Podcasts about barely

On today's brand new episode, we discuss perhaps one of the most quoted movies of the 2000s.   Barely grossing $6 million in its original theatrical release, this film made over $50 million in DVD sales alone.  In fact, the CEO of Blockbuster has gone on record calling it the most stolen movie of all-time because it was never voluntarily returned.  We are of course talking about 2006's Grandma's Boy. •0:00:00 - Introductions •0:04:30 - Memories of first viewing •0:07:30  - Pertinent movie details  •0:11:15  -  Critical and fan reviews •0:24:00 - Scene by scene breakdown  •1:43:00 - Modern day ratings —————————————————————— Link to purchase Mike's book: https://a.co/d/0vx06Iq SPONSORS-  **BIG GROVE- Check out our beers of the episode here- http://BigGrove.com  **NordVPN-  Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to http://nordvpn.com/breakfast to get a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + 4 additional months on top! It's completely risk-free with Nord's 30-day money-back guarantee! —————————————————————— **Support us at http://patreon.com/confusedbreakfast for bonus weekly episodes, voting on upcoming movies, giving your modern-day ratings on our movies and much more. **Mail us something   The Confused Breakfast PO Box 10016 Cedar Rapids, IA 52402-9802 Special thanks to our executive producers- Josh Miller, Starling, Dylan Mick and NicMad. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More of Mormonism's canonized revelations originated in or near Kirtland than any other place. Yet many of the events connected with those revelations and their 1830s historical context have faded over time. Barely twenty-five years after the first of these Ohio revelations, Brigham Young lamented in 1856: “These revelations, after a lapse of years, become mystified [sic] to those who were not personally acquainted with the circumstances at the time they were given.” He gloomily predicted that eventually the revelations “may be as mysterious to our children . . . as the revelations contained in the Old and New Testaments are to this generation.” Now, more than 150 years later, the distance between what Brigham Young and his Kirtland contemporaries considered common knowledge and our understanding of the same material today has widened into a sometimes daunting gap. Mark Staker narrows the chasm in Hearken, O Ye People by reconstructing the cultural experiences by which Kirtland's Latter-day Saints made sense of the revelations Joseph Smith pronounced. This volume rebuilds that exciting decade using clues from numerous archives, privately held records, museum collections, and even the soil where early members planted corn and homes. From this vast array of sources he shapes a detailed narrative of weather, religious backgrounds, dialect differences, race relations, theological discussions, food preparation, frontier violence, astronomical phenomena, and myriad daily customs of nineteenth-century life. The result is a “from the ground up” experience that today's Latter-day Saints can all but walk into and touch. Mark Lyman Staker was a senior researcher in the Church History Department of the LDS Church when this was written. He received his PhD in cultural anthropology from University of Florida. For more than fifteen years, Mark has been involved in historic sites restoration and nineteenth-century expressions of the Latter-day Saint experience. He received the J. Talmage Jones Award of Excellence for an Outstanding Article on Mormon History from the Mormon History Association, and he has been involved in numerous museum exhibits. He and his wife, Kimberly, are the parents of seven children and live in West Bountiful, Utah. The post Hearken, O Ye People: The Historical Setting of Joseph Smith's Ohio Revelations – Mark Staker – appeared first on The Cultural Hall Podcast.

This is a classic session of Where Should We Begin? Barely a year into marriage, they're trapped in a cycle of explosive conflict. She can do no right, and he can do no wrong. Producer's Note: When our anonymous guests do a session with Esther for the podcast, it is an act of generosity for everyone who listens. These sessions are meant not only to support the people in the room with Esther, but all of us who learn from their stories. Our stories have many chapters, and what you hear is just one moment in someone's journey. So even though the sessions are anonymous, please remember that real people are behind them and they may be reading your comments. Also, please join me on Entre Nous, my new home on Substack for anyone who wants to live, love, and work with more connection and imagination. I invite you to sign up and become a free or paid member at estherperel.substack.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

President Donald Trump has given a new reason for this effort to annex Greenland. A church in Minnesota where a pastor is reportedly an ICE member has become a site of new tensions. Trump has invited some controversial world leaders to his so-called "Board of Peace" for Gaza. Barely any Americans are satisfied with the number of Jeffrey Epstein case files released. Plus, China's birthrate has shrank for the 4th year in a row. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this powerful and wide-ranging episode of Gangland Wire, host Gary Jenkins sits down with Ken Behr, author of One Step Over the Line: Confessions of a Marijuana Mercenary. Behr tells his astonishing life story—from teenage marijuana dealer in South Florida, to high-level drug runner and smuggler, to DEA cooperating source working major international cases. Along the way, he offers rare, first-hand insight into how large-scale drug operations actually worked during the height of the War on Drugs—and why that war, in his view, has largely failed. From Smuggler to Source Behr describes growing up during the explosion of the drug trade in South Florida during the 1970s and 1980s, where smuggling marijuana and cocaine became almost commonplace. He explains how he moved from street-level dealing into large-scale logistics—off-loading planes, running covert runways in the Everglades, moving thousands of pounds of marijuana, and participating in international smuggling operations involving Canada, Jamaica, Colombia, and the Bahamas. After multiple arrests—including a serious RICO case that threatened him with decades in prison—Behr made the life-altering decision to cooperate with the DEA. What followed was a tense and dangerous double life as an undercover operative, helping law enforcement dismantle major trafficking networks while living under constant pressure and fear of exposure. Inside the Mechanics of the Drug Trade This episode goes deep into the nuts and bolts of organized drug trafficking, including: How clandestine runways were built and dismantled in minutes How aircraft were guided into unlit landing zones How smuggling crews were paid and organized Why most drug operations ultimately collapse from inside The role of asset seizures in federal drug enforcement Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee” Subscribe to the website for weekly notifications about updates and other Mob information. To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup, click here To rent ‘Brothers against Brothers’ or ‘Gangland Wire,’ the documentaries click here.  To purchase one of my books, click here. Transcript [00:00:00] well, hey, all your wire taps. It’s good to be back here in studio of Gangland Wire. I have a special guest today. He has a book called, uh, title is One Step Over the Line and, and he went several steps over the line, I think in his life. Ken Bearer, welcome Ken. Thanks for having me. Thanks for having me. Now, Ken, Ken is a, was a marijuana smuggler at one time and, and ended up working with the DEA, so he went from one side over to my side and, and I always like to talk to you guys that that helped us in law enforcement and I, there’s a lot of guys that don’t like that out there, but I like you guys you were a huge help to us in law enforcement and ended up doing the right thing after you made a lot of money. So tell us about the money. We were just starting to talk about the money. Tell us about the money, all those millions and millions of dollars that you drug smuggler makes. What happens? Well, I, you know, like I said, um, Jimmy Buffett’s song a pirate looks at 40, basically, he says, I made enough money to to buy Miami and pissed it away all so fast, never meant to last. And, and that’s what happens. I do know a few people that have [00:01:00] put away money. One of my friends that we did a lot of money together, a lot of drug dealing and a lot of moving some product, and he’s put the money away. Got in bed with some other guy that was, you know, legal, bought a bunch of warehouses, and now he lives a great life, living off the money he put away. Yeah. If the rents and stuff, he, he got into real estate. Other guys have got into real estate and they got out and they ended up doing okay. ’cause now they’re drawing all those rents. That’s a good way to money. Exactly what he did. Uh, my favorite, I was telling you a favorite story of mine was the guy that was a small time dealer used to hang out at the beach. And, uh, we en he ended up saving $80,000, which was a lot of money back then. Yeah. And then put it all, went to school to be a culinary chef and then got a job at the Marriott as a culinary chef and a chef. So he, you know, he really took the money, made a little bit of money, didn’t make a lot Yeah. But made enough to go to school and do something with his life. That’s so, um, that’s a great one. That’s a good one [00:02:00] there. That’s real. Yeah. But he wasn’t a big time guy. Yeah. You know what, what happens is you might make a big lick. You know, I, I never made million dollar moves. I have lots of friends that did. I always said I didn’t want to be a smuggler. ’cause I was making a steady living, being a drug runner. If you brought in 40, 50,000 pounds of weed, you would come to me and then I would move it across the country and sell it in different, along with other guys like me. Having said that, so I say I’m a guy that never wanted to do a smuggling trip. I’ve done 12 of them. Yeah. Even though, you know, and you know, if you’ve been in the DEA side twelve’s a lot for somebody usually. Yeah. That’s a lot. They don’t make, there’s no longevity. Two or three trips. No. You know, I did it for 20 years. Yeah. And then finally I got busted one time in Massachusetts in 1988. We had 40,000 pounds stuck up in Canada. So a friend of mine comes to me, another friend had the 40,000 pounds up there. He couldn’t sell it. He goes, Hey, you wanna help me smuggle [00:03:00] this back into America? Which, you know, is going the wrong direction. The farther north it goes, the more money it’s worth. I would’ve taken it to Greenland for Christ’s sakes. Yeah. But, we smuggled it back in. What we did this time was obviously they, they brought a freighter or a big ship to bring the 40,000 pounds into Canada. Mm-hmm. He added, stuffed in a fish a fish packing plant in a freezer somewhere up there. And so we used the sea plane and we flew from a lake in Canada to a lake in Maine where the plane would pull up, I’d unload. Then stash it. And we really did like to get 1400 pounds. We had to go through like six or seven trips. ’cause the plane would only hold 200 and something pounds. Yeah. And a sea plane can’t land at night. It has to land during the day. Yeah. You can’t land a plane in the middle of a lake in the night, I guess yourself. Yeah. I see. Uh, and so we got, I got busted moving that load to another market and that cost, uh, [00:04:00] cost me about $80,000 in two years of fighting in court to get out of that. Yeah. Uh, but I did beat the case for illegal search and seizure. So one for the good guys. It wasn’t for the good guys. Well the constitution, he pulled me over looking for fireworks and, ’cause it was 4th of July and, yeah. The name of that chapter in the book is why I never work on a holiday. So you don’t wanna spend your holiday in jail ’cause there’s no, you can’t on your birthday. So another, the second time I got busted was in 92. So just a couple years later after, basically I was in the system for two years with the loss, you know, fighting it and that, that was for Rico. I was looking at 25 years. But, uh, but like a normal smuggling trip. I’ll tell you one, we did, I brought, I actually did my first smuggling trip. I was on the run in Jamaica from a, a case that I got named in and I was like 19 living down in Jamaica to cool out. And then my buddies came down. So we ended up bringing out 600 pounds. So that was my first tr I was about 19 or [00:05:00] 20 years old when I did my first trip. I brought out 600 pounds outta Jamaica. A friend of mine had a little Navajo and we flew it out with that, but. I’ll give you an example of a smuggling trip. So a friend of mine came to me and he wanted to load 300 kilos of Coke in Columbia and bring it into America. And he wanted to know if I knew anybody that could load him 300 kilos. So I did. I introduced him to a friend of mine that Ronnie Vest. He’s the only person you’ll appreciate this. Remember how he kept wanting to extradite all the, the guys from Columbia when we got busted, indict him? Yes. And of course, Escobar’s living in his own jail with his own exit. Yeah. You know, and yeah. So the Columbian government says, well, we want somebody, why don’t you extradite somebody to America, to Columbia? So Ronnie Vest had gotten caught bringing a load of weed outta Columbia. You know, they sent ’em back to America. So that colo, the Americans go, I’ll tell you what you want. Somebody. And Ronnie Vests got the first good friend of mine, first American to be [00:06:00] extradited to Columbia to serve time. So he did a couple years in the Columbian prison. And so he’s the one that had the cocaine connection now. ’cause he spent time in Columbia. Yeah. And you know, so we brought in 300 kilos of Coke. He actually, I didn’t load it. He got another load from somebody else. But, so in the middle of the night, you set up on a road to nowhere in the Everglades, there’s so many Floridas flat, you’ve got all these desolate areas. We go out there with four or five guys. We take, I have some of ’em here somewhere. Callum glow sticks. You know the, the, the glow sticks you break, uh, yeah. And some flashing lights throw ’em out there. Yeah. And we set up a, yeah, the pilot came in and we all laid in the woods waiting for the plane to come in. And as soon as the pilot clicks. The mic four times. It’s, we all click our mics four times and then we run out. He said to his copilot, he says, look, I mean, we lit up this road from the sky. He goes, it looks like MIA [00:07:00] behind the international airport. But it happens like that within a couple, like a minute, we’ll light that whole thing up. Me and one other guy run down the runway. It’s a lot, it’s a long run, believe me. We put out the lights, we gotta put out the center lights and then the marker lights, because you gotta have the center of the runway where the plane’s gonna land and the edge is where it can’t, right? Yeah. He pulls up, bring up a couple cars, I’m driving one of them, load the kilos in. And then we have to refuel the plane because you don’t, you know, you want to have enough fuel to get back to an FBO to your landing airport or real airport. Yeah. Not the one we made in the Everglades. Yeah. And then the trick is the car’s gotta get out of there. Yeah, before the plane takes off. ’cause when that plane takes off, you know you got a twin engine plane landing is quiet, taking off at full throttle’s gonna wake up the whole neighborhood. So once we got out of there, then they went ahead and got the plane off. And then the remaining guys, they gotta clean up the mess. We want to use this again. So we [00:08:00] wanna clean up all the wires, the radios. Mm-hmm. Pick up the fuel tanks, pick up the runway lights, and their job is to clean that off and all that’s gonna take place before the police even get down the main road. Right? Mm-hmm. That’s gonna all take place in less than 10 minutes. Wow. I mean, the offload takes, the offload takes, you can offload about a thousand pounds, which I’ve done in three minutes. Wow. But, and then refueling the plane, getting everything else cleaned up. Takes longer. Yeah. Interesting. So how many guys would, would be on that operation and how do you pay that? How do you decide who gets paid what? How much? Okay. So get it up front or, I always curious about the details, how that stuff, I don’t think I got paid enough. And I’ll be honest, it was a hell of a chance. I got 20 grand looking at 15 years if you get caught. Yeah. But I did it for the excitement. 20 grand wasn’t that much. I had my own gig making more money than that Uhhuh, you know, but I was also racing cars. I was, there’s a [00:09:00] picture of one of my race cars. Oh cool. So that costs about six, 7,000 a weekend. Yeah. And remember I’m talking about 1980s dollars. Yeah. That’s 20,000 a weekend. A weekend, yes. Yeah. And that 20,000 for a night’s work in today’s world would be 60. Yeah. Three. And I’m talking about 1985 versus, that was 40 years ago. Yeah. Um. But it’s a lot of fun and, uh, and, but it, you kind of say to yourself, what was that one step over the line? That’s why I wrote the book. I remember as a kid thinking in my twenties, man, I’ve taken one step over the line. So the full name of the book is One Step Over the Line Con Confessions of a Marijuana Mercenary. That’s me actually working for the DEA. That picture was at the time when I was working for the DEA, so the second time I got busted in 1992 was actually for the smallest amount of weed that I ever got, ever really had. It was like 80, a hundred pounds. But unfortunately it was for Rico. I didn’t know at the [00:10:00] time, but when they arrested me, I thought, oh, they only caught me with a hundred pounds. But I got charged with Rico. So I was looking at 25 years. What, how, what? Did they have some other, it must have had some other offenses that they could tie to and maybe guns and stuff or something that get that gun. No, we never used guns ever. Just other, other smuggling operations. Yeah, yeah. Me, me and my high school friend, he had moved to Ohio in 77 or 78, so he had called me one time, he was working at the Ford plant and he goes, Hey, I think I could sell some weed up here. All right. I said, come on down, I’ll give you a couple pounds. So he drives down from Ohio on his weekend off, all the way from Ohio. I gave him two pounds. He drove home, calls me back. He goes, I sold it. So I go, all right. He goes, I’m gonna get some more. So at that time, I was working for one of the largest marijuana smugglers in US History. His name was Donny Steinberg. I was just a kid, you know, like my job, part of my [00:11:00] job was to, they would gimme a Learjet. About a million or two and I jump on a Learjet and fly to the Cayman Islands. I was like 19 years old. Same time, you know, kid. Yeah, just a kid. 19 or 20 and yeah. 18, I think. And so I ended up doing that a few times. That was a lot of fun. And that’s nice to be a kid in the Learjet and they give me a million or two and they gimme a thousand dollars for the day’s work. I thought I was rich, I was, but people gotta understand that’s in that 78 money, not that’s, yeah. That was more like $10,000 for day, I guess. Yeah. You know? Yeah. It was a lot of money for an 18, 19-year-old kid. Yeah. Donnie gives me a bail. So Terry comes back from Ohio, we shoved the bale into his car. Barely would fit ’cause he had no big trunk on this Firebird. He had, he had a Firebird trans Am with the thunder black with a thunder, thunder chicken on the hood. It was on the hood. Oh cool. That was, that was a catch meow back then. Yeah. Yeah. It got it with that [00:12:00] Ford plant money. And uh, by the way, that was after that 50 pounds got up. ’cause every bail’s about 50 pounds. That’s the last he quit forward the next day. I bet. And me and him had built a 12 year, we were moving. Probably 50 tons up there over the 12 year period. You know, probably, I don’t know, anywhere from 50 to a hundred thousand pounds we would have, he must have been setting up other dealers. So among his friends, he must have been running around. He had the distribution, I was setting up the distribution network and you had the supply. I see. Yeah. I was the Florida connection. It’s every time you get busted, the cops always wanna grab that Florida connection. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. You gotta go down there. I there, lemme tell you, you know, I got into this. We were living in, I was born on a farm in New Jersey, like in know Norman Rockwell, 1950s, cow pies and hay bales. And then we moved to New Orleans in 1969 and then where my dad had business and right after, not sure after that, he died when I was 13. As I say in the book, I [00:13:00] probably wouldn’t have been writing the book if my father was alive. Yeah. ’cause I probably wouldn’t have went down that road, you know? But so my mother decides in 1973 to move us to, uh, south Florida, to get away from the drugs in the CD underside of New Orleans. Yeah. I guess she didn’t read the papers. No. So I moved from New Orleans to the star, the war on where the war on drugs would start. I always say if she’d have moved me to Palo Alto, I’d be Bill Gates, but No. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was so, uh, and everybody I knew was running drugs, smuggling drugs, trying to be a drug deal. I mean, I was, I had my own operation. I was upper middle level, but there were guys like me everywhere. Mm-hmm. There were guys like me everywhere, moving a thou, I mean, moving a thousand, 2000 pounds at the time was a big thing, you know? That’s, yeah. So, so about what year was that? I started in 19. 70. Okay. Three. I was [00:14:00] 16. Started selling drugs outta my mom’s house, me and my brother. We had a very good business going. And by the time I was got busted, it was 19 92. So, so you watched, especially in South Florida, you watched like where that plane could go down and go back up that at eventually the feds will come up with radar and they have blimps and they have big Bertha stuff down there to then catch those kinds of things. Yeah. Right, right. Big Bertha was the blimp. Uhhuh, uh, they put up, yeah. In the beginning you could just fly right in. We did one trip one time. This is this, my, my buddy picked up, I don’t know, 40 or 50 kilos in The Bahamas. So you fly into Fort Lauderdale and you call in like you’re gonna do a normal landing. Mm-hmm. And the BLI there. This is all 1980s, five. You know, they already know. They’re doing this, but you just call in, like you’re coming to land in Fort Lauderdale, and what you do is right before you land, you hit the tower up and you tell ’em you wanna do a [00:15:00] go around, meaning you’re not comfortable with the landing. Mm-hmm. Well, they’ll always leave you a go around because they don’t want you to crash. Yeah. And right west of the airport was a golf course, and right next to the golf course, oh, about a mile down the road was my townhouse. So we’re in the townhouse. My buddies all put on, two of the guys, put on black, get big knives, gear, and I drive to one road on the golf course and my other friend grows Dr. We drop the guys off in the golf course as the plane’s gonna do the touchdown at the airport. He says, I gotta go around. As he’s pulling up now, he’s 200 feet below the radar, just opens up the side of the plane. Mm-hmm. The kickers, we call ’em, they’re called kickers. He kicks the baskets, the ba and the guys on, on the golf court. They’re hugging trees. Yeah. You don’t wanna be under that thing. Right. You got a 200, you got maybe a 40 pound package coming in at 120 miles an hour from 200 feet up. It’ll break the bra. It’ll yeah. The [00:16:00] branches will kill you. Yeah. So they pull up, they get out, I pull back up in the pickup truck, he runs out, jumps in the back of the truck, yells, hit it. We drive the mile through the back roads to my townhouse. Get the coke in the house. My buddy rips it open with a knife. It’s and pulls out some blow. And he looks at me, he goes, Hey, let’s get outta here. And I go, where are we going? Cops come and he goes, ah, I got two tickets. No, four tickets to the Eddie Murphy concert. So we left the blow in this trunk of his car. Oh. Oh, oh man. I know. We went to Eddie Murphy about a million dollars worth of product in the trunk. Oh. And, uh, saw a great show and came back and off they went. That’s what I’m trying to point out is that’s how fast it goes down, man. It’s to do. Yeah. Right in, in 30 minutes. We got it out. Now the thing about drug deals is we always call ’em dds delayed dope deals because the smuggling [00:17:00] trip could take six months to plan. Yeah. You know, they never go, there’s no organized crime in organized crime. Yeah. No organization did it. Yeah. And then, then of course, in 1992 when I got busted and was looking at Rico, a friend of mine came up to me. He was a yacht broker. He had gotten in trouble selling a boat, and he said, Hey, I’d you like to work for the DEA. I’d done three months in jail. I knew I was looking at time, I knew I had nothing. My lawyers told me, Kenny, you either figure something out or you’re going to jail for a mm-hmm. And I just had a newborn baby. I just got married three weeks earlier and we had a newborn baby. I said, what are you crazy? I mean, I’m waiting for my wife to hear me. You know, he’s calling me on the phone. He goes, meet me for lunch. I go meet him for lunch. And he explains to me that he’s gonna, he’s got a guy in the, uh, central district in Jacksonville, and he’s a DEA agent, and I should go talk to him. And so the DEA made a deal with the Ohio police that anything that I [00:18:00] confiscated, anything that I did, any assets I got, they would get a share in as long as they released me. Yeah. To them. And, you know, it’s all about the, I hate to say this, I’m not saying that you don’t want to take drugs off the street, but if you’re the police department and you’re an agent, it’s about asset seizures. Yeah. Yeah. That’s how you fund the dr. The war on drugs. Yeah. The war begets war. You know, I mean, oh, I know, been Florida was, I understand here’s a deal. You’re like suing shit against the tide, right? Fighting that drug thing. Okay? It just keeps coming in. It keeps getting cheaper. It keeps getting more and more. You make a little lick now and then make a little lick now and then, but then you start seeing these fancy cars and all this money out there that you can get to. If you make the right score, you, you, you hit the right people, you can get a bunch of money, maybe two or three really cool cars for your unit. So then you’ll start focusing on, go after the money. I know it’s not right, but you’re already losing your shoveling shit against the tide anyhow, so just go after the goal. [00:19:00] One time I set up this hash deal for the DEA from Amsterdam. The guy brought the hash in, and I had my agent, you know, I, I didn’t set up the deal. The guy came to me and said, we have 200 kilos of hash. Can you help us sell it? He didn’t know that I was working for the DEA, he was from Europe. And I said, sure. The, the thing was, I, so in the boat ready to close the deal, now my guy is from Central. I’m in I’m in Fort Lauderdale, which is Southern District. So he goes, Hey, can you get that man to bring that sailboat up to Jacksonville? I go, buddy, he just sailed across the Atlantic. He ain’t going to Jacksonville. So the central district has to come down, or is a northern district? I can’t remember if it’s northern or central. Has to come down to the Southern district. So, you know, they gotta make phone calls. Everybody’s gotta be in Yep. Bump heads. So I’m on the boat and he calls me, he goes, Hey, we gotta act now. Yeah. And I’m looking at the mark, I go, why? He [00:20:00] goes, customs is on the dock. We don’t want them involved. So you got the two? Yeah. So I bring him up, I go, where’s the hash? He goes, it’s in the car. So we go up to the car and he opens the trunk, and I, I pull back one of the duffle bags I see. I can tell immediately it’s product. So I go like this, and all hell breaks loose, right? Yeah. I could see the two customs agents and they’re all dressed like hillbillies. They, you know. So I said to my, my handler, the next day I called them up to debrief. You know, I have to debrief after every year, everything. I goes, so what happened when customs I go, what’d they want to do? He goes, yep. They wanted to chop the boat in threes. So they’re gonna sell the boat and the 2D EA offices are gonna trade it. Yeah. Are gonna shop the money. Yeah. I remember when I registered with the DEA in, in, in the Southern district, I had to tell ’em who I was. They go, why are you working for him? Why aren’t you working for us? I’m like, buddy, I’m not in charge here. This is, you know? Yeah. I heard that many [00:21:00] times through different cases we did, where the, the local cop would say to me, why don’t you come work for us? Oh yeah. Try to steal your informant. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So how about that? So, can you get a piece of the action if they had a big case seizure? Yeah. Did they have some deal where you’d get a piece of that action there? Yep. That’s a pretty good deal. Yeah. So I would get, I, I’d get, like, if we brought down, he would always tell everybody that he needed money to buy electronics and then he would come to me and go, here’s 2000. And to the other cis, he had three guys. I saw a friend of mine, the guy that got me into the deal. Them a million dollar house or a couple million dollar house. And I saw the DEA hand him a suitcase with a million dollars cash in it. Wow. I mean, I’m sorry, with a hundred thousand cash. A hundred thousand. Okay. I was gonna say, I was thinking a million. Well, a hundred thousand. Yeah, a hundred thousand. I’ve heard that. I just didn’t have any experience with it myself. But I heard that. I saw, saw Open it up, saw money. I saw the money. It was one of those aluminum halla, Halliburton reef cases and Yeah, yeah. A [00:22:00] hundred thousand cash. But, uh, but you know, um, it’s funny, somebody once asked me out of, as a kid I wanted to be a cowboy, a race car driver, and a secret agent. Me too. Yes. Yeah. I didn’t want, I wanted to be a, I grew up on a farm, so I kind of rode a horse. I had that watched Rowdy, you got saved background as me, man. Yeah. You know, we watched, we watched, we grew up on westerns. We watched Gun Smoke, rowdy. Oh yeah. You know, uh, bananas, uh, you know, so, um. So anyway, uh, I got to raise cars with my drug money, and I guess I’m not sure if I was more of a secret agent working as a drug dealer or as the DEA, but it’s a lot of I, you know, I make jokes about it now, but it’s a lot of stress working undercover. Oh, yeah. Oh, I can’t even imagine that. I never worked undercover. I, that was not my thing. I like surveillance and putting pieces together and running sources, but man, that actual working undercover that’s gotta be nerve wracking. It’s, you know, and, and my handler was good at it, but [00:23:00] he would step out and let, here’s, I’ll tell you this. One day he calls me up and he goes, Hey, I’m down here in Fort Lauderdale. You need to come down here right now. And I’m having dinner at my house about 15 minutes away. Now he lives in Jacksonville. I go, what’s he doing in Fort Lauderdale? So I drive down to the hotel and he’s got a legal pad and a pen. He goes, my, uh, my, my seniors want to, uh, want you to proffer. You need to tell me everything you ever did. And they want me to do a proffer. And I go, I looked at him. I go, John, I can’t do that. He start, we start writing. I start telling him stuff. I stop. I go, I grew up in this town. Everybody I know I did a drug deal with from high school, I go, I would be giving you every single kid, every family, man, I grew up here. My, I’m gonna be in jail, and my wife and my one and a half year old daughter are gonna be the only people left in this town, and they’re not gonna have any support. And I just can’t do this to all my friends. Yeah. So he says, all right, puts the pen down. I knew [00:24:00] he hated paperwork, so I had a good shot. He wasn’t gonna, he goes, yeah, you hungry? I go, yeah. He goes, let’s go get a steak. And right across the street was a place called Chuck Steakhouse, which great little steak restaurant. All right. So we go over there, he goes, and he is a big guy. He goes, sit right here. I go, all right. So I sit down. I, I’m getting a free steak. I’m gonna sit about through the steak dinner, it goes. Look over my shoulder. So I do this. He goes, see the guy at the bar in the black leather jacket. I go, yeah. He goes, when I get up and walk outta here, when I clear the door, I want you to go up to him and find a talk drug deal. See what you can get out of him. I go, you want me to walk up to a complete stranger and say, he goes, I’m gonna walk out the door. When I get out the door. You’re gonna go up and say, cap Captain Bobby. That was his, he was a ca a boat captain and his nickname, his handle was Captain Bobby. And he was theoretically the next Vietnam vet that now is a smuggler, you know?[00:25:00] Yeah. And so he walks out the door and I walked out and sat with the guy at the bar and we started, I said, hi, captain Bobby sent me, I’m his right hand man, you know, to talk about. And we talked and I looked around the bar trying to see if anybody was with him. And I’m figuring, now I’m looking at the guy going, why is he so open with me? And I’m thinking, you know what? He’s wearing a leather jacket. He’s in Florida. I bet you he’s got a wire on and he’s working for customs and I’m working for the DEA, so nothing ever came of it. But you know, that was, you know, you’re sitting there eating dinner and all of a sudden, you know, look over my shoulder. Yeah. And, you know, and I’m trying to balance all that with having a newborn that’s about a year old and my wife and Yeah. Looking at 25 years. So a little bit of pressure. But, you know, hey and I understand these federal agencies, everybody’s got, everybody is, uh, uh, aggressive. Everybody is ambitious. And you just are this guy in the middle and right. And they’ll throw you to the [00:26:00] wolves in a second. Second, what have you done for a second? Right? It’s what have you done for me lately? He’s calling me up and said, Hey, I don’t got any product from you in a minute. I go, well, I’m working on it. He goes, well, you know, they’ll kick you outta the program. Yeah. But one of the things he did he was one of, he was the GS 13. So he had some, you know, he had level, you know, level 15 or whatever, you know, he was, yeah. Almost at the head of near retirement too. And he said, look, he had me, he had another guy that was a superstar, another guy. And we would work as a team and he would feed us all the leads. In other words, if David had a case, I’d be on that case. So when I went to go to go to trial or go to my final, he had 14 or 15 different things that he had penciled me in to be involved with. The biggest deal we did at the end of my two years with the DEA was we brought down the Canadian mob. They got him for 10,000 kilos of cocaine, import 10,000 kilos. It was the Hell’s Angels, the Rock something, motorcycle [00:27:00] gang, the Italian Mafia and the, and the Irish mob. Mm-hmm. And the guy, I mean, this is some badass guys. I was just a player, but. The state of Ohio, they got to fly up there and you know, I mean, no words, the dog and pony show was always on to give everybody, you know. Yes. A bite at the apple. Oh yeah. But I’ll tell you this, it’s been 33 years and the two people that I’m close to is my arresting officer in Ohio and my DEA handler in Jacksonville. The arresting officer, when he retired, he called to gimme his new cell phone. And every year or so I call him up around Christmas and say, Dennis, thank you for the opportunity to turn my life around, because I’ve got four great kids. I’ve started businesses, you know, he knows what I’ve done with my life. And the DEA handler, that’s, he’s a friend of mine. I mean, you know, we talk all the time and check on each other. And, you know, I mean, he’s, [00:28:00] they’re my friends. A lot of, not too many of the guys are left from those days that will talk to me. Yeah, probably not. And most of them are dead or in jail anyhow. For, well, a lot of ’em are, maybe not even because of you, I mean, because that’s their life. No, but a lot of them, a number of ’em turned their lives around, went into legal businesses and have done well. Yeah. So, you know, there really have, so not all of ’em, but a good share of ’em have turned, because we weren’t middle class kids. We were, my one friend was, dad was the lieutenant of the police department. The other one was the post guy. We weren’t inner city kids. Yeah. We weren’t meeting we, the drug war landed on us and we just, we were recruited into it. As young as I talk about in my book. But I mean, let’s talk about what’s going on now. Now. Yeah. And listen, I’m gonna put some statistics out there. Last year, 250,000 people were charged with cannabis. 92% for simple possession. There’s [00:29:00] people still in jail for marijuana doing life sentences. I’ve had friends do 27 years only for marijuana. No nonviolent crimes, first time offender. 22 years, 10 years. And the government is, I’ve been involved with things where the government was smuggling the drugs. I mean, go with the Iran Contra scandal that happened. We were trading guns for cocaine with the Nicaraguans in the Sandon Easterns. Yeah. Those same pilots. Gene Hassen Fus flew for Air America and Vietnam moving drugs and gun and, and guns out of Cambodia. Same guy. Air America. Yeah. The American government gave their soldiers opium in Civil War to keep ’em marching. You know, I mean, we did a deal with Lucky Luciano, where we let ’em out of prison for doing heroin exchange for Intel from, from Europe on during World War II and his, and the mob watching the docks for the, uh, cargo ships. So the government’s been intertwined in the war on drugs on two [00:30:00] sides of it. Yeah. You know, and not that it makes it right. Look, I’ve lost several friends to fentanyl that thought they were doing coke and did fentanyl or didn’t even know there was any. They just accidentally did fentanyl and it’s a horrible drug. But those boats coming out of Venezuela don’t have fentanyl on ’em. No. Get cocaine maybe. If that, and they might be, they’re probably going to Europe. Europe and they’re going to Europe. Yeah, they’re going, yeah. They’re doubt they’re going to Europe. Yeah. Yeah. And so let’s put it this way. I got busted for running a 12 year ongoing criminal enterprise. We moved probably 50 tons of marijuana. You know what? Cut me down? One guy got busted with one pound and he turned in one other guy that went all the way up to us. So if you blew up those boats, you know, you’re, you need the leads. You, you can’t kill your clients. Yeah. You know, how are you gonna get, not gonna get any leads outta that. Well, that’s, uh, well, I’m just saying [00:31:00] you right. The, if they followed the boat to the mothership Yeah. They’d have the whole crew and all the cargo. Yeah. You know, it’s, those boats maybe have 200 kilos on ’em. A piece. Yeah. The mothership has six tons. Yeah. That’s it. It’s all about the, uh, the, um, uh, optics. Optics, yeah. That’s the word. It’s all about the optics and, and the politic, you know, in, in some way it may deter some people, but I don’t, I I, I’ve never seen anything, any consequence. In that drug business, there’s too much money. There is no consequence that is really ever gonna deter people from smuggling drugs. Let me put it this way, except for a few people like yourself, there’s a few like yourself that get to a certain age and the consequence of going to prison for a long time may, you know, may bring you around or the, all the risk you’re taking just, you know, you can’t take it anymore, but you gotta do something. But no, well, I got busted twice. Consequence just don’t matter. There is no consequence that’s gonna do anything. Here’s why. And you’re right. [00:32:00] One is how do you get in a race car and not think you’re gonna die? Because you always think it’s gonna happen to somebody else. Exactly. And the drug business is the same. It’s, I’m not, it’s not gonna happen to me tonight. And those guys in Venezuela, they have no electricity. They have no water. Yeah. They got nothing. They have a chance to go out and make a couple thousand dollars and change their family’s lives. Yeah. Or they’re being, they’re got family members in the gar, in the gangs that are forcing them to do it. Yeah. It’s the war on drugs has kind of been a political war and an optics war from the seventies. I mean, it’s nobody, listen, I always say, I say in my book, nobody loved it more than the cops, the lawyers and the politicians. No shit. In Fort Lauderdale, they had nothing, and all of a sudden the drug wars brought night scopes and cigarette boats and fancy cars and new offices. Yes. And new courthouses, and new jails and Yep. I don’t have an answer. Yeah. The problem is, [00:33:00] you know what I’m gonna say, America, Mexico doesn’t have a drug problem. Columbia doesn’t have a drug problem. No. America has a drug problem. Those are just way stations to get the product in. In the cover of my book, it says, you don’t sell drugs, you supply them like ammunition in a war. It’s a, people, we, how do we fix this? How do we get the American people? Oh, by the way, here’s a perfect example. Marijuana is legal in a majority of states. You don’t see anybody smuggling marijuana in, I actually heard two stories of people that are smuggling marijuana out of the country. I’ve heard that. I’ve heard that. Yeah. They’re growing so much marijuana in America that it’s worth shipping to other places, either legally or illegally. Yeah. And, and, and you know, the biggest problem is like, what they’ll do is they’ll set up dispensaries, with the green marijuana leaf on it, like it’s some health [00:34:00] dispensary. But they, they just won’t it’ll be off the books. It just won’t have the licensing and all that. And, you know, you run that for a while and then maybe you get caught, maybe you don’t. And so it’s, you know, it’s, well, the other thing is with that dispensary license. It’s highly regulated, but you can get a lot of stuff in the gray. So there’s three markets now. There’s the white market, which is the legal Yeah. Business that, you know, you can buy stocks in the companies and whatnot. Yeah. There’s the black market, which is the guy on the street that Kenny Bear used to be. And then there’s the gray market where people are taking black market product and funneling it through the white markets without intact, you know, the taxes and the licensing and the, the, uh, testing for, you know, you have to test marijuana for pesticides. Metals, yeah. And, and the oils and the derivatives. You know, there’s oil and there’s all these derivatives. They have to be tested. Well, you could slide it through the gray market into the white market. So I know it’s a addiction, you know, whether it’s gambling or sex or Right. Or [00:35:00] there’s always gonna be people who are gonna take advantage and make money off of addiction. The mafia, you know, they refined it during the prohibition. All these people that drink, you know, and a lot, admittedly, a lot of ’em are social drinkers, but awful lot of ’em work. They had to have it. And so, you know, then gambling addiction. And that’s, uh, well here’s what I say. If it wasn’t for Prohibition Vegas, the mob never would’ve had the power and the money to build Vegas. No, they wouldn’t have anything. So when you outlaw something that people want, you’re creating a, a business. If, if somebody, somebody said the other day, if you made all the drugs legal in America, would that put out, put the drug cartels in Mexico and Columbia and out of business? Yeah, maybe. How about this statistic? About 20 to 30,000 people a year die from cocaine overdose. Most have a medical condition. Unknown unbe, besides, they’re not ODing on cocaine. Yeah. Alright. 300,000 people a year die from obesity. Yeah. And [00:36:00] another, almost four, I think 700, I don’t know, I might be about to say a half a million die from alcohol and tobacco. Mm-hmm. I could be low on that figure. So you’re, you probably are low. Yeah. I could be way more than that. But on my point is we’re regulating alcohol, tobacco, and certainly don’t care how much food you eat, and why don’t we have a medical system that takes care of these people. I don’t know that the answer if I did, but I’m just saying it, making this stuff more valuable and making bigger crime syndicates doesn’t make sense. Yeah. See a addiction is such a psychological, spiritual. Physical maldy that people can’t really separate the three and they don’t, people that, that aren’t involved and then getting some kind of recovery, they can’t understand why somebody would go back and do it again after they maybe were clean for a while. You know, that’s a big common problem with putting money into the treatment center [00:37:00] business. Yep. Because people do go to treatment two and three times and, and maybe they never get, some people never, they’ll chase it to death. No, and I can’t explain it. And you know, I, I’ll tell you what, I have my own little podcast. It’s called One Step Over the Line. Mm-hmm. And I released a show last night about a friend of mine, his name is Ron Black. You can watch it or any of your listeners can watch it, and Ron was, went down to the depths of addiction, but he did it a long time ago when they really spent a lot of time and energy to get, you know, they really put him through his system. 18 months, Ron got out clean and he came from a good family. He was raised right. He didn’t, you know, he had some trauma in his life. He had some severe trauma as a child, but he built one of the largest addiction. He has a company that he’s, he ran drug counseling services. He’s been in the space 20 or 30 years, giving back. He has a company that trains counselors to be addiction specialists. He has classes for addiction counseling. He become certified [00:38:00] members. He’s run drug rehabs. He donates to the, you know, you gotta wa if you get a chance to go to my podcast, one step over the line and, and watch this episode we did last night. Probably not the most exciting, you know, like my stories. Yeah. But Ronnie really did go through the entire addiction process from losing everything. Yeah. And pulling himself out. But he was also had a lot of family. You know, he had the right steps. A lot of these kids I was in jail with. Black and brown, inter or inner city youth, whatever, you know, their national, you know, race or nationality, they don’t have a chance. Yeah. They’re in jail with their fathers, their cousins, their brothers. Mm-hmm. The law, the war on drugs, and the laws on drugs specifically affect them. And are they, I remember thinking, is this kid safer in this jail with a cement roof over his head? A, a hot three hot meals and a bed than being back on the [00:39:00] streets? Yeah. He was, I mean. Need to, I used to do a program working with, uh, relatives of addicts. And so this mother was really worried about her son gonna go to jail next time he went to court. And he, she had told me enough about him by then. I said, you know, ma’am, I just wanna tell you something he’s safer doing about a year or so in jail than he is doing a year or so on the streets. Yeah. And she said, she just looked at me and she said, you know, you’re right. You’re right. So she quit worried about and trying to get money and trying to help him out because she was just, she was killing him, getting him out and putting him back on the streets. This kid was gonna die one way or the other, either shot or overdosed or whatever. But I’ll tell you another story. My best friend growing up in New Orleans was Frankie Monteleone. They owned the Monte Hotel. They own the family was worth, the ho half a billion dollars at the time, maybe. And Frankie was a, a diabetic. And he was a, a junk. He was a a because of the diabetic needles. [00:40:00] He kind of became a cocaine junkie, you know, shooting up coke. You know, I guess the needle that kept him alive was, you know, I, you know, again the addict mentality. Right, right. You can’t explain it. So he got, so he got busted trying to sell a couple grams. They made it into a bigger case by mentioning more product conspiracy. His father said, got a, the, the father made a deal to give him a year and a half in club Fed. Yeah. He could, you know, get a tan, practice his tennis, learn chess come out and be the heir to one of the richest families in the world, all right. He got a year and a half. Frankie did 10 years in prison. ’cause every time he got out, he got violated. Oh yeah. I remember going to his federal probation officer to get my bicycle. He was riding when he got violated. Mm-hmm. And I said, I said, sir, he was in a big building in Fort Lauderdale or you know, courthouse office building above the courthouse. I go, there’s so many cops, lawyers, [00:41:00] judges, that are doing blow on a Saturday night that are smoking pot, that are drinking more than they should all around us. You’ve got a kid that comes from one of the wealthiest families in America that’s never gonna hurt another citizen. He’s just, he’s an addict, not a criminal. He needs a doctor, not a jail. And you know what the guy said to me? He goes but those people aren’t on probation. I, I know. He did. 10 years in and out of prison. Finally got out, finally got off of paper, didn’t stop doing drugs. Ended up dying in a dentist chair of an overdose. Yeah. So you, you never fixed them, you just imprisoned somebody that would’ve never heard another American. Yeah, but we spent, it cost us a lot of money. You know, I, I, I dunno what the answer is. The war on drugs is, we spent over, we spent 80, let’s say since 1973. The, the DEA got started in 73, let’s say. Since that time we’ve, what’s that? 70 something years? Yeah. We’ve done [00:42:00] no, uh, 50, 60. Yeah. 50 something. Yeah. Been 50. We spent a trillion dollars. We spent a trillion dollars. The longest and most expensive war in American history is against its own people. Yeah. Trying to save ’em. I know it’s cra it’s crazy. Yeah, I know. And it, over the years, it just took on this life of its own. Yeah. And believe me, there was a, there’s a whole lot of young guys like you only, didn’t go down the drug path, but you like that action and you like getting those cool cars and doing that cool stuff and, and there’s TV shows about it as part of the culture. And so you’re like, you got this part of this big action thing that’s going on that I, you know, it ain’t right. I, I bigger than all of us. I don’t know. I know. All I like to say I had long hair and some New Orleans old man said to me when I was a kid, he goes, you know why you got that long hair boy? And this is 1969. Yeah, 70. I go, why is that [00:43:00] sir? He goes, ’cause the girls like it. The girls didn’t like it. You wouldn’t have it. I thought about it. I’m trying to be a hippie. I was all this, you know, rebel. I thought about it. I go, boy, he’s probably right. Comes down to sex. Especially a young boy. Well, I mean, I’m 15 years old. I may not even how you look. Yeah. I’m not, listen, at 15, I probably was only getting a second base on a whim, you know? Yeah. But, but they paid attention to you. Yeah. Back in those days you, you know, second base was a lot. Yeah. Really. I remember. Sure. Not as, not as advanced as they are today. I don’t think so. But anyway, that’s my story. Um, all right, Ken b this has been fun. It’s been great. I I really had a lot of fun talking to you. And the book is 1, 1, 1 took over the line. No one, no, no. That’s a Friday slip. One step over that. But that was what I came up with the name. I, I believe you, I heard that song. Yeah. I go, I know, I’m, I’ve just taken one step over the line. So that’s where the book actually one step over the line confessions of a marijuana mercenary. [00:44:00] And I’ll tell you, if your listeners go to my website, one step over the line.com, go to the tile that says MP three or the tile that says digital on that website. Put in the code one, the number one step, and then the number 100. So one step 100, they can get a free, they can download a free copy. Yeah, I got you. Okay. Okay. I appreciate it. That’d be good. Yeah, they’ll enjoy it. Yeah. And on the website there’s pictures of the boats, the planes. Yeah. The runways the weed the, all the pictures are there, family pictures, whatever. Well, you had a, uh, a magical, quite a life, the kinda life that they, people make movies about and everybody watches them and says, oh, wow, that’s really cool. But they didn’t have to do it. They didn’t have to pay that price. No. Most of the people think, the funny thing is a lot of people think I’m, I’m, I’m lying or I’m exaggerating. Yeah. I’m 68 years old. Yeah. There’s no reason for me to lie. And you know, the DEA is, I’m telling that. I’m just telling it the way it [00:45:00] happened. I have no reason to tell Phish stories at this point in my life. No, I believe it. No, no, no. It’s all true. All I’ve been, I’ve been around to a little bit. I, I could just talk to you and know that you’re telling the truth here I am. So, it’s, it’s a great story and Ken, I really appreciate you coming on the show. Thank you for having me. It’s been a very much a, it is been a real pleasure. It’s, it’s nice to talk to someone that knows both sides of the coin. Okay. Take care. Uh, thanks again. Thank you, sir. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.

Alex and Chris talk about the history of Voyage of the Little Mermaid, a reimagined version of The Little Mermaid - A Musical Adventure. Learn everything from the Walkaround Muppets to the differences between the two shows. For more Dizneyverse, head over to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Dizneyverse.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or check us out on Instagram @Dizneyverse ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Check out our shirts on our Tee Public store. T-Shirts by Into the Dizneyverse | TeePublic

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The truth is out—and it's horrific. In this episode, we examine what U.S. taxpayer money funneled to Iran actually delivered: 12,000 dead civilians, mass executions, and a regime openly mowing people down in the streets. ☠️ While the mainstream media barely whispers and the UN remains silent, uncensored footage tells a different story. We break down how decades of appeasement, pallets of cash, and unenforced sanctions empowered one of the most brutal regimes on Earth—and why that era may finally be ending. ⚖️

Barely two weeks into 2026 and already it seems clear that this is going to be a historic year. That's as Donald Trump, emboldened by recent events in Venezuela, ramps up his rhetoric on Greenland and on Iran. What might this mean for long-standing alliances like Nato, for Ireland and the world as we know it? Host: Fionnán Sheahan | Guests: John O'Brennan + Gregg CarlstromSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Debi breaks down the fundamental differences between betrayal and other types of trauma, explaining why traditional trauma recovery approaches often fall short for betrayal survivors.  Key Insights  The Three Core Discoveries from Dr. Debi's PhD Research:  Betrayal is a different type of trauma that requires a different approach to heal  Most people who've been betrayed experience symptoms of Post Betrayal Syndrome®  There are five predictable stages of recovery, with most people getting stuck at Stage 3  Why Betrayal Trauma Is Unique  The Dual Rebuilding Process Unlike other traumas where you rebuild your life, betrayal requires you to rebuild both your life AND your sense of self. The core aspects that get shattered include:  Confidence  Worthiness  Trust  Belonging  Sense of safety  Complete Reality Disruption With other traumas (car accidents, natural disasters, loss), your perception of reality stays intact. With betrayal:  Your entire worldview gets destroyed  Past memories become tainted and questioned  Every moment you shared is reexamined through a new, painful lens  Your trust in the person who was supposed to be your safest person is shattered  The Self-Trust Crisis When the person you trusted most proves untrustworthy, you immediately question yourself:  "How did I not see this?"  "What's wrong with my judgment?"  "Can I ever trust my own decisions again?"  This creates a paralyzing fear about moving forward and engaging with others.  Identity Destruction Betrayal triggers a complete identity crisis:  Your roles are questioned  Your sense of self is shattered  You take it personally, wondering if you're lovable, worthy, or deserving  Everything you thought you knew about yourself comes into question  Why Traditional Trauma Treatment Fall Short When it Comes to Betrayal  Standard trauma approaches focus on:  Processing the event  Reducing fear  Building coping skills  Increasing sense of safety  But these don't address:  The shattering of self-trust  The identity crisis  The complete disruption of reality and worldview  The unique isolation that comes with betrayal  The Isolation Factor  Unlike other traumas where communities rally together (like natural disasters or loss of a loved one), betrayal creates unique isolation:  People don't know what to say, so they say nothing  Friends and family may distance themselves out of discomfort  Some may minimize the betrayal to avoid dealing with it  The betrayed often suffers in silence, embarrassed and ashamed  Many cover for the betrayer to maintain appearances, suffering at their own expense  The Impossible Burden  After betrayal, people who've been betrayed are expected to:  Continue caring for children and elderly parents  Maintain their careers  Keep up with daily responsibilities  Function normally in society  All while their entire world has been shattered and they're questioning everything about themselves and their reality.  For Coaches and Practitioners  This is what your clients may be experiencing even if they haven't explicitly told you about a betrayal. They may be:  Struggling and suffering in silence  Unable to hold coherent thoughts  Barely functioning day-to-day  Covering for their betrayer while dealing with the devastation alone  Understanding these unique aspects of betrayal trauma is essential for providing effective support and guidance.    About Dr. Debi Dr. Debi Silber is the Founder and CEO of The PBT Institute, a two-time TEDx speaker, and holds a PhD in transpersonal psychology. Her groundbreaking research on betrayal led to the discovery of Post Betrayal Syndrome® and the 5 Stages from Betrayal to Breakthrough™.  Resources  Learn more about becoming a PBT-Certified Coach or Practitioner at ThePBTInstitute.com  Listen to the "From Betrayal to Breakthrough" podcast (top 1.5% globally) 

Why do science projects exist? I think it's really strange that, once a year, teachers are allowed to assign homework to our parents. Who made this rule? Why do they get to make our parents slap together a project at the last minute and then pretend that we did it? I guess there are some mysteries that aren't meant to be solved.

In this episode of Green Room, Sydney and Chloe talk about the all-too-uncomfortable topic of spiritual bypassing. They go through a list of different ways we use spirituality to skirt around “negative” emotions or avoid pain. They look at a few examples in the Bible where Jesus and others did the opposite. Known & Beloved: Re-Membering Your Story: A Guide to Exploring Our Core Stories: https://a.co/d/eXkDdX1 This episode was recorded in the winter of 2025.

At The Windmill in Brixton, Noah and Jules are putting themselves down of course - but that's part of the charm with the dynamic but stripped-back lexicon of Radio Free Alice. They tell us how the Australian government has helped them tour overseas, the expectant but elusive debut album, and working at the National Gallery of Victoria. Their newest single 'Rule 31' is out now. Think The Cure, The Smiths and The Strokes. Get yourself some top class Shure microphone gear: https://shu.re/3YhV7p2 Set up Your Band's merch store, for free at Distrokid Direct: https://distrokid.com/direct/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andy Furman and Bucky Brooks recap NFL Wild Card Saturday with the Bears beating the Packers and the Rams squeaking by the Panthers. Andy and Bucky also discuss which QB's have the most pressure to win throughout the playoffs and how Curt Cignetti turned Indiana from a dumpster fire into a dynasty. Andy and Bucky also discuss John Harbaugh's possible next destination + new editions of Ask Bucky and The Blame Game! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Instagram can be a minefield of powerful influencers making you feel terrible about not having millions of dollars and a glamorous lifestyle, or, OR, it could be filled with odd things like banjo players plucking away in National Parks. Writer, comedian, filmmaker, and podcaster Akilah Hughes has published a memoir, Obviously: Stories From my Timeline, written for Steven Soderbergh's Command Z television series, and hosted shows on the Crooked Media network. Most importantly for us, she knows how to manipulate social media to get to the good stuff, the weird stuff, and the good weird stuff. No Mr. Beast here but plenty to put you to sleep right away and arm you with new sleep tools tomorrow. Akilah and John Moe also talk about Bigfoot and the alleged interdimensionality of Bigfoot, because if you get John talking long enough he's bound to come around to Bigfoot. He cannot help it.Listen to Akilah's new podcast, How Is This Better?, from Courier Newsroom on their website or on the podcatcher of your choice.Hey Sleepy Heads, is there anyone whose voice you'd like to drift off to, or do you have suggestions on things we could do to aid your slumber?Email us at: sleepwithcelebs@maximumfun.org.Follow the Show on:Instagram @sleepwcelebsBluesky @sleepwithcelebsTikTok @SleepWithCelebsJohn is on Bluesky @JohnMoeJohn's acclaimed, best-selling memoir, The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback._________________________________________________________________________Join | Maximum FunIf you like one or more shows on MaxFun, and you value independent artists being able to do their thing, you're the perfect person to become a MaxFun monthly member.

Aslı Aydıntaşbaş from Washington's Brookings Institute joins Arab Digest editor William Law for the first podcast of 2026. Barely a week in and with Donald Trump's seizure of the Venezuelan president and his wife it is already a year that has upended the old world order. Where that leaves the volatile and violent Middle East is a question their conversation grapples with. Sign up NOW at ArabDigest.org for free to join the club and start receiving our daily newsletter & weekly podcasts.

Happy New Year 2026! I love January and the opportunity to start afresh. I know it's arbitrary in some ways, but I measure my life by what I create, and I also measure it in years. At the beginning of each year, I publish an article (and podcast episode) here, which helps keep me accountable. If you'd like to share your goals, please add them in the comments below. 2026 is a transitional year as I will finish my Masters degree and continue the slow pivot that I started in December 2023 after 15 years as an author entrepreneur. Just to recap that, it was: From digitally-focused to creating beautiful physical books; From high-volume, low cost to premium products with higher Average Order Value; From retailer-centric to direct first; and From distance to presence, and From creating alone to the AI-Assisted Artisan Author. I've definitely stepped partially into all of those, and 2026 will continue in that same direction, but I also have an additional angle for Joanna Penn and The Creative Penn that I am excited about. If you'd like to join my community and support the show every month, you'll get access to my growing list of Patron videos and audio on all aspects of the author business — for the price of a black coffee (or two) a month. Join us at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn. Joanna Penn writes non-fiction for authors and is an award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author as J.F. Penn. She's also an award-winning podcaster, creative entrepreneur, and international professional speaker. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below. Leaning into the Transformation Economy The Creative Penn Podcast and my Patreon Community Webinars and live events Finish my Masters in Death, Religion, and Culture Bones of the Deep — J.F. Penn Add merch to CreativePennBooks.com and JFPennBooks.com How to Write, Publish, and Market Short Stories and Short Story Collections — Joanna Penn Other possible books Experiment more with AI translation Ideally outsource more marketing to AI, but do more marketing anyway Double down on being human, health and travel You can find all my books as J.F. Penn and Joanna Penn on your favourite online store in all the usual formats, or order from your local library or bookstore. You can also buy direct from me at CreativePennBooks.com and JFPennBooks.com. I'm not really active on social media, but you can always see my photos at Instagram @jfpennauthor. Leaning into the Transformation Economy I've struggled with my identity as Joanna Penn and my Creative Penn brand for a few years now. When I started TheCreativePenn.com in 2008, the term ‘indie author' was new and self-publishing was considered ‘vanity press' and a sure way to damage your author career, rather than a conscious creative and business choice. It was the early days of the Kindle and iPhone (both launched in 2007), and podcasting and social media were also relatively new. While US authors could publish on KDP, the only option for international authors was Smashwords and the market for ebooks was tiny. Print-on-demand and digital audio were also just emerging as viable options. While it was the early era of blogging, there were very few blogs and barely any podcasts talking about self-publishing, so when I started TheCreativePenn.com in late 2008 and the podcast in March 2009, it was a new area. For several years, it was like howling into the wind. Barely any audience. Barely any traffic, and certainly very little income.  But I loved the freedom and the speed at which I could learn things and put them into practice. Consume and produce. That has always been my focus. I met people on Twitter and interviewed them for my show, and over those early years I met many of the people I consider dear friends even now. Since self-publishing was a relatively unexplored niche in those early years, I slowly found an audience and built up a reputation. I also started to make more money both as an author, and as a creative entrepreneur. Over the years since, pretty much everything has changed for indie authors and we have had more and more opportunity every year. I've shared everything I've learned along the way, and it's been a wonderful time.  But as self-publishing became more popular and more authors saw more success (which is FANTASTIC!), other voices joined the chorus and now, there are many thousands of authors of all different levels with all kinds of different experiences sharing their tips through articles, books, podcasting, and social media. I started to wonder whether my perspective was useful anymore. On top of the human competition, in November 2022, ChatGPT launched, and it became clear that prescriptive non-fiction and ‘how to' information could very easily be delivered by the AI tools, with the added benefit of personalisation. You can ask Chat or Claude or Gemini how you can self-publish your particular book and they will help you step by step through the process of any site. You can share your screen or upload screenshots and it can help with what fields to fill in (very useful with translations!), as well as writing sales descriptions, researching keywords, and offering marketing help targeted to your book and your niche, and tailored to your voice. Once again, I questioned what value I could offer the indie author community, and I've pulled back over the last few years as I've been noodling around this. But over the last few weeks, a penny has dropped. Here's my thinking in case it also helps you. Firstly, I want to be useful to people. I want to help. In my early days of speaking professionally, from 2005-ish, I wanted to be the British (introvert) Tony Robbins, someone who inspired people to change, to achieve things they didn't think they could. Writing a book is one of those things. Making a living from your writing is another. So I leaned into the self-help and how-to niche. But now that is now clearly commoditised. But recently, I realised that my message has always been one of transformation, and in the following four areas.  From someone who doesn't think they are creative but who desperately wants to write a book, to someone who holds their first book in their hand and proudly says, ‘I made this.' The New Author. From someone who has no confidence in their author voice, who wonders if they have anything to say, to someone who writes their story and transforms their own life, as well as other people's. The Confident Author. From an author with one or a handful of books who doesn't know much about business, to a successful author with a growing business heading towards their first six figure year. The Author-Entrepreneur. And finally, from a tech-phobic, fearful author who worries that AI makes it pointless to create anything and will steal all the jobs, to a confident AI-assisted creative who uses AI tools to enhance and amplify their message and their income. The AI-Assisted Artisan Author. These are four transformations I have been through myself, and with my work as Joanna Penn/The Creative Penn, I want to help you through them as well. So in 2026, I am repositioning myself as part of The Transformation Economy. What does this mean? There is a book out in February, The Transformation Economy by B. Joseph Pine II, who is also the author of The Experience Economy, which drove a lot of the last decade's shift in business models. I have the book on pre-order, but in the meantime, I am doing the following. I will revamp TheCreativePenn.com with ‘transformation' as the key frame and add pathways through my extensive material, rather than just categories of how to do things. I've already added navigation pages for The New Author, The Confident Author, The Author-Entrepreneur, and The AI-Assisted Artisan Author, and I will be adding to those over time. My content is basically the same, as I have always covered these topics, but the framing is now different. The intent is different. The Creative Penn Podcast will lean more heavily into transformation, rather than just information — And will focus on the first three of the categories above, the more creative, mindset and business things.  My Patreon will continue to cover all those things, and that's also where I post most of my AI-specific content, so if you're interested in The AI-Assisted Artisan Author transformation path, come on over to patreon.com/thecreativepenn I have more non-fiction books for authors coming, and lots more ideas now I am leaning into this angle. I'll also continue to do webinars on specific topics in 2026, and also add speaking back in 2027. It's harder to think about transformation when it comes to fiction, but it's also really important since fiction books in particular are highly commodified, and will become even more so with the high production speeds. Yes, all readers have a few favourite authors but most will also read a ton of other books without knowing or caring who the author is. Fiction can be transformational. Reader's aren't buying a ‘book.' They're buying a way to escape, to feel deeply, to experience things they never could in real life. A book can transform a day from ‘meh' into ‘fantastic!' My J.F. Penn fiction is mostly inspired by places, so my stories transport you into an adventure somewhere wonderful, and they all offer a deeper side of transformative contemplation of ‘memento mori' if you choose to read them in that way.  They also have elements of gothic and death culture that I am going to lean into with some merch in 2026, so more of an identity thing than just book sales. I'm not quite sure what this means yet, but no doubt it will emerge. I'll also shape my JFPennBooks.com site into more transformative paths, rather than just genre lists, as part of this shift. My memoir Pilgrimage always reflected a transformation, both reflecting my own midlife shift but I've also heard from many who it has inspired to walk alone, or to travel on pilgrimage themselves. Of course, transformation is not just for our readers or the people we serve as part of our businesses. It's also for us. One of the reasons why we are writers is because this is how we think. This is how we figure out our lives. This is how we get the stories and ideas out of our heads and into the world. Writing and creating are transformative for us, too. That is part of the point, and a great element of why we do this, and why we love this. Which is why I don't really understand the attraction of purely AI-generated books. There's no fun in that for me, and there's no transformation, either. Of course, I LOVE using Chat and Claude and Gemini Thinking models as my brainstorming partners, my research buddies, my marketing assistants, and as daily tools to keep me sparkly. I smiled as I wrote that (and yes, I human-wrote this!) because sparkly is how I feel when I work with these tools. Programmers use the term ‘vibe coding' which is going back and forth and collaborating together, sparking off each other. Perhaps that I am doing is ‘vibe creation.' I feel it as almost an effervescence, a fun experience that has me laughing out loud sometimes. I am more creative, I am more in flow. I am more ‘me' now I can create and think at a speed way faster than ever before. My mind has always worked at speed and my fingers are fast on the keys but working in this way makes me feel like I create in the high performance zone far more often. I intend to lean more into that in 2026 as part of my own transformation (and of course, I share my experiences mainly in the Community at patreon.com/thecreativepenn ). [Note, I pay for access to all models, and currently use ChatGPT 5.2 Thinking, Claude Opus 4.5, and Gemini 3 Pro). So that's the big shift this year, and the idea of the Transformation Economy will underpin everything else in terms of my content. The Creative Penn Podcast and my Patreon Community The Creative Penn Podcast continues in 2026, although I am intending to reduce my interviews to once every two weeks, with my intro and other content in between. We'll see how that goes as I am already finding some fascinating people to talk to!  Thank you for your comments, your pictures, and also for sharing the episodes that resonate with you with the wider community. Your reviews are also super useful wherever you are listening to this, so please leave a review wherever you're listening this as it helps with discovery.  Thanks also to everyone in my Patreon Community, which I really enjoy, especially as we have doubled down on being human through more live office hours. I will do more of those in 2026 and the first one of the year will blearily UK time so Aussies and Kiwis can come. I also share new content almost every week, either an article, a video or an audio episode around writing craft, author business, and lots on different use cases for AI tools.  If you join the Patreon, start on the Collections tab where you will find all the backlist content to explore. It's less than the price of a coffee a month so if you get value from the show, and you want more, come on over and join us at patreon.com/thecreativepenn My Books and Travel Podcast is on hiatus for interviews, since the Masters is taking up the time I would have had for that. However I plan to post some solo episodes in 2026, and I also post travel articles there, like my visits to Gothic cathedrals and city breaks and things like that. Check it out at https://www.booksandtravel.page/blog/  Webinars and live events Along with my Patreon office hours, I'm enjoying the immediacy and energy of live webinars and they work with my focus on transformation, as well as on ‘doubling down on being human' in an age of AI, so I will be doing more this year. The first is on Business for Authors, coming on 10 and 24 January, which is aimed at helping you transform your author business in 2026, or if you're just getting started, then transform into someone who has even a small clue about business in general!Details at TheCreativePenn.com/live and Patrons get 25% off. In terms of live in-person events, it looks like I will be speaking at the Alliance of Independent Authors event at the London Book Fair in March, and I'll attend the Self-Publishing Show Live in June, although I won't be speaking. There might be other things that emerge, but in general, I'm not doing much speaking in 2026 because I need to … Finish my Masters in Death, Religion, and Culture This represents a lot of work as I am doing the course full-time. I should be finished in September, and much of the middle of the year will be focused on a dissertation. I'm planning on doing something around AI and death, so that will no doubt lead into some fiction at a later stage! Talking of fiction … Bones of the Deep — J.F. Penn The Masters is pretty serious, as is academic research and writing in general, and I found myself desperate to write a rollicking fun story over the holiday break between terms. I've talked about this ‘tall-ship' story for a while and now I'm committing to it. Back in 1999, I sailed on the tall-ship Soren Larsen from Fiji to Vanuatu, one of the three trips that shaped my life. It was the first time I'd been to the South Pacific, the first time I sailed blue water (with no land in sight), and I kept a journal and drew maps of the trip. It also helped me a make a decision to leave the UK and I headed for Australia nine months later in early 2000, and ended up being away 11 years in Australia and New Zealand. I came home to visit of course, but only moved back to the UK in 2011, so that trip was memorable and pivotal in many ways and has stuck in my mind. The story is based on that crossing, but of course, as J.F. Penn my imagination turns it into essentially a ‘locked room,' there is no escape out there, especially if the danger comes from the sea. Another strand of the story comes from a recent academic essay for my Masters, when I wrote about the changes in museum ethics around human remains and medical specimens i.e. body parts in jars, and how some remains have been repatriated to the indigenous peoples they were stolen from. I've also talked before about how I love ‘merfolk' horror like Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant, All the Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter, and Merfolk by Jeremy Bates. These are no smiling fantasy mermaids and mermen. They are predators. What might happen if the remains of a mer-saint were stolen from the deep, and what might happen to the ship that the remains are being transported in, and the people on board?  I'm about a third in, and I am having great fun! It will actually be a thriller, with a supernatural edge, rather than horror, and it is called Bones of the Deep, and it will be out on Kickstarter in April, and everywhere by the summer.  You can check out the Kickstarter pre-launch page with photos from my 1999 trip, the cover for the book, and the sales description at JFPenn.com/bones Add merch to CreativePennBooks.com and JFPennBooks.com I've dipped my toe into merch a number of times and then removed the products, but now I'm clear on my message of transformation, I want to revisit this. My books remain core for both sites, but for CreativePennBooks, I also want to add other products with what are essentially affirmations — ‘Creative,' ‘I am creative, I am an author,' and variants of the poster I have had on my wall for years, ‘Measure your life by what you create.' This is the affirmation I had in my wallet for years! For JFPennBooks, the items will be gothic/memento mori/skull-related. Everything will be print-on-demand. I will not be shipping anything myself, so I'm working with my designer Jane on this and then need to order test samples, and then get them added to the store. Likely mid-year at this rate! How to Write, Publish, and Market Short Stories and Short Story Collections — Joanna Penn I have a draft of this already which I expanded from the transcript of a webinar I did on this topic as part of The Buried and the Drowned campaign. It turns out I've learned a lot about this over the years, and also on how to make a collection, so I will get that out at some point this year. I won't do a Kickstarter for it, but I will do direct sales for at least a month and include a special edition, workbook, and bundles on my store first before putting it wide. I will also human-narrate that audiobook. Other possible books I'm an intuitive creative and discovery writer, so I don't plan out what I will write in a year. The books tend to emerge and then I pick the next one that feels the most important. After the ones above, there are a few candidates. Crown of Thorns, ARKANE thriller #14. Regular readers and listeners will know how much I love religious relics, and it's about time for a big one! I have a trip to Paris planned in the spring, as the Crown of Thorns is at Notre Dame, and I have some other locations to visit. My ARKANE thrillers always emerge from in-person travels, so I am looking forward to that. Maybe late 2026, maybe 2027. AI + religion technothriller/short stories. I already have some ideas sketched out for this and my Masters thesis will be something around AI, religion, and death, so I expect something will emerge from all that study and academic writing. Not sure what, but it will be interesting! The Gothic Cathedral Book. I have tens of thousands of words written, and lots of research and photos and thoughts. But it is still in the creative chaos phase (which I love!) and as yet has not emerged into anything coherent. Perhaps it will in 2026, and the plan is to re-focus on it after my Masters dissertation.  I feel like the Masters study and the academic research process will make this an even better book, But I am holding my plans for this lightly, as it feels like another ‘big' book for me, like my ‘shadow book' (which became Writing the Shadow) and took more than a decade to write! How to be Creative. I have also written bits and bobs on this over many years, but it feels like it is re-emerging as part of my focus on transformation. Probably unlikely for 2026 but now back on the list … Experiment more with AI translation AI-assisted translation has been around for years now in various forms, and I have experimented with some of the services, as well as working with human narrators and editors in different languages, as well as licensing books in translation. But when Amazon launched Kindle Translate in November 2025, it made me think that AI-assisted translation will become a lot more popular in 2026. AI audiobook narration became good enough for many audiobooks in 2025, and it seems like AI-translation will be the same in 2026. Yes, of course, human translation is still the gold standard, as is human narration, and that would be the primary choice for all of us — if it was affordable. But frankly, it's not affordable for most indie authors, and indeed many small publishers. Many books don't get an audiobook edition and most books don't get translated into every language. It costs thousands per book for a human translator, and so it is a premium option. I have only ever made a small profit on the books that I paid for with human translators and it took years, and while I have a few nice translation deals on some books, I'm planning to experiment more with AI translation in 2026. More languages, more markets, more opportunities to reach readers. More on this in the next episode when I'll cover trends for 2026. Ideally outsource more marketing to AI, but do more marketing anyway You have to reach readers somehow, and you have to pay for book marketing with your time and/or your money. Those authors killing it on TikTok pay with their time, and those leaning heavily on ads are paying with money. Most of us do a bit of both. There is no passive income from books, and even a backlist has to be marketed if you want to see any return. But I, like most authors, am not excited about book marketing. I'd rather be working on new books, or thinking about the ramifications of the changes ahead and writing or talking about that in my Patreon Community or here on the podcast. However, my book sales income remains about the same even as I (slowly) produce more books, so I need to do more book marketing in 2026. I said that last year of course, and didn't do much more than I did in 2024, so here I am again promising to do a better job! Every year, I hope to have my “AI book marketing assistant” up and running, and maybe this will be the year it happens. My measure is to be able to upload a book and specify a budget and say, ‘Go market this,' and then the AI will action the marketing, without me having to cobble together workflows between systems. Of course, it will present plans for me to approve but it will do the work itself on the various platforms and monitor and optimize things for me. We have something like that already with Amazon auto-ads, but that is specific to Amazon Advertising and only works with certain books in certain genres. I have auto-ads running for a couple of non-fiction books, but not for any fiction. I'd also ideally like more sales on my direct stores, JFPennBooks.com and CreativePennBooks.com which means a different kind of marketing. Perhaps this will happen through ChatGPT shopping or other AI-assisted e-commerce, which should be increasing in 2026. More on that in trends for the year to come in the next show. Double down on being human, health and travel I have a lot of plans for travel both for book research and also holidays with Jonathan but he has to finish his MBA and then we have some family things that take priority, so I am not sure where or when yet, but it will happen! Paris will definitely happen as part of the research for Crown of Thorns, hopefully in the spring. I've been to Paris many times as it's just across the Channel and we can go by train but it's always wonderful to visit again. Health-wise, I'll continue with powerlifting and weight training twice a week as well as walking every day. It's my happy place! What about you? If you'd like to share your goals for 2026, please add them in the comments below — and remember, I'm a full-time author entrepreneur so my goals are substantial. Don't worry if yours are as simple as ‘Finish the first draft of my book,' as that still takes a lot of work and commitment! All the best for 2026 — let's get into it! The post My 2026 Creative And Business Goals With Joanna Penn first appeared on The Creative Penn.

In this bonus episode, Jim adds a track to the Desert Island Jukebox—one of Steve Albini's many obscure recordings from the legendary engineer's vast production discography.Join our Facebook Group: https://bit.ly/3sivr9TBecome a member on Patreon: https://bit.ly/3slWZvcSign up for our newsletter: https://bit.ly/3eEvRnGMake a donation via PayPal: https://bit.ly/3dmt9lUSend us a Voice Memo: Desktop: bit.ly/2RyD5Ah Mobile: sayhi.chat/soundopsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this exclusive preview of a members-only Bigfoot Society episode, you'll hear the first 10 minutes of a gripping conversation featuring multiple real Sasquatch encounters from across North America.This preview introduces reports from Texas, Appalachia, the Pacific Northwest, and Canada, including unsettling details like unexplained whooping sounds, wood knocks, guttural growls, powerful smells, and the unmistakable feeling of being watched in remote wilderness areas.You'll get a taste of:Bigfoot activity in The Woodlands and East Texas swampsWood knocks and tree crashes in the Appalachian Mountains of TennesseeA chilling encounter near Washington's coastal forestsA hint at one of the strangest Sasquatch experiences ever shared on the show⚠️ Important: This is only a preview. The full episode goes much deeper, including additional eyewitness accounts and an extraordinary encounter involving first-person vision—seeing what the Sasquatch sees, something never before shared on the podcast.To hear the entire members-only episode, join Bigfoot Society:Visit bigfootsocietypodcast.com and click Members LoginOr tap Join on the Bigfoot Society YouTube channelIf you're into real Bigfoot encounters, Sasquatch eyewitness testimony, and unexplained wilderness experiences, this preview will give you just enough to make you want the rest.

After the cancellation of the Wheel of Time Show, we decided to press pause and see if any other networks would pick it up. With time no longer on TWOTS's side, we finally pull up our microphones to record the final episode of The Wheel of Time Show About The Wheel of Time Show. Let the final nail in the coffin commence. In case you didn't know, Adam writes these descriptions. Barely anyone reads them, but for anyone who does I just want to say it was an honor and a privilege to work with Garrett and Fei and here's to hoping we find another project again in the future. Hopefully nothing Rafe is attached to though.

Condo Classifications in Alberta | Conventional, Bare-Land, Bare-Land Built-Out & Barely Blended

The Suffolk and Goode Players take on the Gig Economy in this parody of "Scarborough Fair/Canticle," an old English folk tune arranged by Martin Carthy and Paul Simon, who also added some lyrics and recorded it with Art Garfunkel. Our version had lyrics by Dale Leopold, Chris Mezzolesta arranged it and played acoustic guitar, bass guitar and virtual harpsichord and bells, and sung by Chris, Lori Furth and Karyn O'Bryant. Like the SandG version, there's a "Canticle" counter-melody that takes aim at the greed and callousness of those at the top. Enjoy!

Quaranteam - Dave In Dallas: Part 9 A talk with a detective leads to a decision. Based on a post by RonanJWilkerson, in 12 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels. Jan visibly relaxed as she followed Dave out. Olivia was checking in with Shawna and Mel. Dave waited until it looked like Liv had reached a stopping point in her conversation, then signaled for her to come back up. "Dave, how long until the cops get here?" Shawna asked. "Patrol isn't coming. Said since we aren't in immediate danger, they'll focus on 'higher priority calls and get to us when they can'. Which means they aren't coming. A detective will come out to investigate, but that will take time." "How much?" "Dunno. I have a plan though. I'll talk it over with the others and hash out the details. I'll come back out and fill you two in shortly." "Okay." Mel replied. "I'll call Mitchell. See if he can cover for me. He already has morning shift. Between him and April, they can manage for a day." "You sure?" "He's ready to work without a net for one day at least. Probably longer, but I don't want to fry his nerves unnecessarily." "You're a good boss, babe." Dave gave her a quick kiss, then charged back up the stairs to Esme's room where Lupie, Nessa and Olivia waited, with Esme and Roscoe of course. Currently, Esme had her face buried in the big dog's neck, giggling. As Dave took and held each ladies' hand briefly, he heard Jan come in with Becca and Reena in trail. "Okay, here's what we're going to do. We'll take pictures to document the damage and the bodies. Then we'll make repairs. We've got four people with weapons skills. Until the breaches are sealed, at least two of us are armed, on sentry duty downstairs. Once we've got the holes patched, at night at least, we'll go to one person on guard." He paused a minute so everyone could absorb what he'd said. "Does anyone have a good digital camera? We should use something other than cellphones if we can." "Depends on the camera and the user," Mel said. "Unless someone's had classes in photography, they're probably better off using a high-end phone camera." "Does anyone have a high-end phone camera?" Dave asked. "I know mine is decent, but not great." "Mine's pretty good, Liv's too." The other just shrugged. "I have a couple of good digital cameras at my office." Nessa replied. "Listings without photos don't do so good. The cameras are the best available last year, so they should show all the needed detail. I took classes at the El Centro to learn how to make the most of them. Well, the classes were three years ago when we different cameras. We got new, better ones last year." Dave nodded, then thought for a moment. "Okay, I'll escort Nessa to her office for the camera. We'll document everything. Then we'll assess the damage and figure out what we need for repairs. Liv, you and Mel will go to the hardware store for the supplies. Watch your; " his eyes flitted to Esme, "butts. If anything looks sketchy, get back here, supplies or no." Olivia nodded. "Just keep the same in mind yourself." Lupie gazed at him like she wanted to burn Liv's words into Dave's mind. She was not alone. "Vee, we should get going as soon as you're dressed. I don't think you want to go out in the cold drizzle in silk peejays." Vanessa smirked, rising to go change. "I'll be in shortly to grab a coat." As Nessa walked out, Dave sat down beside Lupie. Neither said a word, he just folded his arms around her as she leaned into him. Her shoulder pressed against his chest. Her head settled into the crook of his neck. Dave stroked her other arm, from the top of her shoulder, all the way down to her elbow, slowly, gently, hoping to give her the reassurance that no words would convey. He looked up to see the imploring look in Jan's eyes. With a flick of his own eyes, he signaled for her to sit on his other side, which she promptly did, leaning against him. Lupie reached out to softly grasp Jan's hand. The two sat on either side of Dave, just feeling his presence. While the other two snuggled against him, Dave made eye contact, individually, with Olivia, Becca, and Reena. Liv, while still working through some understandable nerves, seemed otherwise okay. Rebecca looked worried but trusting. Kareena looked like she was on the verge of losing it. Dave waved her over. Reena rose from where she was sitting on the opposite side of the room and streaked over to sit in Dave's lap. Lupie and Jan both made space for the younger girl to sit. The hands that they clasped together, rejoined, encircling Reena. Meanwhile, Reena buried her face in the crook of Dave's neck. Dave's eyes fell on Becca and Liv, the only two of his partners in the room not already huddled with him. Becca looked worried, but trying not to intrude. Not surprising for her, but not an accurate assessment of how Dave or the others would feel about her joining in. Quite the opposite of course. Beginning to understand Becca's feelings of inadequacy, was, however, shining an uncomfortable light on Dave's own lingering personal demons. Then there was Livy. The one that stood by him, protecting the others as the barbarians stormed their gates. He could see the conflicting emotions bounding across her face. She needed this comfort as much as he did. Today was the first time either of them had fired a shot at another human being. Dave waved them both over. "Let's make some space for Liv to sit here. She's got to be pretty spent too." Lupie looked at him plaintively. Like she knew the rightness of what he suggested, but some selfish part of her, that was losing, did not want to move. She did. Then she wrapped her arms around Olivia. "If it weren't for you, he would have been all alone down there, Liv. Thank you." Lupie hugged the younger woman closely. Olivia leaned back into her, while staring at Dave. That's when she started shaking. Dave tried leaning into Liv, But he still had Reena on his lap, and Jan on his other side. Becca, not yet in the cuddle pile, knelt in front of Liv, stroking her thighs soothingly, not erotically. "If you start singing soft kitty, Becca, I swear I'll drop you from the roof." Though Olivia's voice was unsteady, her essential snark came shining through, evoking the laughter she was seeking. None laughed harder than Becca, who threw her head back, snorting hard, with a wide grin that suggested Liv might have been prescient. "Okay, okay ladies," Dave said as the laughter subsided, "I need to go tell Shawna and Mel what's going on, get a coat, and escort Vanessa to get that camera." He patted Reena's leg. She immediately rose halfway up and slipped over to sit beside Liv, sandwiching the brunette between herself and Lupie. Dave addressed the room. "On security issues, Liv's in charge." He fixed his eyes on Olivia. "You know the drill; two on duty, one off, staggered relief. No one downstairs except guards for now. Well, people will start getting hungry once the nerves wear off, so let Lupie and a helper in the kitchen to make something." "And two more helpers at the end to carry everything else up." "Yeah." "And have the third in the kitchen on guard during cooking time." "Yup. and the guard is not doing anything but guarding. Just do your best to keep the guards rested and alert. Hopefully it won't take more than an hour or two to get the camera, but we'll maintain the watch while we document and repair." Liv nodded, as did Lupie and Jan. Nessa opened the door just then, smartly dressed for the weather in jeans and a stylish but sturdy jacket, and Dave's coat in hand. "Thanks, hun." Dave said as he approached her. "Let's go tell Shawna and Mel what's going on, and then head out. We'll take Liv's S U V." The brunette gave a thumbs up from the midst of the loose cuddle the family sat in. Esme and Roscoe had joined them. "Oh, and make sure Lupie and anyone else that cross the living room knows to steer clear of the broken glass, both to preserve evidence until we document it, and spare their feet." Passing Shawna, Dave motioned her to follow him part way down the stairs, then signaled Mel to come up and meet them. The looks on their faces as Dave spoke morphed from incredulous at the dispatcher's comments, to mild worry and trust when Dave explained his plans. Shawna stood up as Dave did, hugging him tightly. In his ear she said, "You be careful. I just got you, baby. I need you, and not just because of the serum." She punctuated her statement with a kiss on the lips that clearly wanted to linger, but self-control did not permit. "Escorting Nessa, armed, is just a precaution. I really don't expect any more trouble. We just need to be smart about this; be ready if something does happen." The first part was to allay their fears, the second to bolster their vigilance. Two steps down, Mel gave Dave a hug as well. "Just come back. You hear me? Come back to us. I don't want to change families anymore." Dave picked up on the allusion to the constant moves while in foster care. He hugged her tightly. "I promise, Red." Then he adopted a bad Austrian accent. "I'll be back." Mel giggled and smacked his shoulder with a wry smile. She followed Dave and Nessa down the stairs until she reached her station. The other two continued through the house and out through the garage. Liv's vehicle was in the driveway and it would have been much shorter to just go through the front door, but Dave was trying not to pass through any portion of the crime scene until after they'd documented it. Nessa drove. For one thing, it was her office, and Dave didn't know the way. For another, in the passenger seat, Dave could scan all around the vehicle, keeping a constant watch. He meant what he said earlier, the risk was likely zero now. Still, caution would be far better than getting caught unawares. Again. The streets were empty of course. While that should have lowered Dave's anxiety levels, the current risk factor was not the only thing that could gnaw at him. Dave had nearly a hundred hours of practice at shoot / no-shoot ranges, hundreds of hours of raw target practice, and had successful hunts every year he'd gotten a license. And no, despite all the bullshit coming out of those idiots at PETA, shooting a deer was not the same as shooting a person. Not even close. What they only knew as a pseudo-intellectual exercise Dave now had logged as real life experience. He didn't regret it. They were attacking his home. They broke in, in the middle of the night, carrying arms. Their intent was unknown, but there were no innocent reasons fitting those facts. But they were dead, at Dave's hands. And Livy's. He needed to find a way to console her, help her through this mental minefield even as he tried to navigate it himself. The look on her face as he left hovered in his mind. What had he led her through? Maybe he should have taken the low position on the stairs, and had Liv wait at the top of the stairs as backup? Then maybe she wouldn't have to have fired a shot? Maybe he could have fired quickly enough to hold off the attackers on his own. Then Liv wouldn't have to carry the burden she now had. "Babe?" Vanessa called out. Seeing no change in Dave's face, she tried again. "David? Honey, can you hear me?" "Huh? What?" "You're spiralling. I'm no expert, but that look. I've seen it before. A couple of our younger realtors are vets." "Not the same. This was a single incident that only lasted a few minutes. Those guys lived in hell for months." "Only one has chosen to open up to me, but it seems it's only a few minutes that the mind can't let go of." Dave kept his face stony and doubled down on his scanning. What could he have missed while his brain was wasting time with obsessions? "David, please don't run away on me, on us. We need you. You've been a good man for us every step of the way." Her voice got shaky as she continued. "We needed you this morning, and you stepped up. I've never been one to consign manliness exclusively to feats of strength or military prowess, but those are included. What you did this morning was another way to show your love. You stood between us and harm. You took the risk, and I am grateful for that. I know the others are too." Dave didn't reply, but did take a deep breath. The rest of the ride passed in silence. It took forty-five minutes to reach the realty office. Since most were working remotely; or dead; the place was empty. Dave followed Nessa in as she went straight to the cabinet and extracted a camera and a fresh memory card. Then they headed right back out. As she was locking the outer door, her stomach rumbled. Dave chuckled. "Maybe we should swing through a drive-thru for some breakfast. Any preferences?" "I'd really like a coffee. I think I saw an open Starbucks three blocks back. I don't know if they're working in bubbles; like a fixed group for each shift; or maybe they got dosed already, but they're lit up. A big coffee and a pastry and I'd be fine." The lobby doors had large "Closed, Use Drive-Thru Please" signs. Nessa pulled in and placed her order, then looked over at Dave. "Almond croissant, bacon gouda sandwich, and; a trenta pink drink. Easy ice." The look on Nessa face was priceless. She managed not to laugh, or say anything, just turned to the speaker to relay the request. While they were waiting their turn in line, she reached her hand under Dave's chin. She pulled him toward her, even as she leaned in, giving him a long, slow, loving kiss. "The man that can hold off armed assailants in the middle of the night, with no warning, doesn't need to be embarrassed about what he drinks with his breakfast, baby. You've certified your manliness in so many ways, even before this morning." Tears rimmed the bottom of her eyes. Dave was just brushing away her tears, trying to think of something to say when the car behind them honked. The car ahead was now two car lengths away. Both settled back into their seats. "Thank you," Dave said huskily as she edged forward. They passed the remainder of the return trip in silence, though a few meaningful glances were exchanged. Shawna and Mel left their stations and met them in the middle of the living room as soon as the two heard Dave and Nessa coming in through the garage. Dave had also texted as they turned on to the right block. "Upstairs, now mister." Shawna's voice was stern, uncompromising. "What?" "I didn't think about it before you left, but these guys might be carriers of Duo. We're vaxxed directly, but you're only safe through us. The briefing we got was clear; if the man we're bonded to is exposed, or even potentially exposed, renew his immunity with sex. Lots of it. Nessa and I will start documenting. Liv and Mel will stand guard." Footsteps on the stairs announced Olivia's descent. "Go on. Becca and Reena are in the spare bedroom waiting. Others will rotate in. You don't have to finish in us for your immunity. Once we gush, with or without you, switch to the next girl." "But y'all won't get your dose that way." "That's not the concern right now. Your immunity is. Go on." Dave recognized that tone, plus the looks in every eye present. He was sure the looks of those not present would match. Sure enough, when Dave opened the door to the bedroom, he saw his two youngest partners already waiting. Becca, her blonde hair cascading past her shoulders, small, pert tits standing out proudly as she kneeled on the bed wearing nothing but a smile. Reena was identically attired, her warm brown skin and large tits the most notable contrast with her friend. Dave began stripping off his gear and clothing, double checking that his pistol and smg were on safe, even though they had been for a few hours now. He set his weapons away from the bed, but further from the door than the bed. Coos and sexy comments from the girls had him half-chubbed by the time he pulled off his boxers. "Oh, yeah baby. That's what I'm looking for." Reena purred. She pulled Dave's face down to hers and locked his lips in a passionate kiss. Dave immediately began stroking her sides, then moved to caress her lush tits. As his hands contacted her big soft mammaries, Reena hummed. Dave pushed her back onto the bed. Whether this or his fingers grasping her nipples caused her to gasp is anyone's guess. Dave settled himself between her thighs. He felt a hand grasp his cock and notch it in Reena's entrance. Then a small hand delivered a soft slap on his ass. He felt Reena's hand reach around his back, but never saw the thumbs up she gave to Becca. That hand immediately switched from signaling to grasping as Dave's cock surged into her wet and waiting pussy. "Oh, fuck yes. Fuck me, David. Fuck me with that magic fucking cock." She started nibbling on his earlobe as he drove in and out of her slippery passage. It was one of his 'drive me wild' spots. His thrusting rapidly accelerated in speed and power. He raised up, taking his ear out of her reach, but her lascivious smile and her bouncing tits provided incredible visual stimuli. Reena managed a few encouraging erotic words, but quickly devolved into grunts and moans as his animalistic attack on her eager vagina brought both of them to the edge of ecstasy. She got there first. Barely. Her rippling inner muscles touched off his eruption, in turning kicking her into a second orgasm just as the first was reaching its maximum. The power of the doubled orgasm drove the air from her lungs and all thought from her mind. She clutched Dave fiercely with her arms and legs, claiming him as an anchor as pleasure wracked her body. She finally relaxed, flopping back to the bed, panting. "That; was; Awesome!" Dave sat up, his ass on his heels. Then Becca grabbed his shoulders, forcing him to half-turn so she could kiss him. He could feel a turmoil of emotions in that kiss. He brought his hands up to grasp her shoulders while his tongue tangled with hers. Dave barely felt the washcloth Becca slipped under his cock as he slid out of Reena's ravaged little hole. Reena grabbed it to capture any leakage. Meanwhile, Becca pushed Dave flat on his back and straddled him. She leaned down to kiss him again. Then Dave felt an extra hand on his mostly hard shaft. It was elevating him to Becca's hot, moist, little pussy. Reena was returning the favor. Becca sat back slowly at first, until Dave was seated in her entrance. The stimulus of the kiss, the hand on his cock, and Becca's small tits and tiny nipples rubbing his chest had him nearly full hard again. The young blonde's eyes fluttered slightly as she eased her way onto Dave's rod. Probably leftover semen on me setting off a serum reaction , Dave thought. Becca grasped his shoulders with her hands as the ripples passed through her. The effects of the brief exposure ran their course quickly. She sat up, bracing herself on his shoulders as she slowly began to ride him. Her eyes locked on his. Her hips bounced and rotated and snaked, all while Dave's cock stayed buried within her. Dave reached up, grazing her torso with his palms until he cupped her petite and alluring tits. He began massaging the lovely mounds with his palms. His fingers rubbed, rolled, and lightly pinched her nipples. Dave felt the bed shift, and then heard the door click shut. Reena must have slipped out of the room. He returned his attention to Becca, fixing his eyes on hers. So much life was there, waiting, yearning, to become. Her face bore worry; understandably; but something more. It was the something that gave him peace with their relationship, despite his natural doubts about their age difference or himself. He curled up to kiss her lips, which she returned before he lay back down. Her sleek body hammered up and down on his cock, the motions getting increasingly rapid. Her breathing grew ragged and punctuated by moans. She slammed herself down one last time, fully seating Dave inside her as pleasure shot through her body. Dave lowered the exhausted girl to his chest and held her while she caught her breath. Her fluids saturated his cock and leaked slowly out around their joining. A discrete knock preceded the door opening quietly, and closing almost as quickly. Almost imperceptible footsteps approached the bed. The silence of a librarian. "Becca, time to switch." Said Jan in her usual soft voice. "Try to understand, he's a magic man." Her voice was slightly muffled as her head was slightly mushed against Dave's chest still. Both adults chuckled. Then Dave said, "Been watching seventies music on MTV?" Becca nodded. "Mostly concerts since they didn't make many videos back then. People wore weird shit back then." "Hey, I was a kid in the seventies. Those people were my parents, aunts, and uncles." "No more stalling." Jan said in her firm voice. Becca slid up, so that Dave slipped out of her, then clambered off the bed. She immediately grabbed a washcloth, from a stack the ladies must have staged there. House Belsus had no shortage of women that could plan ahead, in detail. As Becca cleaned herself, Jan cleaned up Dave. Then she climbed over Dave to lie between him and the wall. Dave looked at the light tan blouse and mid-thigh, navy blue cloth skirt she wore. "Overdressed aren't we?" Jan's eyes twinkled as she took Dave's hand and placed it high on her thigh, under her skirt. Taking the hint, he slid his hand up her leg, finding her happy place bare and wet. The next hour became a blur as Dave's lovers each took turns 'topping off' his immunity. Well, except Niki. She'd only arrived last night, and was still in her imprinting sleep. When Dave and Shawna; who had been the last in line; had finished cuddling afterwards, they dressed, grinning at each other like a couple of teens that had the house to themselves. A quick kiss and they left the room. As they stepped out, Shawna leaned back in and gave a sniff. "We're gonna need to light a candle in there. Several candles. And lay down some carpet deodorizer." "That's a later problem. Right now I want to check in on Niki, then see how things are going downstairs." As they walked, Shawna spoke. "Well, Nessa and I photographed everything in excruciating detail. Multiple frames, multiple angles. Both breaches, and each corpse, along with the blood trails. She even took close up photos of each man's fingertips and captured decent images of the fingerprints." "Good enough for id purposes?" Dave asked as he opened the door to the master bedroom. "Dunno. Hopefully. We'll see what the police say." "They'll have the bodies to print the old fashion way." "Yeah, couldn't hurt though. Besides, we copied all the images on a second memory card. We're keeping that and handing over the original. Mel swears there's no difference in file integrity." Dave stood by the side of the bed, reaching out to place the back of his hand against the cheek of Niki as she slumbered. She was warm, but not feverish. He pulled back the blankets to examine her legs, remembering their discussion the night before about her injury. There were lots of flaked off skin in the bed surrounding Niki's legs, and some kind of residue along her legs as well. "Best to wait until she wakes to clean her up David. We don't want to disturb her during imprinting sleep." "But we can't wake her during it, no matter what we do." "Still, whatever's going on could be a delicate process. Let's err on the side of caution hun. Let her heal, then we'll help her cleanup later." Dave nodded his agreement and neatly pulled the covers back over Niki's sleeping form. As he adjusted the bedding, Shawna spoke. "Let's go see if Lupie's managed to get the glass out of the carpet to her satisfaction." A wry grin grew on Dave's face. "Is anything ever clean to Lupie's satisfaction?" he asked as they hit the top of the stairs. "When it comes to glass shards in carpet, I'm a fan of Lupie's exactitude." "Fair point. Hey, has Roscoe gotten out yet?" "Oh yeah. We took him out through the garage after you and Nessa left. Esme and Liv walked him around in Lupie's yard 'til he settled down and did his business. Then they played for awhile. Mostly Esme played with him while Liv kept watch." "Bet he loved that." "Yeah, those two are like peas in a pod now." Shawna said as they reached the floor of the living room. Dave walked over to Lupie, who leaned back onto her heels from her work looking for glass shards. The overhead lights were off. She had a flashlight in one hand, using the glint from the shards to locate them. She tilted her head up and Dave gave her an appreciative kiss. "I think he likes her more than me at this point," Liv groused from her position against one wall of the living room. "Aw, he's not replacing you. He just has a new buddy to have fun with." "Yeah, yeah. I'm still getting replaced by a younger model." Shawna rolled her eyes and snickered. "Oh, yeah, you're such an old hag, Liv." Olivia's only answer was a smirking scowl. Dave motioned Liv over to a quiet corner of the room. "How are you holding up?" "I'm okay," she said in an uncharacteristically small voice. "The others kinda dogpiled me for awhile. It's just; it's not like I thought it would be." Both were silent for a minute. "Dad did stuff like that for years." Her voice started to crack. "How? I mean shit, now I get why he was so strict on some things, or why he would get distant. How the fuck wasn't he a bigger asshole?" As she started to shake with sobs, Dave wrapped his arms around her, tears streaming down his own face. Lupie noticed and came over, with other members of the house following to join a group hug. It wasn't even noon yet, and already a very long day. Chapter 11; A Nudge. October 28, 2020 9:15am After Livy's entirely understandable emotional outburst, Dave suggested she remain at the house while he escorted Mel to the hardware store. Liv stomped that idea down, hard. "I will not leave my duties for someone else to perform. I thank all of you for your support. I'm okay. My dad didn't raise me to leave people hanging." The facial expressions several of them shared indicated a mutual desire to object to that particular characterization, and a mutual recognition of the futility of any words they could say in that cause. Liv was calm and collected when she and Mel left, both of them armed and masked up. Each wore full-length pants, long sleeves and gloves as well, to maintain the appearance of quarantine protocols. The NDA's they'd signed were still in effect, so they couldn't give anyone a reason to wonder why they were not concerned about the virus. All the gear they wore managed to dwarf Melanie's medium frame and curves, but nothing could hide Liv's large bust. That and the contrast of Liv's milk chocolate brown hair with Mel's auburn locks allowed the others to distinguish the two as they walked out. A few texts from Mel to Lupie kept the family reassured they were both fine while they were out. Liv drove, using the argument that she'd had combat driving training with her dad. He'd slipped her in when one of his security teams were going through annual training. Still, getting the lumber and fasteners to make temporary fixes for the broken window and sliding door took the better part of an hour in-store. The drive itself was short. While Liv and Mel were gone, Dave gathered a couple of sawhorses and tools from the garage and set up on the back deck. Even though they'd photographed everything, Dave didn't want to disturb the two bodies lying on the deck. Arranging the tables had a new dimension to consider. A creepy one that should have bothered him more than it did. He pulled out a plastic table from a hall closet to serve as a tool stand and laid out the cordless drill and everything else. The saw he placed on the table and immediately connected the extension cord to it, leaving the other end disconnected from, but near, the outside outlet. Finished, Dave settled into a patio chair. The chair was made of stretched grey fabric on a black metal frame, one of four on his low back deck. Given the size of his household, he needed to pick up some more. Or better yet get some nice wooden deck chairs. With the combined incomes in the house, they could afford to splurge a little. Except, they're supposed to move. How soon he didn't know, but why buy new furniture when they'd just have to move it; and might not have a deck or patio to put it on? Dave's gaze wandered across his yard. The greenhouse drew his attention. With the lower temperatures, the potted bay tree had been moved in there. Would they get to move the plants? Restarting his entire food base would suck. His practice platform would have to be carefully dismantled, assuming they had enough warning time. The platform was well worn and smooth. He'd even practice barefoot sometimes to get a feel for it. No splinters. That smooth. Starting over again; on so many things. Seems like that was the new refrain in life; starting over. Dave shook himself out of that downward spiral. Nothing good lay down that line of thinking. His eyes landed on the body on his deck, and the red stain beneath it. Once the body was removed and the detritus cleared and scrubbed, he'd need to sand it and re-stain it. Well, maybe not. Depends on how long until they moved. Dave realized he needed to talk with Vanessa about the timeline on this thing. But what the hell did it mean? Why would they cut the nuts off their own dead? What was going on? None of this made sense. Nothing had made sense for months. Why not pile on one more inanity? "David?" Jan's soft voice, loaded with concern, snapped him out of his spiraling thoughts. He turned his head to face her. Her slender frame easily fit within the break in the glass door. "David, it's freezing and wet out here. Wouldn't you rather be inside?" She looked about the deck and all of his preparations. She crossed from the door to his chair and slowly knelt beside his knee. Her soft brown eyes pleaded even more than the words from her mouth. "It's not good for you to be out here like this, David. Please, come inside." Dave stood, reaching her position at the door in three quick steps. Kissing her softly on the lips, he pulled back with a cheeky grin. "Yes, dear." Her bemused smile was just what he needed. He let her guide him to a spot on the couch. It was only slightly warmer, but a lot drier. Plus, Jan snuggled in close. After a few minutes, she got up to pull a blanket off the back of the other couch. She rejoined Dave, wrapping the blanket around the two of them. They said very little. Jan's calm, quiet presence prevented any further worrisome mental tangents. When Liv got back with the supplies, his first order of business was to check that they'd had no problems and hadn't been followed. In that, they were clear. With weapons slung, the three of them unloaded the lumber and such from the truck and into the backyard via the side fence gate. They were careful to avoid the corpses, giving them a wide berth. Where the fuck were the cops? "Okay, Liv, can you make one last verification on the window measurements while I get the plywood on the sawhorse?" "Sure. You wanna screw it straight to the wood frame, right?" Liv asked. "Yup." Dave replied. "Hmm, you could just screw it straight to my frame, Dave." Mel purred and waggled her eyebrows. Liv was out of earshot by the time she'd spoken. Dave sagged for a moment. Mel was one of the several he hadn't ejaculated in earlier, so she would still need dosing in the next four days. Mel immediately felt bad, as expressed on her face. "Sorry, Dave, I'm just messing with you." "Yeah, I get that. And I like the quick jab jokes most of the time. I'd rather a sharp mind that occasionally nicks my fingertip than a dull one that needs every non-literal comment described and outlined for her." Melanie snickered appreciatively. "Still, I'm responsible for all of you, and your needs. I take that seriously; as much fun as any one of you are to be with, it's also a job that I gotta get right or someone gets hurt." It took Mel about half a second to close the distance and press her body against Dave. Her arms latched around him. "Hey, you do a great job taking care of us, each of us. This morning was one of the more obvious proofs. You're really good at the less obvious stuff too." Dave gave her ass a light pinch that made Mel yelp. "Thanks, kitten. I really am getting in a better head space with your help and others. Sometimes my instincts are from the old days, though." Liv stepped back out onto the deck just then. Mel's wicked grin reappeared. "Well, in the old days, you didn't have me to fuck; or your big tiddy daughter slut." Liv backhanded Mel. "I'm not his daughter, dammit! Don't say shit like that. I won't get laid for a week if that's in his head!" "Damn, that was my tit! That fucking hurt!" Olivia looked completely unapologetic. Mel's face switched back to lascivious. "That's okay, I know what could get him revved and ready to fuck." She sauntered over to Liv and took her friend's face in her hands, softly. Then she kissed her, long slow, and deep. Liv's response was surprise at the sudden switch, but not unaccustomed to the familiarity. Melanie broke the kiss, then turned to look at Dave with hooded eyes, her cheek pressed against Olivia's. "What do you think David? You up for nailing a couple of kinky bi-sexual college babes?" Dave drew in a breath and was about to reply when she continued. "Even if one of them is your big tiddy mfm--" Liv's hand sealed over Mel's mouth to block a repeat of the undesired phrase. "With dead bodies lying right here in view? Not so much." Dave hoisted a sheet of plywood and settled it on the sawhorses. Liv released Mel, who spoke only with her wicked grin and gleaming eyes before heading back inside. Liv called off the measurements, which matched what she and Dave measured earlier. A few minutes with the measuring tape and pencil and they had two panels marked off, one each from two different corners of the sheet. Liv held the plywood while Dave cut one panel, then they switched roles for the second panel. After securing the saw, Dave grabbed the drill and screws while Liv snagged the cut sections. They passed back through the broken glass door and proceeded to the entryway to patch the broken window. Nice thing about drywall screws; they're very good for more than just drywall. The frame of the window was wide, and solid wood. Dave held the one section in place on the inside as Liv used the cordless drill to run two pilot holes each on both sides of the frame. She quickly changed to a driver bit and put drywall screws into the holes. The pilots were large enough for the shaft of the screw, but not the threads, that way the screws had a good, firm, bite in the wood without cracking it. Once Liv had four good screws in the plywood panel, Dave stepped back, making room for her to run a few more pilot holes and screws; two more on each side and three each across the top and bottom. Liv was a little annoyed having to use the step ladder for the top screw on each side as well as the three across the top. "Don't worry about it. Hell, I'm gonna use it when I do the outside. Yeah, if I really had to, I can reach and do it. But, with less strain, I can be sure to get the screws level." Liv looked slightly mollified at Dave's admission. To further assuage her injured ego he delivered a gentle, lips only, kiss after she descended. She rolled her eyes and smiled before leaving to find the hand vacuum to get the sawdust. Dave started shuffling the equipment through the never-breached security door around to the outside of the window. He was just running the extension cord back to the outlet near the door when Liv came out. This time, she held the panel in place while he drove pilot holes, quick changed to a driver bit and put screws in place. Liv backed off so he had room to run the rest of the pilot holes. Dave was just driving the last screw holding the panel in place when he heard an engine coming down the street. Two engines. "Get inside, use the door as cover," he ordered. Dropping the drill in the grass under the windowsill, he hoofed it around the corner of the house. The brick would give him some small measure of protection if it was needed. He pulled the SMG around on its sling, from against his back to the ready position. Almost the moment he was in position with weap. As the S U V came to a stop, Dave registered the markings and got a mental jarring. Black background, two blue stripes, with white letters spelling out 'Police' and 'Garland'. Garland was three towns away, on the other fucking side of the lake! The officer stepped out of her vehicle, standing between the body and her driver's door. Typical for an on-duty officer, her hair was hidden up under her hat. More importantly, her right hand was low, hidden by the vehicle's body, likely on her pistol. In fact, given what Carter had taught him about procedures, she'd likely already removed the safety strap, her thumb hooked around the grip. She was exposed enough that Dave could see her badge. She was too far away to identify the authenticity of said emblem, but everything was falling into place as legit. "Sir, please place your weapon on the ground. My name is Officer Korman of the Garland Police Department. We are here in response to multiple 911 calls from this address." Dave held both hands, empty, out to his sides. "Yes officer, we called several times in the early morning while we were under attack, and after. I'm going to disarm myself, and hand my weapons inside to my family." The officer's eyes flicked to the door. Clearly, she'd been distracted enough by Dave that she hadn't noticed Olivia. Or Olivia's gun. Even at a distance, she flinched visibly, realizing she'd committed a fatal error. "We have no beef with law enforcement, officer. We've been a bit on guard since the incident. My partner will secure my weapons inside and close the door." Dave used his left hand to reach slowly across his body at shoulder height. He hooked his thumb under the strap and slid it off his shoulder and across his arm. Leaving it to twist, dangling from his thumb, he held his arm straight out, full length, as he slowly walked to the door and handed the weapon off to Liv. Keeping his right hand still up and visible, he then unstrapped his thigh holster and handed that inside as well. Liv had a wary look as Dave pulled the front door closed between them. Dave turned back to the officer. "Ma'am, as you can see, I am now unarmed, everyone else is inside. We were just repairing the damage from the attack, and staying vigilant." "You altered the crime scene?" The voice should have been annoyed, but was too monotone to convey any meaning beyond the words themselves. "We took extensive pictures of the bodies and both breaches. We haven't sealed the rear breach yet. We'd just finished the front when you arrived." The policewoman stepped around her door, closing it. On alert, she came around the front of her patrol vehicle and approached Dave. "Sir, the young woman that entered the house, is that your daughter?" Does she know about the vaccine? Best to play it cagey . "She's my best friend's daughter. I've known her since she was punching her mother's belly from the inside." The officer approached a few more steps as he spoke. At this range, Dave could see the drained appearance behind the weak smile his jest evoked. "You say you took pictures?" "Yes ma'am. We have it saved on a memory card for you." Dave shivered involuntarily. The drizzle had let up and the temperature had risen slightly with the sun. Not that the Sun's presence was particularly notable today. Working on the patch had kept him moving and focused so he didn't register the chill. Now he had the luxury of discomfort. "We carefully took photos of the bodies, the area they fell, and the path in between. We didn't move them ourselves, their buddies did that. Then they, well, take a look." Still wary, the cop walked over to the corpse still splayed out on the driveway. "And you didn't do this?" "No ma'am. We haven't touched the bodies at all. Shot 'em when they were inside the house. Their pals drug them back out here and did this. There's three more on the back deck. We shot two of them in the house. The third was shot by one of his friends, out on the deck." "I'm going to have our mortuary contractor collect the bodies for the Me. Please bring me the memory card with the original images." She beckoned towards the van as Dave moved to the house. Mel once again assured Dave the copies she made were full copies, indistinguishable from originals. Dave took the copied memory card and walked back out. The two figures in hazmat gear carrying the encased body between them were approaching the back of the van when he stepped out into the dreary day once again. "Here's the memory card officer." "Thanks. Two more in the back you say?" "Three. Two that we shot and one shot by his buddies." "Right." "There's a side gate so we can go around the house." "The shooting occurred inside?" "Yes ma'am." "I'm going to need to examine the area myself, and take some notes. There should be a detective along later. I'll make a note in the file that I've collected the pictures you took. She can get them from the station house." "Do you know the detective that's coming?" "No clue." "Then how do you know it'll be a woman?" "Probability, sir." Dave's heart sank. While the officer sounded drained for most of their conversation, those last two words were absolutely desiccated, the depleted echoes of a mind that had seen everything torn asunder, replaced with a nightmare even Wes Craven would run away from. Once the body movers returned, Dave led the three of them through the side gate into the backyard and pointed out the corpses on the back deck. He stayed in the grass to give them plenty of room for their work. The officer scribbled notes as the two body collectors packaged up one corpse and carried it off. She kept a distance from Dave the entire time, with her weapon hip carefully away from him; and the broken glass door. When the collectors came for the second body, she remained at a distance from the scene as they worked. For the third body, she followed them out. She fixed Dave's eyes with her own as she walked off. "I'll be back in a moment to examine the interior." Dave passed into the house through the breach. Lupie was busy in the kitchen with a couple of helpers. Shawna and Liv were in the living room. The younger woman was more obviously on alert, and maybe on edge. An attentive eye could discern Shawna was similarly watchful, but more calm. Liv picked up Dave's SMG to hand it to him. "No, hold on to it. Actually, put the SMG's away. Let's keep the pistols for now though. The policewoman is coming inside shortly. Let's keep the weapons out of sight. She's not a threat, how 'bout the two of you skedaddle up stairs while she's here?" "Sure," Liv replied. "You know the code?" Shawna asked. "Yup. Mom & Dad's wedding year." A sharp rap at the door announced the officer's arrival. Dave was a few steps away from the door, so he strode quickly in that direction after checking that Liv was already inputting the entry code for the gun closet. If he could keep the officer examining the parlor space first, and long enough, Liv and Shawna could get clear before the officer came into the living room. No point in agitating the woman. Dave noticed she was wearing a face mask and gloves when he opened the door. His plan to stall worked. Hell, he didn't even have to try that hard. The Lady asked enough questions about the attempted breach of the door and the eventual entry through the window that Dave heard his two partners ascending the stairs well before he and the officer moved towards the living room. "So this is where the shooting actually occurred?" "Yes ma'am. Liv stood over there at the landing, and I was initially braced against that corner where the hallway meets the room." "Initially?" "Once they broke through the window, I was concerned Liv would be exposed from that direction. They didn't seem interested in coming through the glass door anymore, so I crept forward behind that couch so that I could hit anyone that might try to get an angle on her. I don't think the guy I shot saw her before I shot him." She scribbled furiously in her notebook for a few minutes. Then she asked to speak with Liv. His partner descended; Dave was relieved to see she'd left her firearm upstairs. Lupie, Jan, and Reena passed upstairs after Liv cleared the stairs. The dishes they carried smelled great. If Dave hadn't heard the officer's stomach grumbling, he might have felt sorry for himself. She must have seen the look on his face though. "No, thank you. That would still be inappropriate," she said. "I will need to speak with ;” "Olivia." "; Olivia, alone please." Dave nodded and headed upstairs. Carefully, he lowered himself to a crouching position in the hallway beside the head of the stairs. He couldn't hear the words, but by tracking tone he would be alerted to impending trouble. There was none. It took several minutes, but then he heard Olivia walking the officer to the door. Dave was at the bottom of the stairs before Liv made it back from securing the front door. "All good?" he asked. "Yup," said the brunette. "She look exhausted to you?" "Very." "She say anything about who did this?" "She only asked questions, no answers. I tried a few while the body boys were away from us. No dice." "Boys?" "Dunno, I actually wasn't paying attention." "With the residency of this house, you're having trouble identifying male from female?" Liv said with a wink. Dave's only reply was a bemused glare. Liv's bounteous bust bounced with her laughter. "I love hearing that sound." Shawna's rich tones rolled into the living room as she reached the landing. Dave turned to face her. "Speaking of sounds I love to hear ;” Shawna came closer and kissed him. The feel of her magnificent bust pressed to his chest and the smell of his lover's skin gave Dave thoughts he couldn't address just yet. "I'd tell you that you have me already and don't have to win me over, but I love hearing those sweet nothings." She wrapped her arms around his waist and rubbed her nose on his. "Melanie and I ate already. We'll stand guard down here. You two eat and finish the repairs." Dave kissed her once more, then headed upstairs. Melanie passed him at the foot of the stairs. Liv followed immediately behind him. Dave had to 'endure' a lot of hugs, and a few kisses, within a few feet of entering the spare bedroom Lupie had set up lunch in. Homemade chicken soup with all the rich, deep flavors from multiple ingredients missing from the canned stuff. Plus fresh rolls. He was getting used to being spoiled like this, but damn, it was so good to have a woman around the house. Having nine women around the house sounded like a recipe for disaster, but it hadn't been an issue at all. Which reminded him. "Anyone keeping an eye on Nicole?" "I just came from the master bedroom before you came up," said Jan. "She's still solidly out. As long as it's been, she must be experiencing a regeneration. There's no telling how long she will be unconscious." Dave stopped before her for a lingering kiss and a minute or so of gazing into her eyes before getting a second bowl of soup and two more rolls. Liv lingered over her first bowl, then spent some time talking with Lupie while Dave finished up. "You ready?" Liv asked as he added his bowl to the dirty stack. "Yep. Now for the tough part." He paused in thought. "Did you pick up the glass handling gloves?" "Yeah, bag's on the couch. I don't want either one of us losing a finger." They grabbed the gloves on their way through the living room to the deck. Then things got tricky. First, they removed the fasteners holding the two frame pieces together. The glass was sandwiched between them. Then, with Dave holding high on the large pane, well away from the shattered area, Liv carefully pried the inner frame piece away. Dave had to step over it as she moved it out of the way. The most delicate part came next. Liv ran a flathead screwdriver around the edge of the glass to ensure it came away cleanly. Very gingerly, they pulled the top edge away from the frame, then slowed its descent as its own weight rotated it the rest of the way out. They laid it in the grass. "I really expected the edge by the break to fall apart." "Guess we got lucky." "Damn lucky. Let's get that plywood in place, then we can break that thing into large pieces and dump 'em in the trashcan." With Becca, Esme, and Lupie living in Dave's house, the large rolling trashcans for Lupie's property were empty. One of those had plenty of space for the glass pane. The plywood took some trimming to fit vertically. But there was open space horizontally, so a second piece of plywood was needed to fit the gap. With the frame back in place and secured, Dave and Liv ran a few 2x1's across the seam. A bit of caulk squeezed into the crack would prevent any air leak; or whistling. Breaking and stashing the glass in the spare bin and cleaning the deck area took another forty minutes. By the time they got inside, Jan had already vacuumed the last of the sawdust and glass bits from the carpet adjacent to the sliding door. Dave and Olivia washed up. Liv joined Mel in their room, watching a streaming show on the latter's laptop. Dave went down to the living room, finding most of his family present. "Hey, babe." He slid onto the couch beside Lupie. She immediately nestled into his shoulder. She placed one hand on his chest, the other on his thigh closest to her. "I appreciate everything you've done to keep things working smoothly here while Liv and I dealt with what happened. That helped keep everybody's nerves; manageable." Her hand on his chest gripped tighter, like she was trying to palm him. "You're the one that stood in the line of fire and faced down armed men coming to kill us. Or worse. Making food and cleaning up is not the same." "The value of one act does not negate the value of the other. Cleaning up is the first step in returning some normalcy after the disruption. A hearty meal helps soothe the soul. What you've done matters." Dave barely heard her next utterance. "Just don't leave me David. I need you. Please be careful." He pulled her in tight. "I will." A knock at the door interrupted anything else he might have said. The late afternoon gloom and the chilly air seemed perfect for the woman standing on Dave's doorstep. Not overly short for a woman, she sported jet black hair pulled into a loose ponytail at the base of her neck, and pale skin on an oval face. Her cloth mask covered her mouth. Dave half wondered if the darkness around her eyes was makeup or weariness. Oh good, Detective Wednesday Addams is here . "Hello, sir. I'm Detective Carmen Verratti. I'm here to investigate the break-in and deaths that occurred earlier." The mask she wore muffled her words slightly. An emotion detector would not have registered the tiniest blip as she spoke. One for weariness would have pegged. "Would you like to start with the outside or inside?" Dave queried. "Let's get the outside done before the temperature drops." She took a sip from her insulated beverage bottle. Dave picked up a vague whiff of coffee as he followed her out to the driveway. "I'm not sure what woke me up in the first place. We have a dog, but he was upstairs and deaf. He didn't start barking until after the shooting began. There's chickens in the next yard over. I suppose they might have made a noise, but not once I was awake. I armed myself and left my bedroom. I encountered; one of my housemates on the stairs." Dave continued, walking through each step of the encounter. Once they were past the part where the guys coming in the front broke through the window, they walked around to the back deck. As with the blotch in the driveway, the detective seemed transfixed by the stain on the deck for several seconds. When she was finished with her visual examination of the deck and backyard, she motioned for Dave to lead her inside. Waving to the plywood she asked, "This is the second breach?" "This was the first place they got through. By the sounds of things, they were trying to breach the sliding glass door and the front door at the same time. They just weren't ready for a security door. The guys in the front came through the window, but by that time we'd already taken out two guys coming through the back." "And that's when you heard two men arguing about someone's sister?" "Only one voice got loud enough to pick out words." Liv supplied. "He seemed pretty pissed, so whatever the quieter voice mentioned must not have been pleasant." "So could one of these men be the brother or brothers of one of your partners?" the detective queried. Dave shared uneasy looks with Liv, Shawna, and Lupie. Four brains looked stuck in feedback loops trying to figure out how to respond without breaking the NDA's they'd all signed. "I'm aware of the vaccine and its effects. I was finally informed this morning, though I haven't been partnered yet. It explains some of the changes I've seen around the station." All four visibly relaxed. "That certainly makes this easier. So, I think a few of us have fathers still hunkered down and alive, but no brothers." Shawna supplied. "Well, Niki mentioned she has a brother hiding out in his college dorm somewhere out of state," Lupie mentioned. "Out of state? Not likely to be involved, but can you ask her to come down so I can speak with her?" "She just joined us last night. She's still out as of an hour ago when I last looked in on her." "Please check again. If she's still out, then I may have to come back to follow up with her." Lupie moved like swift water off the couch and up the stairs. She came back down shortly, shaking her head once the detective's attention was on her. While Lupie was away, the detective began asking questions directly of Liv and Shawna. Liv said she'd heard some sort of thumping sound in the back yard, like maybe someone had fallen coming over the fence. It explained her wakefulness, but not mine, given the master bedroom was over the front of the house. Maybe the guys approaching the front made a noise. Maybe my sleeping brain sensed a disturbance in the force. Sometimes you just fucking wake up at an opportune time. Detective Verratti asked the others as well. Shawna hadn't awakened until I was exiting the room, and didn't get out of bed until the glass door was broken. The others didn't wake until the first gunshot. Lupie slipped upstairs to invite the rest of the family to come down, a few at a time, to share their observations. Since most had been upstairs the whole time, they had little to share, and the questions wore out quickly. Dave watched as she spoke with the others. The detective was mildly more relaxed once she admitted to knowing about the serum. Those that had been out of the room for the revelation were informed as they came down, so all of House Belsus seemed mostly comfortable. It was still an interrogation. But Det. Verratti seemed; uncomfortable. She was scratching in her notebook, having just asked one last question of Esme (while she sat on Lupie's lap) when her phone buzzed in her pocket. Lupie looked at her expectantly as Verratti checked her phone. "That's all I needed, thank you. You can head upstairs little miss." She said with a smile. The smile faded once Esme's back was turned. "I have to make a call. I'll step out front, but I have a few more things I want to wrap up with you Mr. Belsus." She grabbed her heavy coat as she headed out. The temperature had been cold all day, and was beginning to drop now that the sun had gone down. "Yes ma'am, I'll be waiting." "I'll make some more coffee." Shawna rose and headed to the kitchen. Liv got up and sat beside Dave, laying her head on his shoulder and wrapping her hands around his bicep. Dave was at one end of the couch, leaving her room to draw her feet up behind her. She killed two men. She's going to be coping for a long time. I never should have let her into that mess. I should have left her at the top of the stairs holding a second line of defense. Then again, with only one target for them, would I have succeeded? What if they had killed me, got to the stairs and then Liv gunned them down? She'd still have these feelings, but I'd be dead. She and all the others would be in deep shit because I'm not around to pump out cum anymore. So I did the right thing right? Maybe. Fuck, if Carter was still here, I could; what did he call it? Do an After Action Review! That's the phrase he used. Tell him what the fuck happened and let him pick it apart, or back me up. Probably a little of both. Fuck, if Carter were still alive, I'm not telling him I'm fucking his daughter! A knock at the door announced the detective's return. Shawna opened the door and led her into the living room. The detective was stony face as she entered. She was also carrying a valise. As she reached the chair she'd used earlier, she took a sniff. Taking the hint, Shawna informed her, "Coffee will be ready in another minute or two. I put on a fresh pot when you stepped out." "Thank you." The detective's face actually showed signs of life. "Professor Belsus, could we speak privately? Somewhere with some table space if you please." "Sure, we can use the dining room. Nice big table in there." The coffee machine chimed just as Verratti placed her valise on the table. She looked expectantly back towards the living room. Lupie and Shawna were already on their way in. "We'll be quick. How do you take yours?" "Black, one spoon of sugar, please." Lupie nodded and kept moving. "Now that I think about it, the library is more isolated, but it doesn't have a large surface like this." Dave confessed. "This will do. I'll wait until they've passed back out to start anything sensitive." She paused briefly. "Well, it's been years, so I don't know if you remember me, but I took your astronomy class about twelve years ago. We ran into each other again on the shoot / no shoot range about five years ago too." "Right. I remember that." To be continued in part 10, Based on a post by RonanJWilkerson, in 12 parts, for Literotica.

2025 tested a lot of people.Not everything survived — and that doesn't mean you failed.In this end-of-year episode, Pastor Joe Moss slows the pace and asks a sacred question most people avoid:What survived the year?This is not a motivational talk.It's a reflective, faith-centered message for anyone who:• carried more than they expected• lost things they didn't plan to lose• wrestled privately with God• stayed when quitting would've been easier• feels changed by the year — but can't fully explain howThrough Scripture and story, this episode walks through:• pressure that refined rather than destroyed• holy loss and what didn't survive on purpose• the wrestle that reshaped identity• the limp that marked dependence on God• the core of faith that remains• and how God carries us forward into what's next

Cheers to making it through the year.Barely.This episode of FriGay the 13th Horror Podcast, we look back at the horrors of 2025—from AI anxiety and cursed group chats to box office beasts, Billboard bangers, and some genuinely great horror.

===== MDJ Script/ Top Stories for December 26th Publish Date:  December 26th    Commercial: From the BG AD Group Studio, Welcome to the Marietta Daily Journal Podcast.    Today is Friday, December 26th and Happy Birthday to Lars Ulrich I’m Keith Ippolito and here are the stories Cobb is talking about, presented by Times Journal Piastra closing, reopening as café and grocery in January Salleigh Grubbs appointed to State Election Board Bittersweet: Candymakers navigate tariff, supply chain challenges during holiday season Plus, Leah McGrath from Ingles Markets on holiday foods All of this and more is coming up on the Marietta Daily Journal Podcast, and if you are looking for community news, we encourage you to listen and subscribe!  BREAK: INGLES 10 STORY 1: Piastra closing, reopening as café and grocery in January  Big changes are coming to Piastra, the Italian spot that’s been a Marietta Square favorite since 2015. After New Year’s Eve, the restaurant will close its doors—but not for good. In January, it’ll reopen as Asher and Rose Modern Grocers, a café and market dreamed up by co-owners Greg Lipman and his mom, Betty Bahl. Why the shift? “We’ve been listening,” Lipman said. Locals have been asking for a specialty grocery store on the Square for years, and now they’re getting one—complete with fresh bread, local produce, prepared meals, and an all-day breakfast café. “We love this community,” Lipman added. STORY 2: Salleigh Grubbs appointed to State Election Board Salleigh Grubbs, former Cobb GOP Chair, is stepping into a new role on the State Election Board. The Georgia Republican Party announced Monday that Lt. Gov. Burt Jones appointed her to fill the seat left vacant by Rick Jeffares. It’s a “recess appointment,” Grubbs explained, and she’s diving in immediately. “I’m honored, humbled, all of it,” she said. “Fair elections are something I’ve been passionate about for years, and I’m ready to get to work.” A Marietta native, Grubbs led the Cobb GOP until earlier this year and now serves as the Georgia GOP’s first vice chair. “This is about transparency,” she added. STORY 3: Bittersweet: Candymakers navigate tariff, supply chain challenges during holiday season   For Jocelyn Dubuke, owner of Jardi Chocolates, 2025 has been a rollercoaster. Tariffs, supply chain chaos, rising costs—it’s enough to make anyone panic. And yet, back in January, she made a bold move: she spent every penny of last year’s revenue stockpiling chocolate. “I told my distributors, ‘Whatever you’ve got in the States, I’ll take it,’” she said. “I wasn’t about to tell my customers halfway through the year, ‘Oh, by the way, your chocolate’s double the price now.’” Chocolate’s tricky—rules you can’t break, ingredients you can’t grow here. But for Dubuke, it’s personal. We have opportunities for sponsors to get great engagement on these shows. Call 770.799.6810 for more info.  We’ll be right back. Break: INGLES 10 STORY 4: Georgia DOT suspends lane closures for the holidays  With the holidays happening, the Georgia Department of Transportation is hitting pause on lane closures—at least on interstates, major routes, and roads near shopping hubs. From Dec. 23 at 6 a.m. to Dec. 28 at 10 p.m., and again from Dec. 31 at 5 a.m. to Jan. 2 at 5 a.m., you’ll get a break from the usual construction chaos. But don’t get too comfortable—crews might still be working nearby, and emergency closures? Yeah, those can still happen. Stay sharp, watch for signs, and if you’re curious about road updates, check out GDOT’s website or the 511GA app. STORY 5: Walton claims first county title in nearly two decades Walton’s boys wrestling team finally broke through, snagging their first Cobb County title in nearly 20 years Saturday at Harrison High. And they did it in style—five wrestlers in the finals, five gold medals. Coach Dylan Turner couldn’t stop smiling. “We’ve got everyone back from last year, and it took every single one of them to pull this off,” he said. “They’re just gamers.” The standout? Brandon Whiteford. An eighth seed at 165 pounds, he shocked the top seed with a pin in his opener, then clinched the title with a gritty 6-3 win in the final. “I love the pressure,” he said. FALCONS: Bijan Robinson was electric, C.J. Henderson clutch, and the Falcons? They held on—barely. Atlanta edged Arizona 26-19 on Sunday, thanks to Henderson’s diving interception with 90 seconds left, slamming the door on the Cardinals’ final drive. Robinson? Unreal. 171 total yards, a touchdown grab, and a spot in Falcons history—just the third player to hit 2,000 scrimmage yards in a season. Not bad company: Jamal Anderson, William Andrews. Arizona? Another heartbreak. Seven straight losses, 12 of their last 13. Brissett’s 203 yards weren’t enough, and a wild Michael Wilson TD catch wasn’t either. Atlanta’s still alive. Barely. I'm Keith Ippolito and that’s your MDJ Sports Minute. And now here is Leah McGrath from Ingles Markets on holiday foods We’ll have closing comments after this. Break: INGLES 10 Signoff-   Thanks again for hanging out with us on today’s Marietta Daily Journal Podcast. If you enjoy these shows, we encourage you to check out our other offerings, like the Cherokee Tribune Ledger Podcast, the Marietta Daily Journal, or the Community Podcast for Rockdale Newton and Morgan Counties. Read more about all our stories and get other great content at mdjonline.com Did you know over 50% of Americans listen to podcasts weekly? Giving you important news about our community and telling great stories are what we do. Make sure you join us for our next episode and be sure to share this podcast on social media with your friends and family. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home Briefing and be sure to like, follow, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Produced by the BG Podcast Network Show Sponsors: www.ingles-markets.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

CTL Script/ Top Stories of December 26th Publish Date: December 26th   Pre-Roll: From the Ingles Studio Welcome to the Award-Winning Cherokee Tribune Ledger Podcast  Today is Friday, December 26th and Happy Birthday to Lars Ulrich I’m Chris Culwell and here are the stories Cherokee is talking about, presented by Times Journal Cherokee High School student places in statewide art contest Salleigh Grubbs appointed to State Election Board Georgia DOT suspends lane closures for the holidays Plus, Leah McGrath from Ingles Markets on holiday foods We’ll have all this and more coming up on the Cherokee Tribune-Ledger Podcast, and if you’re looking for Community news, we encourage you to listen and subscribe!  Commercial: INGLES 8 STORY 1: Cherokee High School student places in statewide art contest Cherokee High senior Grace Dai just snagged second place in the Georgia State Parks and Historic Sites Art Contest, and her piece, “The Fall of the House of Chief Vann,” is heading to the Georgia State Capitol for the 2026 legislative session. Pretty cool, right? Dai’s no stranger to recognition—she’s been in the Governor’s Honors Program for Visual Arts, featured in the Atlanta High School Art Exhibit, and, oh yeah, she’s also a National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist. Her art teacher, Morgan Clifton, must be beaming. Grace? She’s clearly on a roll, and it doesn’t look like she’s slowing down anytime soon. STORY 2: Salleigh Grubbs appointed to State Election Board Salleigh Grubbs, former Cobb GOP Chair, is stepping into a new role on the State Election Board. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones appointed her to fill the seat left by Rick Jeffares, who stepped down last week. It’s a “recess appointment,” Grubbs explained, and she’s diving in right away. “I’m honored, humbled—really, all of it,” she said. “Fair elections have been my focus for years, and I’m ready to get to work.” A Marietta native, Grubbs led the Cobb GOP until earlier this year and now serves as the Georgia GOP’s first vice chair. “This is about transparency,” she added. STORY 3: Georgia DOT suspends lane closures for the holidays  With the holidays here, the Georgia DOT is giving drivers a little gift: no lane closures on interstates, major routes, or roads near shopping hotspots. From Dec. 23 at 6 a.m. to Dec. 28 at 10 p.m., and again from Dec. 31 at 5 a.m. to Jan. 2 at 5 a.m., you’ll get a break from the cones. But don’t get too comfy—crews might still be working nearby, and emergencies? Yeah, those closures can still happen. Stay sharp, watch for signs, and check the 511GA app for updates. Safe travels, y’all. We have opportunities for sponsors to get great engagement on these shows. Call 770.874.3200 for more info.    We’ll be right back. Break: INGLES 9 STORY 4: High-Scoring Georgia Men's Basketball Continues Non-Conference Roll With SEC play looming, Georgia’s men’s basketball team has plenty to feel good about. Monday night, they steamrolled West Georgia 103-74, improving to 11-1 and keeping their spotless 35-0 home non-conference record under coach Mike White intact. Blue Cain and Jeremiah Wilkinson were on fire, combining for 39 points. Cain dropped 20 on 9-of-13 shooting, adding four assists and three steals. “They told me about the 100-point record after the game,” Cain said. “It’s cool, but we’re just focused on playing the right way.” Somto Cyril? A beast. Fifteen points, 15 boards, four blocks. SEC, here they come. FALCONS: Bijan Robinson was electric, C.J. Henderson clutch, and the Falcons? They held on—barely. Atlanta edged Arizona 26-19 on Sunday, thanks to Henderson’s diving interception with 90 seconds left, slamming the door on the Cardinals’ final drive. Robinson? Unreal. 171 total yards, a touchdown grab, and a spot in Falcons history—just the third player to hit 2,000 scrimmage yards in a season. Not bad company: Jamal Anderson, William Andrews. Arizona? Another heartbreak. Seven straight losses, 12 of their last 13. Brissett’s 203 yards weren’t enough, and a wild Michael Wilson TD catch wasn’t either. Atlanta’s still alive. Barely. I’m Keith Ippolito and this is your tribune ledger sports minute. STORY 5: Incoming Mayor Dennis Nelson shares goals for Ball Ground  Dennis Nelson has big plans for Ball Ground. The incoming mayor, set to be sworn in Jan. 15, wants to turn Ball Ground Highway into a bustling commercial corridor and add a new park—maybe even the city’s first dog park. “Right now, it’s just an empty stretch,” he said. “People want to stay local, not drive miles for dinner or shopping.” Nelson’s also focused on the truck bypass project, aiming to keep heavy traffic out of downtown. “Everyone’s tired of the trucks,” he said. A Ball Ground resident since 2018, Nelson’s roots run deep—his great-great-grandfather helped settle the nearby city of Nelson. And now here is Leah McGrath from Ingles Markets on holiday foods Commercial: We’ll have closing comments after this.   COMMERCIAL: INGLES 10   SIGN OFF –   Thanks again for hanging out with us on today’s Cherokee Tribune Ledger Podcast. If you enjoy these shows, we encourage you to check out our other offerings, like the Cherokee Tribune Ledger Podcast, the Marietta Daily Journal, or the Community Podcast for Rockdale Newton and Morgan Counties. Read more about all our stories and get other great content at www.tribuneledgernews.com Did you know over 50% of Americans listen to podcasts weekly? Giving you important news about our community and telling great stories are what we do. Make sure you join us for our next episode and be sure to share this podcast on social media with your friends and family. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home Briefing and be sure to like, follow, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Produced by the BG Podcast Network Show Sponsors: www.ingles-markets.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Top Stories for December 25th Publish Date: December 25th PRE-ROLL: SUGAR HILL ICE SKATING From the BG AD Group Studio Welcome to the Gwinnett Daily Post Podcast. Today is Thursday, December 25th and Happy birthday to Jimmy Buffett I’m Peyton Spurlock and here are your top stories presented by KIA Mall of Georgia. Duluth named Georgia's most Hallmark movie-like city Solicitor's Office donates 5K proceeds to help domestic violence victims Salleigh Grubbs appointed to State Election Board Plus, Leah McGrath from Ingles Markets on holiday foods All of this and more is coming up on the Gwinnett Daily Post podcast, and if you are looking for community news, we encourage you to listen daily and subscribe! Break 1: GCPS Hiring STORY 1: Duluth named Georgia's most Hallmark movie-like city If you’re dreaming of a Hallmark-style Christmas, Gwinnett County’s got you covered—no need to pack your bags. According to The Action Network, three Gwinnett cities made Georgia’s top five most Hallmark-like towns, with Duluth taking the crown as number one. Why Duluth? Think walkable streets, a buzzing town green, and a community that actually shows up—for festivals, concerts, and all the holiday feels. “It’s less about historic landmarks and more about people-driven traditions,” they said. Lawrenceville and Suwanee also made the list, proving Gwinnett’s got that small-town magic—minus the guaranteed snow or last-minute romantic plot twists. STORY 2: Solicitor's Office donates 5K proceeds to help domestic violence victims Three local groups that support domestic violence survivors got a little holiday cheer last week, courtesy of the Gwinnett County Solicitor’s Office. Solicitor General LisaMarie Bristol handed out checks to Mosaic Georgia, the Partnership Against Domestic Violence, and Ahimsa House during a ceremony at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center. The $12,080 came from the office’s third annual Dash 4 Domestic Violence 5K. “This is about more than money—it’s about action,” the office said. The event drew 170 runners, 65 volunteers, and 33 sponsors, raising over $12K to help survivors and their families across Gwinnett. STORY 3: Salleigh Grubbs appointed to State Election Board Former Cobb GOP Chair Salleigh Grubbs has been tapped for the State Election Board, the Georgia Republican Party announced Monday. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones made the appointment, filling the seat left vacant by Rick Jeffares. Grubbs called it a “recess appointment” and said she’s ready to get to work immediately. “Salleigh’s leadership and commitment to election integrity are unmatched,” said Georgia GOP Chair Josh McKoon. A Marietta native, Grubbs has been a vocal advocate for fair elections for years. “I’m honored and humbled,” she said. “This is about transparency, bipartisanship, and making Georgia’s elections better for everyone.” We have opportunities for sponsors to get great engagement on these shows. Call 770.874.3200 for more info. We’ll be right back Break 2: Kia Mall of Georgia - DTL HOLIDAY STORY 4: Bittersweet: Candymakers navigate tariff, supply chain challenges during holiday season For Jocelyn Dubuke, owner of Jardi Chocolates, 2025 was a gamble. Faced with rising tariffs and supply chain chaos, she spent every dollar of last year’s revenue to stockpile chocolate. Why? To keep her customers from feeling the pinch. “Come January, I told my distributors, ‘Whatever chocolate you’ve got in the States, I want it,’” she said. “I wasn’t about to tell my customers halfway through the year, ‘Oh, by the way, your price just doubled.’” Chocolate’s tricky—rules you can bend, but not break. And with cacao only grown overseas, tariffs hit hard. STORY 5: Brookwood Tops Archer for First Deep South Classic Title in 10 Years Masai Knight spent most of the game dishing out assists—nine of them, to be exact—but his biggest play came when it mattered most. With Brookwood clinging to a four-point lead in the final minute of the Deep South Classic championship, Knight threaded a perfect pass to Grant Dehnke, who scored inside to stretch the lead to six. A defensive stop, a couple of free throws, and that was it—Brookwood sealed a 61-52 win, their first tournament title in a decade. FALCONS: Bijan Robinson was electric, C.J. Henderson clutch, and the Falcons? They held on—barely. Atlanta edged Arizona 26-19 on Sunday, thanks to Henderson’s diving interception with 90 seconds left, slamming the door on the Cardinals’ final drive. Robinson? Unreal. 171 total yards, a touchdown grab, and a spot in Falcons history—just the third player to hit 2,000 scrimmage yards in a season. Not bad company: Jamal Anderson, William Andrews. Arizona? Another heartbreak. Seven straight losses, 12 of their last 13. Brissett’s 203 yards weren’t enough, and a wild Michael Wilson TD catch wasn’t either. Atlanta’s still alive. Barely. Break 3: And now here is Leah McGrath from Ingles Markets on holiday foods Break 4: We’ll have closing comments after this Break 5: Ingles Markets 3 Signoff – Thanks again for hanging out with us on today’s Gwinnett Daily Post Podcast. If you enjoy these shows, we encourage you to check out our other offerings, like the Cherokee Tribune Ledger Podcast, the Marietta Daily Journal, or the Community Podcast for Rockdale Newton and Morgan Counties. Read more about all our stories and get other great content at www.gwinnettdailypost.com Did you know over 50% of Americans listen to podcasts weekly? Giving you important news about our community and telling great stories are what we do. Make sure you join us for our next episode and be sure to share this podcast on social media with your friends and family. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home Briefing and be sure to like, follow, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Produced by the BG Podcast Network Show Sponsors: www.ingles-markets.com www.kiamallofga.com Ice Rink – Downtown Sugar Hill https://www.downtownlawrencevillega.com/ Team GCPS News Podcast, Current Events, Top Headlines, Breaking News, Podcast News, Trending, Local News, Daily, News, Podcast, Interviews See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mike and Janice playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playli... In this episode of r/NeckbeardStories we are digging into another top post of all time from neckbeard stories! This is two neckbeard and one legbeard roommates, and it's a beefy beard saga with two bad roommates from hell! It doesn't matter what your background is, you always need to treat people like people and not use them simply to get off. Neckbeards seem to learn this lesson particularly slow and it really does make my blood boil... So we must bring it to light so others don't suffer alone. For your fill of neckbeard stories we've got you covered with the freshest weeaboo, niceguy, and neckbeard happenings on reddit. Stick with ReddX for your daily dose of cringe with a side-dish of relatability. You might even feel good for dessert... But who can say? ------------------------------------------------------------ #reddit #neckbeard #badroommates Join me on Discord dude: https://discord.gg/Sju7YckUWu One-time PayPal donation: https://www.paypal.me/daytondo... Support this channel on Patreon: http://patreon.com/daytondoes Stalk me on the Twitter! http://www.twitter.com/daytond... Visit me over on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReddX... Got a story? I got a subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/ReddX... Here's an Amazon link to my microphone: https://amzn.to/3lInsRR Wanna rock the ReddX merch? https://teespring.com/stores/r... Character animations are by: https://twitter.com/DarkleyStu... Check out my other channel: https://www.youtube.com/dayton... Wifey's channel is right over here: https://www.youtube.com/channe... ------------------------------------------------------------ Did I mention that we have playlists??: Full neckbeard story compilations: https://www.youtube.com/playli... All of our neckbeard stories: https://www.youtube.com/playli... All of our legbeard stories: https://www.youtube.com/playli... All of our RPG Horror Stories: https://www.youtube.com/playli... All of our weeaboo tales: https://www.youtube.com/playli... ------------------------------------------------------------ Podcasts can provide some ReddX on the go! Check it out! Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/... Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/reddxy iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/... Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/fe... Spreaker: https://www.spreaker.com/show/... Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podc... Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/us/show... Podcast Addict: https://podcastaddict.com/podc... JioSaavn: https://www.jiosaavn.com/shows... Have you ever met a neckbeard or a nice guy? They are frustrating to deal with, but luckily you aren't alone! These r/neckbeardstories from Reddit are among the top posts of all time and include some of the funniest Reddit stories ever posted on the neckbeard stories subreddit! rSlash NeckbeardStories have all kinds of funny neckbeards in them, but especially the nice guy. And the weeaboo. There is a wide spectrum of neckbeards, and this is but a small slice of it. Listening to ReddX's neckbeard stories playlist is a great experience! These neckbeard stories Top Posts of All Time from Reddit are made for you to enjoy any time you feel like it, so be sure to save my rSlash neckbeard stories playlist! Some of the top rSlash entitled parents channels I recommend checking out are the original rSlash, Redditor, fresh, r/Bumfries, VoiceyHere, Mr Reddit, Storytime and Darkfluff. These Reddit story channels inspired me to start my own Reddit story channel, with a focus on Entitled Parents stories and at times going into the r/pettyrevenge and r/choosingbeggars subreddit as well. Because most of my audience prefers Entitled Parents stories of Reddit, I tend to just stick with reading the r/EntitleParents Top Posts of All Time. But I also enjoy getting up close and personal with neckbeards and weeaboos from time to time. Subscribe to ReddX for the freshest daily Reddit content. I post relatable readings of Reddit posts and Reddit stories every single day! Journey with me as I relate these amazing Reddit stories to my personal life journey. I'm greatly inspired by the top reddit posts of all time videos and reddit stories on YouTube which is why I started doing them myself. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channe... Discord: https://discord.gg/Sju7YckUWu Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/daytondo... PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/daytondo... Patreon: http://patreon.com/daytondoes Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/daytond... Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReddX... Merch: https://reddx-shop.fourthwall....

Dr. Deb 0:01When your body speaks but no one listens, when your pain is dismissed as all in your head, when you’re told it’s just stress for the fifth time while your health deteriorates, you’re not crazy. You’re being medically gaslit. Did you know women in America are up to 30% more likely to be misdiagnosed than men? Or that when experiencing a heart attack, women are seven times more likely to be sent home from the ER? This isn’t just about feeling heard, it’s about survival. Dr. Deb 0:56And what if I told you that mysterious symptoms you’ve been battling for  years have real physical causes, and that you’ve been overlooked because of your gender?  But I’m pulling back the curtain on one of the most dangerous epidemics in healthcare,  the systemic dismissal of women’s health concerns,  and what you can do to finally be seen, supported, and strong. Welcome back to Let’s Talk Wellness Now, the show where we uncover the root causes of chronic  illness, explore cutting-edge regenerative medicine, and empower you with the tools to heal.  I’m Dr. Deb, and today I’m diving into medical gaslighting and the epidemic of misdiagnosis that affects millions of women. Dr. Deb 1:41If you or someone you have been diagnosed with that you love with a chronic condition or are struggling with unexplained neurological symptoms like fatigue, brain fog, numbness, or chronic pain, this episode is for you. So grab a cup of coffee, tea, or whatever helps you unwind and settle in. Let’s get started on your journey to deeper healing. Dr. Deb 2:03So today’s episode, Silence and Dismissed, Breaking Free from Medical Gaslighting in Women’s Healthcare. What if your symptoms aren’t your true diagnosis? Today, I’m exploring how women’s health concerns are systemically dismissed, misdiagnosed, or undertreated in our current healthcare system. I’ll reveal the shocking statistics and historical biases that have created a dangerous epidemic of medical gaslighting. Dr. Deb 2:36Many of you know, three years ago, I found myself on the other side of the exam table. After experiencing troubling neurological symptoms, I was diagnosed with MS. And for three years, I lived with that diagnosis, constantly wondering about my future. But recently, in June of 2024, a new MRI revealed something different. Dr. Deb 3:06My brain wasn’t showing the progressive lesions typically of MS. Instead, my neurologist now believes I experienced post-COVID peripheral neuropathy. Crazy ride, isn’t it? I have lesions in my brain. They’re not progressing like MS, but they created some damage in my brain. Dr. Deb 3:30In October of 2024, I did a brain MRI with a researcher, Dr. Goodenow, who you guys have heard me talk about before. And after being on a protocol that he and I developed together to help my condition, my brain lesions have not only not progressed, but I have increased or grown my gray matter of my brain by 1.4, 1.5. Sorry, I got to give that little extra point in there. This is amazing because as we age, we lose gray matter. Dr. Deb 4:01We know that. And up until now, there’s really been no way for us to show or even know if we’ve improved brain health or not. Well, this new MRI technology that he’s utilizing has been able to document the protocol that we’re doing is actually working and it is growing my brain instead of allowing my brain to shrink with age, which would typically happen. Dr. Deb 4:30We are stopping those lesions from progressing. MS or post-COVID peripheral neuropathy, it doesn’t really matter what the name of this problem is. The lesions are there. Dr. Deb 4:43They’re affecting my prefrontal lobe. And I am trying to prevent any consequences or any symptoms that could result of that. So what this journey has taught me is essentially the truth that I share with my patients. Dr. Deb 4:57True health lies not in chasing a diagnosis, but in pursuing wellness itself. You know, the statistics around women’s healthcare are truly alarming. When a woman enters an emergency room with severe abdominal pain, she’ll wait 33% longer than a man with identical symptoms. Dr. Deb 5:20Approximately 66% of women report receiving a misdiagnosis in the last two years. Think about that. Two thirds of women are being told that they have conditions they don’t actually have. Dr. Deb 5:35While their real health issues remain untreated, and the condition that they were told they had either isn’t treated at all, or they’re given the wrong medication because it’s the wrong diagnosis. This is not about incompetent doctors. It’s about a system built on incomplete science. Dr. Deb 5:57Did you know until the 1990s, women were routinely excluded from medical research and clinical trials? The assumption was that the male body was representative of the human species. So why study women separately? You know, women are not small men. Their bodies function differently at a cellular level. Dr. Deb 6:20And even today, this knowledge gap persists. Medical textbooks still primarily focus on how diseases present in men, while women often experience entirely different symptoms. Take heart attacks. Dr. Deb 6:34Men typically feel crushing chest pain, while women more commonly experience fatigue and shortness of breath, or pain in the jaw, the neck, the back. And when women feel symptoms that don’t match the classic male pattern, they’re dismissed, as you’ve guessed it, anxiety or stress. You’re just too overwhelmed with raising your children. Dr. Deb 6:56You’re burning the candle at both ends. And while some of that may be true, that is not the reason for your symptoms. This misdiagnosis epidemic isn’t just frustrating, it’s deadly. Dr. Deb 7:11It leads to delayed treatments, worsening conditions, unnecessary procedures, and preventable deaths. And for conditions like endometriosis, did you know the average delay in diagnosis is 7 to 10 years? Not months, years. For autoimmune diseases, which affect women at rates up to three times higher than men, that diagnostic journey can span a decade or more. Dr. Deb 7:42Now we’re going to take a break here and have a word from our sponsor, and we’re going to be right back to talk more about medical gaslighting and its roots. Welcome back, everybody. What is medical gaslighting anyway? Well, this happens when health care providers dismiss, minimize, or psychologize physical symptoms. Dr. Deb 8:09It’s when you’re told your debilitating fatigue is just depression, your crushing chest pain is just anxiety, or you’re disabling pain. It’s got to be all in your head. According to recent surveys, about 72% of the millennial women report experiencing medical gaslighting. Dr. Deb 8:35And for women of color, the statistics are even more alarming. While research showing they face compounded biases at every level of care. But why does this happen? The roots run deep, all the way back to ancient Greece, when Hippocrates first used hysteria as a formal diagnosis. Dr. Deb 8:58And throughout history, women’s bodies have been viewed as mysterious, unpredictable, and fundamentally flawed versions of the male body. What a crock. This bias isn’t always conscious. Dr. Deb 9:16Even well-meaning doctors operate within a system that has trained them to view women’s symptoms through a skeptical lens. And the problem is compounded by several factors. First, there’s the knowledge gap. Dr. Deb 9:30As Dr. Mark Gordon, a leading expert in neuroinflammation has demonstrated, male and female brains respond differently to identical triggers. The same is true for hormonal systems, immune responses, and even drug metabolism. Yet most medical protocols don’t account for these differences. Dr. Deb 9:53Second, there’s time pressure. The average primary care visit lasts a little longer than you probably think, but just 17 minutes. Barely enough time to address one concern, let alone a complex constellation of symptoms that don’t fit neatly into a diagnostic category. Dr. Deb 10:15When I see clients for the first time, we’re spending well over an hour just having a conversation, and another hour in doing diagnostics in my office, so that we can understand individually what’s happening with each client that we see, male or female. A far difference from the 17 minutes. Did you know that practitioners are taught that if someone complains of more than two symptoms, it must be depression or anxiety? That’s how our medical system is training these days. Dr. Deb 10:54When I was training, it was completely different, and I was blessed to be trained by a pioneer in medicine who was trained even differently than I was, and trained at a time where we didn’t have a lot of medications, we didn’t have a lot of testing options, so your conversation, your history, your exam had to tell you what was going on with that client. It makes a huge difference today. This is just, I don’t know, it’s craziness to me at this point. Dr. Deb 11:25Thirdly, there’s implicit biases. Studies show that healthcare providers of all genders consistently rate women’s pain as less severe than men’s, even when the reported pain levels are identical. Women are twice as likely to be diagnosed with mental health conditions when presenting with symptoms that suggest a physical cause. Dr. Deb 11:53This kind of gaslighting creates a vicious cycle. Women begin to doubt their own experiences, become hesitant to seek care, and lose trust in the medical system. They may stop advocating for themselves, or conversely become labeled as difficult patients when they push for answers, and oftentimes these women then are dismissed from the practice because they’re thought of as being non-compliant. Dr. Deb 12:23My own journey through the healthcare maze taught me lessons I now use to help thousands of women reclaim their health. When my brain scan first showed lesions, I was quickly diagnosed with MS, but unlike many women, I didn’t just accept that diagnosis and the treatment plan that came with it. As both a patient and a practitioner, I knew that healing requires looking at the whole picture, not just at a label. Dr. Deb 12:52I investigated every possibility that could explain my symptoms. Mold exposure, chronic infection, hormonal collapse, mitochondrial dysfunction, and I focused on healing while continuing to seek answers, and today my brain is actually reversing in age with improving gray matter and a clear sign that my approach is working. Take Maria, a 42-year-old executive who came to me after seeing eight different doctors for crushing fatigue, brain fog, and weight gain. Dr. Deb 13:26She’d been told she had depression, prescribed antidepressants, and when those didn’t work, she was told to reduce her stress level. By the time she found me, her thyroid was barely functioning. She had significant adrenal dysfunction, and testing revealed multiple chronic infections. Dr. Deb 13:46Stories like Maria’s and mine repeat themselves daily in my practice, and women struggling with the autoimmune conditions, inexplicable pain, and debilitating fatigue, or mysterious neurological symptoms who’ve been told repeatedly that their labs are quote-unquote normal, and they should just learn to live with it. But here’s what I’ve learned. When we truly listen to women, when we respect their intuitive knowledge of their own bodies, when we investigate deeply enough, we almost always find answers, and with those answers come solutions, healing, and hope. Dr. Deb 14:30So what’s the solution to this systemic problem? It requires change at multiple levels, but it begins with empowering women to advocate for themselves effectively. First, trust your body. Your symptoms are real, and you deserve care that acknowledges that reality. Dr. Deb 14:51As Dr. Daniel Amen has demonstrated through thousands of brain scans, your mental and physical symptoms have psychological origins that can be identified and treated when we look deeply enough. Second, become your own health advocate. Track your symptoms meticulously, noting patterns and triggers, and the specific impact on your daily functioning. Dr. Deb 15:17When you visit a healthcare practitioner, bring this data with you. It’s harder to dismiss documented patterns than general complaints. Third, don’t go alone if possible. Dr. Deb 15:30Studies show that having an advocate present during medical appointments significantly increases the likelihood of being taken seriously, and this person can take notes, ask follow-up questions, and provide confirmation of your experiences. Fourth, be prepared to be persistent. If you’re not getting answers, seek second, third, or even fourth opinions, and look for practitioners who specialize in functional medicine, integrative approaches, or women’s health specifically. Dr. Deb 16:05Fifth, know that you have options beyond conventional medicine. While I believe in working with traditional healthcare when appropriate, complementary approaches like functional medicine can offer solutions where conventional approaches have failed. At my practice, I see women daily who’ve been medically gaslit for years before finding us. Dr. Deb 16:22Our approach begins with comprehensive testing, not just the standard panels that only flag disease once it’s advanced, but functional testing that can identify patterns of dysfunction before they become pathological. I look at the whole picture, hormones, micronutrients, toxin exposure, gut health, inflammation markers, genetic predispositions, and more. My team and I understand the symptoms in one system often originate in another, and that healing requires addressing root causes rather than merely suppressing symptoms, and oftentimes it requires a team of experts to look at your case. Dr. Deb 17:09The future I envision is one where women don’t have to fight to be believed, where their symptoms are investigated with the same rigor as men’s, and where their intuitive knowledge about their own bodies is respected rather than dismissed. This isn’t just about fairness. It’s about saving lives. Dr. Deb 17:26It’s about preventing the needless suffering that occurs when diagnosis comes too late. It’s about creating a healthcare system that serves everyone equally. It’s about bringing women back to the bargaining table, about having a say in how they feel. Dr. Deb 17:43It’s about partnering with women to get the best out of their healthcare that they possibly can. It’s about providing a system of medicine that works for all of us, not for one of us. Thank you for joining me today on Let’s Talk Wellness Now. Dr. Deb 18:02If this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who could benefit from learning about medically gaslighting and how to advocate for better healthcare. Remember, wellness isn’t just about feeling good. It’s about thriving in every area of your life. Dr. Deb 18:19If you’re ready to explore how functional medicine and root cause healing can help you overcome challenges of misdiagnosis, visit us at serenityhealthcarecenter.com or reach out to me through our social media channels. Until next time, I’m Dr. Deb reminding you to take care of your body, mind and spirit. Be well and I’ll see you on the next episode. Dr. Deb 18:44And do me one favor. If this episode resonates with you or you know somebody that’s being medically gaslit, please share it, like and subscribe to our channel. It really helps us grow and spread the word of integrative medicine and root cause medicine. Dr. Deb 19:04Thank you for sharing your time with me today. As always, we’ll see you and be well.The post Episode 249 – SILENCED & DISMISSED: Breaking Free from Medical Gaslighting in Women's Healthcare first appeared on Let's Talk Wellness Now.

Bills Edge Past Browns: Defensive Woes & Offensive Struggles In this episode of Circling the Wagons, we analyze the Buffalo Bills' narrow 23-20 victory against the Cleveland Browns, highlighting crucial moments and player performances. They discuss the game's key stats, including Greg Rousseau's standout defensive play, Josh Allen's inconsistent performance, and the wide receiver struggles. The podcast also examines the team's tackling issues, missed opportunities, and potential playoff concerns. Listener hot takes and season outlooks are reviewed, while contributors are announced as giveaway winners. Tune in for in-depth analysis and Bills chatter. Go Bills! 00:00 Bills vs. Browns: Game Recap 01:08 Game Highlights and Key Moments 01:43 Player Performances and Analysis 02:38 Controversial Calls and Missed Opportunities 07:05 Stats of the Game 09:00 Sweet Sassy Molassy Plays of the Game 10:51 Wall of Fame and Wall of Shame 15:41 Strengths and Weaknesses of the Bills 29:17 Kicker Woes and Defensive Mistakes 29:56 Browns' Mistakes and Missed Opportunities 31:38 Hot Takes from Twitter 35:06 Wide Receiver Woes and Offensive Struggles 44:08 Playoff Hopes and Team Comparisons 56:50 Giveaway and Final Thoughts If you like our show, tell a friend and spread the word! Like, Comment, Share and Subscribe! Email us questions, comments, or Bills stories: ctwpod@gmail.com Follow us on X/Twitter: @CTWpod Like us on Facebook: Circling the Wagons: A Buffalo Bills Podcast Follow us on Instagram: CTWpod Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: @CTWpod Check out our low-priced Bills T-Shirts, Socks, Hoodies, Mugs & More: Circling the Wagons TeePublic Store Get $125 for every $100 you deposit for Sports Betting on BetUS (where we bet each week) #BillsMafia #BuffaloBills #GoBills #Buffalo    

This episode sponsored by Serenity Roofing & Construction   LightSpeed VT: https://www.lightspeedvt.com/ Dropping Bombs Podcast: https://www.droppingbombs.com/ In this raw Dropping Bombs episode, Billy Fain reveals the roofing secrets behind how he escaped 25 years of miserable retail to bootstrap the debt-free, 8-figure Serenity Roofing & Construction empire. From praying broke with $400 to his name to ranking #93 nationally in year one, Billy shares the discipline, cash flow strategy, and sales-over-labor mindset separating millionaires from broke hard workers.   Hear the unfiltered truth: surviving a $130K scam, working 110-hour weeks, and why 97% of roofing startups fail. Billy breaks down the $3M apartment deal that funded his first commercial property, why hard work alone is a trap, and the exact commission structure that built his fortune. If you're ready for the blueprint to escape corporate handcuffs and build real wealth through grit and execution, this conversation is essential.  

This week, we discuss the Chiefs just not being themselves as they lose to the Texans. The playoff chances to the basement. As we discuss the Royals plan at the winter meetings as things start to hit the rumor mill.(12.10.25)

If you’re a high-achiever who has built your life on hard work, dedication and getting difficult tasks done, you probably can’t imagine what it would be like to allow your life to happen in a way that is organic and easy. Just let things happen however they happen??? It might even sound kind of “wrong”. You might think to yourself that everything good in your life has been built by the achiever in you who knows how to get great things accomplished. But what if all of that power and passion you bring to your work and your life could be directed toward a life of ease? What if “easy” doesn’t mean what you think it does? This is a tiny little nuance that will not only change the way you think about the word “easy” but will (hopefully) revolutionize the way you experience your life. If you’re ready to begin writing your story, please take advantage of my BIG December gift to writers: more than 75% off my signature course A Book in Six Months. Use code GRATITUDE at checkout to get this $999 product for only $222. Host: Ally Fallon // @allyfallon // allisonfallon.comFollow Ally on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allyfallon/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this intense Bigfoot encounter episode, a veteran gold prospector shares chilling firsthand experiences from deep in the wilderness of Southern Oregon and Northern California. While prospecting for gold near Cave Junction, Oregon, Josephine Creek, and remote parts of Sierra County, Plumas County, and the American River, what began as a mining adventure quickly turned into a terrifying encounter with something powerful, intelligent, and unseen.The guest recounts being stalked, followed, screamed at, and physically shaken by heavy bipedal footsteps, describing classic Bigfoot behaviors including wood knocks, triangulation, warning vocalizations, and intimidation displays. From night encounters near campfires to daylight experiences in extremely remote terrain, this episode explores how Bigfoot activity often overlaps with isolated gold-rich areas rarely visited by humans.You'll hear detailed accounts involving Oregon Caves, Happy Camp, Feather River Canyon, and areas near Lake Tahoe, along with discussions on Bigfoot intelligence, territorial behavior, survival instincts, and why prospectors frequently report Sasquatch encounters. This episode also dives into the emotional and psychological impact of these experiences and why many witnesses stay silent for years.If you're interested in Bigfoot sightings, Sasquatch encounters, wilderness horror stories, cryptids of the Pacific Northwest, or survival experiences in remote forests, this episode delivers a raw, firsthand account that challenges skepticism and raises serious questions about what lives deep in North America's wildest places. Resources:Adventure Person Youtube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@AdventurePerson007

When given the simple task of doing a listener request, Brooke decides instead to go rogue. So instead of us talking about Alistair and his indifference about which twin he fucks or marries (but which would he kill?), we end up in the world of the Peels, Arthur and Nan-Lin. It's been ten episodes since we last saw them, and it took us a while to figure out exactly who we were dealing with this episode. Once we caught up, we discovered that -- of course! -- Arthur was drawn very differently from when we saw him last. Not a surprise! Anyway, these two people who (hilariously?) share the same last name, fall in love after accidentally (?) touching their tongues together. Brooke and Jeff absolutely lose their fucking minds over the creative choice to put the thoughts in a thought bubble backwards. But things only get worse from there when we finally remember that we've seen these two characters before. And after the briefest amount of research, we discover that -- of course -- Arthur looks NOTHING like the Arthur we met before. Nothing. Barely resembles the same character. Nan-Lin jumps his bones, because that's the only way courtship works in this fucking comic strip. And then we go down the same path we've been down before with the romantic couple talking ENDLESSLY about whether or not what was happening was actually real or somehow just a fantasy. It's insufferable, naturally. Arthur plays his "Reverie," the magical piece of music he wrote that sends listeners into fits of uncontrollable fucking. Nan-Lin recognizes it. And then she doesn't recognize it at all. Because that makes perfect sense. And then, upon hearing it, she drops to the floor and begins masturbating. No, seriously. For like four straight strips. As Arthur puts it, she "palpates herself." Even after he stops playing. Amazing that this run did not kill us. The Chickweed strips we discuss this episode: You can find all of this episode's strips on Instagram by clicking here (https://www.instagram.com/p/DSQfncnkwr6/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==). We've abandoned Twitter, because it's terrible, but you can now find this episode's strips on Bluesky by clicking here (https://bsky.app/profile/9chickweedrage.bsky.social/post/3m7xymjotrk2p). This self-palpating episode includes: Listener requests Happy Holidays Tongues Bugs Bunny Turtlenecks More Tongues Etaoin Shrdlu Hot Type Sweat towel Mongo like Sheriff Bart Thrown glasses Dutch angles Calisthenics Masturbation McEldowney Ellipses Thorax Date rape drugs Semi-colon The 9th Chickweed Lane Circle of Hell The Pants of Palpation Breakfast of Champions Asterisk = asshole Talk to Us! Having trouble understanding what's going on in a 9 Chickweed Lane strip you just read? Send it our way! We'll take a shot at interpreting it for you! Or maybe you just want someone to talk to? We're on Bluesky: @9ChickweedRAGE.bsky.social (https://bsky.app/profile/9chickweedrage.bsky.social). And we're on Instagram: @9ChickweedRage (https://www.instagram.com/9chickweedrage/).

What was Sherrone Moore thinking? The U of M Coach lost his job going after the young lady. I survived war torn Kuwait, and Doha. BARELY! My knees are fun, the gifts we get that we don't expect, and staying positive always!   Plus jokes. Hannah back next week. Listen and subscribe wherever you stream of watch on and sub on youtube  https://youtu.be/N-mXocKT4Gs @newbergpod 

Welcome to Episode 8 of the Errol Flynn Series - Let's continue with the book "Errol Flynn Slept Here" - It's time for Ch. 6 - "In Like Flynn. Barely surviving a statutory rape trial in 1943, a bewildered yet defiant Errol Flynn is acquitted, and emerges bruised and bewildered, yet ever defiant, in his vain attempt to continue enjoy living. Tragically, he fails to make sense of it all as he struggles to redefine the next (and last) 16 years of his life on earth. Spoiler - He doesn't learn a damn thing. In this episode, let's discover how Errol became a national cautionary tale and joke at the same time, as the shameful phrase "In Like Flynn" enters the American Lexicon, forever damaging the psyche of this complex man. Loving this Errol Flynn Series? Watch it on MY YT CHANNEL - The Episodes come alive with great photos of Errol Flynn, which you can enjoy while I read and discuss the chapters with you! He really was SO handsome- do yourself a favor and WATCH the episodes too! Click here - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyIMNnG5yA1_MnnfJQwAjtzm7215e4JMQ   Love the show? Leave a 5 star review on Apple Podcasts and share this episode!   Watch my episodes - Go to my YouTube Channel and subscribe -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2FsXn-xhr4mYIAK0569BBw   I have a channel membership over there if you'd like to support me! Simply click on the "join" button underneath my YT videos - thanks.   Can't join but want to leave a tIp? Help keep me caffeinated and fill my tip jar here - https://buymeacoffee.com/jenniferc    Other stuff    I've been a licensed esthetician and a makeup artist for over two decades - Want to see a list of all of my favorite beauty product recommendations? Everything I love, use, and wear all the time - CLICK HERE - https://shopmy.us/jenniferc/shelves   BUY MY ONLINE SKINCARE GUIDES HERE-  https://jenniferchristopherson.com     In Christ, Xo Jennifer    Disclaimer- This video/podcast episode is under Fair Use: Section 107 of the Copyright Act provides the statutory framework for determining whether something is a fair use and identifies certain types of uses—such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research—as examples of activities that may qualify as fair use. All rights and credit go directly to its rightful owners. No copyright infringement intended. All Opinions are my own and within my right to express under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution      

In this episode of Wrestling Soup, Joe and Anthony dive into the latest Monday Night Raw, breaking down the highs, lows, and everything in between. The guys discuss the rushed Maxine Dupree and Natty storyline, critique WWE's current creative direction, and share their thoughts on the state of the women's division. They also touch on the War Raiders' booking, the ongoing saga of the Usos and New Day, and speculate about the future with so many top stars nearing retirement. Tthe hosts debate whether AI is secretly running WWE and what the company needs to do to get back on track.Show opens, Joe and Anthony banter about going live and introduce the show.Discussion about Monday Night Raw, initial reactions, and Anthony's viewing habits.Raw review: Maxine Dupree and Natty promo, and the rushed storyline.Commentary on the state of WWE creative, including Triple H's absence and speculation about AI writing the show.War Raiders segment: critique of the state of tag teams.Jay and Jim Uso segment, New Day's involvement, and the lack of heat for tag titles.Talk about upcoming retirements: AJ Styles, Randy Orton, Sheamus, John Cena, and the future of WWE's roster.Women's division focus: Stephanie promo, Nikki Bella's appearance, Raquel Rodriguez's involvement.More on the women's matches: Rox vs. Lyra Valkyria, makeup mishaps.Main event setup: Logan Paul, LA Knight, and the Masked Man angle.Criticism of Logan Paul's inexperience and the need for better booking/protection of new talent.Final thoughts: lackluster promos, Gunther's segment, and the overall poor quality of the show.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/wrestling-soup--1425249/support.

ABC, CBS and NBC choose to spend very little airtime on the outrageous Somalian theft of Covid funds meant to feed the hungry, help the infirm and house the homeless. But Jake Tapper does decide to fact check President Trump's claims that he solved 8 wars in 8 months. The media fail to update their coverage about the climate emergency study that was just pulled for being ridiculous. An Idaho bar owner finds standing up to liberals can be a nasty business. 

Mike and Wes review the victory over the Bears, discussing CB Keisean Nixon's game-saving INT (1:04), the overall defensive performance (5:34), the big plays on offense from WRs Christian Watson and Bo Melton (11:02), plus the standout performances from QB Jordan Love and RB Josh Jacobs (18:35). They also look at the NFC North standings and playoff picture (29:32).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brian B. Shynin' offers his thoughts on the Chiefs' playoff hopes that are officially on life support now. Show and BK preview Sunday Night Football against the Texans and the Chiefs' banged-up offensive line against this talented pass rush. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Thought Behind Things, we sit down with Umer Munawar, Co-Founder of SmartLane, one of Pakistan's fastest-growing logistics aggregation platforms.Umer shares how he exited Finja and jumped straight into solving Pakistan's most chaotic industry - e-commerce logistics. From integrating 31 courier companies, to processing thousands of parcels, to raising $2.3 million, this episode breaks down what really happens behind the scenes in Pakistan's delivery ecosystem.We discuss:Why e-commerce is the easiest business todayWhy logistics is brutally hard with razor-thin marginsHow SmartLane aggregates every major courierWhy delivery riders earn so littleWhy Pakistan's logistic pricing is totally unrealisticThe future of debt funding, blockchain, & capital accessAnd what Pakistan could look like by 2050A deep-dive into e-commerce, logistics, fintech, and the future of business in Pakistan.Socials:TBT's Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/thoughtbehindthings/⁠⁠⁠⁠TBT's TikTok:⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.tiktok.com/@tbtbymuzamil⁠⁠⁠⁠TBT's Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/thoughtbehindthings⁠⁠⁠⁠TBT Clips: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@tbtpodcastclips⁠⁠⁠⁠Muzamil's Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/muzamilhasan/⁠⁠⁠⁠Muzamil's LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/muzamilhasan/⁠⁠⁠⁠Nayab's LinkedIn: pk.linkedin.com/in/umer-munawar-41a9a2125Endeavor's LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/endeavor-pakistan⁠⁠⁠⁠Credits:Executive Producer: Syed Muzamil Hasan ZaidiAssociate Producer: Saad ShehryarPublisher: Talha ShaikhEditor: Jawad Sajid