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The last days before the Great Hunt.Book 3 in 18 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.“Can the scorpion ever stop being a scorpion? “"Do we get our legally permitted weaponry back?" The bishop still held my hand."Sure. If it makes you feel better.""I would like to meet your people then," he gave my paw one last shake then released me. "Shall we go?""I will have someone take you to your car. I want to briefly meet with the President, of Havenstone, then I'll join you in the garage. We'll drive over to JIKIT and I'll make the introductions. Good enough?""That is acceptable," he nodded."What about you two?" I regarded the nun and the Swiss Super-soldier. The nun remained vigilant, and silent. The Swiss' eyes flickered to his boss before settling back on me."It is what I volunteered for," he stated firmly."Okay. Please never say I didn't give you a chance to take the sane way out. Also, Bishop Nicolö, circumstances have conspired to up my prospective wedding date to January 1st.""That will be more difficult. Why the change?" he remained grim."We are having twins. By March, this will be very visible.""That is, unfortunate," he shook his head."You have no idea," and then a brainstorm. "And I am curious about resurrecting the Order of the Dragon, the Societas Draconistarum." Technically that meant 'Society of the Dragonists' which was more appropriate than the literal Ordo Draconis."Precisely how do you plan to recreate a crusading Christian Order which was the purview of the Hungarian monarchs?" he didn't sound the least skeptical, just curious."I have billions of euros to fund such a thing," I winked. "Of far greater critical importance, I know where I can find the supernatural guidance and spiritual imperative for such an organization.""You are going to produce a dragon?" his eyes grew larger even as he fought down his fear. Good man. He was adaptive. He'd need to be."I never said such a thing. That would make me sound crazy," I smiled broadly. "Besides, when I say 'dragon', you think 'devil' and that's way too pedestrian for where we are going.""I am not a moral relativist.""Neither am I. I'm out to save lives and nurture the drive in the human spirit to reach for freedom, love and liberty. As you might imagine, I'm pretty freaking outnumbered.""I think you are crazy," he re-evaluated things."I just might be. In all honesty, you should back out now. Take your two compadres back to 25 East 39th Street (the Holy See's Permanent Observer Offices to the UN in NYC) and report 'Mission Failure'. You'll most likely live longer," I reasoned."I am not afraid to die," Sister Rafaela Sophia finally voiced an opinion."That's idiotic," I scoffed before the bishop could reprimand her for opening her mouth. "You should be.""My soul is in God's hands," she set her jaw."Does he talk to you?" I countered."His message is clear.""Not what I asked. I asked if he specifically directed you to toss your life fruitlessly away as an object lesson for the reckless, or careless?""This is uncalled for," Nicolö intervened."Nope. I bet you a phone call to my Brother to physically restore your bishopric that there are four people in this room who have murdered in cold blood," I kept eye contact with the nun, "and she's the odd one out. Right Juanita?""Yes, Ishara," Juanita slipped up. Her spycraft, like mine, needed work."You were in the military?" the bishop asked my bodyguard."Was? I am. Right now," she related. "I will be until I die."That earned me looks from the three Catholics."She is loyal," Nicolö nodded slightly toward her, referring to Juanita's declaration."Huh? To me? Nope. She's loyal to my office, which we shan't get into right now. Back to you, Sister Rafaela Sophia. Are you out to be a martyr, or has some saint, or angel, given you a directive the other two seem to be unaware of which causes you to devalue your life?""I am devoted to the One True God, Christ, our Savior," and Juanita snorted, "and the Virgin Mary," the nun stated firmly. "I don't hear voices in my head.""Juanita, that was rude. Apologize to our guest," I kept looking forward."No." Well, fuck you too."Gun," I commanded. I held out my left hand."What? No. I will not give you one of my guns," she resisted."Juanita, give me your primary weapon, or I will ask Pamela to beat you up the moment I depart for the Great Hunt. After yesterday's stunt, you know she will," I threatened. Fair, I was not. She drew a Glock-20 and handed it to me. I went through the routine, dropped the magazine then ejected the round before opening the door.Oh look, there were four SD chicks outside, ready to escort my visitors downstairs. I didn't even need to waste a phone call. It wasn't like the conference room wasn't being monitored."Excuse me," I took a half step out the door then hurled all three items down the hall. Looking back at Juanita. "Go fetch.""Fuck you," she snapped."And insulting her faith was as degrading to both her faith and her as me doing this to you is degrading to you right now," I lectured her. "It is important to her, therefore it is important to me because she is my guest in the same way it is important to me that I let my bodyguard do her job without being a total asshole all the time. Now go get your God-damn weapon," I barked. Off she went. I left the door open."Now Sister Rafaela Sophia, the point of all this is: I don't give a crap if you are willing to die for God. In fact, that makes you less than worthless to me and the team. I want to know if you are willing to put other motherfuckers in the ground so that Bishop Nicolá, or Mathias, might get to keep doing their jobs.""Murder is a sin," she declared."Go home," I sighed while shaking my head."She answers to me, the Church and God, not you, Mr. Nyilas," the bishop stepped forward."Then you can go home too," I shrugged. "I'm not asking for remorseless killers. I'm asking for people willing to kill to get the hard work done and best of all, for people who know the difference.""Everyone on JIKIT is a professional soldier, or killer?" he asked."No, but the ones who aren't don't carry guns and know to get down when things get funky," I bantered."I vouch for her," he insisted. Juanita came running back into the room."Cool beans. I don't know you either.""You apparently know my service history," he volleyed."Yeah. Ten years a foreigner in the service of France, then you went straight into a university which turns out Jesuits," I riposted."What turned your life around?" he evaded. That was okay. I'd gotten what I wanted. I was willing to bet he had read every bit of public information about me and it was rumored the heavy Catholic membership in the FBI had its benefits to the Church as well. Not so much as to give them insight into JIKIT, but,"Someone risked their life for me. It's been pretty much downhill from there," I confessed. It was the truth. After Katrina gave me the life line on Day Two, it had all spiraled to the revelation of my heritage, Dad's death, Summer Camp, the Hamptons, Romania and Aya's kidnapping."A person, a soldier, died saving my life," the bishop empathized. "Her story is similar. She seeks redemption. She is not suicidal. I am staking both our lives on it."Did he mean him and Mathias, or him and me? I wasn't certain. Still, it was good enough for now. I'd gotten a look at their emotional make up, even the relatively quiet Swiss."Very well," I agreed. "I have to go see the President about my new job description. I'll catch up with you at your car." To the SD team leader, "Take them to the garage. I will join the group of you very soon.""Yes Ishara," she nodded. I exited the room, Juanita in tow. Two SD entered. I was gone before the Papal team left. Upstairs we went, with one last chore to discharge. I had to check on Ms. French to be absolutely freaking sure it was Shawnee, because anyone else would spell disaster.{8:30 am, Monday, September 8th. Last day}A Room full of asistants:Well, there it was, the office of the Executive Director to the President, and not 'Executive Assistant', because this was Katrina's final 'fuck you, no, just her final 'fuck you' before the Great Hunt got underway. I shouldn't assume things, dang it!Anyway, according to the gray-haired matron running gatekeeper to the Office of the President, this was where I was supposed to show up. I shot Juanita a worried look. She glanced my way and shrugged, momentarily willing to not give me shit about the past 24 hours because where I was situated would determine how easily she could do her job.In we went. In the suite were three desks, the 'big' desk situated at the far end of the office space and two far more modest ones on either side of the entryway. The room expanded beyond the chokepoint formed by the two closest desks into a cluttered area. The walls were cluttered with inset bookshelves and portraits of women. Facing one another were a loveseat on my left with bookend plush chairs in an 'L' facing and a full sofa on the right. There were end tables at the ends of the sofa and the corners between the loveseat and each chair.As the door opened, I hadn't knock as this was my office, or so it seemed, the occupants, who had all been sitting in quiet conversation in the central section, began reacting. Oh look ~ Constanza! I nearly had a heart attack before I realized there were three other Amazons also in the room. Sadly, none were behind the 'big desk', so I couldn't tell who was in charge. Two of the other three choices weren't too much better. First off,"Ishara," Marilynn Saint John stood to greet me. I'd last seen her when I'd dedicated her grandmother's (Hayden's) spirit to the halls of my ancestors, not hers, after forcing the political crisis leading to Hayden's suicide ~ her taking herself to the cliffs and in doing so, destroying the Amazon Cult of Blood Purity. Marilynne was clearly still bitter with me. Umm, I could still incite passion in women I hadn't slept with, yet, woot?"Cáel," the senior-most and only friendly face in the room spoke next. Thank goodness it was Beyoncé Vincennes, Head of House Hanwasuit and House Ishara ally."Cáel Ishara," the third individual was deferential which I wasn't sure how to take as the last time I'd encountered her, yeah, things hadn't gone well either."Beyoncé," I started off with a smile. From there, I had to figure out, ah, Beyoncé's eyes flickered to Constanza then Sabia. I knew Marilynn, with her young age, had the least seniority, "Constanza, Sabia, Marilynn. How's tricks?"Glum faces by everyone except Beyoncé. I didn't ask about Sabia's particular well-being. It had been months since I'd beaten her into the mats of the Full-blooded gym. She'd attacked Yasmin, the Brazilian Hottie and my Brazilian Jujutsu sparring buddy, and I'd retaliated by ambushed her when she turned her back on us. Besides, she'd been giving me shit before I even could see straight.Constanza was minus her left eye because of her dire insult to me. If she wasn't capable of working, she wouldn't be here. If she appreciated my 'mercy' in sparing her life ~ her insult was worthy of her death ~ Constanza hid it well. I hadn't spared her expecting a change of heart. I hadn't felt words alone warranted anyone's death. I was a big boy and could take a few insults. House Ishara, as represented by me, could care less. These days, my sisters would be less understanding despite them knowing my heart."Constanza Landau of House Jaya and Marilynn Saint John of House Anahit are Assistants to President Shawnee French," Beyoncé eased things along, "so will be working closely with us, at least for the short term. Sabia Noel of House Guabancex, who I now think you know as well, has joined you as the other 'Assistant' to the 'Executive Director to the President', (that would make me an 'adept', but adept at what?), and since two of the three Regents are unfamiliar with the workings of Havenstone proper, Shawnee has asked me to perform in that role."Beyoncé was, or had been, Havenstone HQ's CFO (Chief Financial Officer). From what I was quickly piecing together, she would essentially be making all the day-to-day decisions concerning the running of Havenstone (how the Host made the majority of its money) until the Regents got up to speed.Only Buffy had actual experience with the New York office and, from what she had told me, solely within Executive Services. While ES knew 'who' did what inside Havenstone, they weren't aware precisely how those Amazons got their jobs done. That would have been an impossible task. Katrina could do it, but she knew it was beyond the ability of most of us 'mere mortals'. Since we were currently at war, the Host needed Katrina completely focused on her duties as Chief Spy-mistress, not baby-sitting the adults.Shawnee indeed had much gravitas among the other House Heads. Not only had she risen up to lead a First House, she had performed heroically during the final days of the last Secret War. Afterwards she had moved into the realm of Amazon jurisprudence and mediation. Until yesterday, she had lived in a House Arinniti freehold in Minnesota's Great Lakes region thus her desire for the 'Training Wheels' period.The Regency would not rule through telecommunication (the upper echelons feared being eavesdropped upon beyond the standard Amazon (read: paranoid) levels) and Havenstone: New York was the center best situated for the current war-fighting operations, so here she lived. I was sure a team from Executive Services was buying, outfitting/spy-proofing and fortifying a dwelling suitable for the President of a Fortune 500 company. Hayden's home would remain the domicile of Sydney thus Marilynn.The same rigmarole would be done for Rhada and Buffy (though I imaged Buffy would bitch endlessly). Publically, they were VP's of a company worth hundreds of billions of dollars and they had to present the public trappings of such leaders.Why did the Amazons do this ~ unmask their leadership to public exposure? Legal-simple: they could request and expect all levels of public and private security for their executives who happened to also be important officials of the Host. Certainly not all executives at Havenstone were officeholders, House Heads, or House Apprentices, but the high level of competence which permitted one often led to the other.Beyonce:As an example: Beyoncé wasn't the most 'bad-ass' lethal chick in House Hanwasuit. As she was preparing to be casted, her intelligence, creativity and diligence at her future craft, finances, was noted by the Host and the members of her House. In due time her name was circulated as Apprentice and the elders approved. When her elder cousin, the prior House Head, took herself to the cliffs, Beyoncé assumed the top spot. Beyoncé wasn't even one of that woman's three daughters.Mirroring her advancement in her House was her advancement in Havenstone's Accounting, Acquisitions and Banking Divisions until she was appointed CFO Havenstone HQ ~ the supreme financial authority inside Havenstone, though the individual regional branches had a greater degree of autonomy than you might normally expect from a 21st century conglomerate, or a Bronze Age autocracy.I had to constantly remind myself, despite the near-constant feuding, Amazons exhibited a phenomenally higher level of trust than I'd ever found in any other society I'd ever witnessed, or read about, before. Though technically Beyoncé could have gone to President Hayden to enforce her decisions ~ or now the Regency ~ she was far more diplomatic in her approach in dealing with the other 'continental' CEO's and CFO's.That meant she had to wrangle the aspirations and resources from:North America (including Latin America, the 'Canadian Arctic' and the North Pacific Ocean),South America (includes both the South Atlantic and South Pacific as far as Samoa),Europe (mostly Central Europe these days plus Antarctica, the 'Russian' Arctic and the North Atlantic),Africa (mostly West-central Africa),India (the subcontinent plus the vast expanse of the Indian Ocean) and,Southeast Asia (which includes Australia)All of which suggested Havenstone hadn't redrawn the Amazons' geographic demarcations since the late 19th century. As an example, an East African venture, say in Tanzania, was as likely to be under the purview of Havenstone: India (due to its control over the Indian Ocean) as Havenstone: Africa (which traditionally had no East Coast holdings due to their constant struggles versus the Arabic slave trade).Returning to Beyoncé: initially she had held the proper 'conservative' (aka man-hating) mindset. My behavior during that first Board Meeting began to change her opinion of me and the New Directive. After the Archery Range incident, Beyoncé became a vocal proponent of the New Directive and faced challenges within her ranks. House Heads do not have to accept challenges and Beyoncé didn't, reasoning with her detractors they had no alternatives save the 'Old Ways' which spelled doom for the Amazon Race.Bing-bang-boom ~ I became the Head of a resurrected House Ishara by the Will of the Ancestors and Beyoncé was vindicated. Not necessarily in the New Directive, but in her support of me thus the rebirth of a sister First House. The purge following High Priestess' Hayden's death was her ultimate absolution. The Ancestors and Destiny had spoken and shown Beyoncé had been piloting House Hanwasuit along the proper course all along.Back to my current circumstances:Oh, why was I Assistant to the Executive Director to the President? It gave me direct access to the finances of Havenstone which was a critical leg of the war-fighting stool ~ people, morale, money and equipment. As Chief Diplomat, I helped with all four of those in varying degrees, allied troops, allied victories, allied bank accounts and allied armaments.The Great Khan, my spiritual 'Blood-Brother', was ramping up his logistic support for my Amazons in Africa, Asia and the Americas. We were 'Allies in the Struggle' and he wasn't going to wait for the Condottieri to begin coordinating with the Seven Pillars to declare them to be his enemies. They were already fighting the Amazons and 9 Clans, his allies, so their fates were sealed.In Japan, my Amazons provided small yet highly effective strike groups which the Ninja families furnished all the support services for. Everything from food to bullets to medical attention as needed. Without reservation, we shared their death-grapple with the Seven Pillars.From the dispatches I was getting back from my family members and envoys in Japan, we were making serious diplomatic inroads with the Ninja. Once again, it was the Amazons shocking capacity for violence as well as their fanaticism, professionalism and proficiency which all impressed our hosts and terrified our enemies, and this from people of a philosophical mindset which had them historically battling samurai.The Black Lotus were running around like rhesus monkeys on crack cocaine unleashed in a China Shop and given RPG's. While the Amazons couldn't help them in China, Indochina & Thailand ~ the Khanate could and was. The Amazons were of more help in the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia, where the Black Lotus and Amazons were going everywhere on the offensive against the Seven Pillars while the normal tight cohesion and iron-clad confidence, traits which made the 7P's so dangerous ~ were shaken by their horrendous losses in the 'Homeland' aka Mainland China.Less we forget, the 'military intelligence' wing of their organization had been decimated by the Khanate's Anthrax attack due to members of the Earth & Sky sacrificing themselves by being injected with the toxin then allowing themselves to be captured, which always ended in torture and death.Furthermore, the People's Republic of China, while having a scary 18% of the population either captured, imprisoned, dead, or displaced due to the Khanate invasion, that had come with the loss of 63% of their landmass (they had lost all of Nei Mongol, Ningxia & Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Regions, Qinghai and Gansu as well as 90% of Yunnan, 80% of Sichuan and 20% of Shaanxi provinces) to the Khanate and the 'abomination' that was a free Tibet.Then came the Russian 'stab in the back' which entailed the loss of another 10% of their people falling under foreign dominion as well as losing 8% of their most industrialized territory, Manchuria (Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning provinces ~ the Nei Mongol portion of 'Manchuria' was in the Khanate's greedy clutches, from the viewpoint of a Seven P's warrior).Don't get me wrong, they weren't about to throw in the towel. If anything, they were becoming more dedicated to trying harder, digging deep into their knowledge of every atrocity, inhumanity and perversion now deemed necessary to re-chart history back onto its 'correct' path. It was this willingness to act in an even greater sociopathic manner which was being used against them. After all, the 7P's had plenty of proxy allies, who were starting to get really nervous about what their paymasters were now asking them to do,We Amazons were getting some extra special help too. The Booth-gan (Do not call them Thuggee ~ the confederate 9 Clan member based out of India though long since ensconced within various Hindi enclaves across the Globe) had created an all-female group of ultra-fanatical Kali-devotees ~ a gift for the upcoming battle fomented by the Will of the Goddess herself.While Aya was our Queen and the Regency would rule until she wished to assume command of the Amazon People, the nuts-and-bolts of the Host's activities were handled by Saint Marie as Golden Mare (our Minister of War) (technically she held the top spot due to our State of War, though no Golden Mare had ever exercised such authority over a Queen (and she definitely believed Aya was our Queen)), Katrina (as Minister of Intelligence and Security), Beyoncé (as Havenstone (the multinational corporation) ~ our Treasurer/Economic Tsarina) and me (our Foreign Minister).Saint Marie had decided to forgo a public face in order to better facilitate her moving around to various battle fronts and holding clandestine meetings with her junior regional commanders. Her Havenstone corporate title was 'Chief of Security Training and Certification'. As an extra level of deception, the head of Security Services wasn't even a Director-level position, instead being folded into the duties of the Office of the President.To my current circumstances ~ I had been given Constanza's house name which could only mean she wasn't currently assigned to the Security Detail; a fact that couldn't have made her bad attitude any better. Marilynn had completely lost her way as an Amazon when I first met her, burying her pain and confusion in endless partying and intoxicants. I believed only her grandmother's status as High Priestess kept her from the severest of reprimands, or death. I didn't even know what Marilynn's caste was. Sabia,"While I'm sure you are both far more qualified than I, precisely how did you two get these jobs?" I had to ask my two non-coworkers. Constanza glowered. Marilynn flinched."I have an in depth knowledge of Havenstone security procedures and resources," Constanza replied."Shawnee requested me," was Marilynn's comeback. "I also have intimate knowledge of the City of New York and its environs.""Actually, Buffy Ishara recommended you both to Shawnee," Beyoncé corrected their misconceptions. I knew the score. I'd be working intimately with the tight community around the President (Shawnee) and Vice Presidents (Buffy & Rhada). Buffy wanted me to be surrounded by women who hated my guts, so I wouldn't end up boinking them. It rarely worked that way. All too often ladies who hated my still-beating heart ended up punishing me with sex. I wasn't sure why that happened, but it did."Beyoncé, didn't the Chief Diplomat of the Host have her own office? I'm pretty sure Troika had one before her unfortunate collision with Saint Marie," I felt entitled to inquire."Do you feel you've earned that office space?" she riposted."Oh, fuck no!" I waved my hands one over the other to accentuate my denial. "I was just wondering where I could stick Juanita while I'm hanging around, here.""She has the desk right outside the door, Cáel," Beyoncé smiled knowingly. "So there is no way you can sneak past her.""Oh," I grunted. "Buffy again?""No. Pamela Pile put in that particular request.""Oh, Sweet Mother of God, now she is conspiring against me too?""Yes. Some of us realize the greatest hazard to your health is yourself, Ishara," Beyoncé chided me. "We'd like to keep you around, so we listen to those charged with that nigh impossible task.""Is she going to be hanging around the office often?" Constanza asked, either myself, Juanita, or Beyoncé; I wasn't sure. She = Pamela."Please, Constanza," I attempted to intervene, "don't make Pamela kill you. It will upset Mona." Constanza's scowl was accentuated by the eyepatch covering her ruined left socket, the one Pamela had carved out when Constanza had insulted me and House Ishara on our first day of rebirth. I didn't tell Juanita this, because Juanita might just shoot Constanza over the insult before Pamela got a chance to finish the job.The tension was palatable."Mona and I have talked, about Romania, and other things," Constanza grudgingly allowed. It took me a second to realize there was a hidden meaning to what she said. Mona was part of my personal Security Detail bodyguard unit. If she felt Constanza, the woman who had raised her after her birth-mother had died, was a threat to me, she'd feel duty-bound to snuff Constanza first. Amazons were hard-ass bitches alright and I think Mona had made that clear."I hope things can improve between us," I offered to Constanza. "Beyoncé, I just stopped in to say 'hey'. I'm off to JIKIT and I've got three of the Pope's people waiting on me in the garage so,""Vice President Varma requested a moment of your time," Beyoncé smirked. "She is in 2604.""Who?""Vice President Rhada Varma, a moment of your time, alone?" she clarified."Sure thing," I backed out of the office. Once I had some space, I turned to Juanita. "Give me three minutes then bust in and say, I don't know, a tsunami is about to overwhelm the city, or something. Otherwise, I won't get out for at least an hour and I think I've put the Bishop and his people through enough delays as it is.""Are you actually asking me to stop you from having an in-office liaison?" she studied me intently as we walked in the direction of Rhada's office."Yes. It's not likely to happen often, believe me.""Oh, I do, in that you won't ask me to do it often," she grumbled. I'd deal with Juanita's morale problem later. Right now, I had to gird my loins so they wouldn't do anything else with Rhada. I had work to do, damn it!Rhada was sitting at her desk, working on something, stylus raised up so she could chew on the end. Her hair was pulled back in a half-ponytail, the type that captured the rear half of the hair in a ponytail while leaving the front and bangs free to flow down. Rhada's blouse was white & billowy and, as I was soon to discover, her pants were ultra-tight and contour hugging."Mr. Nyilas," she greeted me. "I would like a moment of your time," she relayed what I already knew. She was more than a tad nervous to boot."Vice President Varma," I started off."When in private you may call me Rhada," she interrupted."Rhada, you look more ravishing than ever."That got up her and coming around her desk, which revealed her ultra-tight pants with no sign of her wearing underwear. Yikes! My cock was preparing to do what a cock was meant to do and I just didn't have the time, Really!"Do you have any time?" she let her bosom heave."Not today, ugh," I groaned. See, Rhada took the stylus and dragged it down her chin, throat and in between her bountiful mounds.All of which exposed the top of her black bra."Are you sure, Master?" she enticed me by turning around and then leaning over her desk, point that ass in my direction. My mouth began salivating and my groin ached. I found myself quick-stepping to her and giving those buttocks two firm slaps, one on each cheek."No, damn it, though I'm going to make you pay for this when I get back," I rumbled."Master will make me wait?" she taunted me."That will cost you even more," I growled. "I have business which simply won't wait and here is my captive teasing me with the treasures of her flesh. Bad, war captive," I spanked her yet again, hard. "Bad!" and I spanked her a fourth time. With each beating, Rhada gasped in pain and then exhaled in pleasure."If I've been bad, Master must be extra harsh with me when he returns in triumph from the Great Hunt," she gloated. Rhada had gotten what she wanted, which was another affirmation of my lust for her and our 'game'. I could provide her the release she so desperately craved while allowing her the safety of remaining in the Amazon fold. It was a perfect pairing, for her.I had other problems, such as all the other baby mamas in my life plus the extra-marital affairs I was contemplating. I still took the moments we had to snuggle with Rhada, her grinding that tush into my rod while I held both her arms tightly to her side while raining kisses down onto her neck and head."Sir! A giant tsunami is approaching the city!" Juanita exploded through the door."What?" I coughed. I had a face full of hair."Huh?" Rhada pushed up and away from me. I let her go."Right now," Juanita insisted. She really needed to stop taking me so seriously when I gave her such advice."Really?" from Rhada. She shot me a curious look so I shrugged. What else was I supposed to do with such a flimsy lie forcing our separation? At least I got out of there on time?{9:50 am, Monday, September 8th ~ Last day}(JKIT HQ)"Is this a common occurrence?" Sister Rafaela Sophia whispered to the closest woman, who happened to be Wiesława, the Polish Amazon. Since she hadn't arrived with us from Havenstone, the nun might have assumed she was with the 'Americans', or British."What?" Wiesława responded evenly."Weapons combat, they look real," the nun clarified."They are real. We always practice with real weapons.""Really?""Of course," Wiesława smiled at her. "We believe a few cuts and scrapes now will save lives when the true tests come.""Oh, you are with, Havenstone?" Rafaela clued in."Yes. I am Wiesława of House Živa. I am currently assigned to Unit L, Cáel's unit within JIKIT," she offered her hand to shake. Despite being a full-blooded Amazon from a freehold, her 'human' skills were progressing nicely. The nun shook it."I am Sister Rafaela Sophia of the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, that is a Roman Catholic Religious Order." Pause. "Do you hate Catholics too?""Yes. We have lived beside your people for many centuries and found your clergy to be much more dangerous than your pagan predecessors. Still, Cáel thinks you can be relied on and he's proven we can trust outsider women, which I was raised to believe was unlikely, and outsider men, which was basically anathema, so I'm willing to set aside my prejudices and judge you as an individual," the Pole imparted."Outsider men?" Rafaela mumbled."Well, yes," Wiesława smirked. "You are a nun, right?""Yes.""So you set aside the World of Men to live mostly among women, right?""Not entirely," the nun chose her words carefully. "We still rely on priests for religious rights and of course obey the life teachings of Christ and follow the leadership of his Holiness, the Pope, a man.""No one is perfect," the Amazon bantered back."Do you know the teachings of our Lord, Jesus Christ?" Rafaela ventured into dangerous waters."Yes. He was the semi-historical Son of your supposed One True God. We are not monotheists. We are Polytheists. Živa is my House's matron Goddess. It is also the name of the first woman to lead the House, her birth name surrendered to Destiny so all the daughters who came afterwards would be equals.""Oh, is Mr. Nyilas also pagan?" she inquired."I am unsure. From what I have been told, he has commended the spirit of his fallen father to your Jesus in a sacred ceremony then, in the presence of your Trinity and the Goddess Ishara, brought in new members to his House. I suspect he may be both," Wiesława reasoned. "Why don't you ask him?""Because he's fighting for his life?" Rafaela looked my way.See, the entire time their discussion had been going on, I had been sparring in a spare room at JIKIT HQ with Estere Abed, the Hashashin assassin (rather redundant ~ like saying the Sahara Desert). I had two tomahawks while she had a scimitar and curved dagger. While we sparred using the furniture as obstacles, Agent-86 was briefing me on various World events to get my input.Addison Stuart (CIA) and Lady Fathom Worthington-Burke (MI-6) were having a chat with Bishop Nicolé de Santis, verifying for themselves he was worth adding to the team. Juanita was having a similar discussion with Rikki Martin (US State Department) concerning my earlier encounter with the Papal team. Nicolé's buddy, Wachtmeister Mathias Bosshart of the Swiss Guard, was getting acquainted with the other security personnel.In comparison, those two had it easy. Both men were in their elements. Nicolé was a spook who pretended to be a diplomat for the Pope and was well acquainted with terms like 'deniable assets', 'plausible deniability' and your direct superior referring to requests concerning your identity/diplomatic status by saying 'I never heard of him and if I had, I have no idea what he was doing when you caught him doing what I don't know what he was doing', or something like that.Mathias was in the company of military-security specialists, brother professionals who were introducing him to his 'sister' professionals. Our Homeland Security gang were almost entirely former military by now. They got along with our JSOC folks and both had gained a limited acceptance with the Amazon security contingent.They bonded over the fact they were forced to work with really shady characters ~ the 9 Clans menagerie ~ who didn't always appreciate JIKIT operational security. Without going into particulars, the Wachtmeister was given the impression the abnormal was the norm and if you didn't think there was a 'down-side' to being able to carry your personally favorite bang-bang (the SG 552-2P Commando in his case) with some serious attachments (read: grenade launcher) around in downtown Manhattan, you probably didn't belong on this team.Back in the room,"He's not fighting for his life," Estere laughed. "He is fighting for mine.""Right," I responded sarcastically. We went through a flurry of exchanges, ending up with me kicking a chair at her. Estere stepped over it, colliding with me.I blocked her dagger, disarmed her scimitar and,"You are dead," she panted down at me, smiling. I was on my back, her straddling me. She had a belt-knife to my throat. I hadn't see her draw it. The scimitar 'disarm' had been a distraction."Woot!" I exhaled."But you're dead," Sister Rafaela misunderstood my good humor."He survived a minute and thirty-four seconds more today than his previous record," Estere responded. She slithered off of me, doing my arousal no good whatsoever, then offered me a hand up."And that's better?""He's a rank amateur with a few months on the job. I've been training to kill people for nearly two decades," Estere smiled. "Care to have a go?""With him, or you?""Either," Estere offered."I don't have a knife, or any hand weapons," she stated."We'll need to remedy that," Wiesława stated. "You should at least carry a knife.""Really? Why?""It is a nearly universal tool," I verbally stepped up. "Even if you are disarmed, you should be able to find one relatively easily, people are less likely to miss a stolen knife than a purloined gun, and a concealed blade could come in handy.""Do you train in knife-work?" Rafaela eye-balled me."Absolutely. It is part of my culture," I grinned."Okay. Can we spar, hand-to-hand?""Sure," I nodded. I put my tomahawks in their harnesses then put my harnesses aside. Estere gave me a wink before giving us the fighting space."So," Rafaela began to circle, "are you Christian?""By your definition, or mine?""By the definition of the Catholic Church."Oh cool, she went for a Savate stance. This was going to get ugly.My "no," was followed by her kick and my block, lunge and grapple. She wasn't nearly as good as Felix. I had her down and in a choke hold within fifteen seconds.Perhaps she thought I'd take it easy on her. She tapped out. I released her, retreated and flowed back to my boxing stance. It took her a moment to realize this was 'practice', not 'an interview'. She hadn't failed in anyone's eyes. We were both doing this to get better."See, I really, truly believe I have talked to supernatural entities ~ some who are considered divinities," I continued. This time she was more careful, trading jabs and blocks with me. "They don't claim to be the One True God. I believe in such a thing, but I also believe having been given the Message, Humanity has been left to muddle things out for ourselves."Whoops, she popped me one."The Woman-Thing this morning?""Yep," I evaded another flurry. She got cocky and I landed three blows, dropping her to the ground. I didn't help her up. Instead, I withdrew and let her get back up on her own before deciding if she wanted to continue. She did."I believe I've seen dragons and ghosts. I have felt legions of my ancestors give me quiet encouragement when I needed it. I know the dead have been brought back to life," I came at her. This time we both went for body blows, knees, elbows and fists. She was not SD-caliber and she needed to be. I grappled and she was forced to tap out again. After she regained her feet, she held up a hand for a pause."Do you believe any of that?" she addressed Estere."I am an adherent of Ismaili Islam yet nothing Cáel has encountered is contrary to my belief system. The Universe is a complex place and the Divine Light is often seen through a fractured lenses," she counseled the nun."Among the escapees were lawyer Francisco Luemba, Catholic Priest Raul Tati, economist Belchior Lanso Tati and former policeman Benjamin Fuca who are serving jail sentences of between three and six years each for supposed links to the rebel group FLEC (Frente para a Libertaé'o do Enclave de Cabinda), which carried out the attack on the Togolese football team at the start of the Africa Cup of Nations in January, 2010," Agent-86 read off yet another bit of global minutia."We need to get to them," I half turned. Sister Rafaela punched me in the gut and I folded up."Oh!" she gasped. "I'm sorry.""Okay," I mumbled. I had to keep with the plan. "Those men. We need to contact our Coils people in Kinshasa and the Warden of the Mountain Ways ('she' was the Amazon Host's leader of Africa ~ in the ancient times, the mountain ways had been the routes of southern vulnerability for the Amazon tribe thus the name).""Okay," both Agent-86 and Estere answered."Why?" 86 added."The Coils and the Host have had a serious problem with no nation in Africa giving them even back room recognition so we are going to take over our own country, Cabinda. It's been struggling to be free of Angola since 1975 and, by latest estimates, we've got strike elements of over 2,000 Amazons ready and waiting next door in Cameroon, Gabon and the Republic of Congo.""So you are going to go to war with Angola?" Estere frowned. "Don't we have enough enemies?""Au contraire," I grinned wickedly. "The resistance movement is genuine," I ticked off my points, "they have tons of offshore oil, and after we set off some spectacular explosions in the two main Angolan ports which are just down the coast, we allow global panic to bully the UN into intervening before the Angolan military launch an effective counter-offensive ~ considering the Angolan Armed Forces (I'd been reading up on a ton of CIA & MI-6 briefings) will most likely involve attrition warfare since they can't beat us in a stand-up fight.""They, the Angolans, have no overland access, they are separated by 60 kilometers of territory belonging to the Democratic Republic of Congo over some sad ass roads Plus the Congo River itself which is freaking huge by the time it gets that close to the Atlantic, Cabinda rests on the Atlantic Ocean by the way. No bridges. The Angolan Navy is anemic. Let me think."I began pacing."Hmm, they have no paratroopers though they have some Special Forces, we will need to hit as many of them in the barracks as we can. Their last invasion was from the north, overland, from the Republic of the Congo, in 1975, not likely to happen this time, though I may have my 'Brother' weasel up a battalion of Indian paratroopers to act as convincing peacekeepers after the initial take over.""Perhaps we can recruit some Vietnamese. I'm sure they'll love fighting in someone else's jungle for a change. We'll need some of 'our' guys to seize the port of Soyo, it is on the wrong side of the river, but has the major refinery the Cabindans will need. Since the entire surrounding province are the same ethnic make-up as the Cabindans, we'll have to take that too.""Man-o-man, I bet by the time this is over they'll really wish they'd given little Cabinda independence back in 1975. As for their other refinery, it is in their capital, Luanda, a few big explosions there too will get the markets jittery. Check that ~ the complete and utter destruction of their major petroleum facility will create a stampede for Peace," I continued. I walked over as our resident computer intelligence genius worked his magic."Blowing things up, you mean killing people," the nun blanched."Yes. This is what I do," I spared her a sympathetic glance. "I've got a madman roaming around in my head who provides me truly epic military advice which normally, but not always, means blowing shit up and killing folks. Welcome to the team," then as the data appeared, "Holy Shit! Did they build their oil refinery in the midst of their ghetto?" I was staggered. The refinery in Soyo was isolated from the town so it could be easily (and safely) seized. It was the one in Luanda which was the 'Holy Shit' site."It looks that way," Agent-86 agreed nonplussed. "Hmm, yeah, here is the port facility then your neighborhood of shoddily constructed one- and two-story dwellings between the refinery and the inland storage tanks, the perimeter barrier appears to be a chain link fence. I'd hate to be their Chief of Security.""Oh yeah," I choked. Estere slipped around to get a look."Whoops," she snorted."What are these people thinking?" I continued. "The whole shebang is exposed to the northern quarter of the city. The storage tanks have residential dwellings on all four sides with numerous side streets. Two teams with RPGs and four rounds apiece, Holy Crap. Sorry Sister.""But I want to save lives," she sputtered."Limiting the collateral damage could be pretty tough," Estere frowned. She toggled throw a series of maps to multiple pictures."Oh, look (dripping sarcasm); they light up the refinery at night. You can sit off the coast in a speed boat under cover of darkness and attack from there," she noted."Damn. Those are a lot of lights," Agent-86 agreed."24-7 operation," I suspected."We will need some experts," the government agent nodded."Or we are going to kill a fuck-load of innocent people. Not just the workers, but can you imagine a fire spreading to those neighborhoods? Shit," I muttered."You can't seriously be contemplating doing something like this," the nun sputtered. "It is inhumane. Think of the families, the children.""Lady, yes I am. Do you have any idea what the Human Rights record of the Angolan Army in Cabinda is? It is truly horrific and in case you missed it, one of the guys in dire need of rescuing by me, due to him being a huge rebel leader who has managed to escape, is also a Catholic priest. He's going to be part of the new government we are going to install once we kill a few hundred Angolans ~ mostly soldiers (more like well over a thousand).""We are going to kill a few hundred so a few hundred thousand can live free, democratic lives without worrying about the local police and political establishment torturing and murdering them. It is all part of the plan.""I think I need to talk with the Bishop.""Hang on. Let me finish," I forestalled her. "He'll get briefed along with everyone else. After all, it is a majority Roman Catholic country as is Angola, so I'm sure your guy can be of immense help.""The people you are putting at risk don't deserve this," she protested."They never do," I nodded in agreement with her. "It rarely stops terrible crap from happening to them though."I felt sorry for the Sister. She thought the Bishop was going to put a stop to this. Poor girl; he was going to do the exact opposite. See, the two competing forces at play here were a communistic kleptocracy (currently ruling Angola) and Catholic liberation theology united with a Cabindan national identity dating back to 1885. At stake was 900,000 barrels a day of petroleum. That was a bunch of funding for somebody. Last I checked, the state run energy conglomerate had misplaced $32 billion, in just three years.Mind you, the Coils of the Serpent and the Amazon Host didn't want to help the People of Cabinda out of the goodness of their hearts either. They wanted cover for the importation of weapons and other war-fighting material so they could kill the Condottieri in Africa. If the rebel leaders-turned-legitimate government didn't play ball well, the Coils were in the 'assassinating people' business and somewhere along the line the survivors would figure out keeping 'us' happy kept them alive. Problem solved.It was Bishop Nicolé de Santis' job to facilitate that understanding. If certain people with Vatican credentials explained the 'facts of life' to the new regime a lot more lives could be saved, Catholic lives. In turn, he could work to make sure the new group in power wasn't nearly as corrupt as the gang we were tossing out. Better education and quality of life, improved infrastructure & security and a nice shiny cathedral, or two.We, as in JIKIT and our component members, didn't want to rule the country and dominate the people's lives. We needed the ports and the airfields with a blind eye turned to our skullduggery. Sure, there would be future considerations. Amazons and Coil members would be fighting and dying for these people's freedom ~ public recognition definitely not required. No; the Amazons wanted to be left alone in their deep jungle homes which was an isolation they basically already had. This was a future chit which said 'don't come looking'.The Coils? Let's just say in the future Cabinda would have embassies around the globe and if occasionally they wanted someone to slip through under diplomatic cover ~ they were good for it. And if the Cabindans ever needed help in the future they knew they had friends in dark places who were now invested in Cabinda's survival. It was a win-win-win, unless you were an Angolan big-wig, or one of their foot-soldier currently serving in Cabinda. Amazons weren't big on taking prisoners, or even giving the opposition the option of giving up.For me, it wasn't lunch yet and here I was plotting to overthrow yet another government in yet another country ~ though in only two, small provinces this time. Thank the Goddess I had the rest of the week

Snake Island, off the coast of Brazil, is one of the scariest places on Earth because it's packed with deadly snakes! It's home to the golden lancehead viper, a rare species whose venom is so toxic it can melt human flesh and cause severe injury within minutes. There are reportedly one to five snakes per square meter on the island, so it's almost impossible to walk around without running into one. The government has banned people from going there, and even locals are too afraid to visit. Only a few scientists and the Brazilian Navy are allowed on the island, but they have to take extreme precautions. Snake Island is so dangerous it's like something out of a movie! Animation is created by Bright Side. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/ Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD... Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook:   / brightside   Instagram:   / brightside.official   TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.of... Telegram: https://t.me/bright_side_official Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Links 1. CIMSEC author page of Wilder Alejandro Sanchez.2. Second Floor Strategies.3. “Hospital Ships: A Vital Asset for SOUTHCOM and South American Navies,” by Wilder Alejandro Sanchez, CIMSEC, January 24, 2023.4. “TIAR 21: Maritime Security, the TIAR, and IUU Fishing in the Western Hemisphere,” by Wilder Alejandro Sanchez, CIMSEC, October 16, 2020. 5. Twitter: @W_Alex_Sanchez.

João Roberto Martins Filho is professor emeritus of Political Science at the Federal University of São Carlos with a doctorate in Social Science from the State University of Campinas. He is the author of many classical works, including an English translation of "The Student movement and the military dictatorship" (1987), "The Palace and the Barracks"(1995; 2nd edition, 2019), "The Brazilian Navy in the Age of Battleships - 1895-1910" (2010) and "State Secrets: the British Government and Torture in Brazil" (2018; 2nd edition 2020). He was the president of the Brazilian Defense Studies Association from 2006 to 2008 and has had postdoctoral fellowships at UCLA (University of California Los Angeles) and the Centre for Brazilian Studies at the University of Oxford, among many other places. He has also held the Rio Branco chair of International Relations at King's College, London, and twice the Rui Barbosa chair in Brazilian Studies at the University of Leiden, in the Netherlands. Brazil is going through challenging times.There's never been a more important moment to understand Brazil's politics, society, and culture. To go beyond the headlines, and to ask questions that aren't easy to answer. 'Brazil Unfiltered,' does just that. This podcast is hosted by James N. Green, Professor of Brazilian History and Culture at Brown University and the National Co-Coordinator of the U.S. Network for Democracy in Brazil.Brazil Unfiltered is part of the Democracy Observatory, supported by the Washington Brazil Office. It is edited and produced by Camilo Rocha.https://www.braziloffice.org/en/observatory#activities

This week the ruling on the death of a dive student was released and The Brazilian Navy has sunk an elderly decommissioned aircraft-carrier in the south Atlantic but, it's all bad news reallyhttps://divernet.com/scuba-news/private-dive-team-joins-bulley-river-search/ https://news.sky.com/story/nicola-bulley-search-for-missing-mother-of-two-moves-to-coastline-at-morecambe-bay-12806835 https://divernet.com/scuba-news/instructor-given-community-service-order-after-ccr-trainees-death/https://divernet.com/scuba-news/new-giant-shipwreck-but-who-needs-this-one/NEW GEARhttps://fourthelement.com/product/mens-hydro-stinger-suit/Scubapro SCUBAPRO is the world's most iconic brand of dive equipment for those whose passion is under water. Websitehttps://www.scubadivermag.comInstagramhttps://www.instagram.com/scubadivermagazine/Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/scubadivermag/YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/c/ScubaDiverMagazine/Scuba Diver Magazinescubadivermag.com/subscriptions

GB2RS News Sunday the 27th of November 2022 The news headlines: 146 to 147MHz NoV Extension HF DXpedition FundTrustee Required RSGB Convention Presentations Ofcom has agreed to the RSGB request to extend the 146 to 147MHz Notice of Variation for a further year. It is available on a non-interference basis and the NoV is subject to a 30-day notice period of change or withdrawal. Full licence holders can apply for the 146 to 147MHz NoV via the RSGB website at rsgb.org/nov The RSGB assists HF DXpeditions to the rarer countries through a fund that is supported each year from the proceeds of a raffle held at the annual RSGB Convention, as well as income from legacies and donations. The Society is looking to appoint a fifth Trustee for the HF DXpedition Fund who, given the increasing number of applications, will also act as Secretary to the group. Applicants should be enthusiastic HF DXers with an interest in DXCC and IOTA. For further information about the role and how to apply, go to the volunteer vacancies section of the RSGB website at rsgb.org/volunteers The RSGB has released two individual 2022 Convention presentations. In the first, Professor Alwyn Seeds, G8DOH talks about “Building a VHF/UHF Contest Station”. The second presentation is by Hans Summers, G0UPL who explains “The QCX CW transceiver kit story: design, development, five years of production and evolution”. Part of the second presentation was live-streamed during the Convention but you can now watch it all on the RSGB YouTube channel – go to youtube.com/theRSGB and choose the RSGB 2022 Convention playlist. On Saturday 3 December at 1400UTC, AMSAT SA and the South African Radio League are hosting a webinar about Hamprojects. This is a platform to facilitate complex projects that are beyond the possibility of individuals or even one amateur radio society or club. The concept was developed by Willi Vollenweider, HB9AMC as part of the IARU Region 1 Shaping the future of Amateur Radio initiative. During the webinar, Willi will explain Hamprojects in detail and how individual radio amateurs and groups, or amateur radio cubs, can participate or initiate their own projects and attract international participation. The webinar is free to attend and open to anyone who has an interest in technology and a desire to become part of future innovation. Register as soon as possible, as participation is limited to 150 persons, via tinyurl.com/hamrprojects Don't forget the Transatlantic Centenary Tests event that starts at 0000UTC on Thursday the 1st of December and runs for the whole month. There are awards available for working the special stations and, if you are an RSGB Member and hold a Full Licence, still opportunities to book an operating slot. Go to rsgb.org/tct for full information. And now for details of rallies and events Bishop Auckland Radio Amateur Club Rally will be held today, the 27th, at Spennymoor Leisure Centre, High Street, Spennymoor, County Durham, DL16 6DB. Doors open at 10.30 am for everyone and 10 am for disabled visitors. Admission is £2 and free to under-14s who are accompanied by an adult. Talk-in will be on 2m channel V44. Contact Bob Dingle, G0OCB on 07710 023 916 for further information. The Midlands Round Table event will be held on Saturday the 3rd of December. The day will follow a relaxed schedule with talks aimed primarily at Microwave, Amateur Television, Amateur Satellite and other innovative areas of amateur radio. There will be tables provided free of charge for the junk sale and for any free items attendees wish to give away. The event is being held at Eaton Manor, Eaton-under-Heywood, Church Stretton, Shropshire, SY6 7DH. The event venue will be open from 9 am and proceedings will start at 10 am. Questions and requests should be directed to Paul, G8AQA on 01694 771 441. The Yeovil Amateur Radio Club Rally will be held on Thursday the 29th of December at Davis Hall, Howell Hill, West Camel, Yeovil, Somerset, BA22 7QX. Doors will be open from 9.30 am to 1 pm and admission is £3. Free parking is available. The event will include bring and buy as well as 20 tables for traders. For more information contact Bob on 01963 440 167. Now the Special Event News Leyland and District Amateur Radio Club will be active as GB9LD for Lancashire Day today, the 27th of November. Activity will take place on the 40m to 70cm bands. At 1500UTC the club will read the Lancashire Day Proclamation on HF and toast His Majesty King Charles III, Duke of Lancaster. All are welcome to join in. Enquiries to ladar@mail.com On Thursday the 1st of December, GB1WH will begin operating. The Special Event Station has been established to promote the work done by Wakefield Hospice. For more information, visit the GB1WH QRZ.com page. GB1LJF begins its on-air activities on Thursday the 1st of December. The Special Event Station is operating to celebrate the manufacturing of the English Electric Lightning aircraft in Lancashire. More information is available via the GB1LJF QRZ.com page. Now the DX news Today, the 27th is the last chance to work Alex, K6VHF. He is active as 4L1FP from Tbilisi Georgia. He is operating SSB, CW and FT8 on the 80 to 10m bands. QSL via Logbook of the World, Club Log or directly to K6VHF. Don, K6ZO will be active as 7Q6M from Malawi until the 29th of November. He will be available on the 160 to 6m bands using SSB and CW. QSL via Logbook of the World or directly to K6ZO. Special Event Station CX100B will be active until the 30th of November. The station is operating to celebrate the centenary of the first radio broadcast in Uruguay which took place on the 6th of November 1922. QSL via CX1AA and Logbook of the World. Special callsign ZW200ESQ is active until the 30th of November to celebrate the bicentennial of the Brazilian Navy. Operations will take place from the premises of the Brazilian Naval School's Communication Group. Activity will be on all bands from 80m to 70cm using CW, SSB, digital modes and FM on satellite. QSL via the bureau or directly to PY1JR. Bob, W7YAQ and Al, K7AR will be active as K8H from Tutuila Island, OC-045, American Samoa until the 1st of December. They will be operating two stations on the 160 to 10m bands. QSL via Club Log, Logbook of the World or via W7YAQ. Now the contest news Today, the 27th, the CQ Worldwide DX CW Contest ends its 24-hour run at 2359UTC. Using CW only on the 160 to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is signal report and CQ Zone. On Monday the 28th of November the RSGB FT4 Contest runs from 2000 to 2130UTC. Using the 80, 40 and 20m bands, the exchange is a report and four-character locator. Thursday the 1st of December sees the start of the UK Six Metre Group Winter Marathon. The contest will run until the 31st of January 2023. Using all modes on the 6m band, the exchange is signal report and locator. The ARRL 160m Contest begins at 2200UTC on Friday the 2nd of December and finishes at 1600UTC on Sunday the 4th of December. Using CW only on the 160m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. American and Canadian stations also send their ARRL or RAC section. Next Sunday, the 4th of December, the 144MHz AFS Contest runs from 1000 to 1400UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA, and G4BAO on Friday 25th November 2022 We dodged a bullet last week when a large coronal hole failed to produce a geomagnetic disturbance. Despite many predictions that we could expect an upturn in the Kp index, it looks like the solar wind missed the Earth, probably because the hole was too low in the Sun's southern hemisphere. As a result the Kp index never went higher than 4, actually 3.67 globally, and things remained calm. This was good news for HF, although a low solar flux index below 120 all week was nothing to get excited about. At the same time, the improvement in low-band conditions, as we head into late Autumn, is making up for it. Top Band contacts have been recorded with 3B8 Mauritius, and Peter, G3PHO has even made it into the USA in the late afternoon on 160m FT8. So, if you've never worked much on Top Band, and you have the antenna for it, give it a try. Failing that, try the top end of 80m SSB around sunrise in the UK for contacts with the USA. Next week, NOAA predicts that the solar flux index will remain around the 120-125 mark. The good news is that there are no large coronal holes currently visible and there have only been minor C-class flares with CMEs that have not been Earth-directed, so geomagnetic conditions are likely to be good. That is, at least until the 1st of December when we have a predicted Kp index of four, which may disrupt contacts mainly on polar paths. This is good news for this weekend's CQ Worldwide CW contest, which is a great opportunity for you to up your country totals or for your Worked All States award. Now a footnote for those occasions when the propquest.co.uk graphs are not updating. It can be a local effect at one of the stations, such as Chilton, which has been offline recently. Usually selecting one of the tick boxes in the top right of the graphs will show Fairford or Dourbes when available. However, last week and maybe still, we have a complete blank for all three ionosonde station plots, which is much more likely to be a server issue in the States where the data is hosted. You can check the Propquest server is working by selecting the “Archive” or “Averages” tabs. In any event, the ionosonde data plots will come back automatically once any issues have been resolved. And now the VHF and up propagation news The unsettled spell of weather continues into the first half of next week so could provide some further rain scatter opportunities on the GHz Bands. The broad south-westerly pattern may well switch over to an easterly after midweek as high pressure builds across Scotland. This could bring a return of Tropo for some parts, but looks a bit weak, while the south will continue to be affected by low-pressure systems. It will feel colder, with some models hinting at wintry conditions being a possibility, so wrap up well if you plan to do any portable operation! The Alpha Monocerotids meteor shower noted last week is over but the small November Orionids, active until the 6th of December, reaches its peak on Monday the 28th. Get ready for the big Geminids meteor shower in December. It commences on the 4th reaching a ZHR of over 100 between the 14th and 15th. More about this closer to the shower peak. Moon declination is increasing again and goes positive on Friday. So Moon windows will lengthen and zenith angles will increase. Path losses, on the other hand, start to increase again this week after last Friday's perigee. We have to wait until mid-2026 before maximum declination coincides with the lowest path loss, but we are moving in that direction again. 144MHz sky noise is low all week, not getting above 300 Kelvin until next Sunday. And that's all from the propagation team this week.

Brazil is the largest Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) nation in the world and the only one in the Americas. Brazil has the largest Japanese community outside of Japan. Brazil has more animal and plant species than any other country in the world and is at the top among the 18 megadiverse countries. It hosts between 15 and 20 percent of the world's biological diversity. It contains about two-thirds of the Amazon Rainforest. The deadliest place on earth is Queimada Grande Island, also known as Snake Island, cannot be visited without authorization of the Brazilian Navy.   ·      00:00 – Intro  ·      00:30 – Heart of the Nation Social Provisions through Travel ·      35:24 – Who Is?  ·      39:51 – Who Would've Thought?  Find Nations of the World Podcast: Email now-podcast@heartsgroup.org Website https://nations-of-the-world.captivate.fm/ (https://nations-of-the-world.captivate.fm) Patreon https://www.patreon.com/nationsoftheworld (https://www.patreon.com/nationsoftheworld) Where is this information coming from? World Atlas https://www.worldatlas.com/maps/brazil (https://www.worldatlas.com/maps/brazil) Trading Economics  https://tradingeconomics.com/brazil/indicators (https://tradingeconomics.com/brazil/indicators) The Crazy Tourist  https://www.thecrazytourist.com/15-best-places-visit-brazil/#more-8109 (https://www.thecrazytourist.com/15-best-places-visit-brazil/ - more-8109) Nations Online  https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/brazil.htm (https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/brazil.htm) Google Freebase sites https://mobile.sites.google.com/site/theinternetnations/the-earth/receitas (https://mobile.sites.google.com/site/theinternetnations/the-earth/receitas) U.S. State Department https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/brazil-travel-advisory.html (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/brazil-travel-advisory.html) https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Brazil.html (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Brazil.html) Country Reports on Human Rights Practices  https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/brazil/ (https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/brazil/) https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-report-on-international-religious-freedom/brazil/ (https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-report-on-international-religious-freedom/brazil/) CIA World Factbook  https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/brazil/ (https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/brazil/) International Trade Administration  https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/brazil-business-travel (https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/brazil-business-travel) UN Data http://data.un.org/en/iso/br.html (http://data.un.org/en/iso/br.html) The World Bank  https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.EXP.GNFS.CD (https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.EXP.GNFS.CD) https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.IMP.GNFS.CD (https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.IMP.GNFS.CD) ARDA  https://www.thearda.com/internationalData/countries/Country_31_1.asp (https://www.thearda.com/internationalData/countries/Country_31_1.asp) The Fact File  https://thefactfile.org/brazil-facts/ (https://thefactfile.org/brazil-facts/) Fact Retriever  https://www.factretriever.com/brazil-facts (https://www.factretriever.com/brazil-facts) IEA  (good for energy summary) https://www.iea.org/countries/brazil (https://www.iea.org/countries/brazil) OEC https://oec.world/en/profile/country/bra...

Brazil is the largest Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) nation in the world and the only one in the Americas. Brazil has the largest Japanese community outside of Japan. Brazil has more animal and plant species than any other country in the world and is at the top among the 18 megadiverse countries. It hosts between 15 and 20 percent of the world's biological diversity. It contains about two-thirds of the Amazon Rainforest. The deadliest place on earth is Queimada Grande Island, also known as Snake Island, cannot be visited without authorization of the Brazilian Navy.   ·      00:00 – Intro  ·      01:28 – Bare Bones ·      04:35 – Heart of the Nation Geography/Climate through Doing Business Find Nations of the World Podcast: Email now-podcast@heartsgroup.org Website https://nations-of-the-world.captivate.fm/ (https://nations-of-the-world.captivate.fm) Patreon https://www.patreon.com/nationsoftheworld (https://www.patreon.com/nationsoftheworld) Where is this information coming from? World Atlas https://www.worldatlas.com/maps/brazil (https://www.worldatlas.com/maps/brazil) Trading Economics  https://tradingeconomics.com/brazil/indicators (https://tradingeconomics.com/brazil/indicators) The Crazy Tourist  https://www.thecrazytourist.com/15-best-places-visit-brazil/#more-8109 (https://www.thecrazytourist.com/15-best-places-visit-brazil/ - more-8109) Nations Online  https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/brazil.htm (https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/brazil.htm) Google Freebase sites https://mobile.sites.google.com/site/theinternetnations/the-earth/receitas (https://mobile.sites.google.com/site/theinternetnations/the-earth/receitas) U.S. State Department https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/brazil-travel-advisory.html (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/brazil-travel-advisory.html) https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Brazil.html (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Brazil.html) Country Reports on Human Rights Practices  https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/brazil/ (https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/brazil/) https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-report-on-international-religious-freedom/brazil/ (https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-report-on-international-religious-freedom/brazil/) CIA World Factbook  https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/brazil/ (https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/brazil/) International Trade Administration  https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/brazil-business-travel (https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/brazil-business-travel) UN Data http://data.un.org/en/iso/br.html (http://data.un.org/en/iso/br.html) The World Bank  https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.EXP.GNFS.CD (https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.EXP.GNFS.CD) https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.IMP.GNFS.CD (https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.IMP.GNFS.CD) ARDA  https://www.thearda.com/internationalData/countries/Country_31_1.asp (https://www.thearda.com/internationalData/countries/Country_31_1.asp) The Fact File  https://thefactfile.org/brazil-facts/ (https://thefactfile.org/brazil-facts/) Fact Retriever  https://www.factretriever.com/brazil-facts (https://www.factretriever.com/brazil-facts) IEA  (good for energy summary) https://www.iea.org/countries/brazil (https://www.iea.org/countries/brazil) OEC https://oec.world/en/profile/country/bra (https://oec.world/en/profile/country/bra) OECD ...

While Matt takes his much needed vacation, UFC commentator John Gooden fills in as guest co-host for today's preview of UFC Fight Night: Font vs Aldo!  First, Jim and John discuss the longevity of Jose Aldo career and how recent advances in technology have allowed fighters to remain competitive later into their career.  Then, Rob Font calls in ahead of his main event bout against Jose Aldo this Saturday. He shares why he thinks Aldo will look to take him to the ground at some point during the fight, how he feels heading into his second straight main event, and what it was like to be exonerated of wrongdoing by USADA after initially testing positive for a banned substance after his last win against Cody Garbrandt.  After Matt Serra checks in with the guys to rant about Kevin Smith's latest adaptation of the He-Man series, Jose Aldo calls in before he headlines this weekend's Fight Night card at the UFC Apex. After John and Jose talk some soccer, he details how training with the Brazilian Navy revitalized his camp and how he's managed to remain an elite competitor after nearly two decades of professional competition.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

By Jared Samuelson How does South America’s largest, most populous country view its maritime interests? What treaties and agreements govern its relations with its neighbors in the maritime domain? What are the Brazilian Navy’s current commitments and aspirations? Perhaps most importantly, who won the lobster war?! Hear the answers to these questions and more as … Continue reading Sea Control 188 – Brazilian Maritime Security with Andrea Resende →

Link:Gateway and Neighbourhood: Brazilian Perspective on South Atlantic Security

Is this a Health or Energy Healing podcast with Dr. Flor Marques? MUST LISTEN TILL THE END!... BEHIND THE SCENES INCLUDED!  Lucy Tsai has an energetic and spiritual time with Dr. Flor Marques, the #1 International Best Selling author of the book “Unlock the Secrets”, where she gets personal and shares her macrobiotics and energy healing secrets to plant-based healthy living. Seeing people happy always brings Dr. Flor Marques joy. That was the main reason she became a dentist. However, after working for 5 years with a heavy schedule between serving in the Brazilian Navy and working at a private dental office, Flor had a breakdown and she was clinically diagnosed with bipolar anxiety and depression disorder due to chemical imbalances in her body. After 3 long years and not enough results she decided to take responsibility for her own wellbeing and take charge of her life. Flor quit the medications, and then immersed herself in the self-healing world, she started taking care of her body and emotions, exercising and eating well again. She learnt yoga, meditation, energy healing and got involved with an international nonprofit organization. Flor traveled the world to study with the best spiritual masters and teachers and got certification in Macrobiotics, Reiki, Yoga, Meditation, Pranic, Crystal and Psychotherapy Healing as well as Access Consciousness. At last she found her passion as a holistic life coach, helping people struggling with anxiety and depression to discover their lasting inner smile. Cheers to the most precious gift that you have, your own best life! Let’s join Dr. Flor Marques and unlock her secrets to healthy living!

       News Round (00:38) Reporter- Land Flavia Camargos Pereira gives us an insight on Brazilian defence priorities, including the Brazilian Air Force procurement of the KC-390, the army's purchase of the VBTP-MR Guarani and, on the naval domain, the PROSUB submarine programme, which delivered the first submarine to the Brazilian Navy in 2018 and is set to deliver the next three by 2022.Air Editor Tim Martin discusses the biggest story of the week as Leonardo has overcome competition from Airbus, Bell and two other contenders to win the US Navy's (USN) TH-73A trainer helicopter programme, securing a four-year production run for 130 TH-119 aircraft.·        Deep dive – the role of the frigate (18:00) Tony Skinner talks to our Special Correspondent Tim Fish about how the role of frigates is changing. Cold war ships are retiring to meet new requirements and strategic maritime challenges while new technologies in the maritime domain will soon dominate the industry, making large expensive surface platforms potentially vulnerable and not cost-effective in delivering capability. ·        Interview – L3Harris (35:40) Tony Skinner speaks to Dr Paul Brittan, chief scientific officer at L3Harris about artificial intelligence and machine learning, and how the modern battlefield constraints impact the architecture and performance of contemporary machine learning techniques. Keeping in mind the role of the human operator, what are the benefits AI can provide in the battlespace and how effective can it be? ·        Industry Voice - Nammo (48:10) VP Content Tony Skinners talks speaks to Senior Vice Presidents Communication at Nammo, Endre Lunde about design and branding in the defence industry discussing where we are at and what can be improved.  Music and sound mixing provided by Fred Prest

1) Carlos Freire Moreira reflects on his time in the Brazilian Navy and how the civilian industry adapted Naval technology in the energy sector 2) Carlos gives an in depth look at INB’s goals of developing all levels of the uranium fuel cycle 3) How different applications for uranium and the state of other energy resources all lead back towards more nuclear energy 4) Carlos reviews current work within Brazil on how to focus regulations and diversify the country

This week we look into what might be the scariest place in the world, especially if you have a fear of snakes.  Snake Island is 90 miles off the coast of Sao Paulo, Brazil and is a very small island at only 110 acres.  But this island is infested with extremely venomous (not poison) snakes, called golden lancehead pit vipers.  This island is so dangerous it is illegal to visit there, and stupid.  The only people allowed to go there is the Brazilian Navy and selected scientists.  Learn all about this island and it's dangerous inhabitants.    Snake Island documentary  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjaz0mynQvk&t=11s  If you would like to give a donation you can on PayPal at either Forceofnaturepod@gmail.com or simply forceofnaturepod On Venmo is my personal account at Matthew-Hamilton-51  We would appreciate any donations very much and we will give shout outs to anyone that does. Thank you! If you want us to give you a shout out please go to iTunes subscribe/rate/review give us 5 stars, say whatever you want.  It really helps us standout and get noticed. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/force-of-nature/id1416902126 Also available on Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play Please add us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ForceofNaturePod/ Also feel free to send us and email if you want or have any cool animal stories you would like to share forceofnaturepod@gmail.com 

This week we look into what might be the scariest place in the world, especially if you have a fear of snakes.  Snake Island is 90 miles off the coast of Sao Paulo, Brazil and is a very small island at only 110 acres.  But this island is infested with extremely venomous (not poison) snakes, called golden lancehead pit vipers.  This island is so dangerous it is illegal to visit there, and stupid.  The only people allowed to go there is the Brazilian Navy and selected scientists.  Learn all about this island and it's dangerous inhabitants.    Snake Island documentary  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjaz0mynQvk&t=11s  If you would like to give a donation you can on PayPal at either Forceofnaturepod@gmail.com or simply forceofnaturepod On Venmo is my personal account at Matthew-Hamilton-51  We would appreciate any donations very much and we will give shout outs to anyone that does. Thank you! If you want us to give you a shout out please go to iTunes subscribe/rate/review give us 5 stars, say whatever you want.  It really helps us standout and get noticed. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/force-of-nature/id1416902126 Also available on Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play Please add us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ForceofNaturePod/ Also feel free to send us and email if you want or have any cool animal stories you would like to share forceofnaturepod@gmail.com 

Dr. Jose Tufy Cairus, a historian and professor at Brazil's Federal Institute of Santa Catarina, is one of the few scholars studying Brazilian jiu-jitsu jistory. Cairus' father was involved with Brazilian judo for decades, and the author himself trained with Carlson Gracie -- something you'll hear all about in this interview! You'll learn what he things the biggest misconceptions about BJJ history are; who the first Japanese person to teach Kodokan Judo in Brazil was; who the first woman to train was; what the differences were between Jigoro Kano's judo at the time and the jiu-jitsu taught by Mitsuyo Maeda (who wasn't the only one using the "Count Koma" name); the critical role of Donato Pires dos Reis and Jacinto Ferro; the importance of Brazil's Navy in promoting jiu-jitsu, and how Maeda taught to the Brazilian Navy in the Amazon, including Luis Soto; Geo Omori and Takeo Yano's contributions to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu; how Brazil's history, including the transition from the monarchy to the Old Republic to the dictatorship to the authoritarian estado novo affected jiu-jitsu -- especially a harrowing story about when Robson and Carlson were arrested by the Brazilian military government, and how they got out with the help of Helio Gracie & Helio Vigio. Thanks as always to our sponsors, US Grappling, Toro BJJ, and Cageside MMA! Register online at usgrappling.com to compete in Columbia, SC, June 30 or July 14 in Charlotte -- and if you need gi or nogi gear to compete, find the best products at cageside.com! If you want access to bonus content, you can support us at patreon.com/dirtywhitebelt, as Cody Maltais, Karl Krebs, Chris Holmes and Betty Broadhurst did this month -- thanks, y'all!

From a dangerous island the Brazilian Navy refuses to let you visit (it's for your own good!), to a place where monkeys think they're training for the Kentucky Derby, Will and Mango are scouring the globe for water-locked lands and the incredible stories that come from them. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Dr. Trent Nessler is the CEO/Founder of Accelerated Conditioning and Learning, LLC, developer of the Dynamic Movement Assessment, Fatigue Dynamic Movement Assessment and author of the e-textbook Dynamic Movement Assessment: Reduce Injuries and Improve Performance. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Physiology, a Master’s in Physical Therapy and a Doctorate in Physical Therapy with a focus on biomechanics and motor learning. He has been a physical therapist for over 15 years during which time he has treated high school, collegiate, Olympic and professional athletes for over a decade. Trent has also worked with the Tactical Athlete to assist in injury prevention and improved performance in high risk occupations. This has resulted in working with those in tactical operations including Police Department, Fire Department, SWAT, Brazilian Military and special operations. Trent has been presenting on the topic of movement assessment nationally and internationally for over 10 years to organizations including Southeast Athletic Trainers Association, Centro de Educação Física Almirante Adalberto Nunes, the American Sports Medicine Institute, Andrews Education and Research Institute, Seattle Mariners, Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society, Rocky Mountain Athletic Trainers Association, American Physical Therapy Association’s Combined Section Meeting and various state physical therapy associations. Trent has also been used as a nationally recognized resource for Advance PT, The Washington Post, as well as Web MD. He currently sits on the USA Cheer Safety Council, is associate editor of The International Journal of Athletic Therapy and Training and an injury consultant to the Brazilian Navy.The SMARTER Team Training Audio Interview Series has been developed to share insights from some of the best in the industry. Stay tuned for more insights, tips, drills, and techniques to come from STT. Be sure to share the STT Audio Interview Series with coaches, trainers, parents, and athletes too.Visit STT at http://www.SMARTERTeamTraining.com . Listen to STT on iTunes and iHeartRadio at http://sttpodcast.com . Join STT on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/SMARTERTeamTraining . Subscribe to STT on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/SMARTERTeamTraining . And follow us on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/SMARTERTeam . SMARTER Team Training has been developed to focus on athlete and team development, performance, and education. By incorporating the SMARTER Team Training programs into your year round athletic development program, you will decrease your injury potential, increase individual athleticism, and maximize your team training time.