta Airport on a busy weekday. So what did I see? Basically, a lot of beautiful and strange fish, including Wobbegong Sharks, Stingrays, Bicolor Angelfish, Blacktip Reef Sharks, Leaf Scorpionfish, Frogfish, Batfish, Papuan Garden Eel, Walking Sharks, Bumphead Parrotfish, and Crocodilefish to name a few.In addition, I went trekking in the jungle in search of Indonesia's Bird of Paradise.The local villages came by on my last night and entertained the resort  guests with traditional singing and dancing. Just delightful.Check out this video of my diving escapades. Thank you GoPro camera.www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g201kBzRqQ

Join us to learn the HISTORY of Koh Phi Phi & Maya Bay where the movie The Beach was filmed staring Leonardo DiCaprio.  Pim Taechara is the Executive Director for the luxurious PP Princess Resort located on the famous Phi Phi Islands in Krabi, Thailand. Pim was born in Nakhon Si Thammarat but raised on the tropical islands off Thailand's Andaman Coast. She attended BIS (British International School) in Phuket before going abroad to study fine art and graphic design in the U.K. Seeking a new challenge and a longing to return home, Pim made the journey back to the Phi Phi Islands to help her parents build the famous PP Princess Resort to what it is today.On today's episode of Fruiting Body Podcast, we go on an adventure across the Andaman Sea to discover more about the golden rayed islands of Thailand. Pim guides us through todays show as we learn more about the devastating affects the 2004 Tsunami had on the island and its people. We discuss island politics, what it's like to work with family and how Phi Phi survived a global pandemicDon't miss out on this island-hopping adventure, we explore the best surrounding islands to travel to, learn how to speak Sea Gypsy and find out if it's safe to visit monkey beach or stick it out with the island cats. ▸ Three (3) Simple Steps to Help Our Account Grow1. SUBCRIBE TO THE FRUITING BODY PODCAST: https://bit.ly/3b8l2Yx2. LIKE OUR VIDEO3. LEAVE A COMMENT & SHARETHANK YOU TO ALL OUR SUPPORTERS :)▸ SUBSCRIBE TO THE FRUITING BODY PODCAST |  https://bit.ly/3b8l2YxFOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM ▼▸ BRENDAN ONEILL | https://www.instagram.com/brendan.william/▸ FRUITING BODY PODCAST | https://www.instagram.com/fruitingbodypodcastMUSHROOMS ▼▸ WEBSITE | https://fruiting-body.comOUR GUESTS SOCIAL▼▸ Pim's Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/pim.taechara/ 

On Saturday, Police Lieutenant General Surachate Hakparn was dispatched by headquarters to find out more about the group who were detected on Saturday on the remote, monkey inhabited island of Ko Dong about 70 to 80 km off the coast of Satun. The group of 59, including men, women and children, had been stranded on the island for a week after being dropped off by human traffickers and told they had already reached Malaysia.https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/06/05/rohingyas-found-on-island-to-face-charges/Carla Boonkong reports from Satun province.

Todd Miller is an entertainment CEO who has extensively researched and aggressively experimented with the work-life equation for over twenty-five years. He authors the book “ENRICH” where he incorporates time-honored business processes that teach skills to create optionality, even in the most uncertain times.Todd has been featured in The Asian Wall Street Journal, CNBC, BusinessWeek, and numerous publications and podcasts around the world. He has addressed international conferences ranging from the United Nations Environment Program and the BusinessWeek Leadership Forum. At age 53, Todd has stepped back from a full-time career and is now retired on the Andaman Sea in Thailand, where he devotes his time to enriching connections with people and projects.Listen in as they discuss:Todd's background and how cash flow helps him to reach his goals.The importance of creating more than one stream of income.How to build financial securityAnd, more!Todd also shares with us the reasons behind the cash-flowing assets he acquired and why he wrote his book ENRICH.TIP OF THE WEEKMark: My tip of the week is in enrich101.com; create wealth in time, money, and meaning. Learn the enriching way of creating more control, time in your life, and many more. Check out enrich101.com and get the book Enrich!Scott: Check out the article On a Journey on Newsweek. Basically, if you want to conquer a major goal: Think big, start small, take action, and follow the steps in the article then you will achieve it.Todd: My tip is to act intentionally to create your financial security. What 75% of Americans do not do is make financial planning. Once you make that plan, take ownership with that plan, then wake up each day and ask yourself, "What can I do this day to help advance and to actualize that financial plan?" If you act with such intention, you can thank me later because the results are profound and it enables me, for example, to fast track my financial freedom. Same for anyone, but it's the question of acting intentionally and taking control.WANT TO LISTEN MORE?Did you like this episode? If so, tune into another one of our exciting episodes with special guest Jonathan DeYoe as we talk about behavioral wealth management and overcoming biases.Isn't it time to create passive income so you can work where you want, when you want and with whomever you want?

Nicole Kidman brings American TV icon Lucille Ball to life in Being the Ricardos Actors Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem on Dec. 6 launched their latest film Being the Ricardos in Los Angeles about Hollywood icon Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, who starred in the classic American sitcom I Love Lucy but were also a couple off-screen. Tony Hale, who plays the sitcom's executive producer Jess Oppenheimer, said audiences don't need to know I Love Lucy prior to watching the film. The film depicts the huge strides Ball made as a woman in show business, heading her own production studio and being pregnant on camera. Being the Ricardos released in theaters on Dec. 10 in the United States and was set to stream on Amazon on Dec. 21. (Reuters) Thailand allows visitors back to beach made famous by Leonardo DiCaprio film Thailand has reopened Maya Bay, a white sand beach made famous by the 2000 film The Beach, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. The film attracted many tourists to the beach — thousands each day. They damaged its coral reefs and beach areas, so officials closed the beach in 2018. They wanted the ecosystem to recover. But since the start of this year, Thailand has allowed some visitors back. “The sharks have come back, coral reefs are regrowing and the water is clear again,” said, Yuthasak Supasorn, the governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand. The beach is surrounded by 100-meter-high cliffs on the island of Phi Phi Leh in the Andaman Sea. It can be reached only by boat from nearby spots such as the islands of Phuket or Phi Phi. Authorities said only up to 375 visitors will be allowed at a time and swimming will not be allowed for now. (Reuters) These articles were provided by The Japan Times Alpha.

Tonya Surman is a master gardener of social innovation. Tonya's journey began when she was four years-old. Her mother left, and her father became the sole parent. Tonya, her Father and younger sister struggled with poverty. She says, “My father raised us on love, not food.” She points to this experience as the source of her resilience, strength and a need to create an impact. At the age of 19, Tonya left university life behind and traveled the world. While she was living in a small hut on the Andaman Sea in Thailand, news arrived that a nearby village had been devastated by a mudslide. The primary contributing factor was deforestation. This helped her to draw a direct correlation between the environment and social economic issues. Tonya is now one of Canada's leading social entrepreneurs and a pioneer in the coworking and social enterprise movements. She has a passion for bringing life to world-changing projects. Highlights from her 20-year career include co-founding and leading the Centre for Social Innovation which is a collaborative workspace, a community, and a launchpad for over 1000 social enterprises. She also developed the Constellation Model - a multi-stakeholder partnership framework that was used for a number of projects, including banning toxic chemicals in baby bottles, organizing 40,000+ Ontario nonprofits into a network with policy-making clout, launching the Ontario Catapult Microloan Fund with government, corporate and nonprofit partners, and creating the Community Bond, a social finance tool that raised $6.3 million to purchase two buildings in downtown Toronto for social innovation. Tonya is the recipient of numerous awards: the Ashoka Foundation, Canadian Urban Institute, Toronto Community Foundation, New Media Awards, the Trillium Foundation, and Entrepreneur of the Year for Socialight Canada are among the many organizations that have recognized her leadership and contributions. GUEST LINKS: Web: https://tonyasurman.commons.ca/ Web: www.socialinnovation.org LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonya-surman-19859911 Twitter: https://twitter.com/tonyasurman FB: https://www.facebook.com/tonya.surman IG: https://www.instagram.com/tonyasurman/ To find more about Jeffrey's work, go to: https://thecourageousmessenger.com/ If you like this show, please leave us a review here - even a one-sentence review helps!

Captain Nim is a US Coast Guard certified captain and an experienced PADI Divemaster. He has sailed extensively throughout the Caribbean– the Bahamas, Virgin Islands, Turks and Caicos and several areas of the world's other great waters- including the Mediterranean, Aegean, Adriatic, and the Andaman Sea, through the Suez Canal and across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe to the U.S. Nim is a former information technology executive and Israeli Air Force combat veteran. He began sailing the Mediterranean at age 12, became certified in open water scuba diving while a teenager and divemaster not long afterward. Nim is an award-winning mixologist. He has endless stories and is naturally hospitable and welcoming. He is fluent in English and Hebrew and can nod and understand more Spanish than he will admit to. Chef/First Mate Fabiola is an Island girl with a European heritage who literally grew up on sailboats. She has undergraduate and graduate degrees in business and worked for many years in Wealth Management before moving full time to life at sea. Fabiola's love of food and creative cuisine began early, raised in a family of amazing cooks, she received as a gift her first cookbook at the age of eight and has had a fascination with delicious food ever since. She has successfully catered high-end parties and corporate events. She also has training in all aspects of food safety and hygiene. Together, they bought LUNA and are ready to host you in the adventure of your lifetime! Source: www.sailluna.com To follow Sail Luna: www.sailluna.com https://www.facebook.com/saillunallc https://www.instagram.com/sailluna/ To enquire for bookings: https://www.sailplaydine.com/ To view the show Secrets of the Caribbean: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/secretsofthecaribbean #CCYS2021 #CaribbeanCharterYachtShow #YachtHavenGrande #IGYMarinas #YachtShow #Superyachts #YachtCharter #LuxuryLifestyle #Events #CharterBoat #YachtWorld #Caribbean #Maritime #CharterBroker #Brands #CharterYachts #Boats #Megayachts #YachtCaptain #Luxury #PrivateJet #Ocean #LuxuryBrands #BoatShow #Boating #Nautical #YachtBroker #Yachts #LuxuryYacht #YachtingInternationalRadio

Milbry C. Polk (BA, honors) Radcliffe College, Harvard University, has lectured in more 150 schools, universities and public affairs organizations.  She co-founded and was executive director of Wings WorldQuest, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting women at the leading edge of science and discovery.  She also founded and directed programs for the American Museum of Natural History and the Museum of the American Indian. She was Vice-Chair of the Conference on Affordable World Security (Newseum, March 27-28, 2012).   Among her writings are Women of Discovery (Library Journal award Best Books of 2001 and School Library Journal, Best Books); Egyptian Mummies (Margaret A. Edwards Award best books); editor, The Looting of the Iraq Museum, Baghdad; and Reviews and Contributing Editor of The Explorers Journal, 1998-the present.  She co-founded with Imagination Celebration, and wrote yearly curriculum for nine years for The Art of Exploration, a program for the Public Schools of Ft. Worth, Texas.    She led or participated in expeditions to Prince William Sound, Alaska; the Western Desert of Egypt (National Geographic); Yemen; Southern Sudan; Saudi Arabia; Iran; Pakistan; John River, Alaska; Nepal; Brazilian coast; Greenland; Baffin Island; Devon Island; India (American Museum of Natural History); Chinese Tibet; NW Greenland, and the Andaman Sea.     Ms. Polk's honors include: The Sweeney Medal, The Explorers Club, Capt. J-E Bernier Medal, Royal Canadian Geographic Society (2015), Anne Morrow Lindbergh Award (2011); Alumnae of the Year, Madeira School (2011), Environmental Leadership Award, Unity College;  Womens' ENews “Leader of the 21st Century”, Who's Who, Women of the Year Award; Honorary Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographic Society, Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, Fellow of The Explorers Club and  Fellow of Wings WorldQuest. She is on the Board of The Explorers Club, serves on numerous Advisory Boards and served for ten years on the Board of Governors of the National Arts Club.     New episodes of the Tough Girl Podcast go live every Tuesday and Thursday at 7am UK time - Make sure you hit the subscribe button so you don't miss out.    The Tough Girl Podcast is sponsorship and ad free thanks to the monthly financial support of patrons. To find out more about supporting your favourite podcast and becoming a patron please check out www.patreon.com/toughgirlpodcast.   Show notes Introduction Her background Being born in Oxford, UK and growing up between Europe, Egypt and America Becoming a photo journalist in the 70s & 80s Working with Margaret Mead  Thinking of doing a PHD at Oxford Figuring out what she truly wanted to do  Following the route of Alexander the Great Starting to put together expeditions and selling them to magazines Working in the Middle East & Asia Wanting to be an explorer from a young age Using her initials to apply for a guiding expedition course Life as a photojournalist Respecting the local culture Taking photos of Yemen How exploration has changed over the past 40/50 years The importance of curiosity  Getting married and getting pregnant How life changed after having a baby Being introduced to women explorers Nicole Maxwell Book: Witch Doctor's Apprentice, Maxwell, Nicole, 1990   Having a library of 1,500 books on women explorers and adventurers Going to find women explorers from India Wanting to create a Women Explorers Library Wanting to keep the collection of books together The importance of learning women's stories Being driven by your passion Reading everything and being fascinated by history How Wings WorldQuest was started How it evolved Starting to focus more on education Women of the Deep, Explorers Club Why it's an exciting time to be a young woman Joining the Explorers Club in 1994 as a Fellow and now being on the board Working with Adventure Canada Going outside her comfort zone Doing adventures/expeditions without technology  Needing to be careful  Keeping positive during tough situations Building a fellowship of women Women supporting women  Future expeditions  Adventure Science - #domorewithyourfitness  Writing book reviews and writing a book on her great grandmother New book - Women of the Arctic  Babes & Death Women on pilgrimages  Going back to Oxford to do her PhD Needing to update her website  Final words of advice  Figuring out your passion Why there is no such thing as failure Listen to your inner self  Kristin Gates    Social Media   Website milbrypolk.com    Wing WorldQuest - WINGS was formed in 2003 to identify and support the discoveries and accomplishments of women explorers and scientists and to inspire the next generation of problem solvers.   Website -  www.wingsworldquest.org    Instagram - @wingsworldquest   Facebook - @WINGSWorldQuest    Twitter - @wingsworldquest  

If you could do anything in the world right now, what would you do? What makes you happy? What excites you? What are your unique strengths? We're living in a culture and society filled with money scarcity and this creates a lack of authenticity. What if you could create an enriched life full of time, money, and meaning? Our guest in this special Summer Reboot episode is Todd Miller, author of a new book called Enrich. This episode will give you a framework to empower you to take control, reclaim, and enrich your life. What You'll LearnThe power of creating a vision for your lifeWhy you need a personal mission statementHow to connect your bank account with your goals and visionWays to set daily goals and milestones to achieve successHow to avoid the default setting in lifeMeet ToddTodd Miller is an entertainment CEO who has extensively researched and aggressively experimented with the work-life equation for over a quarter-century. While scaling the corporate ladder, Miller skillfully structured two sabbaticals, intentionally created a family through adoption, cycled coast to coast across two continents in support of children's charities, and explored more than 100 countries on all seven continents. Drawing on ENRICH principles, Miller built time wealth and passive income while working full time. At age 53, the American-born author has retired on the Andaman Sea in Thailand.LinksEnrich 101 https://enrich101.comEnrich book https://enrich101.com/bookEpisode SponsorsMake it the year you finally cross life insurance off your list, and get protection for your loved ones. Go to http://www.policygenius.com and get started. You could save 50% or more by comparing quotes and start the new year with one less thing to worry about.FOLLOW & SHAREWant to be the first to know when new episodes are released – bit.ly/millennial-money. Sign up for my weekly Let's Talk Money email newsletter https://bit.ly/letstalkmoneyemail. Ask ShannahHave an Ask Shannah question, submit it here https://www.mmoneypodcast.com/contact-me/ Get SocialShannah on Twitter https://twitter.com/shannahgameShannah on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/shannahgame/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Todd had a thriving career leading multimillion dollar entertainment companies. By all metrics, he was successful...yet he was miserable. He always had to be "on"--on the ball, on his toes, on call 24/7, and on the money. Miller wanted more than just a prestigious career. He wanted Control. Financial Independence. Time. Fulfillment. He wanted an enriched life.  Chances are, you've sacrificed for your career and fought a constant tug-of-war between personal, professional, and financial well-being. Professional success is important, but is it enough?  ENRICH teaches life skills to create Optionality, even in the most uncertain situations. The world has changed greatly, but the principles of life success haven't.  Using a series of illuminating case studies and interviews, Todd Miller shows how he and other high achievers cracked the code to: Accelerate financial security in an era of job insecurity Reach big, bold life goals Craft your ideal job Create time wealth Avoid the default setting Navigate change, including job loss Connect how you spend your days to what's most important For most books on work/life integration, money is frequently the elephant in the room. ENRICH embraces this elephant. Through a practical, proven, six-step process, you'll learn how to get financially fit fast, savor life's deliciousness, and achieve career satisfaction.  ENRICH incorporates time-honored business processes with thorough, global, best practice research. Miller presents an extensive tool kit of sometimes unconventional--but always potent--work- and life-hacking strategies.  While scaling the corporate ladder, Miller skillfully structured two sabbaticals, intentionally created a family through adoption, cycled coast to coast across two continents in support of children's charities, and explored more than 100 countries on all seven continents.  Drawing on ENRICH principles, Miller built time wealth and passive income while working full time. At age 53, the American-born author has retired on the Andaman Sea in Thailand, where he devotes his time to enriching connections with people and projects.

Todd had a thriving career leading multimillion dollar entertainment companies. By all metrics, he was successful...yet he was miserable. He always had to be "on"--on the ball, on his toes, on call 24/7, and on the money. Miller wanted more than just a prestigious career. He wanted Control. Financial Independence. Time. Fulfillment. He wanted an enriched life.  Chances are, you've sacrificed for your career and fought a constant tug-of-war between personal, professional, and financial well-being. Professional success is important, but is it enough?  ENRICH teaches life skills to create Optionality, even in the most uncertain situations. The world has changed greatly, but the principles of life success haven't.  Using a series of illuminating case studies and interviews, Todd Miller shows how he and other high achievers cracked the code to: Accelerate financial security in an era of job insecurity Reach big, bold life goals Craft your ideal job Create time wealth Avoid the default setting Navigate change, including job loss Connect how you spend your days to what's most important For most books on work/life integration, money is frequently the elephant in the room. ENRICH embraces this elephant. Through a practical, proven, six-step process, you'll learn how to get financially fit fast, savor life's deliciousness, and achieve career satisfaction.  ENRICH incorporates time-honored business processes with thorough, global, best practice research. Miller presents an extensive tool kit of sometimes unconventional--but always potent--work- and life-hacking strategies.  While scaling the corporate ladder, Miller skillfully structured two sabbaticals, intentionally created a family through adoption, cycled coast to coast across two continents in support of children's charities, and explored more than 100 countries on all seven continents.  Drawing on ENRICH principles, Miller built time wealth and passive income while working full time. At age 53, the American-born author has retired on the Andaman Sea in Thailand, where he devotes his time to enriching connections with people and projects.

Todd Miller is an entertainment CEO who has extensively researched and aggressively experimented with the work-life equation for over a quarter century. While scaling the corporate ladder, Miller skillfully structured two sabbaticals, intentionally created a family through adoption, cycled coast to coast across two continents in support of children’s charities, and explored more than 100 countries on all seven continents. Drawing on ENRICH principles, Miller built time wealth and passive income while working full time. At age 53, the American-born author has retired on the Andaman Sea in Thailand, where he devotes his time to enriching connections with people and projects. Miller has been featured in The Asian Wall Street Journal, CNBC, BusinessWeek, and numerous publications and podcasts around the world.  He has addressed international conferences ranging from the United Nations Environment Program and the BusinessWeek Leadership Forum. Recognition for ENRICH: “21 Books To Read in 2021” – Forbes “8 Books to Help You Find Financial Bliss” – Entrepreneur “20 Reading Suggestions for a New and Improved You in 2021” – USA Today “Top 20 Books for the Young and Experienced Entrepreneurs” – Business Insider “Top 20 Books to That Will Help You Create The Best Business & Impact In Life in 2021”– Yahoo! Finance “Best Financial Education Books” – Business Yield     ENRICH has been featured in: Forbes | USA Today | Entrepreneur | Business Insider | Yahoo! Finance | Millennial Money | Money Savage | Thrive Global | The Freelancer’s Show | ValueWalk | REI Mastermind Network | Business Yield | The Book of Money & Finance  www.Enrich101.com

In this episode, I share some details about Thailand's plan to link its Gulf with Andaman Sea and also on Indonesia's plan to become a Global Halal Center. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Having an intimate, first-time conversation with someone can be as unpredictable as an open ocean paddle. Fortunately, I chose well as this conversation is with the person who makes the best paddles in the world. David Smart is perhaps not the typical dude you would expect to find carving a niche in surf culture. As much as he loves the water and the thrill of exploring it on a board, he also is passionate about markets and trading. For decades he has enjoyed the intellectual challenge of trying to understand what drives markets, whether it be fundamental, emotional, or technical matters. It was actually David's trading career that brought him to live in Southeast Asia, then to seek the tranquility of paddling on the Andaman Sea, and then to bail out a beleaguered stand up paddle manufacturer. Now, as the founder of Squamish, BC-based Blackfish Paddles, David is committed to making the best paddles available with the least environmental footprint. Alongside his professional accomplishments, David is also a family man and credits much of his successes to the support of his wife and kids. In the spirit of gritty vulnerability, in this episode David reveals many of the struggles that have shaped his life journey, from an unstable childhood home and the emergence of inner demons to entrepreneurial woes and financial calamity. His belief in the goodness of people, a pact with his sister, and his daily meditation routine have helped him serve himself and others more fully and authentically. Blackfish Paddles may be a success in the SUP industry, but what drives David is his alignment with purpose that is putting people all over the globe on the water to experience the beauty of this blue planet. Purpose. Paddle. Perfect. Please enjoy this episode of Salish Wolf with David Smart. Episode Links: Blackfish Blackfish Videos – including Norm Hann on Howe Sound Meditation App: https://wakingup.com/ Anchor Point Links: Men's Retreats at Anchor Point Expeditions

Maureen Towns BScN, MA is a relationship mentor with over 25 years of nursing experience in both public and private health care across Canada. After experiencing mental illness and addiction with her own children, she founded Maureen Towns Consulting to help families struggling to care for their own loved ones. Her work with parents inspires them to rediscover themselves within chaotic and challenging situations. In her recently published book Broken Open: A Mother's Journey to Survive Her Children's Addiction and Mental Illness Maureen shares her journey through her teenage kids' mental illnesses to help parents find freedom in chaos. Part memoir and part guide, Broken Open shows you how to empower your children to reclaim their lives, without losing yourself in the process. After growing up in an abusive, alcoholic home and raising her children through their mental health issues, Maureen discovered a more authentic way of living after learning resilience, detachment, self-care, and communication. In the years following her family's challenges, Maureen has camped on a beach in Thailand, slept under the stars on a remote Philippine Island, sailed and snorkeled in the Andaman Sea, became a dive master in Roatan and dove with sharks in the Red Sea. Born in Ontario, Maureen currently resides in Calgary, Alberta. She can most often be found hiking in the Rocky Mountains, doing CrossFit with her son, Sam, biking with her son, Ben, and granddaughter, Athena, or just hanging out with her daughters, Sydney and Ally. Maureen also hosts the Broken Open Podcast. www.maureentowns.com

"Life is the accumulation of all the little individual choices you make on a daily basis." Powerful words from our guest Todd Miller, who is the author of an outstanding book titled Enrich. In fact, Enrich has been named as one of the 8 Books to Help You Find Financial Bliss by Entrepreneur Magazine.If you’ve ever wanted to create an enriched life full of time, money, and meaning, this episode has your name on it.What You'll LearnThe power of creating a vision for your lifeWhy you need a personal mission statementHow to connect your bank account with your goals and visionWays to set daily goals and milestones to achieve successHow to avoid the default setting in lifeMeet ToddTodd Miller is an entertainment CEO who has extensively researched and aggressively experimented with the work-life equation for over a quarter-century. While scaling the corporate ladder, Miller skillfully structured two sabbaticals, intentionally created a family through adoption, cycled coast to coast across two continents in support of children’s charities, and explored more than 100 countries on all seven continents. Drawing on ENRICH principles, Miller built time wealth and passive income while working full time. At age 53, the American-born author has retired on the Andaman Sea in Thailand.LinksEnrich 101 WebsiteEnrich bookEpisode SponsorsMake it the year you finally cross life insurance off your list, and get protection for your loved ones. Go to Policygenius.com and get started. You could save 50% or more by comparing quotes and start the new year with one less thing to worry about.Literati Kids is a subscription book club for kids ages 0 - 12 that sends 5 beautiful children’s books to your door each hand-picked by experts. Go to http://www.literati.com/mymoney for TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT OFF your FIRST TWO ORDERS and pick your kid’s book club gift today.SUBSCRIBE & SHAREWant to be the first to know when new episodes are released? Click here to subscribe in iTunes! IT’S FREE!

On this episode, I speak with Maureen Towns BScN, MA is a relationship mentor with over 25 years of nursing experience in both public and private health care across Canada.After experiencing mental illness and addiction with her own children, shefounded Maureen Towns Consulting to help families struggling to care fortheir own loved ones. Her work with parents inspires them to rediscoverthemselves within chaotic and challenging situations.After growing up in an abusive, alcoholic home and raising her childrenthrough their mental health issues, Maureen discovered a more authenticway of living after learning resilience, detachment, self-care, and com-munication. In the years following her family’s challenges, Maureen hascamped on a beach in Thailand, slept under the stars on a remote Phil-ippine Island, sailed and snorkeled in the Andaman Sea, became a divemaster in Roatan and dove with sharks in the Red Sea.Born in Ontario, Maureen currently resides in Calgary, Alberta. She canmost often be found hiking in the Rocky Mountains, doing CrossFit withher son, Sam, biking with her son, Ben, and granddaughter, Athena, orjust hanging out with her daughters, Sydney and Ally.Maureen hosts the Broken Open Podcast.Author of "Broken Open: A Mother’s Journey to Survive HerChildren’s Addiction and Mental Illness"Visit maureentowns.com for more.

Todd Miller is an entertainment CEO who has extensively researched and aggressively experimented with the work-life equation for over a quarter century. While scaling the corporate ladder, Miller skillfully structured two sabbaticals, intentionally created a family through adoption, cycled coast to coast across two continents in support of children’s charities, and explored more than 100 countries on all seven continents. Drawing on ENRICH principles, Miller built time wealth and passive income while working full time. At age 53, the American-born author has retired on the Andaman Sea in Thailand, where he devotes his time to enriching connections with people and projects. Entrepreneur magazine recognized ENRICH as one of “8 Books to Help You Find Financial Bliss.” Miller has been featured in The Asian Wall Street Journal, CNBC, BusinessWeek, and numerous publications and podcasts around the world.  He has addressed international conferences ranging from the United Nations Environment Program and the BusinessWeek Leadership Forum. As you can already tell we have made some changes and a few more are on the way. If you are interested in what we have planned, head over to Patreon.com/REImastermind, and support the show today. Financial contributions are always appreciated along with a like, share, and review.  It really helps us grow and reach more people with this valuable information.  See you next time and tell a friend! Website Patreon YouTube Facebook Twitter "You can invest 10,000 hours and become an expert or learn from those who have already made that investment." - JD

A conversation with Mymai Yuan about eggshells, ghosts, the Andaman Sea, gentle suggestions, angelizing, pie, her diaries, Land Before Time, feeling safe with each other, and death bringing us peace. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

China's state-controlled media has bluntly warned Australia's warships to stay out of the South China Sea or risk the “bitter pill” of confrontation.In an ominous threat to Prime Minister Scott Morrison, China is doubling down after the furore over a shocking doctored image depicting a grinning Australian soldier slitting the throat of an Afghan child.In an editorial published overnight inThe Global Times, Australia is described as “the war hound” of the United States.“As a warhound of the US, Australia should restrain its arrogance. Particularly, its warships must not come to China's coastal areas to flex muscles, or else it will swallow the bitter pills,'' the editorial states.“Australian special forces murdered 39 Afghan civilians and prisoners. Killing innocent people is trampling on human rights no matter what. But Canberra has the nerve to put itself on the moral high ground of human rights. How arrogant and shameless the Morrison government is!”China maintains a maritime militia in the South China Sea - officially called the People's Armed Forces Maritime Militia (PAFMM) that plays a key role in Beijing's strategy to enforce its disputed sovereignty claims.Asia Institute fellow Rowan Callick told news.com.au that the Global Times editorial was a clear reference to the South China Sea.“Australia has refused to do these freedom of navigation protocols. It's a warning that if we change our strategy and participate in these freedom of navigation cruises something may or may not happen,'' he said.Beijing's foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian posted a falsified image of an Australian soldier slitting the throat of a child and said China condemned the murder of Afghan civilians.Source:SuppliedHMAS Parramatta conducts manoeuvres with amphibious assault ship USS America, guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill and guided-missile destroyer USS Barry in the South China Sea. Picture: Department of DefenceSource:Supplied“I don't think the Global Times is the vehicle to place highly strategic messages. It's one to place general sentiment. If People's Daily was to editorialise on this, that Australia's ships should watch out, that would be more disturbing. This is disturbing enough.”Former Labor MP Michael Danby said the editorial represented a clear warning and follows recent activity involving HMAS Ballarat.“That's a threat. HMAS Ballarat was in the South China Sea recently with the US taskforce,'' Mr Danby said.“That's very ominous. It's suggesting there might be an incident.”According to the US Navy, the HMAS Ballarat conducted drills, integrated tactical training, and warfighting scenarios and a combined transit to the Andaman Sea through the Strait of Malacca in late October.“We find tremendous value in sailing alongside our close allies of Australia, as well as our other allies and partners, in support of a free, open, secure, and prosperous Indo-Pacific Region,” Commander Ryan T. Easterday said.Commanding Officer of Ballarat, Commander Antony Pisani was also quoted as praising the chance to “hone our warfare and mariner skills and develop our ability to operate and communicate together”.HMAS Ballarat conducted drills in the South China Sea recently.Source:SuppliedIn July, Australian warships sailing near the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea were confronted by the Chinese navy.It was reported at the time the HMAS Canberra, HMAS Hobart, HMAS Stuart, HMAS Arunta and HMAS Sirius all remained outside 12 nautical miles of the contested islands, unlike recent so-called “freedom of navigation” exercises conducted by the US navy to challenge Beijing.The previous year, Australian navy helicopter pilots were hit by lasers during exercises, forcing them to land as a precaution.Firing a fresh broadside at Australia, the Global Times editorial also threatens trade ties, noting Australia is considering taking complaints toward China's trade imposition to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).Will y...

From depression over Andaman Sea to a man in Odhisa living in a toilet, we have handpicked the top news that were skipped by the mainstream media today. Here are the most important stories that were #LostInTheClutter. Download the app to read more such overlooked stories. Download app - https://bit.ly/32gH2vp.

National Geographic’s Explorer-in-Residence and the founder of Pristine Seas, Dr. Enric Sala, joins us on this week’s episode to discuss: - The irrefutable link that binds human and economic health to the health of the planet - The top offenders destroying the world around us - Changing everyday behaviors at scale - His upcoming book, "THE NATURE OF NATURE: Why We Need the Wild" - How garbage in the Andaman Sea affects families in Minnesota? - The three key opportunity areas businesses and policymakers should focus on - Where governments should reallocate taxpayer dollars - The moonshot projects he's most excited about Pre-order Dr. Sala's upcoming book here. Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!

The plane made radio contact at 5:01am UTC and the pilot confirmed ‘We expect to arrive in Bangkok on time. Time and location normal’. This was the last known location of the aircraft, before it disappeared over the Andaman Sea just after 5:10am. The authorities checked details of the passengers onboard, and realised that two passengers had changed their plans last minute and disembarked Korean Flight 858. When they checked the passengers passport details, they realised they were false...   SOURCES:https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-01-15-mn-24248-story.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/31/world/seoul-student-s-torture-death-changes-political-landscape.htmlhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/for-north-koreas-kims-its-never-too-soon-to-start-brainwashing/2015/01/15/a23871c6-9a67-11e4-86a3-1b56f64925f6_story.html

As the world comes to grips with the COVID-19 pandemic, crowded boats in the Bay of Bengal are once more forcing the region to confront the plight of Rohingya refugees seeking safety by sea.

Stewart Went is a co-owner of Simba Sea Trips in Phuket. Apart from offering boat tours, he's craft beer and boutique wine enthusiast. You might also bump into him on cycling trails in Southern Thailand. Listen to his journey from a banking career, and starting an online craft beer and wine business in Melbourne, to moving to Thailand and now operating small groups boat trips in the waters around Phuket. Simba Sea Trips is a boutique boat tour operator in Phuket, Southern Thailand. Enjoy small group excursions across Phang Nga Bay and the Andaman Sea, visiting famous spots including Phi Phi Islands, and more. See their website Follow them on Instagram Like their Facebook page Watch their YouTube channel Expect canoe trips, cave explorations, mangrove walks, and beach picnics during your themed tours. Also mentioned in this episode: Amsterdam Andrea Chappell Bali Bang Tao beach Bass Strait Bogans Cathay Pacific Chang Chavs Chicken Island Christian Louboutin Crafts & Co Disneyland Fast & the Furious Fosters French Riviera Garmin Great Ocean Road Gulf of Thailand Halong Bay Hanoi Hunter Valley Harry James Bond Island Kangaroo Island Karst Khao Sok Koh Yao Yoi Koh Yao Yai Krabi Louis Vuitton Margarita McLaren Vale Monkey Cave Maya Bay Melbourne Pacific Coast Highway Paul Phang Nga Bay Phi Phi Phuket Promthep Cape Rwanda Saigon Tasmania Thailand The Hangover Series The Yacht Week Tooheys New Top Gear Vietnam Special Victoria Bitter Vietnam Zero-dollar tourism ******* Show cover jingle courtesy of Icons8 Music by Nordgroove from Fugue Episode background tunes courtesy of YouTube Audio LibraryHindsight by Density & Time I Feel Like Partying Right Now by Nat Keefe & BeatMoverAll photographs by Nikhil Shankar, Simba Sea Trips, and Stewart Went, unless otherwise stated

Thousands stranded in Andaman Sea blocked from port, agencies warn Coronavirus measures expose human trafficking victims to more abuse Action needed to halt ‘drive-through’ child abuse spawned by COVID-19 restrictions

Myeik (pronounced Beik) is a quaint fishing town in Southern Myanmar. As a gateway to the Mergui Archipelago, Myeik offers a host of experiences both on land as well as out in the pristine waters of the Andaman Sea. In this episode, listen to the ambient sounds of long tail boats on their excursions around Seik Nge Jetty in Myeik. Things to do when in Myeik Life Seeing Tours Mergui Archipelago Shwe Yar Su ******* Show cover jingle courtesy of Icons8 Music by Nordgroove from Fugue

The first $1 million-plus rehab clinic Physis Recovery® is the most expensive rehab in the World. Physis Recovery is familiar with the pain addiction causes and offers clients the chance to enter rehabilitation for their dependencies. However, Physis Recovery is not a run of the mill rehab center where patients attend meetings and sit in their rooms throughout the day. The clinic is the world's first $1 million-plus rehab center with locations in four premier destinations. Clients can experience a luxurious stay in Phuket, Marbella, Mallorca, or Antigua, and undergo one of Physis Recovery's extraordinary treatment packages. Physis Recovery is a Rehab for the Super Rich, and has been conceptualized and created by individuals from this environment. The Physis team are ideally placed to understand and anticipate the unique requirements of UHNW Individuals, their families, and those whose lives are subject to intense media scrutiny. Physis Recovery offers a wide range of progressive and cutting-edge treatments. Clients can undergo treatment for substance abuse, process disorders, co-occurring mental health issues, as well as luxury wellness, anti-ageing and rejuvenation programs. The unique qualities of the center are evident in its Family Program, which allows a client and their family to experience treatment aboard a 125ft luxury yacht which sails in the Andaman Sea. Each treatment program has clinical, medial, and holistic input from experts in the rehabilitation industry. Physis Recovery's work has been acknowledged by experts in the field and it was recently awarded the honors of the World's Best and Most Exclusive Rehab 2020 by World's Best Rehab Magazine. The previous world's most expensive rehab center was Kusnacht Practice located in Switzerland. Physis Recovery's $1m price tag offers clients far more than other clinics. Its treatment options, luxury experiences and medical wellness options are equaled by no other rehab facility in the world. The Physis Method® is an in-house personalized treatment model built around the major pillars of Recovery: Medical Supervision Intense Psychotherapy Value, Determination & Process Approach Biomolecular Restoration Bio-Pharmaceutical Treatment Orthomolecular medicine 360 Degree Holistic methods According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, an estimated 40 to 60 percent of individuals recovering from addiction relapse. Physis Recovery aims to reduce this number with its one of a kind treatment to end addiction, and ease the abnormally high death rate affecting the creative industries, media, boardroom leaders, Royalty and Ultra High Net Worth Individuals. Best Rehab in the World 2020 Physis Recovery is rated Number One in 2020 by Worlds Best Rehab Magazine and is unquestionably the most expensive and luxurious Rehab in the World. Contact: Name: Maxwell Harrington, Chairman – Physis Recovery Email: maxwell@physisrecovery.rehab Support the show (https://worldsbest.rehab)

This is the story of the most dangerous island in the Andaman Islands archipelago. A stone-age tribe believed to be 30,000 years old is thought to be the direct descendants of the first human population that migrated out of Africa.

The monsoon is likely to be delayed this year as its arrival expected on 6 June, five days after its normal onset date, the India Meteorological Department said on Wednesday. "This year, the statistical model forecast suggests that the monsoon onset over Kerala is likely to be slightly delayed," the IMD said. "The southwest monsoon onset is likely to set over Kerala on 6th June with a model error of plus or minus 4 days." "Conditions are becoming favourable for advance of southwest monsoon over the southern part of Andaman Sea, Nicobar Islands and adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal during May 18-19," it added. The normal onset date for monsoon over Kerala is 1 June, which also marks the official commencement of the four-month rainfall season. The IMD and private weather agency Skymet were unanimous on the prediction of the late arrival of monsoon this year. The Skymet had said on Tuesday that the monsoon would hit the Kerala coast on 4 June, with an error margin of two days. Listen to thispodcast for more.

Experiences You Should Have Podcast Show Notes You may have heard about an amazing island called Ko Lipe (or Koh Lipe) in Thailand. This gem of an island is located in the Andaman Sea and the turquoise waters will blow you away. Ko Lipe has even been dubbed the Maldives of Thailand because it is that beautiful there. Yes, Koh Lipe is amazing and beautiful (plus you can find excellent food there), but this episode is about using Ko Lipe as a jumping off point to experience a deserted island in the Andaman Sea. Please press the play button above and listen to this podcast episode with Clare Hartley on how you can experience a deserted island in the Tarutau National Park. Why Should You Go to Koh Lipe & Then to a Deserted Island? We've all seen those movies where those good looking movie stars are on beautiful beaches, surrounded by jungle and it looks and feels like paradise (well maybe before they all die). You can actually get to a deserted island and have your own slice of paradise without being a millionaire. First off, Koh Lipe is gorgeous. The waters surrounding Koh Lipe will delight your eyes and your soul. Also, you can find some amazing eco-friendly lodging (with air conditioning) and even a vegan beach bar where you can enjoy the most delicious breakfast smoothie bowls while looking out at the turquoise green water. What's special about Koh Lipe, is that it is part of an archipelago of 60+ islands that are uninhabited. You can show up to the water taxi stand on Pattaya Beach or Sunrise Beach and get a boat to a neighboring deserted island for as little as $6 US. The boats run 7-5:30 PM. If you want to stay after 5:30, bring a tent and the boat will stay with you overnight and take you back in the morning. It will be a night you will never forget! Show up with your friends, some food, water, mosquito repellent, and be prepared to have an amazing time in paradise. Also be mindful to leave as little as a footprint as possible.   How Do You Get to Ko Lipe (Koh Lipe) Thailand? You can only get to Ko Lipe by boat. There are no airports on Ko Lipe, so you're SOL if you're not into boats. The two main routes to Ko Lipe are: Speedboat or Ferry from Langkawi, Malaysia Speedboat or Ferry from Hat Yai (via Pak Bara Harbor) I was coming to Ko Lipe from the United States so I flew into Singapore, spent a few days there, then got a direct flight to Langkawi (about $40 US). It cost me about 40 ringgit to get from Langkawi airport to the Telaga Harbor where I hopped on an hour ferry to Ko Lipe. 2019 Schedule from Telaga Harbor (Langkawi, Malaysia) to/from Ko Lipe There is a daily service from Telaga Harbor (in Langkawi, Malaysia) to Ko Lipe. January - May 1st, 2019 Departs Telage Harbor: 9:30 A.M. and 2:30 PM Departs Ko Lipe: 10:30 AM, 12:30 PM, and 4:30 PM You can view an updated schedule and buy tickets at Telaga-Terminal.com Speedboat vs. Ferry When Traveling Around Thailand Islands in the Andaman Sea We took a ferry from Malaysia on the way to Koh Lipe, which was fine. It was a little rough, but nothing we couldn't handle. On the way back, we were en route to Pak Bara, then Hat Yai and we took a speedboat. The Andaman Sea is known to be rough, and our 1 hour speedboat ride took over 2 hours and we hit some huge 15-20 foot waves. Everyone had their life jackets on and clung to the seat in front of them. Somehow my 4-year-old daughter fell asleep on my lap. They didn't have any children's life jackets, and I wrapped her up in multiple adult life jackets and held onto her. It was quite the adventure trying to make it to the harbor. Our suitcases were soaked, including all of our clothes (and my husband's rabies paperwork, because he got bit by a dog on the island and needed shots). But it was a story to tell and we did make it and were happy to get on a 2-hour bus to make it to the Hat Yai airport. Best Time to Go to Koh Lipe Even though the high season is Dec-Feb,

We are back after taking a week off to enjoy family and friends. The title of the show today is 'IT'S ALL A ILLUSION'. On the show today we will be discussing topics that illustrate just how today's society cannot trust much of what you see or hear. We will first discuss a story out of Chicago where a black security guard performing his duties is mistaken for a suspect and shot to death by a white police officer; who was not from the local area. The story of a 26-year old american missionary who was killed on a forbidden island in the Andaman Sea; some say africans and native americans should have done the same when europeans came calling. A story regarding a FedEx driver who was called racial slurs will not be charged for punching the person who was responsible whom later died; isn't about time all this type of non-sense stopped? There reportedly has been another toxic gas attack in Aleppo City or was this just another false flag to change the narrative of what is happening in Mexico and the Uitted States concerning the caravans? The President has demanded action to reduce the federal deficit but yet continues to push for money to build the wall on the border; although there has been a large increase in the federal deficit for the last twelve months. These are just a few of the topics open for discussion on the show today and as always we encourage you to call in with your comments. Call in Number is (347) 838-8622 Showtime is 2pm Central / 3pm Eastern Chatroom Link is http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mrtalk

更多英语知识，请关注微信公众号: VOA英语每日一听 Todd: What is your hobby?Matt: I suppose it is scuba diving?Todd: Oh, nice! Well, tell us about scuba diving.Matt: Well, I haven't been for awhile because I have been living in Japan and it's expensive to do it here, but when I was in Thailand I went scuba diving quite a lot. I did the PADI certificate. I just love it. I did quite a bit of scuba diving both in the Gulf of Thailand and the Indian Ocean and saw whale sharks, leopard sharks and all sorts of things.Todd: How do they compare, the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Thailand?Matt: Well, the Gulf of Thailand is quite polluted and there is a lot of shipping that comes up from Singapore to Bangkok, whereas the Indian Ocean, it's called the Andaman Sea but its part of the Indian Ocean is a lot cleaner but it can be affected by monsoons.Todd: OK. Great. Thanks, Matt.

Today’s episode focuses on one of those wonderful jargon words geologists love to use: Ophiolites.It’s not a contrived term like cactolith nor some really obscure mineral like pararammelsbergite. Ophiolites are actually really important to our understanding of the concept of plate tectonics and how the earth works dynamically. The word goes back to 1813 in the Alps, where Alexandre Brongniart coined the word for some scaly, greenish rocks. Ophiolite is a combination of the Greek words for snake and stone, and Brongniart was also a specialist in reptiles. So he named these rocks for their resemblance to snake skins. Fast forward about 150 years, to the 1960s. Geophysical data, deep-sea sampling, and other work was leading to the understanding that the earth’s crust is fundamentally different beneath the continents and beneath the oceans—and we found that the rocks in the oceanic crust are remarkably similar to the greenish, iron- and magnesium-rich rocks that had been labeled ophiolites long ago and largely ignored except by specialists ever since. Those rocks that form the oceanic crust include serpentine minerals, which are soft, often fibrous iron-magnesium silicates whose name is yet another reference to their snake-like appearance.  Pillow basalts, iron-rich lava flows that solidify under water with bulbous, pillow-like shapes, are also typical of oceanic crust. The term ophiolite was rejuvenated to apply to a specific sequence of rocks that forms at mid-ocean ridges, resulting in sea-floor spreading and the movement of plates around the earth. The sequence usually but not always includes some of the most mantle-like minerals, such as olivine, another iron-magnesium silicate, that may settle out in a magma chamber beneath a mid-ocean ridge. Shallower, relatively narrow feeders called dikes toward the top of the magma chamber fed lava flows on the surface – but still underwater, usually – that’s where those pillow lavas solidified. There are certainly variations, and interactions with water as well as sediment on top of the oceanic crust can complicate things, but on the whole that’s the package. So why not just call it oceanic crust and forget the jargon word ophiolite? Well, we’ve kind of done that, or at least restricted the word to a special case. Pillow Lava off Hawaii. Source: NOAA. The word ophiolite today is usually used to refer to slices or layers of oceanic crust that are on land, on top of continental crust. But wait, you say, you keep saying subduction is driven by oceanic crust, which is denser, diving down beneath continental crust, which is less dense. Well, yes – but I hope I didn’t say always. Sometimes the circumstances allow for some of the oceanic crust to be pushed up over bits of continental crust, despite their greater density. One area where this seems to happen with some regularity is a setting called back-arc basins, which are areas of extension, pulling-apart, behind the collision zone where oceanic crust and continental crust come together with the oceanic plate mostly subducting, going down under the continental plate. It took some time in the evolution of our understanding of plate tectonics for the idea to come out that you can have significant pulling apart in zones that are fundamentally compression, collision, but they’re recognized in many places today, as well as in the geologic past. It seems to me that back-arc basins are more likely to develop where the interaction is between plates or sub-plates that are relatively weak, or small, and more susceptible to breaking. An example is where two oceanic plates are interacting, with perhaps only an island arc between them. The “battle” is a closer contest than between a big, strong continent and weaker, warmer, softer, oceanic crust, so slices of one plate of oceanic crust may be squeezed up and onto the rocks making up the island arc. This happens in the southwest Pacific, where the oceanic Pacific Plate and the oceanic part of the Australian Plate are interacting, creating back-arc basins around Tonga and Fiji and elsewhere. It also happens where continental material is narrower, or thinner, or where the interaction is oblique or complex. One example of this today is the back-arc basin in the Andaman Sea south of Burma, Myanmar, where the Indian Ocean plate is in contact with a narrow prong of continent, Indochina and Malaya. We’ve now recognized quite a few ophiolites on land, emplaced there long ago geologically. At Gros Morne National Park in Newfoundland, the Bay of Islands ophiolite is of Cambrian to Ordovician age. The area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for the excellent exposures of oceanic crust there, not to mention fine scenery. On Cyprus, the Troodos Ophiolite represents breaking within the Tethys Oceanic plate as it was squeezed between Gondwana, or Africa, and the Anatolian block of Eurasia, which is today’s Turkey. The Troodos Ophiolite is rich in copper sulfides that were probably deposited from vents on a mid-ocean ridge. In fact, the name Cyprus is the origin of our word copper, by way of Latin cuprum and earlier cyprium.  On the island of New Caledonia, east of Australia and in the midst of the messy interactions among tectonic plates large and small, the ophiolite is rich in another metal typical of deep-crust or mantle sources: nickel. There’s enough to make tiny New Caledonia tied with Canada for third place as the world’s largest producer of nickel, after Indonesia and the Philippines. There’s a huge ophiolite in Oman, the Semail Ophiolite, covering about a hundred thousand square kilometers. It’s one of the most compete examples anywhere, and it was pushed up on to the corner of the Arabian continental block during Cretaceous time, around 80 million years ago. Like the one in Cyprus, this one is also rich in copper as well as chromite, another deep-crustal or mantle-derived mineral.The Coast Range Ophiolite in California is Jurassic, about 170 million years old, and formed at roughly the same time as the Sierra Nevada Batholith developed as a more standard response to subduction. It’s likely that western North America at that time was somewhat like the southwestern Pacific today, with strings of island arcs, small irregular continental blocks, and diverse styles of interaction – the perfect setting for a long band of oceanic crust to be pushed up and over other material. The whole thing ultimately got amalgamated with the main North American continent. I talked a bit more about these events in the episode on the Franciscan, November 7, 2014.—Richard I. GibsonLINKS: Nice images from Oregon State Oman Virtual Field Trip 

Time for another true tale of digital nomad debauchery and Third World mid-life madness from the shores of Southeast Asia! This one revolves around my discovery of a (then) little-known island oasis in the Andaman Sea -- a Muslim island, in the land of Buddhists. After resisting the lures of 'Sexual Disneyland' for most of my adult life, it's little wonder I longed to flee the sordid culture shock of three winters in Phuket. Little did I know that destiny would be waiting for me on undiscovered shores... Recommended for MATURE listeners.  (featuring more original music from TOBIAS TINKER)

Myanmar is one of SE Asia’s most fascinating and least-explored countries. Sealed off from the outside world for almost 50 years, it finally opened-up in 2011, and with it, tourism arrivals grew substantially. Things have tailed-off a bit over the last couple years, but Myanmar is still an up-and-coming, ‘must-see’ and experience destination if you are to truly know SE Asia. Infact, it’s one of SE Asia’s most diverse countries and covers a staggering number of regions. From stunning islands and beaches in the Andaman Sea in the far south, to the ancient temples at Bagan in the desert-like plains, and the 5,881m-high Hkakabo Razi peak in the country’s far north in the Himalayas - Myanmar truly has it all and then some. We chat with longtime Lonely Planet writer Nick Ray about his experience authoring parts of the 2017 Lonely Planet Myanmar book.

Thomas Fuller was the longtime Southeast Asia correspondent for the New York Times. He's now based in San Francisco, but his last posting from the region caught my attention. Fuller describes a scene in which he is interviewing the leader of a protest in Thailand, when that leader is gunned down right in front of him. That experience leads him to his conclusion of the piece: a rampant culture of impunity is threatening the region's otherwise impressive gains. We discuss some of Fuller's other reporting from the region, including an incredible story last year in which he helped track down a boat full of Rohingya migrants stranded in the Andaman Sea.   This is a great episode. Fuller describes how he got started in journalism, some adventures from his early career working at the International Herald Tribune in France and how and why he feels such a deep bond with South East Asia.       

Tonya Surman is a master gardener of social innovation. Tonya’s journey began when she was four years-old. Her mother left and her father became the sole parent. Tonya, her father and sister struggled with poverty. She says “My father raised us on love and not food.” She points to this experience as the source of her resilience, strength and a need to create an impact. At the age of 19, Tonya left University and traveled the world. While she was living in a small hut on the Andaman Sea in Thailand, news arrived that a nearby village had been devastated by a mud slide. The primary contributing factor was deforestation. This helped her to draw a direct correlation between the environment and social / economic issues. She has been responsible for the founding of over a dozen social enterprises. One of the social enterprises she created was the Canadian Partnership for Children's Health and Environment (CPCHE), where she brought together 11 different organizations. There, she saw the power of collaboration to create meaningful change. Today, she is the CEO of the Centre for Social Innovation (CSI), where they operate five spaces for early stage social-mission organizations. They have 165,000 square feet under management and they support and provide space to over 1,000 social-mission organizations. They have served of 2,700 organizations and more than 5,000 people. In this episode of the Social Entrepreneur podcast, we discuss: The community animation process used by CSI in order to reduce friction and foster collaboration. Tonya’s attitude of “I’m here to make social change and have fun doing it.” The experiences that led to the foundation of CSI. CSI’s journey to becoming more intentional and focused on specific, measurable impacts. Resources: Centre for Social Innovation on the web: http://socialinnovation.ca CSI Toronto on Twitter: https://twitter.com/csiTO CSI New York on Twitter: https://twitter.com/csiSL CSI on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/centreforsocialinnovation Book: Make Space: How to Set the Stage for Creative Collaboration http://amzn.to/1m41zMK

Thousands of Rohingya and Bangladeshi refugees are stranded in the Andaman Sea, victims of human trafficking. Countries in the region - Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia - are unwilling to let them enter their territory.

Welcome to episode #63 of Six Pixels Of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast. This is me, completely unplugged, and stripped down. It's a walk on Laguna Beach off of the Andaman Sea. It's just the M-Audio MicroTrack and my thoughts as the sun sets in Phuket, Thailand. You get it all - the tide, the crickets, the sand and the marketing. Global thoughts about everything from iPhone sponsorships to the "glocalization" of the world. It's a short one, it's a raw one and it's one hundred percent passion. Enjoy this conversation... Here it is: Six Pixels Of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast - Episode #63 - Host: Mitch Joel. Running time: 26:18. Audio comment line - please send in a comment and add your voice to the audio community: +1 206-666-6056. Please send in questions, comments, suggestions - mitch@twistimage.com. Hello from Beautiful Montreal'. I mean Beautiful Phuket, Thailand. Subscribe over at iTunes. Comments are now live on the Blog - sixpixels.com/blog. New Facebook Group - Six Pixels of Separation Podcast Society - please join (we have over five hundred and fifty members). There will be no Six Pounds Of Sound this week. Melvin Yuan - The PR 2.0 Universe. Singapore - Michael Netzley - Singapore Management University - PodCamp Singapore. Institute Of Public Relations Singapore - PR 2.0 ' Engaging Stakeholders In The New Media Landscape. Joseph Jaffe - Across The Sound - thoughts on the iPhone Sponsorship. Club Penguin gets bought by Disney. Mobile device and SMS Marketing. Brands in Thailand - think Foot Lock instead of Foot Locker and Von Dutch clothing. Three star hotel room in a five star result and the power of Customer Service. Phuket Town - to get really low tech. The new Sony Vaio - maybe I should run a sponsorship ;) Singapore and the Funan IT Mall. Glocalization - Akanksha Goel - Singapore Management University. Six Points Of Separation - attempted... and failed. Please join the conversation by sending in questions, feedback and ways to improve Six Pixels Of Separation. Please let me know what you think or leave an audio comment at: +1 206-666-6056. Download the Podcast here: Six Pixels Of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast - Episode #63 - Host: Mitch Joel.

On March 8th, 2014 Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 En route from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Beijing Capital International Airport was lost to air traffic controllers 1 hour after take off and was never seen again. Military radar had sporadic hits of its location which showed it dipping altitude do avoid radar and making erratic manoeuvres in the sky. The last known location was west of Thailand in the Andaman Sea, hundreds of Kilometres off course. The plane was never located expect for a possible few bits of scrap, and no survivors were ever found. What led to this mysterious disappearance of a fully loaded commercial airliner? The theories are endless. From pilot suicide, to aliens and everything in between, the theorists discuss the most probable causes of such an incident.