Podcasts about cyrillic

With her bewitching and beautiful novel NEVERMORE (Seagull Books, translated from French by Tess Lewis, who joins our conversation), Cécile Wajsbrot takes us on a tour of Chenobyl's Forbidden Zone, the High Line in NYC, Dresden, Paris, under the shadow of the Time Passes section of Virginia Woolf's To The Lighthouse. We talk about the challenges of writing a first-person novel about translation, the strange ways Woolf has followed Cecile throughout her careers as author & translator, and how it felt to see her novel about translating Virginia Woolf into French get translated into English. We get into her literary career, how Time Passes became a stand-in for her fascination with destruction, why she's translated Woolf's The Waves three times over thirty years (and whether the first one got her into the bad graces of the editor of Le Monde de Livres), what it was like to subvert the translator's typical role of invisibility with this novel, and the language she wishes she had. We also discuss mourning and the ways we try to keep conversation alive with those we've lost, the time I impressed the Princess of Yugoslavia by transliterating the Cyrillic on her family's jewels, and more. More info at our site • Support The Virtual Memories Show via Stripe, Patreon, or Paypal, and subscribe to our e-newsletter

The two saints were brothers, born in Thessalonica. St Methodius, the elder brother, served as a soldier for ten years before becoming a monk. Cyril was librarian at the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople; then he too became a monk.   Their first missionary work was not among the Slavs: When the king of the Khazars (a Mongol people who then inhabited much of what is now Russia) petitioned the Emperor Michael to sent teachers to instruct his people, the Emperor chose Cyril and Methodius as his emissaries. They converted the Khazar king to the Christian faith, along with many of his nobles and commoners.   When King Rostislav of Moravia likewise sought teachers of the Christian faith, Cyril and Methodius were again sent forth. This time they devised an alphabet for the Slavic language and used it to translate many of the Greek service books into the language of the people. (In theory, the Orthodox people have always been privileged to hear the Church's services in their own tongue, though often attachment to dead languages has prevented this ideal from becoming reality.) Both brothers were repeatedly attacked by Germanic priests of the region, who opposed the use of the common tongue in the liturgy. At different times, both brothers were forced to appeal for exoneration and protection to the Pope of Rome, who supported them warmly each time.   After the two Saints reposed, attacks on their work continued, and their disciples were eventually driven from Moravia. The disciples, fleeing southward, found a warmer welcome among the southern Slavic peoples, and their work bore much fruit in Bulgaria (including modern-day Serbia) and other countries. And, of course, the alphabet that they devised, called Cyrillic after St Cyril, remains the standard alphabet of both the Slavonic service books of the Church and the Slavic languages of today.

Purple Pants Podcast | Bulgaria's Clue Chaos & Cipher Struggles Your Purple Pants Podcast Pitstop duo, @BriceIzyah and @TheRealBCamhi, are back with a breakdown of The Amazing Race 37, Episode 8! The Race continues through Bulgaria as teams take on a new set of challenges that test memory, rhythm, and teamwork. From learning a traditional folk dance to solving a tricky Cyrillic-coded puzzle, the detours and roadblocks keep the racers on their toes. With tight competition and tensions rising, one team's journey comes to a dramatic end. You can also watch along on Brice Izyah's YouTube channel to watch us break it all down https://youtube.com/channel/UCFlglGPPamVHaNAb0tL_s7g   LISTEN: Subscribe to the Purple Pants podcast feed  WATCH: Watch and subscribe to the podcast on YouTube SUPPORT: Become a RHAP Patron for bonus content, access to Facebook and Discord groups plus more great perks! Previously on the Purple Pants Podcast Feed: Purple Pants Podcast Archives Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

dary! And welcome to Episode 99 of The Last Standee Podcast! In this episode, stars align and omens appear as we are about to kiss goodbye to two digits for good! The episode begins as usual, with a Standee Catchup with Fen and Cara, of dogs and humankind so to say. Then we begin with Freedom Five, a Defenders of the Realm game from Greater than Games: Fen does the honors here; fun fact: the game has four expansions and a promo which appear to be engulfed in a time paradox (see BGG stats!). The three of us then continue with two games from Cara's fortnightly game night - Big Shot and Qwirkle - great additions to any collection, if a little aged. To finish up, Alessio talks a bit about Odin (the Norse deity, not the number one in languages with Cyrillic alphabet), the proud winner of As D'Or 2025. And that's about it! See you next episode!

Video - https://youtu.be/rEuowmFitpkThink You Can Spot a Fake Website? Think Again.What if I told you that apple.com might not actually be Apple's website? Cybercriminals have found a way to create perfectly disguised fake domains that look identical to real ones—down to the last letter. But there's a hidden trick in play, one that even tech-savvy users can fall for. This little-known cyberattack is fooling people every day, stealing passwords, financial details, and personal data without them ever realizing it. Are you sure you'd notice the difference? Read on to find out.I used ChatGPT-4o, VLC, ZOOM's Clips, ScreenPal, and Pictory.ai to put this information together.If you're interested in trying Pictory.ai please use the following link. https://pictory.ai?ref=t015oHere are some examples of Cyrillic characters that look almost identical to Latin letters but are actually different: https://i.imgur.com/UeL8Nt7.png

Full Text of ReadingsMemorial of Saints Cyril, Monk, and Methodius, Bishop Lectionary: 333The Saint of the day is Saints Cyril and MethodiusSaints Cyril and Methodius' Stories Because their father was an officer in a part of Greece inhabited by many Slavs, these two Greek brothers ultimately became missionaries, teachers, and patrons of the Slavic peoples. After a brilliant course of studies, Cyril (called Constantine until he became a monk shortly before his death) refused the governorship of a district such as his brother had accepted among the Slavic-speaking population. Cyril withdrew to a monastery where his brother Methodius had become a monk after some years in a governmental post. A decisive change in their lives occurred when the Duke of Moravia asked the Eastern Emperor Michael for political independence from German rule and ecclesiastical autonomy (having their own clergy and liturgy). Cyril and Methodius undertook the missionary task. Cyril's first work was to invent an alphabet, still used in some Eastern liturgies. His followers probably formed the Cyrillic alphabet. Together they translated the Gospels, the psalter, Paul's letters and the liturgical books into Slavonic, and composed a Slavonic liturgy, highly irregular then. That and their free use of the vernacular in preaching led to opposition from the German clergy. The bishop refused to consecrate Slavic bishops and priests, and Cyril was forced to appeal to Rome. On the visit to Rome, he and Methodius had the joy of seeing their new liturgy approved by Pope Adrian II. Cyril, long an invalid, died in Rome 50 days after taking the monastic habit. Methodius continued mission work for 16 more years. He was papal legate for all the Slavic peoples, consecrated a bishop and then given an ancient see (now in the Czech Republic). When much of their former territory was removed from their jurisdiction, the Bavarian bishops retaliated with a violent storm of accusation against Methodius. As a result, Emperor Louis the German exiled Methodius for three years. Pope John VIII secured his release. Because the Frankish clergy, still smarting, continued their accusations, Methodius had to go to Rome to defend himself against charges of heresy and uphold his use of the Slavonic liturgy. He was again vindicated. Legend has it that in a feverish period of activity, Methodius translated the whole Bible into Slavonic in eight months. He died on Tuesday of Holy Week, surrounded by his disciples, in his cathedral church. Opposition continued after his death, and the work of the brothers in Moravia was brought to an end and their disciples scattered. But the expulsions had the beneficial effect of spreading the spiritual, liturgical, and cultural work of the brothers to Bulgaria, Bohemia and southern Poland. Patrons of Moravia, and specially venerated by Catholic Czechs, Slovaks, Croatians, Orthodox Serbians and Bulgarians, Cyril and Methodius are eminently fitted to guard the long-desired unity of East and West. In 1980, Pope John Paul II named them additional co-patrons of Europe. Reflection Holiness means reacting to human life with God's love: human life as it is, crisscrossed with the political and the cultural, the beautiful and the ugly, the selfish and the saintly. For Cyril and Methodius much of their daily cross had to do with the language of the liturgy. They are not saints because they got the liturgy into Slavonic, but because they did so with the courage and humility of Christ. Saints Cyril and Methodius are the Patron Saints of: Slavic PeoplesEcumenism Saint of the Day, Copyright Franciscan Media

Happy Valentine's Day! On today's show, Matt Swaim and Anna Mitchell separate a bit of the history from the legend, and also celebrate the feast of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, apostles to the Slavic peoples and developers of the Cyrillic alphabet. They also look ahead to the Mass readings for Septuagesima Sunday with Fr. Hezekias Carnazzo and Fr. Jonathan Duncan, plus news, weather, sports and more...

Happy Valentine’s Day! On today’s show, Matt Swaim and Anna Mitchell separate a bit of the history from the legend, and also celebrate the feast of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, apostles to the Slavic peoples and developers of the Cyrillic alphabet. They also look ahead to the Mass readings for Septuagesima Sunday with Fr. Hezekias Carnazzo and Fr. Jonathan Duncan, plus news, weather, sports and more… ***** Collect for Sts. Cyril and Methodius O God, who enlightened the Slavic peoples through the brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius, grant that our hearts may grasp the words of your teaching, and perfect us as a people of one accord in true faith and right confession. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. ***** Full list of guestsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

【欢迎订阅】每天早上5:30，准时更新。【阅读原文】标题:Is a glut of phoney Russian goods too much for China's consumers to bear?正文：As if they were copied and pasted, Russian goods markets have sprang up in cities across China in the past few months. They come with all the signature elements: Cyrillic script on blue signage, matryoshka dolls, traditional songs like “Kalinka” and “Katyusha” played on a loop. Riding a wave of popularity brought on by stronger bilateral trade links and strained relations with the West, these shops sell sausage, chocolates and even durian confectionery while claiming most of their goods are imported from Russia.知识点：paste v. /peɪst/to stick sth to sth else using glue or paste粘贴；粘合• He pasted the pictures into his scrapbook.他把画⽚贴到他的剪贴本⾥。• Paste the two pieces together.把这两⽚粘在⼀起。获取外刊的完整原文以及精讲笔记，请关注微信公众号「早安英文」，回复“外刊”即可。更多有意思的英语干货等着你！【节目介绍】《早安英文-每日外刊精读》，带你精读最新外刊，了解国际最热事件：分析语法结构，拆解长难句，最接地气的翻译，还有重点词汇讲解。所有选题均来自于《经济学人》《纽约时报》《华尔街日报》《华盛顿邮报》《大西洋月刊》《科学杂志》《国家地理》等国际一线外刊。【适合谁听】1、关注时事热点新闻，想要学习最新最潮流英文表达的英文学习者2、任何想通过地道英文提高听、说、读、写能力的英文学习者3、想快速掌握表达，有出国学习和旅游计划的英语爱好者4、参加各类英语考试的应试者（如大学英语四六级、托福雅思、考研等）【你将获得】1、超过1000篇外刊精读课程，拓展丰富语言表达和文化背景2、逐词、逐句精确讲解，系统掌握英语词汇、听力、阅读和语法3、每期内附学习笔记，包含全文注释、长难句解析、疑难语法点等，帮助扫除阅读障碍。

Santa & His Team Makes Up For A North Pole Screw-Up. By Demi Urging. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories. It's the wee hours of December 26th. Rick is finally shoving the last of his teetering friends through their front door, He volunteered to be designated driver again, for about half a dozen friends & co-workers. Another Christmas gathering passed as the clock ticked into the next day and it seemed he'd be single again into the new year. He thought he would have gotten over it by age thirty.He did have a pity date from last year  for New Year's Eve. It hadn't been a nice date, either; she stayed for a single kiss at midnight and left without another word. The same woman has a boyfriend this year, so Rick couldn't ask again even if his pride would allow it. Now he'll get plenty of sleep. The only sign of the holidays in his life was the box of fudge sitting on his counter, Which his elderly neighbor gave him the night before Christmas. He wouldn't even eat it tonight. Sleep had to come first, then he had a week off, since the boss knew most of the team would be useless if he had them come in that week. Climbing the stairs, he smelled something delectable, coming out of the 4th floor stairwell. He thought one of his neighbors must have made actual food instead of subsisting on beer and crackers like his friends had. Maybe he would eat some of that fudge after all, since a glass of water and a handful of crackers in the face of a home-cooked meal seemed inadequate. It had to be Miss Thompson. Rick thought that the old gal had gone off to the country for the day to visit with her kids, but the smell of his mom's ham with orange & clove seasoning didn't lie, and it was absolutely coming from somewhere on this floor, getting stronger as he approached his own apartment. Taking a final pleasant sniff before entering his lonely apartment, Rick turned, halfway opened his front door, and was smacked in the face with a bouquet of aromas that sent his mind back to Christmas dinner with mom and dad. Rick stepped back. Wrong apartment, he thought. But when he checked the address, expecting to be on the wrong floor somehow, he was met with the very same number he saw every day. He considered calling the cops, but wanted to know the actual situation before making that decision. So, flicked-open pocket knife in hand, he very slowly pushed the door open again. “Aren't you coming in?” A slender, bright-eyed young woman in an apron and a horribly ugly holiday sweater three sizes too large, only bare leg showing underneath its hem, was standing in the entryway. She giggled, fluffy blonde locks bouncing around peaked ears, and took Rick by the hand, gently tugging him inside. “Come on, silly, it's nice and warm. I have a fire going that's the perfect size for snuggling and supper just came out of the oven.” Ah, so a crazy person broke in. At least they… “A Fire!?” Rick asked as he pulled himself out of her grasp and ran further inside, desperately trying to remember where he kept the extinguisher. But he stopped when he saw what she really meant: his television was showing a video of a fireplace and putting out the smooth jazz version of Christmas favorites, & also a heater stationed below it provided heat along with what looked like a genuine polar bear skin rug. Jittering followed as the girl joined him. “I am sorry I couldn't have a real one tonight, but there was no fireplace so this is the best I could do. Now, let's get you fed while it's nice and piping hot, and then we can open presents.” A glance around the room revealed a small pine tree, dazzling with ornaments and laden with expertly-wrapped boxes underneath. Rick's dining room table held more food than it ever had before and glimmered with candlelight that danced gleefully as the girl dimmed the lights and retrieved the last item from the oven, coming around with a ceramic dish of bubbling, hot food to finish off the spread. She pulled a chair out for him to sit, pouting when he declined her service. “What is this and who are you?” Rick discreetly tucked his knife away. “This is Christmas dinner for my sweetie, of course. It'll start getting cold soon, so why don't I make you a plate? While she scooped Rick's plate with food, He considered his plan of action. The way she bounced to a beat, humming along with the television, the points of her ears were over-worldly? Rick reached out and tugged on one of the girl's ears. She yelped, tightening up so as not to drop the plate, and begged him with a tremble in her voice, "Sweetie, please don't.” When he released her, she set his place at the table and did the same for herself. He took his seat. “Merry Christmas, my sweet one. While you were away, Santa came along and dropped off a bunch of presents for you. I thought you would like the surprise and we could eat first before talking, but I guess I crossed a line, haven't I?” Rick put a bite of ham in his mouth, the girl brightening up as he started to eat. It had to be one of the most delicious things he'd had the pleasure to shove in his face. Mom's cooking, with its nostalgic advantage was still blown out of the water, and Rick felt sorry that he would never get to taste this for the first time again. Too soon it was all gone and the girl was carrying out a plate of apple and chocolate pie with ice cream on the side. This too didn't last and something about her constant giggling warmed him inside in a way he couldn't very well describe. As he finished the last bite of chocolate pie, she came over to his chair & wrapped herself around his neck from behind, softness and warmth pressing into his back and fluffy, blonde hair tickling his cheek. “Oh, Messy boy” she said, and leaned forward to smooch a crumb off his cheek. Before Rick could object, as little as he was inclined to, she had already slipped away to put dishes in the sink and his back felt uncomfortably cold with her absence. “That was pretty good; amazing actually.” Rick said, “But seriously, who are you? Did one of my friends hire you or something?” He dismissed the idea. “No, my mother? She's one of the only people with a key to my place. Unless; it was the landlady?” The girl stretched in the warm air with a luxurious moan escaping peachy lips, the neck of her XXL sweater spilling over a shoulder, exposing so much skin underneath that it was impossible for her to be wearing anything underneath. “I'm an elf!” she proclaimed. She curtsied, at least there were denim cutoff shorts underneath the sweater.  Rick just stared. “Didn't you hear me? Santa came by, because you were such a good boy, and we set all this up for you. Well, not to toot my own horn, but I did all the cooking and decorating, Santa brought presents. Oh, and I'm Sugarbell. I'm here to make your Christmas wish come true!” She'd taken a pose as if she was popping out of a giant layer cake; like there should be celebratory confetti shooting out. But she just stood there in awkward silence. Rick sighed, so she was a crazy chick after all. “Okay, miss elf, why don't you get out of here before I have to call the police. And how did you get in here anyway?” “Magic,” Sugarbell said, looking crestfallen, her ears drooping. “You're not giving me a good argument not to call the police. Can you at least take off the fake ears so we can really talk about this?” “Fake? Sweetie? She skipped over to a green sack by the door and plucked out a wrinkled, yellowed piece of paper. "Ahem, ‘Dear Santa, I've been a good boy all year if you don't count that stuff that my sister says and all I really want is a girlfriend.' and then there's a colored pencil drawing of a girl with black pigtails who I think is your crush. 'It's okay if I don't get one, I know that's asking for a lot, but it doesn't look like mom and Dave are going to be able to give out lots of toys this year, so don't worry about it if you can't. Merry Christmas. BTW I'm making snickerdoodles this year, so make sure you grab your share before Dave can steal them all again.' and there's your signature.” She handed the letter over for inspection. It was definitely his handwriting, his drawing skills from almost two decades ago… “So you were sent by my mother. You could have just said that and we'd have been fine. I'm sorry, she's pushy but I know she means well… should have told me I'd have company and I would have skipped that party. Anyway, what's your actual name?” “I'm Sugarbell. And I wasn't sent by her, Santa brought me. Here, look.” She tugged on her ear, leaning up so Rick could look closely. It was either real or the seam of the rubber was so well hidden that it might as well be. “I suppose this would be a little hard to believe for an adult. Sorry, I haven't actually spoken with a human for a few years.” Rick shook his head. “Your makeup's good, I'll give you that.” Rick angled his hips so the elf wouldn't notice a certain reflex to her melding to his shape. She was incredibly soft in his arms, just short of purring, the smell of peppermint coming off as she rubbed against him. Sugarbell stared up at him, her wide, green eyes shining with reflected candlelight. “But I'm not a crazy. I…” She went to the polar bearskin rug in front of the television, so big for the room that it bunched up against the walls in that corner, took a seat and patted the place beside her for him to take. Rick was not so troubled as he was amused, so he sat next to her on the rug in front of the sofa, facing the fake fire. She rested her head against his shoulder and twined her fingers in his with no resistance. “Um…” he said, “You got me, I guess, but what is all this?” “It's a little embarrassing for all of us who screwed up,” she said, “You see, back when we got that letter, we were using a new kind of mail bag and, as we would soon find out, letters would sometimes get caught in the seams. And the elf in charge of distributing letters wasn't especially conscientious. Rather than going through the trouble of digging out the trapped ones as he knew there would be, they instead ended up stuck inside, in a pile in the corner of the sorting room. It wouldn't have been that much of a problem, aside from that one elf's termination we would have just sorted through when we found the pile and spread out what good will we could. But then we arrived at your letter.” “I mean, I was a dumb 10 year old kid. It's not something I would ask for these days.” Sugarbell airily giggled, her cheek burned against his arm. “Sweetie, that wasn't the problem. We get so many requests for things like that; puppies, little brothers or sisters, a bunch-a edgy. Usually, we'd plan on whatever we could. Are the parents getting a pet? Is someone pregnant or likely to be? If not, a stuffed animal or baby doll would do the trick, and plastic weapons are wholesome enough as it is. The trouble came in an unfortunate fact: you were in the top hundred of the nice list that year.” “First of all, I don't believe you, but why would it be an issue?” “Top hundred and a random assortment on top of that get their wish, period. According to our records, you didn't submit one… had we known what you wanted, we couldn't very well kidnap someone and brainwash them, but we absolutely could have an elf facilitate a meeting, and stick around to help out a burgeoning romance. Of course, we didn't find your letter in the pile until this year. It wouldn't do for us to get off with as light as a card and a toy anymore, so here I am.” Sugarbell hugged his arm tightly to her chest and kissed his cheek. “I'm your present this year. Sorry it took so long for your wish to come true.” It doesn't make up for the twenty years you've lost, but We can only fix today. Rick reeled from the stream of revelations, not the least of which being that Santa was a real guy. And here was an eager, adorable, blonde lovely thing clinging to him, unwittingly giving him quite the show as her sweater's wide neck dipped down with her promised land hiding behind a tantalizing, flickering shadow. He averted his eyes, hoping she couldn't feel his heart going crazy through his palm, but her puckish smile said that she knew very well the effect her supple, inviting cuddliness was having. He paused. “So Santa just gave me one of his elves? What, did you draw the short stick?” “We're not slaves, you know. It's a career.” As he leaned back, supported by the sofa seat; Sugarbell straddled into his lap, wrapping her legs around his waist. There was no way she couldn't feel the ‘wooden soldier' poking her thighs from below. “Upon discovery of your letter, several of us thought that we could still make your wish come true, so Santa put out a call for volunteers. I won.” Before he could respond, she leaned into him, rocking him onto his back while she straddled; her warm, green eyes glittering in the false firelight on the tv as she came in for a transient peck on the lips. Then she teased him by hopping up and padding over to the kitchen. From where he lay, Rick watched her pull a tray from the oven and came back to the fire to kneel beside him. He asked, “People volunteered to be with me?” It was hard to imagine even two women fighting over him. Sugarbell frowned like she knew this conversation was going to happen sooner or later and could no longer be postponed. “Fifty of us young lady elves entered the pool. We played rock paper scissors for the position, and I won the tournament. Of course; if you don't want me, I'm sure we can drop someone else off for you. Any one of them would love to take my place.” “I just can't believe it.” Rick sat up and drew her into his arms, sitting her on one leg so the soldier couldn't get in the way. It seemed that she prepared to be rejected at this point, and he'd said so much to make her think he would, threatened to have her removed by the authorities after all. “It's a lot to take in, you know? How the heck was I in the top hundred? I don't remember doing anything especially great. Why not give my place to one of those prodigies out saving the rainforest or whatever?” She'd relaxed in his arms, nestled into the crook of his shoulder and curled in her slender legs. “We take lots of factors into consideration. The kindest people don't pay attention to how kind they are. They just do the right thing. "And I thought you were a home invader.” “Nuh-uh.” She wiggled herself up until her lips touched his earlobe and whispered, “It's only home invasion when the owner doesn't want you there. Tell me who laid out milk and cookies all those years? Wasn't that you?” Her nuzzling and shimmying had tugged the overlarge neck of her sweater so far down across one shoulder that she was in danger of revealing herself from just the swell of her curvaceous breast with every breath, not that it seemed she would mind. Sugarbell wagged her pert butt in his lap, her fingers wandered underneath his sweatshirt and sweetly tugged at the t-shirt underneath when she found it was tucked in. The same breath which raised her chest came to him as a cool breeze on his neck. She said, “Tell me, what's the one thing you've always wanted to do, that you couldn't without a girlfriend?” One corner of his undershirt came free from his jeans. It was too fast, Rick hugged her tighter, trapping her hands to squirm uselessly against his belly. He grabbed her sweater and pulled the neck back off her shoulder, saving her from the risk of exposure. Giggling wildly, she plunged her hands under his plain gray sweatshirt and tickled his armpits without mercy until it was just too much to bear and Rick fell sideways, holding in suppressed laughter, landing onto his back. But it didn't end, Sugarbell seized the moment of his weakness and took hold of the sweatshirt's hem, pulling the whole thing up above his head in a smooth motion and trapping his arms in a cottony prison. She laid herself over his chest and at last succeeded in untucking his shirt. Meanwhile his bulge rested between the two cheeks of her very toned ass, and she rubbed against it with her subtle motions. Eagerness burned in her rosy cheeks. Her downy, golden hair fell around their faces, dividing them from the world, but a few deep breaths later, her giggling petered out and she rolled off, spending the last of her laughter beside him on the floor. “Sorry, sorry, we haven't even eaten dessert yet.” she said breathlessly, jumping up and scurrying back to the kitchen. Rick discarded his sweatshirt; it was already getting too warm for him. Watching on as Sugarbell's perky rear bounced away did nothing for dissipating his erection, begging him as it was, to just get on with it already. It didn't have long to calm down before she returned with a plate of tiny, pink cookies. “No, don't get up,” she said as she set the plate down on the rug, “Go ahead and try one, I'll pick a present for both of us, from the North Pole team.” The first bite of the little cookie exploded with crispy flakiness and a sophisticated undertone of strawberry. Rick snuck a second cookie before Sugarbell had time to return from the tree, with a couple gifts. “These are incredible!” he blurted through a cheekful of crumbs. She took one for herself and examined it between pinched fingers. “I wish I had more time to make them. It's the little touches that make the difference, but I wasn't able to let the egg whites get to room temperature before I beat them. And I know they say you can use a hand mixer to get the same results, but I think merenge needs the personal touch of a handheld whisk, even if it takes longer.” “What are you talking about? They're delicious.” Sugarbell sat next to him, leaning against the sofa, and kissed his cheek. Then sliding a present into his lap to open. “They're called sugarbells. My mom's version is so much better than mine.” Rick looked at the gift tag, but the sender's name was in Cyrillic so it was hopeless to try reading it. “Where did all these come from anyway?” “Let's see… that one's from the workshop, most of them are. The sender is an elf named Tart. Technically it's actually Tort, but that's what he prefers.” Rather than carefully preserve the beauty of the wrapping on her gift, Sugarbell plunged her fingertip under a flap and ripped the paper off in a single ragged chunk. She tipped the lid up to see inside, yelped, and put the package out of reach. “What was it?” Rick asked. The box was on her other side and she leaned in the way of his arm when he started reaching around to get at it. “Well, it was, uh,” she stammered, eyes darting back and forth until she realized there wasn't a way out of telling him the truth. “It's something of a gift to both of us, from the workshop's confectioner.” She waved him close and whispered with a warm breath against his ear, “Edible underwear.” Before he could respond with his own bewilderment, Sugarbell crawled away to fetch another pair of presents from the pile. She wouldn't look him in the eye when she thrust the next one into his hands. Did she think she hadn't already crossed the line from adorable into suggestive, or was it just too much to be hit smack in the face with the implications? This self-conscious side of her was adorable in its own way too. He decided to prod her. “Alright,” he said, “New rule: no hiding anything, and presents have to be tried out right away. Okay?” Sugarbell nodded solemnly and began drawing the hem of her sweater up, laying bare her tight, smooth belly, and was saved at the last moment when it crested her ribs and Rick caught her wrist. His bluff overwhelmingly called, Rick let her off easy and kissed her forehead. “Sorry, I just meant we should show off what we got. No need to strip right here and now.” “So,” Rick said, uneasy in his seat, “Are there going to be any of these that aren't… romantic?” At least Sugarbell looked ruffled too, swaying on her knees after pulling out another couple gifts. “Most of these are from elves who really wanted to be with you tonight instead of me.” She stuffed a cookie in her face rather than continue explaining. They opened the next wave of gifts in one fell swoop of torn paper and ribbon to avoid any unnecessary embarrassment. Out came a matching set of horrendously ugly sweaters in their respective sizes and a book titled 'guide to faeries' which Sugarbell suspiciously slid underneath the pile without mentioning in any way. Rick said, “Well, at least we haven't found any dildos…” There was a pregnant pause as Sugarbell's eyes flicked toward a long, slim present leaned up against the wall. Sugarbell reverently set each box before them and for the first time went to the trouble of finding an edge to peel back instead of ripping the thing to shreds in a festive feeding frenzy. “These two,” she said, “Are from Santa himself.” In the first box, addressed to Rick, there was a wooden doll in the shape of a tiny, flaxen-haired elf complete with a red dress and curly-toed shoes festooned with actual, minuscule bells. The other package, Sugarbell's, opened to reveal a group photo with dozens of short people trying to get their heads in frame all at once, almost crowding out the wizened man in the center. She held it close to her chest for a long moment and set it aside. “Good thing that's the last of them, garbage bag is near to bursting.” Rick said. “That wasn't the last one.” She tugged on his shirt to keep him in place before he could retreat to take out the trash. “What do you mean, did I miss one under the tree?” Sugarbell crawled behind him and when he tried to look, she gently turned his face away. Moments later, the muffled sound of wool dropping on the carpet came amid the soft jazz Christmas carols and the crackle of fire. Pale arms enveloped his neck and naked softness pressed against his nape. “You still have one more present to unwrap.” she whispered. He took her hands in his and pushed down his feelings; this was too good to be true. “It's okay, I understand everything now. I had a lot of fun tonight and I appreciate the gesture, but you don't have to go that far for someone like me.” She slid down his back like dripping cream and he felt her lips lay a line of pecks up from his neck to his ear. She whispered; “There's such a thing as being too nice, you know. A girl might get her feelings hurt like that.” Her tongue ran the length of his earlobe and she nibbled at it as a penalty. Her voice was sultry and inviting; “I'm not wearing a bra, can't you feel that?” She rubbed herself against him to ensure he would feel her firm nipples tickling across his back. “Does it feel like I'm coerced? Or do I seem like the kind of girl who would act this way for just anyone? We found that letter six months ago… I've been watching you, falling in love with you, for so long.” Each passing day my desire for you has grown. “There's no way…” “No way someone like me could fall for someone like you?” Sugarbell bit his neck. If only the really big things counted toward being good, there would be so few good people, wouldn't there?“ "I mean, as long as you're okay with it.” There was some rustling behind his back as Sugarbell wriggled and reached back, producing her little, denim shorts so he could see and dropping them in his lap. The girl hugging herself so tightly to his back was wearing nothing but panties and moaned into his ear, “Carry me to the bed, please?” Libido won out; Rick turned and scooped her up to a giddy squeal, as her legs locked around his waist, Rick was blessed with handfuls of bouncy ass and hurriedly carried her to the his room to set her down in bed. She'd done her magic in there as well, ceiling hung with red and gold garlands, mistletoe above each doorway. The bedspread was made with a quilted comforter patterned with reindeer frolicking across the tundra. It was obvious that she wanted to end up in there from the start. Sugarbell pulled his head down for a kiss, prodding between his lips with the tip of her tongue, eagerly melding herself to his body, mingling her tongue with his. They came apart with a heavy breath, forgetting how long they had been under. She covertly undid the buckle of his belt and tugged his pants down into a heap at his feet, then delved underneath his t-shirt again, spread her delicate fingers across his chest, and pressed herself into him as he drew it over his head. Abruptly, she tweaked his nipples and retreated before he could retaliate, plopping herself on his bedspread and, calming herself a pinch, spread her knees apart. The one article of clothing between them was a pair of red, lacy panties with a cotton sprig of mistletoe hung by a little bow. As Rick gawked at the dainty outline. The panties were tied at both hips, with stretch lace straps. Sugarbell squirmed, her own gaze flitting to and from his growing erection, but she kept her legs open. “It's mistletoe…” she said quietly. “Um, yeah.” “You know what that means, don't you?” In answer, Rick crawled down and kissed her thigh. Her fingers twined in his hair and an unrestricted murmur of pleasure came from above, encouraging him to advance toward her heat, laying kisses all the way up her creamy thigh until he was inches away from her warm aroma. The fabric was in the way, but he could feel her silkiness on his lips, against his tongue. Her fingers left their comfortable place in his hair to pull on the knots at her hips, let her panties fall away and revealed bare, pink skin. Rick wasted no time, pushed forward to kiss her again, running his tongue along her lips, pausing to pin in his mind the spots where she moaned or her leg twitched against his head. Already he could feel wetness on his tongue, heat spreading throughout her body. A chorus of gasps and moans fell from above and quick peeks down below showed that Sugarbell's toes were curling. Pride swelled in his chest as he smooched and licked her most sensitive spots. “Okay, stop,” Sugarbell pushed his head away and sighed, falling back for a second before rolling backwards onto her knees on the bed. “Come here,” she said, patting the space beside her, “Lie down right here, on you back.” He obeyed and had a shock. He would have said something, but a lingering lick up his shaft to the tip stole his words with a moan. Delicate fingers wrapped around it and gently stroked as she nestled against his thigh and lapped at his balls, merrily humming as she took pleasure in the situation. Popping a testicle in her mouth and swirling it around with her tongue, Sugarbell's pert ass swayed in the air, her other hand wandering up her leg so she could rub herself against her palm. Rick could only reach down to pet her head as she suckled. Sugarbell slowly ran her tongue around the rim of his glans, so sensitive that Rick almost lost himself in the pleasure, but he relished every moment of those bright, green eyes bobbing down on him. She took him deeper into her mouth, rubbing the tip of his cock against the inside, bulging her rosy cheek like a chipmunk. Her hips bucked against her hand and mewls of pleasure escaped from her glistening lips, bringing Rick to the just before the point of no return where his whole body clenched to keep the amazing feeling from ending. And she flopped limp between his legs, tenderly lapping at his balls as his cock twitched for release in her hand. "Come on, sweetie pie,” she said, “Isn't there somewhere else you'd like to do that?” Rick sat up and pulled her into his lap facing him; where her soft slit straddled his throbbing erection. “Do you have any protection?” he asked. Sugarbell bent her head into his chest and sputtered laughter. “Like I said, there's such a thing as being too nice.” She guided the tip of his cock to her entrance and started putting weight on it, softly grunting with the effort of fitting him inside, squealed when it pushed in the first inch. “Does it hurt?” “Shut up.” she moaned, hugging herself close so he couldn't see the pain in her eyes and insist they stop. “I j-just need to get used to it, okay?” Over the next minute her warm tightness enveloped his cock inch by inch until Sugarbell's butt rested comfortably in his lap and she breathed a sigh of relief. Rick turned up her chin for a kiss, hoping their intertwined tongues would distract from the pain, stroking her creamy, pale skin with special attention paid to her ticklish spots, taking a breast in hand and fiddling with a nipple like a hard pebble. Her sighs of pleasure washed against his chest and she closed her eyes to enjoy each touch to its fullest, savoring the feeling of fullness in her loins. She snaked her arms around him, linking her fingers behind his back, and began swirling her hips, gently moving his cock inside her, sliding her bouncy ass across his thighs. He felt like he could burst at any minute, couldn't resist taking a handful of ass, causing a refreshing whimper against his chest as he squeezed. Rick buried his face in her fluffy, golden hair to keep his senses, taking in the invigorating scent of peppermint and sweat. Little tickles made moaned giggles fall on his ears and Sugarbell slowly became more comfortable with his size, increasing her motion's intensity until she was almost thrusting against his last inch. Her bright, green eyes appeared again as Rick surprised Sugarbell by slowly flipping her down onto her back. He kept the last pace she was comfortable with, guided by her tiny, urging moans to start going faster and deeper. She splayed her arms above her head and gripped the pillow she found there, handing over control to him with her legs wrapped around his waist. Free to go wild, Rick slowly pulled out and pushed himself back in to the hilt, leering at the way Sugarbell squirmed underneath, her breast rippling with sharp breaths. Then again, a bit faster, and again until he was properly thrusting, and he joined the chorus of moans. Sugarbell pulled his head down into a kiss and shakily whispered, “Harder~” He grabbed her waist, ramming himself inside her pussy as she wriggled in ecstasy, bright eyes rolled back and she bit his shoulder in anticipation of the finale. It came on like a wave, forcing him as deep as he could go, balls slapping against wet ass cheeks as he flooded her tight pussy and she tightened in gratification, overwhelmed by sensation as Rick pounded inside her. When the moment of passion had passed, Rick laid at her side as she relaxed into quiet contentment. But it didn't last long before she crawled atop him, laying her head on his chest humming a festive tune. “That was amazing.” he said, absentmindedly stroking her hair. Sugarbell kissed his chest. “Lots better than your hand, isn't it? Heh, you're pretty big. Human girls don't know what they're missing out on.” Her fingertips traced the way down between his legs, wrapped around his shrinking dick and said, “Good job, mister, wanna take me for another spin?” Rick laughed and she rubbed herself against his chest as she joined in, bright eyes merrily twinkling. “Can't fault a girl for trying, can you? It is two in the morning I suppose. Christmas night's almost over and done.” She tugged up the blanket they'd displaced and snuggled herself against him, pointy ear tickling his neck, and hummed a lullaby as the day's exhaustion made sleep less and less voluntary. The morning sun muddled through snow-filled clouds to gently wake Rick. He'd slept clean through the usual time, had a transient shock before remembering the office would be closed for the week. And he was alone. Last night had to have happened. Peppermint lingered in the air and a hickey stung on his neck, but she wasn't there. Of course, he thought, it was a monkey's paw. She'd said she was a Christmas present, and the day had passed… He forced himself out of bed and dressed, then headed for the kitchen. Where a woman in a red turtleneck and costume antlers was using the stove. “Morning, sleepy-head~” Sugarbell cooed, “I'm almost done with brunch so go ahead and take a seat.” “You're still here.” “Of course I am, why? Oh, there's nowhere I need to be.” “I thought I was only going to get the one night.” Sugarbell turned off the stove and set the table with leftover ham omelets and freshly-baked cinnamon rolls. “That's not a girlfriend, that's a one-night stand.” she said, standing on tiptoe to kiss his cheek, “And we still have to continue where we left off after all.” By Demi urging for Literotica

Santa & His Team Makes Up For A North Pole Screw-Up. By Demi Urging. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories. It's the wee hours of December 26th. Rick is finally shoving the last of his teetering friends through their front door, He volunteered to be designated driver again, for about half a dozen friends & co-workers. Another Christmas gathering passed as the clock ticked into the next day and it seemed he'd be single again into the new year. He thought he would have gotten over it by age thirty.He did have a pity date from last year  for New Year's Eve. It hadn't been a nice date, either; she stayed for a single kiss at midnight and left without another word. The same woman has a boyfriend this year, so Rick couldn't ask again even if his pride would allow it. Now he'll get plenty of sleep. The only sign of the holidays in his life was the box of fudge sitting on his counter, Which his elderly neighbor gave him the night before Christmas. He wouldn't even eat it tonight. Sleep had to come first, then he had a week off, since the boss knew most of the team would be useless if he had them come in that week. Climbing the stairs, he smelled something delectable, coming out of the 4th floor stairwell. He thought one of his neighbors must have made actual food instead of subsisting on beer and crackers like his friends had. Maybe he would eat some of that fudge after all, since a glass of water and a handful of crackers in the face of a home-cooked meal seemed inadequate. It had to be Miss Thompson. Rick thought that the old gal had gone off to the country for the day to visit with her kids, but the smell of his mom's ham with orange & clove seasoning didn't lie, and it was absolutely coming from somewhere on this floor, getting stronger as he approached his own apartment. Taking a final pleasant sniff before entering his lonely apartment, Rick turned, halfway opened his front door, and was smacked in the face with a bouquet of aromas that sent his mind back to Christmas dinner with mom and dad. Rick stepped back. Wrong apartment, he thought. But when he checked the address, expecting to be on the wrong floor somehow, he was met with the very same number he saw every day. He considered calling the cops, but wanted to know the actual situation before making that decision. So, flicked-open pocket knife in hand, he very slowly pushed the door open again. “Aren't you coming in?” A slender, bright-eyed young woman in an apron and a horribly ugly holiday sweater three sizes too large, only bare leg showing underneath its hem, was standing in the entryway. She giggled, fluffy blonde locks bouncing around peaked ears, and took Rick by the hand, gently tugging him inside. “Come on, silly, it's nice and warm. I have a fire going that's the perfect size for snuggling and supper just came out of the oven.” Ah, so a crazy person broke in. At least they… “A Fire!?” Rick asked as he pulled himself out of her grasp and ran further inside, desperately trying to remember where he kept the extinguisher. But he stopped when he saw what she really meant: his television was showing a video of a fireplace and putting out the smooth jazz version of Christmas favorites, & also a heater stationed below it provided heat along with what looked like a genuine polar bear skin rug. Jittering followed as the girl joined him. “I am sorry I couldn't have a real one tonight, but there was no fireplace so this is the best I could do. Now, let's get you fed while it's nice and piping hot, and then we can open presents.” A glance around the room revealed a small pine tree, dazzling with ornaments and laden with expertly-wrapped boxes underneath. Rick's dining room table held more food than it ever had before and glimmered with candlelight that danced gleefully as the girl dimmed the lights and retrieved the last item from the oven, coming around with a ceramic dish of bubbling, hot food to finish off the spread. She pulled a chair out for him to sit, pouting when he declined her service. “What is this and who are you?” Rick discreetly tucked his knife away. “This is Christmas dinner for my sweetie, of course. It'll start getting cold soon, so why don't I make you a plate? While she scooped Rick's plate with food, He considered his plan of action. The way she bounced to a beat, humming along with the television, the points of her ears were over-worldly? Rick reached out and tugged on one of the girl's ears. She yelped, tightening up so as not to drop the plate, and begged him with a tremble in her voice, "Sweetie, please don't.” When he released her, she set his place at the table and did the same for herself. He took his seat. “Merry Christmas, my sweet one. While you were away, Santa came along and dropped off a bunch of presents for you. I thought you would like the surprise and we could eat first before talking, but I guess I crossed a line, haven't I?” Rick put a bite of ham in his mouth, the girl brightening up as he started to eat. It had to be one of the most delicious things he'd had the pleasure to shove in his face. Mom's cooking, with its nostalgic advantage was still blown out of the water, and Rick felt sorry that he would never get to taste this for the first time again. Too soon it was all gone and the girl was carrying out a plate of apple and chocolate pie with ice cream on the side. This too didn't last and something about her constant giggling warmed him inside in a way he couldn't very well describe. As he finished the last bite of chocolate pie, she came over to his chair & wrapped herself around his neck from behind, softness and warmth pressing into his back and fluffy, blonde hair tickling his cheek. “Oh, Messy boy” she said, and leaned forward to smooch a crumb off his cheek. Before Rick could object, as little as he was inclined to, she had already slipped away to put dishes in the sink and his back felt uncomfortably cold with her absence. “That was pretty good; amazing actually.” Rick said, “But seriously, who are you? Did one of my friends hire you or something?” He dismissed the idea. “No, my mother? She's one of the only people with a key to my place. Unless; it was the landlady?” The girl stretched in the warm air with a luxurious moan escaping peachy lips, the neck of her XXL sweater spilling over a shoulder, exposing so much skin underneath that it was impossible for her to be wearing anything underneath. “I'm an elf!” she proclaimed. She curtsied, at least there were denim cutoff shorts underneath the sweater.  Rick just stared. “Didn't you hear me? Santa came by, because you were such a good boy, and we set all this up for you. Well, not to toot my own horn, but I did all the cooking and decorating, Santa brought presents. Oh, and I'm Sugarbell. I'm here to make your Christmas wish come true!” She'd taken a pose as if she was popping out of a giant layer cake; like there should be celebratory confetti shooting out. But she just stood there in awkward silence. Rick sighed, so she was a crazy chick after all. “Okay, miss elf, why don't you get out of here before I have to call the police. And how did you get in here anyway?” “Magic,” Sugarbell said, looking crestfallen, her ears drooping. “You're not giving me a good argument not to call the police. Can you at least take off the fake ears so we can really talk about this?” “Fake? Sweetie? She skipped over to a green sack by the door and plucked out a wrinkled, yellowed piece of paper. "Ahem, ‘Dear Santa, I've been a good boy all year if you don't count that stuff that my sister says and all I really want is a girlfriend.' and then there's a colored pencil drawing of a girl with black pigtails who I think is your crush. 'It's okay if I don't get one, I know that's asking for a lot, but it doesn't look like mom and Dave are going to be able to give out lots of toys this year, so don't worry about it if you can't. Merry Christmas. BTW I'm making snickerdoodles this year, so make sure you grab your share before Dave can steal them all again.' and there's your signature.” She handed the letter over for inspection. It was definitely his handwriting, his drawing skills from almost two decades ago… “So you were sent by my mother. You could have just said that and we'd have been fine. I'm sorry, she's pushy but I know she means well… should have told me I'd have company and I would have skipped that party. Anyway, what's your actual name?” “I'm Sugarbell. And I wasn't sent by her, Santa brought me. Here, look.” She tugged on her ear, leaning up so Rick could look closely. It was either real or the seam of the rubber was so well hidden that it might as well be. “I suppose this would be a little hard to believe for an adult. Sorry, I haven't actually spoken with a human for a few years.” Rick shook his head. “Your makeup's good, I'll give you that.” Rick angled his hips so the elf wouldn't notice a certain reflex to her melding to his shape. She was incredibly soft in his arms, just short of purring, the smell of peppermint coming off as she rubbed against him. Sugarbell stared up at him, her wide, green eyes shining with reflected candlelight. “But I'm not a crazy. I…” She went to the polar bearskin rug in front of the television, so big for the room that it bunched up against the walls in that corner, took a seat and patted the place beside her for him to take. Rick was not so troubled as he was amused, so he sat next to her on the rug in front of the sofa, facing the fake fire. She rested her head against his shoulder and twined her fingers in his with no resistance. “Um…” he said, “You got me, I guess, but what is all this?” “It's a little embarrassing for all of us who screwed up,” she said, “You see, back when we got that letter, we were using a new kind of mail bag and, as we would soon find out, letters would sometimes get caught in the seams. And the elf in charge of distributing letters wasn't especially conscientious. Rather than going through the trouble of digging out the trapped ones as he knew there would be, they instead ended up stuck inside, in a pile in the corner of the sorting room. It wouldn't have been that much of a problem, aside from that one elf's termination we would have just sorted through when we found the pile and spread out what good will we could. But then we arrived at your letter.” “I mean, I was a dumb 10 year old kid. It's not something I would ask for these days.” Sugarbell airily giggled, her cheek burned against his arm. “Sweetie, that wasn't the problem. We get so many requests for things like that; puppies, little brothers or sisters, a bunch-a edgy. Usually, we'd plan on whatever we could. Are the parents getting a pet? Is someone pregnant or likely to be? If not, a stuffed animal or baby doll would do the trick, and plastic weapons are wholesome enough as it is. The trouble came in an unfortunate fact: you were in the top hundred of the nice list that year.” “First of all, I don't believe you, but why would it be an issue?” “Top hundred and a random assortment on top of that get their wish, period. According to our records, you didn't submit one… had we known what you wanted, we couldn't very well kidnap someone and brainwash them, but we absolutely could have an elf facilitate a meeting, and stick around to help out a burgeoning romance. Of course, we didn't find your letter in the pile until this year. It wouldn't do for us to get off with as light as a card and a toy anymore, so here I am.” Sugarbell hugged his arm tightly to her chest and kissed his cheek. “I'm your present this year. Sorry it took so long for your wish to come true.” It doesn't make up for the twenty years you've lost, but We can only fix today. Rick reeled from the stream of revelations, not the least of which being that Santa was a real guy. And here was an eager, adorable, blonde lovely thing clinging to him, unwittingly giving him quite the show as her sweater's wide neck dipped down with her promised land hiding behind a tantalizing, flickering shadow. He averted his eyes, hoping she couldn't feel his heart going crazy through his palm, but her puckish smile said that she knew very well the effect her supple, inviting cuddliness was having. He paused. “So Santa just gave me one of his elves? What, did you draw the short stick?” “We're not slaves, you know. It's a career.” As he leaned back, supported by the sofa seat; Sugarbell straddled into his lap, wrapping her legs around his waist. There was no way she couldn't feel the ‘wooden soldier' poking her thighs from below. “Upon discovery of your letter, several of us thought that we could still make your wish come true, so Santa put out a call for volunteers. I won.” Before he could respond, she leaned into him, rocking him onto his back while she straddled; her warm, green eyes glittering in the false firelight on the tv as she came in for a transient peck on the lips. Then she teased him by hopping up and padding over to the kitchen. From where he lay, Rick watched her pull a tray from the oven and came back to the fire to kneel beside him. He asked, “People volunteered to be with me?” It was hard to imagine even two women fighting over him. Sugarbell frowned like she knew this conversation was going to happen sooner or later and could no longer be postponed. “Fifty of us young lady elves entered the pool. We played rock paper scissors for the position, and I won the tournament. Of course; if you don't want me, I'm sure we can drop someone else off for you. Any one of them would love to take my place.” “I just can't believe it.” Rick sat up and drew her into his arms, sitting her on one leg so the soldier couldn't get in the way. It seemed that she prepared to be rejected at this point, and he'd said so much to make her think he would, threatened to have her removed by the authorities after all. “It's a lot to take in, you know? How the heck was I in the top hundred? I don't remember doing anything especially great. Why not give my place to one of those prodigies out saving the rainforest or whatever?” She'd relaxed in his arms, nestled into the crook of his shoulder and curled in her slender legs. “We take lots of factors into consideration. The kindest people don't pay attention to how kind they are. They just do the right thing. "And I thought you were a home invader.” “Nuh-uh.” She wiggled herself up until her lips touched his earlobe and whispered, “It's only home invasion when the owner doesn't want you there. Tell me who laid out milk and cookies all those years? Wasn't that you?” Her nuzzling and shimmying had tugged the overlarge neck of her sweater so far down across one shoulder that she was in danger of revealing herself from just the swell of her curvaceous breast with every breath, not that it seemed she would mind. Sugarbell wagged her pert butt in his lap, her fingers wandered underneath his sweatshirt and sweetly tugged at the t-shirt underneath when she found it was tucked in. The same breath which raised her chest came to him as a cool breeze on his neck. She said, “Tell me, what's the one thing you've always wanted to do, that you couldn't without a girlfriend?” One corner of his undershirt came free from his jeans. It was too fast, Rick hugged her tighter, trapping her hands to squirm uselessly against his belly. He grabbed her sweater and pulled the neck back off her shoulder, saving her from the risk of exposure. Giggling wildly, she plunged her hands under his plain gray sweatshirt and tickled his armpits without mercy until it was just too much to bear and Rick fell sideways, holding in suppressed laughter, landing onto his back. But it didn't end, Sugarbell seized the moment of his weakness and took hold of the sweatshirt's hem, pulling the whole thing up above his head in a smooth motion and trapping his arms in a cottony prison. She laid herself over his chest and at last succeeded in untucking his shirt. Meanwhile his bulge rested between the two cheeks of her very toned ass, and she rubbed against it with her subtle motions. Eagerness burned in her rosy cheeks. Her downy, golden hair fell around their faces, dividing them from the world, but a few deep breaths later, her giggling petered out and she rolled off, spending the last of her laughter beside him on the floor. “Sorry, sorry, we haven't even eaten dessert yet.” she said breathlessly, jumping up and scurrying back to the kitchen. Rick discarded his sweatshirt; it was already getting too warm for him. Watching on as Sugarbell's perky rear bounced away did nothing for dissipating his erection, begging him as it was, to just get on with it already. It didn't have long to calm down before she returned with a plate of tiny, pink cookies. “No, don't get up,” she said as she set the plate down on the rug, “Go ahead and try one, I'll pick a present for both of us, from the North Pole team.” The first bite of the little cookie exploded with crispy flakiness and a sophisticated undertone of strawberry. Rick snuck a second cookie before Sugarbell had time to return from the tree, with a couple gifts. “These are incredible!” he blurted through a cheekful of crumbs. She took one for herself and examined it between pinched fingers. “I wish I had more time to make them. It's the little touches that make the difference, but I wasn't able to let the egg whites get to room temperature before I beat them. And I know they say you can use a hand mixer to get the same results, but I think merenge needs the personal touch of a handheld whisk, even if it takes longer.” “What are you talking about? They're delicious.” Sugarbell sat next to him, leaning against the sofa, and kissed his cheek. Then sliding a present into his lap to open. “They're called sugarbells. My mom's version is so much better than mine.” Rick looked at the gift tag, but the sender's name was in Cyrillic so it was hopeless to try reading it. “Where did all these come from anyway?” “Let's see… that one's from the workshop, most of them are. The sender is an elf named Tart. Technically it's actually Tort, but that's what he prefers.” Rather than carefully preserve the beauty of the wrapping on her gift, Sugarbell plunged her fingertip under a flap and ripped the paper off in a single ragged chunk. She tipped the lid up to see inside, yelped, and put the package out of reach. “What was it?” Rick asked. The box was on her other side and she leaned in the way of his arm when he started reaching around to get at it. “Well, it was, uh,” she stammered, eyes darting back and forth until she realized there wasn't a way out of telling him the truth. “It's something of a gift to both of us, from the workshop's confectioner.” She waved him close and whispered with a warm breath against his ear, “Edible underwear.” Before he could respond with his own bewilderment, Sugarbell crawled away to fetch another pair of presents from the pile. She wouldn't look him in the eye when she thrust the next one into his hands. Did she think she hadn't already crossed the line from adorable into suggestive, or was it just too much to be hit smack in the face with the implications? This self-conscious side of her was adorable in its own way too. He decided to prod her. “Alright,” he said, “New rule: no hiding anything, and presents have to be tried out right away. Okay?” Sugarbell nodded solemnly and began drawing the hem of her sweater up, laying bare her tight, smooth belly, and was saved at the last moment when it crested her ribs and Rick caught her wrist. His bluff overwhelmingly called, Rick let her off easy and kissed her forehead. “Sorry, I just meant we should show off what we got. No need to strip right here and now.” “So,” Rick said, uneasy in his seat, “Are there going to be any of these that aren't… romantic?” At least Sugarbell looked ruffled too, swaying on her knees after pulling out another couple gifts. “Most of these are from elves who really wanted to be with you tonight instead of me.” She stuffed a cookie in her face rather than continue explaining. They opened the next wave of gifts in one fell swoop of torn paper and ribbon to avoid any unnecessary embarrassment. Out came a matching set of horrendously ugly sweaters in their respective sizes and a book titled 'guide to faeries' which Sugarbell suspiciously slid underneath the pile without mentioning in any way. Rick said, “Well, at least we haven't found any dildos…” There was a pregnant pause as Sugarbell's eyes flicked toward a long, slim present leaned up against the wall. Sugarbell reverently set each box before them and for the first time went to the trouble of finding an edge to peel back instead of ripping the thing to shreds in a festive feeding frenzy. “These two,” she said, “Are from Santa himself.” In the first box, addressed to Rick, there was a wooden doll in the shape of a tiny, flaxen-haired elf complete with a red dress and curly-toed shoes festooned with actual, minuscule bells. The other package, Sugarbell's, opened to reveal a group photo with dozens of short people trying to get their heads in frame all at once, almost crowding out the wizened man in the center. She held it close to her chest for a long moment and set it aside. “Good thing that's the last of them, garbage bag is near to bursting.” Rick said. “That wasn't the last one.” She tugged on his shirt to keep him in place before he could retreat to take out the trash. “What do you mean, did I miss one under the tree?” Sugarbell crawled behind him and when he tried to look, she gently turned his face away. Moments later, the muffled sound of wool dropping on the carpet came amid the soft jazz Christmas carols and the crackle of fire. Pale arms enveloped his neck and naked softness pressed against his nape. “You still have one more present to unwrap.” she whispered. He took her hands in his and pushed down his feelings; this was too good to be true. “It's okay, I understand everything now. I had a lot of fun tonight and I appreciate the gesture, but you don't have to go that far for someone like me.” She slid down his back like dripping cream and he felt her lips lay a line of pecks up from his neck to his ear. She whispered; “There's such a thing as being too nice, you know. A girl might get her feelings hurt like that.” Her tongue ran the length of his earlobe and she nibbled at it as a penalty. Her voice was sultry and inviting; “I'm not wearing a bra, can't you feel that?” She rubbed herself against him to ensure he would feel her firm nipples tickling across his back. “Does it feel like I'm coerced? Or do I seem like the kind of girl who would act this way for just anyone? We found that letter six months ago… I've been watching you, falling in love with you, for so long.” Each passing day my desire for you has grown. “There's no way…” “No way someone like me could fall for someone like you?” Sugarbell bit his neck. If only the really big things counted toward being good, there would be so few good people, wouldn't there?“ "I mean, as long as you're okay with it.” There was some rustling behind his back as Sugarbell wriggled and reached back, producing her little, denim shorts so he could see and dropping them in his lap. The girl hugging herself so tightly to his back was wearing nothing but panties and moaned into his ear, “Carry me to the bed, please?” Libido won out; Rick turned and scooped her up to a giddy squeal, as her legs locked around his waist, Rick was blessed with handfuls of bouncy ass and hurriedly carried her to the his room to set her down in bed. She'd done her magic in there as well, ceiling hung with red and gold garlands, mistletoe above each doorway. The bedspread was made with a quilted comforter patterned with reindeer frolicking across the tundra. It was obvious that she wanted to end up in there from the start. Sugarbell pulled his head down for a kiss, prodding between his lips with the tip of her tongue, eagerly melding herself to his body, mingling her tongue with his. They came apart with a heavy breath, forgetting how long they had been under. She covertly undid the buckle of his belt and tugged his pants down into a heap at his feet, then delved underneath his t-shirt again, spread her delicate fingers across his chest, and pressed herself into him as he drew it over his head. Abruptly, she tweaked his nipples and retreated before he could retaliate, plopping herself on his bedspread and, calming herself a pinch, spread her knees apart. The one article of clothing between them was a pair of red, lacy panties with a cotton sprig of mistletoe hung by a little bow. As Rick gawked at the dainty outline. The panties were tied at both hips, with stretch lace straps. Sugarbell squirmed, her own gaze flitting to and from his growing erection, but she kept her legs open. “It's mistletoe…” she said quietly. “Um, yeah.” “You know what that means, don't you?” In answer, Rick crawled down and kissed her thigh. Her fingers twined in his hair and an unrestricted murmur of pleasure came from above, encouraging him to advance toward her heat, laying kisses all the way up her creamy thigh until he was inches away from her warm aroma. The fabric was in the way, but he could feel her silkiness on his lips, against his tongue. Her fingers left their comfortable place in his hair to pull on the knots at her hips, let her panties fall away and revealed bare, pink skin. Rick wasted no time, pushed forward to kiss her again, running his tongue along her lips, pausing to pin in his mind the spots where she moaned or her leg twitched against his head. Already he could feel wetness on his tongue, heat spreading throughout her body. A chorus of gasps and moans fell from above and quick peeks down below showed that Sugarbell's toes were curling. Pride swelled in his chest as he smooched and licked her most sensitive spots. “Okay, stop,” Sugarbell pushed his head away and sighed, falling back for a second before rolling backwards onto her knees on the bed. “Come here,” she said, patting the space beside her, “Lie down right here, on you back.” He obeyed and had a shock. He would have said something, but a lingering lick up his shaft to the tip stole his words with a moan. Delicate fingers wrapped around it and gently stroked as she nestled against his thigh and lapped at his balls, merrily humming as she took pleasure in the situation. Popping a testicle in her mouth and swirling it around with her tongue, Sugarbell's pert ass swayed in the air, her other hand wandering up her leg so she could rub herself against her palm. Rick could only reach down to pet her head as she suckled. Sugarbell slowly ran her tongue around the rim of his glans, so sensitive that Rick almost lost himself in the pleasure, but he relished every moment of those bright, green eyes bobbing down on him. She took him deeper into her mouth, rubbing the tip of his cock against the inside, bulging her rosy cheek like a chipmunk. Her hips bucked against her hand and mewls of pleasure escaped from her glistening lips, bringing Rick to the just before the point of no return where his whole body clenched to keep the amazing feeling from ending. And she flopped limp between his legs, tenderly lapping at his balls as his cock twitched for release in her hand. "Come on, sweetie pie,” she said, “Isn't there somewhere else you'd like to do that?” Rick sat up and pulled her into his lap facing him; where her soft slit straddled his throbbing erection. “Do you have any protection?” he asked. Sugarbell bent her head into his chest and sputtered laughter. “Like I said, there's such a thing as being too nice.” She guided the tip of his cock to her entrance and started putting weight on it, softly grunting with the effort of fitting him inside, squealed when it pushed in the first inch. “Does it hurt?” “Shut up.” she moaned, hugging herself close so he couldn't see the pain in her eyes and insist they stop. “I j-just need to get used to it, okay?” Over the next minute her warm tightness enveloped his cock inch by inch until Sugarbell's butt rested comfortably in his lap and she breathed a sigh of relief. Rick turned up her chin for a kiss, hoping their intertwined tongues would distract from the pain, stroking her creamy, pale skin with special attention paid to her ticklish spots, taking a breast in hand and fiddling with a nipple like a hard pebble. Her sighs of pleasure washed against his chest and she closed her eyes to enjoy each touch to its fullest, savoring the feeling of fullness in her loins. She snaked her arms around him, linking her fingers behind his back, and began swirling her hips, gently moving his cock inside her, sliding her bouncy ass across his thighs. He felt like he could burst at any minute, couldn't resist taking a handful of ass, causing a refreshing whimper against his chest as he squeezed. Rick buried his face in her fluffy, golden hair to keep his senses, taking in the invigorating scent of peppermint and sweat. Little tickles made moaned giggles fall on his ears and Sugarbell slowly became more comfortable with his size, increasing her motion's intensity until she was almost thrusting against his last inch. Her bright, green eyes appeared again as Rick surprised Sugarbell by slowly flipping her down onto her back. He kept the last pace she was comfortable with, guided by her tiny, urging moans to start going faster and deeper. She splayed her arms above her head and gripped the pillow she found there, handing over control to him with her legs wrapped around his waist. Free to go wild, Rick slowly pulled out and pushed himself back in to the hilt, leering at the way Sugarbell squirmed underneath, her breast rippling with sharp breaths. Then again, a bit faster, and again until he was properly thrusting, and he joined the chorus of moans. Sugarbell pulled his head down into a kiss and shakily whispered, “Harder~” He grabbed her waist, ramming himself inside her pussy as she wriggled in ecstasy, bright eyes rolled back and she bit his shoulder in anticipation of the finale. It came on like a wave, forcing him as deep as he could go, balls slapping against wet ass cheeks as he flooded her tight pussy and she tightened in gratification, overwhelmed by sensation as Rick pounded inside her. When the moment of passion had passed, Rick laid at her side as she relaxed into quiet contentment. But it didn't last long before she crawled atop him, laying her head on his chest humming a festive tune. “That was amazing.” he said, absentmindedly stroking her hair. Sugarbell kissed his chest. “Lots better than your hand, isn't it? Heh, you're pretty big. Human girls don't know what they're missing out on.” Her fingertips traced the way down between his legs, wrapped around his shrinking dick and said, “Good job, mister, wanna take me for another spin?” Rick laughed and she rubbed herself against his chest as she joined in, bright eyes merrily twinkling. “Can't fault a girl for trying, can you? It is two in the morning I suppose. Christmas night's almost over and done.” She tugged up the blanket they'd displaced and snuggled herself against him, pointy ear tickling his neck, and hummed a lullaby as the day's exhaustion made sleep less and less voluntary. The morning sun muddled through snow-filled clouds to gently wake Rick. He'd slept clean through the usual time, had a transient shock before remembering the office would be closed for the week. And he was alone. Last night had to have happened. Peppermint lingered in the air and a hickey stung on his neck, but she wasn't there. Of course, he thought, it was a monkey's paw. She'd said she was a Christmas present, and the day had passed… He forced himself out of bed and dressed, then headed for the kitchen. Where a woman in a red turtleneck and costume antlers was using the stove. “Morning, sleepy-head~” Sugarbell cooed, “I'm almost done with brunch so go ahead and take a seat.” “You're still here.” “Of course I am, why? Oh, there's nowhere I need to be.” “I thought I was only going to get the one night.” Sugarbell turned off the stove and set the table with leftover ham omelets and freshly-baked cinnamon rolls. “That's not a girlfriend, that's a one-night stand.” she said, standing on tiptoe to kiss his cheek, “And we still have to continue where we left off after all.” By Demi urging for Literotica

fWotD Episode 2742: Yugoslav destroyer Ljubljana Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia’s finest articles.The featured article for Wednesday, 6 November 2024 is Yugoslav destroyer Ljubljana.Ljubljana (Serbo-Croatian pronunciation: [ʎubˈʎana]; Cyrillic: Љубљана) was the third and last Beograd-class destroyer built for the Royal Yugoslav Navy (Serbo-Croatian: Kraljevska mornarica, Краљевска морнарица; КМ) in the late 1930s, and designed to operate as part of a division led by the flotilla leader Dubrovnik. She entered KM service in November 1939, was armed with a main battery of four Škoda 120 mm (4.7 in) guns in superfiring single mounts – two forward and two aft of the superstructure – and she had a practical top speed of 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph).In 1940, Ljubljana ran aground on a reef off the Yugoslav port of Šibenik and sank due to the serious damage caused to her hull. After considerable effort she was refloated and then towed to the naval arsenal at Tivat in the Bay of Kotor for repairs. This incident resulted in her gaining a reputation as an "unlucky ship" with Yugoslav sailors. Yugoslavia entered World War II when the German-led Axis powers invaded in April 1941, and Ljubljana – still under repair – was captured by the Italians. After repairs and refitting, including replacement of her anti-aircraft armament, she saw service from November 1942 with the Royal Italian Navy under the name Lubiana, mainly as a convoy escort on routes between Italy and Greece and Italy and Tunisia. She was lost on 1 April 1943, when a navigational error was made in poor visibility off the Tunisian coast. She ran aground and was stranded and then abandoned due to heavy seas, and was declared a total loss.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 14:13 UTC on Friday, 8 November 2024.For the full current version of the article, see Yugoslav destroyer Ljubljana on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm generative Olivia.

pWotD Episode 2713: Greek alphabet Welcome to Popular Wiki of the Day, spotlighting Wikipedia's most visited pages, giving you a peek into what the world is curious about today.With 1,559,477 views on Saturday, 5 October 2024 our article of the day is Greek alphabet.The Greek alphabet has been used to write the Greek language since the late 9th or early 8th century BC. It is derived from the earlier Phoenician alphabet, and was the earliest known alphabetic script to have distinct letters for vowels as well as consonants. In Archaic and early Classical times, the Greek alphabet existed in many local variants, but, by the end of the 4th century BC, the Euclidean alphabet, with 24 letters, ordered from alpha to omega, had become standard and it is this version that is still used for Greek writing today.The uppercase and lowercase forms of the 24 letters are: Α α, Β β, Γ γ, Δ δ, Ε ε, Ζ ζ, Η η, Θ θ, Ι ι, Κ κ, Λ λ, Μ μ, Ν ν, Ξ ξ, Ο ο, Π π, Ρ ρ, Σ σ/ς, Τ τ, Υ υ, Φ φ, Χ χ, Ψ ψ, Ω ω.The Greek alphabet is the ancestor of the Latin and Cyrillic scripts. Like Latin and Cyrillic, Greek originally had only a single form of each letter; it developed the letter case distinction between uppercase and lowercase in parallel with Latin during the modern era. Sound values and conventional transcriptions for some of the letters differ between Ancient and Modern Greek usage because the pronunciation of Greek has changed significantly between the 5th century BC and today. Modern and Ancient Greek also use different diacritics, with modern Greek keeping only the stress accent (acute) and the diaeresis.Apart from its use in writing the Greek language, in both its ancient and its modern forms, the Greek alphabet today also serves as a source of international technical symbols and labels in many domains of mathematics, science, and other fields.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:52 UTC on Sunday, 6 October 2024.For the full current version of the article, see Greek alphabet on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm long-form Danielle.

Zdravo svima, Join us on a journey to learn the Serbian language and culture. Whether you're just starting to learn Serbian or you're looking to deepen your understanding, our collaborative podcast offers valuable lessons, cultural insights, and practical tips to enhance your learning experience. Each episode breaks down complex grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary while exploring traditions, customs, and the vibrant history that shapes modern Serbia. Whether you're learning for travel, study, or personal growth, this podcast is your go-to resource. In this episode, Nikola and Maki share their self-introduction in Serbian in 3 levels. You may follow the subtitles to see the Cyrillic version of the text. We hope you find it useful. We would like to see your self-introductions in the comments below. Together, we'll make learning Serbian engaging, fun, and meaningful! Maki & Nikola Može Kafa Podcast & Learn Serbian Podcast You can find all our links here and support us :) Follow us: instagram.com/mozekafapodcast https://open.spotify.com/show/0WK2TyS924fA2PDnugfGCu https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mozekafapodcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/moze-kafa-podcast/id1543738751 Nikola's Page Learn Serbian: Youtube: www.youtube.com/@SLNetwork01 Instagram: instagram.com/learn__serbian Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ghpdjpodIGNhEmKy2Dc7Z?si=173f8520d0ed4478 Support us: https://buymeacoffee.com/mozekafapodcast

"I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness." Jn 12:46 NKJVJohn Ortberg writes: "In 1780 a Jesus-follower in Great Britain named Robert Raikes could not stand the cycle of poverty and ignorance that was destroying little children, a whole generation. He said, 'The world marches forward on the feet of little children.So he took children who had to work six days a week in squalor. Sunday was their free day.He said, 'I'm going to start a school for free to teach them to read and write and learn about God! He did, and he called it Sunday school.Within fifty years, there were 1.5 million children being taught by 160,000 volunteer teachers who had a vision for the education of a generation. Sunday school was not a privatized, optional program for church kids.It was one of the great educational volunteer triumphs of the world. The alphabet of the Slavic peoples is called Cyrillic. It was named for Saint Cyril, who was a missionary to the Slavs and discovered they had no written alphabet. Thus he created one for them so they would be able to read about Jesus in their own language...A Methodist missionary,Frank Laubach, cited an extraordinary encounter with God about a century ago that put him on a mission to lift the world out of ignorance. He began a worldwide literacy movement. The phrase 'Each one teach one' flows out of the extraordinary life of this man.He travelled to more than a hundred countries and led to the development of primers in 313 languages. He became known as 'the apostle to the illiterates.'"Support the showChanging Lives | Building Strong Family | Impacting Our Community For Jesus Christ!

Welcome to the Instant Trivia podcast episode 1255, where we ask the best trivia on the Internet. Round 1. Category: Oh Ph. With Ph in quotes 1: For the record, Thomas Edison invented the first practical one of these in 1877. the phonograph. 2: The mortar and pestle is a symbol of this profession. a pharmacist. 3: In days gone by this game bird was popularly served "under glass". a pheasant. 4: A finger bone, or a group of heavily armed infantry with overlapping weapons. a phalanx. 5: In mythology, after Hippolytus rejects her, this wife of Theseus hangs herself. Phaedra. Round 2. Category: Wallaces 1: Lurleen Burns married this man when she was 16 and later succeeded him as governor of Alabama. George Wallace. 2: Before "Braveheart" his story was told in the 15th century by Henry the Minstrel. William Wallace. 3: (Hi, I'm Wallace Langham) Mike's son, this broadcaster became NBC News White House Correspondent in 1982. Chris Wallace. 4: He and his wife Lila launched Reader's Digest in 1922 with a press run of 5,000. DeWitt Wallace. 5: "The Emperor of Ice-Cream" is a famous work by this poet whose day job was VP of an insurance company. Wallace Stevens. Round 3. Category: Chicago 1: Remove 1 letter from the name of a plaza in Dallas and you get this plaza in Chicago's Loop. Daley Plaza. 2: Nearly 250,000 gathered to see Obama's 2008 victory speech in Chicago's front yard, this park named for another president. Grant Park. 3: Scandalous highlight of the 1893 Columbian Exposition and title of the following:"She had a ruby on her tummy and / A diamond big as Texas on her toe, whoa whoa / She let her hair down and / She did the hoochie coochie real slow, whoa whoa". "Little Egypt". 4: Untouchable Tours visits such sanguineous spots as the site of this February 1929 event. the Valentine's Day Massacre. 5: Some attribute this nickname of the city to its proud, boasting citizens, not its breeziness. "The Windy City". Round 4. Category: 20Th Century Thinkers 1: Called the Russian Revolution's most brilliant thinker, he lost a power struggle with Stalin and was killed in Mexico. Trotsky. 2: This New Yorker wondered, "Can we actually 'know' the universe?... It's hard enough finding your way around Chinatown". Woody Allen. 3: The works of this woman on the left include 1965's "Normality and Pathology in Childhood". Anna Freud. 4: This 3-named economist was an architect of the International Monetary Fund and part of the Bloomsbury Group. Keynes. 5: This "in the machine" was Gilbert Ryle's term for the idea that the mind is apart from the body yet controls it. ghost in the machine. Round 5. Category: Written In Cyrillic 1: Some Tajik speakers call their language Zaboni Forsi, meaning this national tongue. Persian. 2: This carnivore associated with Russia is medved in Russian. a bear. 3: One way to say hello in Serbian is this, borrowed from Italian. ciao. 4: In Ukrainian, this winter month when Russia invaded in 2022 is Lyutyy, "cruel". February. 5: Belarussian took words like "pan", meaning "sir" or "mister" from this language spoken due west of Belarus. Polish. Thanks for listening! Come back tomorrow for more exciting trivia!Special thanks to https://blog.feedspot.com/trivia_podcasts/ AI Voices used

rWotD Episode 2614: Flag of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic Welcome to Random Wiki of the Day, your journey through Wikipedia’s vast and varied content, one random article at a time.The random article for Sunday, 30 June 2024 is Flag of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic.The Flag of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic was adopted on 25 December 1951. Prior to this, the flag was red with the Cyrillic characters БССР (BSSR) in gold in the top-left corner, surrounded by a gold border. Between 1937 and the adoption of the above flag in the 1940s, the flag was the same, but with a gold hammer and sickle above the Cyrillic characters and no border. Between 1919 and 1937, the flag was red, with the Cyrillic characters ССРБ (SSRB) in the top left-hand corner. In early 1919, a plain red flag was used. The final BSSR flag was used until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. A flag based on this Soviet design is used as the national flag of Belarus.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:53 UTC on Sunday, 30 June 2024.For the full current version of the article, see Flag of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm standard Raveena.

ASMR Teaching You Russian Alphabet (Cyrillic) ~ Soft SpokenAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The two saints were brothers, born in Thessalonica. St Methodius, the elder brother, served as a soldier for ten years before becoming a monk. Cyril was librarian at the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople; then he too became a monk.   Their first missionary work was not among the Slavs: When the king of the Khazars (a Mongol people who then inhabited much of what is now Russia) petitioned the Emperor Michael to sent teachers to instruct his people, the Emperor chose Cyril and Methodius as his emissaries. They converted the Khazar king to the Christian faith, along with many of his nobles and commoners.   When King Rostislav of Moravia likewise sought teachers of the Christian faith, Cyril and Methodius were again sent forth. This time they devised an alphabet for the Slavic language and used it to translate many of the Greek service books into the language of the people. (In theory, the Orthodox people have always been privileged to hear the Church's services in their own tongue, though often attachment to dead languages has prevented this ideal from becoming reality.) Both brothers were repeatedly attacked by Germanic priests of the region, who opposed the use of the common tongue in the liturgy. At different times, both brothers were forced to appeal for exoneration and protection to the Pope of Rome, who supported them warmly each time.   After the two Saints reposed, attacks on their work continued, and their disciples were eventually driven from Moravia. The disciples, fleeing southward, found a warmer welcome among the southern Slavic peoples, and their work bore much fruit in Bulgaria (including modern-day Serbia) and other countries. And, of course, the alphabet that they devised, called Cyrillic after St Cyril, remains the standard alphabet of both the Slavonic service books of the Church and the Slavic languages of today.

The two saints were brothers, born in Thessalonica. St Methodius, the elder brother, served as a soldier for ten years before becoming a monk. Cyril was librarian at the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople; then he too became a monk.   Their first missionary work was not among the Slavs: When the king of the Khazars (a Mongol people who then inhabited much of what is now Russia) petitioned the Emperor Michael to sent teachers to instruct his people, the Emperor chose Cyril and Methodius as his emissaries. They converted the Khazar king to the Christian faith, along with many of his nobles and commoners.   When King Rostislav of Moravia likewise sought teachers of the Christian faith, Cyril and Methodius were again sent forth. This time they devised an alphabet for the Slavic language and used it to translate many of the Greek service books into the language of the people. (In theory, the Orthodox people have always been privileged to hear the Church's services in their own tongue, though often attachment to dead languages has prevented this ideal from becoming reality.) Both brothers were repeatedly attacked by Germanic priests of the region, who opposed the use of the common tongue in the liturgy. At different times, both brothers were forced to appeal for exoneration and protection to the Pope of Rome, who supported them warmly each time.   After the two Saints reposed, attacks on their work continued, and their disciples were eventually driven from Moravia. The disciples, fleeing southward, found a warmer welcome among the southern Slavic peoples, and their work bore much fruit in Bulgaria (including modern-day Serbia) and other countries. And, of course, the alphabet that they devised, called Cyrillic after St Cyril, remains the standard alphabet of both the Slavonic service books of the Church and the Slavic languages of today.

Saturday, 30 March 2024   “And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' Acts 26:14   In the previous verse, Paul told the king about the light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that was shining around him and those with him. He continues next with, “And when we all had fallen to the ground.”   Again, Paul gives a bit more detail than in the past. He says that not only he fell to the ground, but those with him did as well. This was not stated by Luke in Acts 9, and Paul left it out of his words to those of Israel gathered before him in Acts 22.   Apparently, the light was so overwhelming that they were simply stunned by it to the point of bringing them to the ground. From there, he next says, “I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language.”   Paul specifically identifies the voice as being in Hebrew. This was unnecessary in Acts 9 and Acts 22. However, Paul is addressing a room filled with various people, all of whom would have spoken Greek, along with any other language they knew. Therefore, Paul continues with the words spoken to him, saying, “‘Saul, Saul.”   The spelling of the name of Saul in both Acts 9 and Acts 22 indicated a Hebrew, not a Greek, address. The Hebrew is SAOUL, the Greek is SAULOS. There was no need for him to tell the audience this in Acts 22 as they were Jews who listened to the account.   However, it may be that he specifically addresses the council with the words “in the Hebrew language” to let the non-Hebrews know that it was the Jewish Lord who spoke to him, thus definitively identifying to them that the Messiah is, in fact, Jewish.   Further, this is one of the many proofs that the NT was written not in Aramaic or Hebrew, but in Greek. If not, then this, and each other such instance, is a non-scriptural addition. In this case, it is the spelling of the name that indicates this to us. Of the words spoken by the voice to him, he next says, “why are you persecuting Me?”   Again, as in the past, the voice asks, “Why are you persecuting Me?” In fact, Paul had persecuted Christians. Therefore, an attack against the body is an attack against the head. Paul's efforts were only hurting himself as the voice then tells him with the words, “It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”   Rather, the Greek is less specific, saying, “Hard for you to kick against goads.” It is an exact repeat of Acts 9:5, and it is how a Hebrew would speak, normally using less definitive wording than a Greek to express the same thought. Of kicking against the goads, the scholars at Cambridge describe that action –    “The figure is from an ox, being driven on in his work. When restive or lazy, the driver pricks him, and in ignorance of the consequences, he kicks back, and so gets another wound. The words would imply that God had been guiding Saul towards the true light for some time before, and that this zeal for persecution was a resistance of the divine urging. It is not unusual for men who are moved to break away from old traditions at such times, by outward acts, to manifest even more zeal than before for their old opinions, as if in fear lest they should be thought to be falling away. This may have been Saul's case, his kicking against the goads.”   According to Vincent's Word Studies, this metaphor concerning the goads is not found in Hebrew writing, but it was common among Greek and Roman writings.   Life application: As noted above, the words of Paul in this verse, as recorded by Luke, clearly indicate that the New Testament was first penned in Greek. Paul conveyed his name in Hebrew in the past, but he does so in Greek now for the benefit of the hearer. From there Luke clearly expresses the Greek form, something unnecessary in the previous accounts of this event.   Instances like this are found throughout the New Testament as well –   “‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,' which is translated, ‘God with us.'” Matthew 1:23   “Then He took the child by the hand, and said to her, ‘Talitha, cumi,' which is translated, ‘Little girl, I say to you, arise.'” Mark 5:41   Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. John 5:2   And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon. Revelation 16:16   These are just a few examples. If the words were not originally penned in Greek, but rather in Hebrew (or Aramaic), such explanations would not be necessary. And more, their inclusion now would mean that the words are not inspired.   This is important because we can see the transfer of the redemptive message away from only Israel to the entire world. But this was initiated long before the writing of the gospels when the Greek translation of the Old Testament was made. That is what is most commonly cited in the New Testament.   God was preparing the world for the message of the Messiah to go out in the most common language of the day, Greek. From there, it would then be translated into other languages. Some alphabets, such as the Cyrillic, were actually developed for the purpose of bringing Scripture to the people of the world.   Because of the work of Christian ministries, the Cyrillic alphabet is now used from Mongolia and Russia even to Ukraine and Serbia, along with many other nations. To this day, new written alphabets are being developed by people groups that do not have a written alphabet. This is being done to share the good news about Jesus.   From the Hebrew and Aramaic of the Old Testament to the Greek of the New, the whole world is being given this wonderful treasure we call the Holy Bible in their own languages. Thanks be to God for those who are going forth to make this possible!   Lord God Almighty, we lift up the missionaries who are sharing the good news of Jesus around the world. Give them wisdom and fortitude to continue on. May Your hand guide them and bless them each step of the way. To Your glory, we pray. Amen.

Руслан Магомедов - ODINTRI - художник каллиграф специализирующийся на работе с каллиграфией, применяя технику письма в своих проектах от холстов, предметов интерьера, одежды и машин до Муралов высокоэтажных домов. Автор сочетает в своих работах кириллический и арабский стиль письма. Часто это тексты из мифологии различных культур, цитаты из священных писаний и великих деятелей. ODINTRI создает произведения искусства, которые восхищают зрителей по всему миру. Его работы были представлены в Третьяковской галерее и в музее The Copelouzos Family Art Museum в Афинах. А так находятся в частных коллекциях в России, Испании, Арабских Эмиратах, Турции, Индонезии и США. Ruslan Magomedov - ODINTRI - is a calligraphic artist specializing in working with calligraphy, using the writing technique in his projects from canvases, interior items, clothing and cars to Murals of high-rise buildings. The author combines Cyrillic and Arabic writing styles in his works. Often these are texts from the mythology of various cultures, quotes from scriptures and great figures. ODINTRI creates works of art that delight audiences around the world. His works have been exhibited at the Tretyakov Gallery and The Copelouzos Family Art Museum in Athens. And they are in private collections in Russia, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Indonesia and the USA. FIND RUSLAN ON SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram ================================SUPPORT & CONNECT:Support on Patreon: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/denofrich⁠Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/denofrich⁠Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/mark.develman/⁠YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/denofrich⁠Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/den_of_rich/⁠Hashtag: #denofrich© Copyright 2023 Den of Rich. All rights reserved.

Full Text of ReadingsAsh Wednesday Lectionary: 219The Saint of the day is Saints Cyril and MethodiusSaints Cyril and Methodius' Stories Because their father was an officer in a part of Greece inhabited by many Slavs, these two Greek brothers ultimately became missionaries, teachers, and patrons of the Slavic peoples. After a brilliant course of studies, Cyril (called Constantine until he became a monk shortly before his death) refused the governorship of a district such as his brother had accepted among the Slavic-speaking population. Cyril withdrew to a monastery where his brother Methodius had become a monk after some years in a governmental post. A decisive change in their lives occurred when the Duke of Moravia asked the Eastern Emperor Michael for political independence from German rule and ecclesiastical autonomy (having their own clergy and liturgy). Cyril and Methodius undertook the missionary task. Cyril's first work was to invent an alphabet, still used in some Eastern liturgies. His followers probably formed the Cyrillic alphabet. Together they translated the Gospels, the psalter, Paul's letters and the liturgical books into Slavonic, and composed a Slavonic liturgy, highly irregular then. That and their free use of the vernacular in preaching led to opposition from the German clergy. The bishop refused to consecrate Slavic bishops and priests, and Cyril was forced to appeal to Rome. On the visit to Rome, he and Methodius had the joy of seeing their new liturgy approved by Pope Adrian II. Cyril, long an invalid, died in Rome 50 days after taking the monastic habit. Methodius continued mission work for 16 more years. He was papal legate for all the Slavic peoples, consecrated a bishop and then given an ancient see (now in the Czech Republic). When much of their former territory was removed from their jurisdiction, the Bavarian bishops retaliated with a violent storm of accusation against Methodius. As a result, Emperor Louis the German exiled Methodius for three years. Pope John VIII secured his release. Because the Frankish clergy, still smarting, continued their accusations, Methodius had to go to Rome to defend himself against charges of heresy and uphold his use of the Slavonic liturgy. He was again vindicated. Legend has it that in a feverish period of activity, Methodius translated the whole Bible into Slavonic in eight months. He died on Tuesday of Holy Week, surrounded by his disciples, in his cathedral church. Opposition continued after his death, and the work of the brothers in Moravia was brought to an end and their disciples scattered. But the expulsions had the beneficial effect of spreading the spiritual, liturgical, and cultural work of the brothers to Bulgaria, Bohemia and southern Poland. Patrons of Moravia, and specially venerated by Catholic Czechs, Slovaks, Croatians, Orthodox Serbians and Bulgarians, Cyril and Methodius are eminently fitted to guard the long-desired unity of East and West. In 1980, Pope John Paul II named them additional co-patrons of Europe. Reflection Holiness means reacting to human life with God's love: human life as it is, crisscrossed with the political and the cultural, the beautiful and the ugly, the selfish and the saintly. For Cyril and Methodius much of their daily cross had to do with the language of the liturgy. They are not saints because they got the liturgy into Slavonic, but because they did so with the courage and humility of Christ. Saints Cyril and Methodius are the Patron Saints of: Slavic PeoplesEcumenism Saint of the Day, Copyright Franciscan Media

M, the Head of the British Secret Service, assigns James Bond, 007, to play against and bankrupt Le Chiffre, the paymaster for a SMERSH-controlled trade union, in a high-stakes baccarat game at the Royale-les-Eaux casino in northern France. As part of Bond's cover as a rich Jamaican playboy, M also assigns as his companion Vesper Lynd, personal assistant to the Head of Section S (Soviet Union). The CIA and the French Deuxième Bureau also send agents as observers. The game soon turns into an intense confrontation between Le Chiffre and Bond; Le Chiffre wins the first round, cleaning Bond out of his funds. As Bond contemplates the prospect of reporting his failure to M, the CIA agent, Felix Leiter, gives him an envelope of money and a note: "Marshall Aid. Thirty-two million francs. With the compliments of the USA." The game continues, despite the attempts of one of Le Chiffre's minders to kill Bond. Bond eventually wins, taking from Le Chiffre eighty million francs belonging to SMERSH. Desperate to recover the money, Le Chiffre kidnaps Lynd and tortures Bond, threatening to kill them both if he does not get the money back. During the torture, a SMERSH assassin enters and kills Le Chiffre as punishment for losing the money. The agent does not kill Bond, saying that he has no orders to do so, but cuts a Cyrillic 'Ш' for шпион (shpión, Russian for spy) into Bond's hand so that future SMERSH agents will be able to identify him as such. Lynd visits Bond every day as he recuperates in hospital, and he gradually realises that he loves her; he even contemplates leaving the Secret Service to settle down with her. When he is released from hospital they spend time together at a quiet guest house and eventually become lovers. One day they see a mysterious man named Gettler tracking their movements, which greatly distresses Lynd. The following morning, Bond finds that she has committed suicide. She leaves behind a note explaining that she had been working as an unwilling double agent for the Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs. SMERSH had kidnapped her lover, a Polish Royal Air Force pilot, who had revealed information about her under torture; SMERSH then used that information to blackmail her into helping them undermine Bond's mission, including her own faked kidnapping. She had tried to start a new life with Bond, but upon seeing Gettler—a SMERSH agent—she realised that she would never be free of her tormentors, and that staying with Bond would only put him in danger. Bond informs his service of Lynd's duplicity, coldly telling his contact, "The bitch is dead now.

Santa & His Team Makes Up For A North Pole Screw-Up.By Demi Urging. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories.It's the wee hours of December 26th. Rick is finally shoving the last of his teetering friends through their front door, He volunteered to be designated driver again, for about half a dozen friends & co-workers.Another Christmas gathering passed as the clock ticked into the next day and it seemed he'd be single again into the new year. He thought he would have gotten over it by age thirty.He did have a pity date from last year  for New Year's Eve. It hadn't been a nice date, either; she stayed for a single kiss at midnight and left without another word. The same woman has a boyfriend this year, so Rick couldn't ask again even if his pride would allow it. Now he'll get plenty of sleep.The only sign of the holidays in his life was the box of fudge sitting on his counter, Which his elderly neighbor gave him the night before Christmas.He wouldn't even eat it tonight. Sleep had to come first, then he had a week off, since the boss knew most of the team would be useless if he had them come in that week.Climbing the stairs, he smelled something delectable, coming out of the 4th floor stairwell. He thought one of his neighbors must have made actual food instead of subsisting on beer and crackers like his friends had. Maybe he would eat some of that fudge after all, since a glass of water and a handful of crackers in the face of a home-cooked meal seemed inadequate.It had to be Miss Thompson. Rick thought that the old gal had gone off to the country for the day to visit with her kids, but the smell of his mom's ham with orange & clove seasoning didn't lie, and it was absolutely coming from somewhere on this floor, getting stronger as he approached his own apartment.Taking a final pleasant sniff before entering his lonely apartment, Rick turned, halfway opened his front door, and was smacked in the face with a bouquet of aromas that sent his mind back to Christmas dinner with mom and dad.Rick stepped back. Wrong apartment, he thought. But when he checked the address, expecting to be on the wrong floor somehow, he was met with the very same number he saw every day. He considered calling the cops, but wanted to know the actual situation before making that decision. So, flicked-open pocket knife in hand, he very slowly pushed the door open again.“Aren't you coming in?” A slender, bright-eyed young woman in an apron and a horribly ugly holiday sweater three sizes too large, only bare leg showing underneath its hem, was standing in the entryway.She giggled, fluffy blonde locks bouncing around peaked ears, and took Rick by the hand, gently tugging him inside. “Come on, silly, it's nice and warm. I have a fire going that's the perfect size for snuggling and supper just came out of the oven.”Ah, so a crazy person broke in. At least they…“A Fire!?” Rick asked as he pulled himself out of her grasp and ran further inside, desperately trying to remember where he kept the extinguisher. But he stopped when he saw what she really meant: his television was showing a video of a fireplace and putting out the smooth jazz version of Christmas favorites, & also a heater stationed below it provided heat along with what looked like a genuine polar bear skin rug.Jittering followed as the girl joined him. “I am sorry I couldn't have a real one tonight, but there was no fireplace so this is the best I could do. Now, let's get you fed while it's nice and piping hot, and then we can open presents.”A glance around the room revealed a small pine tree, dazzling with ornaments and laden with expertly-wrapped boxes underneath. Rick's dining room table held more food than it ever had before and glimmered with candlelight that danced gleefully as the girl dimmed the lights and retrieved the last item from the oven, coming around with a ceramic dish of bubbling, hot food to finish off the spread. She pulled a chair out for him to sit, pouting when he declined her service.“What is this and who are you?” Rick discreetly tucked his knife away.“This is Christmas dinner for my sweetie, of course. It'll start getting cold soon, so why don't I make you a plate?While she scooped Rick's plate with food, He considered his plan of action. The way she bounced to a beat, humming along with the television, the points of her ears were over-worldly?Rick reached out and tugged on one of the girl's ears. She yelped, tightening up so as not to drop the plate, and begged him with a tremble in her voice, “Sweetie, please don't.”When he released her, she set his place at the table and did the same for herself. He took his seat.“Merry Christmas, my sweet one. While you were away, Santa came along and dropped off a bunch of presents for you. I thought you would like the surprise and we could eat first before talking, but I guess I crossed a line, haven't I?”Rick put a bite of ham in his mouth, the girl brightening up as he started to eat.It had to be one of the most delicious things he'd had the pleasure to shove in his face. Mom's cooking, with its nostalgic advantage was still blown out of the water, and Rick felt sorry that he would never get to taste this for the first time again. Too soon it was all gone and the girl was carrying out a plate of apple and chocolate pie with ice cream on the side. This too didn't last and something about her constant giggling warmed him inside in a way he couldn't very well describe.As he finished the last bite of chocolate pie, she came over to his chair & wrapped herself around his neck from behind, softness and warmth pressing into his back and fluffy, blonde hair tickling his cheek. “Oh, Messy boy” she said, and leaned forward to smooch a crumb off his cheek.Before Rick could object, as little as he was inclined to, she had already slipped away to put dishes in the sink and his back felt uncomfortably cold with her absence.“That was pretty good; amazing actually.” Rick said, “But seriously, who are you? Did one of my friends hire you or something?” He dismissed the idea.“No, my mother? She's one of the only people with a key to my place.Unless; it was the landlady?”The girl stretched in the warm air with a luxurious moan escaping peachy lips, the neck of her XXL sweater spilling over a shoulder, exposing so much skin underneath that it was impossible for her to be wearing anything underneath. “I'm an elf!” she proclaimed. She curtsied, at least there were denim cutoff shorts underneath the sweater.  Rick just stared.“Didn't you hear me? Santa came by, because you were such a good boy, and we set all this up for you. Well, not to toot my own horn, but I did all the cooking and decorating, Santa brought presents. Oh, and I'm Sugarbell. I'm here to make your Christmas wish come true!”She'd taken a pose as if she was popping out of a giant layer cake; like there should be celebratory confetti shooting out. But she just stood there in awkward silence.Rick sighed, so she was a crazy chick after all. “Okay, miss elf, why don't you get out of here before I have to call the police. And how did you get in here anyway?”“Magic,” Sugarbell said, looking crestfallen, her ears drooping.“You're not giving me a good argument not to call the police. Can you at least take off the fake ears so we can really talk about this?”“Fake? Sweetie? She skipped over to a green sack by the door and plucked out a wrinkled, yellowed piece of paper. "Ahem,‘Dear Santa, I've been a good boy all year if you don't count that stuff that my sister says and all I really want is a girlfriend.' and then there's a colored pencil drawing of a girl with black pigtails who I think is your crush. ‘It's okay if I don't get one, I know that's asking for a lot, but it doesn't look like mom and Dave are going to be able to give out lots of toys this year, so don't worry about it if you can't. Merry Christmas. BTW I'm making snickerdoodles this year, so make sure you grab your share before Dave can steal them all again.'and there's your signature.”She handed the letter over for inspection. It was definitely his handwriting, his drawing skills from almost two decades ago…“So you were sent by my mother. You could have just said that and we'd have been fine. I'm sorry, she's pushy but I know she means well… should have told me I'd have company and I would have skipped that party. Anyway, what's your actual name?”“I'm Sugarbell. And I wasn't sent by her, Santa brought me. Here, look.” She tugged on her ear, leaning up so Rick could look closely. It was either real or the seam of the rubber was so well hidden that it might as well be. “I suppose this would be a little hard to believe for an adult. Sorry, I haven't actually spoken with a human for a few years.”Rick shook his head. “Your makeup's good, I'll give you that.”Rick angled his hips so the elf wouldn't notice a certain reflex to her melding to his shape. She was incredibly soft in his arms, just short of purring, the smell of peppermint coming off as she rubbed against him.Sugarbell stared up at him, her wide, green eyes shining with reflected candlelight. “But I'm not a crazy. I…” She went to the polar bearskin rug in front of the television, so big for the room that it bunched up against the walls in that corner, took a seat and patted the place beside her for him to take. Rick was not so troubled as he was amused, so he sat next to her on the rug in front of the sofa, facing the fake fire. She rested her head against his shoulder and twined her fingers in his with no resistance.“Um…” he said, “You got me, I guess, but what is all this?”“It's a little embarrassing for all of us who screwed up,” she said, “You see, back when we got that letter, we were using a new kind of mail bag and, as we would soon find out, letters would sometimes get caught in the seams. And the elf in charge of distributing letters wasn't especially conscientious. Rather than going through the trouble of digging out the trapped ones as he knew there would be, they instead ended up stuck inside, in a pile in the corner of the sorting room. It wouldn't have been that much of a problem, aside from that one elf's termination we would have just sorted through when we found the pile and spread out what good will we could. But then we arrived at your letter.”“I mean, I was a dumb 10 year old kid. It's not something I would ask for these days.”Sugarbell airily giggled, her cheek burned against his arm. “Sweetie, that wasn't the problem. We get so many requests for things like that; puppies, little brothers or sisters, a bunch-a edgy. Usually, we'd plan on whatever we could. Are the parents getting a pet? Is someone pregnant or likely to be? If not, a stuffed animal or baby doll would do the trick, and plastic weapons are wholesome enough as it is. The trouble came in an unfortunate fact: you were in the top hundred of the nice list that year.”“First of all, I don't believe you, but why would it be an issue?”“Top hundred and a random assortment on top of that get their wish, period. According to our records, you didn't submit one… had we known what you wanted, we couldn't very well kidnap someone and brainwash them, but we absolutely could have an elf facilitate a meeting, and stick around to help out a burgeoning romance. Of course, we didn't find your letter in the pile until this year. It wouldn't do for us to get off with as light as a card and a toy anymore, so here I am.” Sugarbell hugged his arm tightly to her chest and kissed his cheek. “I'm your present this year. Sorry it took so long for your wish to come true.” It doesn't make up for the twenty years you've lost, but We can only fix today.Rick reeled from the stream of revelations, not the least of which being that Santa was a real guy. And here was an eager, adorable, blonde lovely thing clinging to him, unwittingly giving him quite the show as her sweater's wide neck dipped down with her promised land hiding behind a tantalizing, flickering shadow. He averted his eyes, hoping she couldn't feel his heart going crazy through his palm, but her puckish smile said that she knew very well the effect her supple, inviting cuddliness was having.He paused. “So Santa just gave me one of his elves? What, did you draw the short stick?”“We're not slaves, you know. It's a career.”As he leaned back, supported by the sofa seat; Sugarbell straddled into his lap, wrapping her legs around his waist. There was no way she couldn't feel the ‘wooden soldier' poking her thighs from below.“Upon discovery of your letter, several of us thought that we could still make your wish come true, so Santa put out a call for volunteers. I won.” Before he could respond, she leaned into him, rocking him onto his back while she straddled; her warm, green eyes glittering in the false firelight on the tv as she came in for a transient peck on the lips. Then she teased him by hopping up and padding over to the kitchen.From where he lay, Rick watched her pull a tray from the oven and came back to the fire to kneel beside him.He asked, “People volunteered to be with me?” It was hard to imagine even two women fighting over him.Sugarbell frowned like she knew this conversation was going to happen sooner or later and could no longer be postponed. “Fifty of us young lady elves entered the pool. We played rock paper scissors for the position, and I won the tournament.Of course; if you don't want me, I'm sure we can drop someone else off for you. Any one of them would love to take my place.”“I just can't believe it.” Rick sat up and drew her into his arms, sitting her on one leg so the soldier couldn't get in the way. It seemed that she prepared to be rejected at this point, and he'd said so much to make her think he would, threatened to have her removed by the authorities after all.“It's a lot to take in, you know? How the heck was I in the top hundred? I don't remember doing anything especially great. Why not give my place to one of those prodigies out saving the rainforest or whatever?”She'd relaxed in his arms, nestled into the crook of his shoulder and curled in her slender legs. “We take lots of factors into consideration. The kindest people don't pay attention to how kind they are. They just do the right thing."And I thought you were a home invader.”“Nuh-uh.” She wiggled herself up until her lips touched his earlobe and whispered, “It's only home invasion when the owner doesn't want you there. Tell me who laid out milk and cookies all those years? Wasn't that you?”Her nuzzling and shimmying had tugged the overlarge neck of her sweater so far down across one shoulder that she was in danger of revealing herself from just the swell of her curvaceous breast with every breath, not that it seemed she would mind. Sugarbell wagged her pert butt in his lap, her fingers wandered underneath his sweatshirt and sweetly tugged at the t-shirt underneath when she found it was tucked in. The same breath which raised her chest came to him as a cool breeze on his neck.She said, “Tell me, what's the one thing you've always wanted to do, that you couldn't without a girlfriend?” One corner of his undershirt came free from his jeans.It was too fast, Rick hugged her tighter, trapping her hands to squirm uselessly against his belly. He grabbed her sweater and pulled the neck back off her shoulder, saving her from the risk of exposure. Giggling wildly, she plunged her hands under his plain gray sweatshirt and tickled his armpits without mercy until it was just too much to bear and Rick fell sideways, holding in suppressed laughter, landing onto his back.But it didn't end, Sugarbell seized the moment of his weakness and took hold of the sweatshirt's hem, pulling the whole thing up above his head in a smooth motion and trapping his arms in a cottony prison. She laid herself over his chest and at last succeeded in untucking his shirt. Meanwhile his bulge rested between the two cheeks of her very toned ass, and she rubbed against it with her subtle motions.Eagerness burned in her rosy cheeks. Her downy, golden hair fell around their faces, dividing them from the world, but a few deep breaths later, her giggling petered out and she rolled off, spending the last of her laughter beside him on the floor.“Sorry, sorry, we haven't even eaten dessert yet.” she said breathlessly, jumping up and scurrying back to the kitchen.Rick discarded his sweatshirt; it was already getting too warm for him. Watching on as Sugarbell's perky rear bounced away did nothing for dissipating his erection, begging him as it was, to just get on with it already. It didn't have long to calm down before she returned with a plate of tiny, pink cookies.“No, don't get up,” she said as she set the plate down on the rug, “Go ahead and try one, I'll pick a present for both of us, from the North Pole team.”The first bite of the little cookie exploded with crispy flakiness and a sophisticated undertone of strawberry. Rick snuck a second cookie before Sugarbell had time to return from the tree, with a couple gifts.“These are incredible!” he blurted through a cheekful of crumbs.She took one for herself and examined it between pinched fingers. “I wish I had more time to make them. It's the little touches that make the difference, but I wasn't able to let the egg whites get to room temperature before I beat them. And I know they say you can use a hand mixer to get the same results, but I think merenge needs the personal touch of a handheld whisk, even if it takes longer.”“What are you talking about? They're delicious.”Sugarbell sat next to him, leaning against the sofa, and kissed his cheek. Then sliding a present into his lap to open. “They're called sugarbells. My mom's version is so much better than mine.”Rick looked at the gift tag, but the sender's name was in Cyrillic so it was hopeless to try reading it. “Where did all these come from anyway?”“Let's see… that one's from the workshop, most of them are. The sender is an elf named Tart. Technically it's actually Tort, but that's what he prefers.”Rather than carefully preserve the beauty of the wrapping on her gift, Sugarbell plunged her fingertip under a flap and ripped the paper off in a single ragged chunk. She tipped the lid up to see inside, yelped, and put the package out of reach.“What was it?” Rick asked. The box was on her other side and she leaned in the way of his arm when he started reaching around to get at it.“Well, it was, uh,” she stammered, eyes darting back and forth until she realized there wasn't a way out of telling him the truth. “It's something of a gift to both of us, from the workshop's confectioner.” She waved him close and whispered with a warm breath against his ear, “Edible underwear.”Before he could respond with his own bewilderment, Sugarbell crawled away to fetch another pair of presents from the pile. She wouldn't look him in the eye when she thrust the next one into his hands. Did she think she hadn't already crossed the line from adorable into suggestive, or was it just too much to be hit smack in the face with the implications? This self-conscious side of her was adorable in its own way too.He decided to prod her. “Alright,” he said, “New rule: no hiding anything, and presents have to be tried out right away. Okay?”Sugarbell nodded solemnly and began drawing the hem of her sweater up, laying bare her tight, smooth belly, and was saved at the last moment when it crested her ribs and Rick caught her wrist.His bluff overwhelmingly called, Rick let her off easy and kissed her forehead. “Sorry, I just meant we should show off what we got. No need to strip right here and now.”“So,” Rick said, uneasy in his seat, “Are there going to be any of these that aren't… romantic?”At least Sugarbell looked ruffled too, swaying on her knees after pulling out another couple gifts. “Most of these are from elves who really wanted to be with you tonight instead of me.” She stuffed a cookie in her face rather than continue explaining.They opened the next wave of gifts in one fell swoop of torn paper and ribbon to avoid any unnecessary embarrassment. Out came a matching set of horrendously ugly sweaters in their respective sizes and a book titled 'guide to faeries' which Sugarbell suspiciously slid underneath the pile without mentioning in any way.Rick said, “Well, at least we haven't found any dildos…” There was a pregnant pause as Sugarbell's eyes flicked toward a long, slim present leaned up against the wall.Sugarbell reverently set each box before them and for the first time went to the trouble of finding an edge to peel back instead of ripping the thing to shreds in a festive feeding frenzy. “These two,” she said, “Are from Santa himself.”In the first box, addressed to Rick, there was a wooden doll in the shape of a tiny, flaxen-haired elf complete with a red dress and curly-toed shoes festooned with actual, minuscule bells.The other package, Sugarbell's, opened to reveal a group photo with dozens of short people trying to get their heads in frame all at once, almost crowding out the wizened man in the center. She held it close to her chest for a long moment and set it aside.“Good thing that's the last of them, garbage bag is near to bursting.” Rick said.“That wasn't the last one.” She tugged on his shirt to keep him in place before he could retreat to take out the trash.“What do you mean, did I miss one under the tree?”Sugarbell crawled behind him and when he tried to look, she gently turned his face away. Moments later, the muffled sound of wool dropping on the carpet came amid the soft jazz Christmas carols and the crackle of fire. Pale arms enveloped his neck and naked softness pressed against his nape. “You still have one more present to unwrap.” she whispered.He took her hands in his and pushed down his feelings; this was too good to be true. “It's okay, I understand everything now. I had a lot of fun tonight and I appreciate the gesture, but you don't have to go that far for someone like me.”She slid down his back like dripping cream and he felt her lips lay a line of pecks up from his neck to his ear. She whispered; “There's such a thing as being too nice, you know. A girl might get her feelings hurt like that.”Her tongue ran the length of his earlobe and she nibbled at it as a penalty. Her voice was sultry and inviting; “I'm not wearing a bra, can't you feel that?” She rubbed herself against him to ensure he would feel her firm nipples tickling across his back. “Does it feel like I'm coerced? Or do I seem like the kind of girl who would act this way for just anyone? We found that letter six months ago… I've been watching you, falling in love with you, for so long.” Each passing day my desire for you has grown.“There's no way…”“No way someone like me could fall for someone like you?” Sugarbell bit his neck. If only the really big things counted toward being good, there would be so few good people, wouldn't there?“"I mean, as long as you're okay with it.”There was some rustling behind his back as Sugarbell wriggled and reached back, producing her little, denim shorts so he could see and dropping them in his lap. The girl hugging herself so tightly to his back was wearing nothing but panties and moaned into his ear, “Carry me to the bed, please?”Libido won out; Rick turned and scooped her up to a giddy squeal, as her legs locked around his waist, Rick was blessed with handfuls of bouncy ass and hurriedly carried her to the his room to set her down in bed.She'd done her magic in there as well, ceiling hung with red and gold garlands, mistletoe above each doorway. The bedspread was made with a quilted comforter patterned with reindeer frolicking across the tundra. It was obvious that she wanted to end up in there from the start.Sugarbell pulled his head down for a kiss, prodding between his lips with the tip of her tongue, eagerly melding herself to his body, mingling her tongue with his. They came apart with a heavy breath, forgetting how long they had been under. She covertly undid the buckle of his belt and tugged his pants down into a heap at his feet, then delved underneath his t-shirt again, spread her delicate fingers across his chest, and pressed herself into him as he drew it over his head.Abruptly, she tweaked his nipples and retreated before he could retaliate, plopping herself on his bedspread and, calming herself a pinch, spread her knees apart. The one article of clothing between them was a pair of red, lacy panties with a cotton sprig of mistletoe hung by a little bow. As Rick gawked at the dainty outline. The panties were tied at both hips, with stretch lace straps. Sugarbell squirmed, her own gaze flitting to and from his growing erection, but she kept her legs open.“It's mistletoe…” she said quietly.“Um, yeah.”“You know what that means, don't you?”In answer, Rick crawled down and kissed her thigh. Her fingers twined in his hair and an unrestricted murmur of pleasure came from above, encouraging him to advance toward her heat, laying kisses all the way up her creamy thigh until he was inches away from her warm aroma. The fabric was in the way, but he could feel her silkiness on his lips, against his tongue.Her fingers left their comfortable place in his hair to pull on the knots at her hips, let her panties fall away and revealed bare, pink skin.Rick wasted no time, pushed forward to kiss her again, running his tongue along her lips, pausing to pin in his mind the spots where she moaned or her leg twitched against his head. Already he could feel wetness on his tongue, heat spreading throughout her body. A chorus of gasps and moans fell from above and quick peeks down below showed that Sugarbell's toes were curling. Pride swelled in his chest as he smooched and licked her most sensitive spots.“Okay, stop,” Sugarbell pushed his head away and sighed, falling back for a second before rolling backwards onto her knees on the bed. “Come here,” she said, patting the space beside her, “Lie down right here, on you back.”He obeyed and had a shock. He would have said something, but a lingering lick up his shaft to the tip stole his words with a moan. Delicate fingers wrapped around it and gently stroked as she nestled against his thigh and lapped at his balls, merrily humming as she took pleasure in the situation.Popping a testicle in her mouth and swirling it around with her tongue, Sugarbell's pert ass swayed in the air, her other hand wandering up her leg so she could rub herself against her palm. Rick could only reach down to pet her head as she suckled.Sugarbell slowly ran her tongue around the rim of his glans, so sensitive that Rick almost lost himself in the pleasure, but he relished every moment of those bright, green eyes bobbing down on him.She took him deeper into her mouth, rubbing the tip of his cock against the inside, bulging her rosy cheek like a chipmunk. Her hips bucked against her hand and mewls of pleasure escaped from her glistening lips, bringing Rick to the just before the point of no return where his whole body clenched to keep the amazing feeling from ending.And she flopped limp between his legs, tenderly lapping at his balls as his cock twitched for release in her hand. "Come on, sweetie pie,” she said, “Isn't there somewhere else you'd like to do that?”Rick sat up and pulled her into his lap facing him; where her soft slit straddled his throbbing erection. “Do you have any protection?” he asked.Sugarbell bent her head into his chest and sputtered laughter. “Like I said, there's such a thing as being too nice.” She guided the tip of his cock to her entrance and started putting weight on it, softly grunting with the effort of fitting him inside, squealed when it pushed in the first inch.“Does it hurt?”“Shut up.” she moaned, hugging herself close so he couldn't see the pain in her eyes and insist they stop. “I j-just need to get used to it, okay?”Over the next minute her warm tightness enveloped his cock inch by inch until Sugarbell's butt rested comfortably in his lap and she breathed a sigh of relief. Rick turned up her chin for a kiss, hoping their intertwined tongues would distract from the pain, stroking her creamy, pale skin with special attention paid to her ticklish spots, taking a breast in hand and fiddling with a nipple like a hard pebble. Her sighs of pleasure washed against his chest and she closed her eyes to enjoy each touch to its fullest, savoring the feeling of fullness in her loins.She snaked her arms around him, linking her fingers behind his back, and began swirling her hips, gently moving his cock inside her, sliding her bouncy ass across his thighs. He felt like he could burst at any minute, couldn't resist taking a handful of ass, causing a refreshing whimper against his chest as he squeezed.Rick buried his face in her fluffy, golden hair to keep his senses, taking in the invigorating scent of peppermint and sweat. Little tickles made moaned giggles fall on his ears and Sugarbell slowly became more comfortable with his size, increasing her motion's intensity until she was almost thrusting against his last inch.Her bright, green eyes appeared again as Rick surprised Sugarbell by slowly flipping her down onto her back. He kept the last pace she was comfortable with, guided by her tiny, urging moans to start going faster and deeper. She splayed her arms above her head and gripped the pillow she found there, handing over control to him with her legs wrapped around his waist.Free to go wild, Rick slowly pulled out and pushed himself back in to the hilt, leering at the way Sugarbell squirmed underneath, her breast rippling with sharp breaths. Then again, a bit faster, and again until he was properly thrusting, and he joined the chorus of moans.Sugarbell pulled his head down into a kiss and shakily whispered, “Harder~”He grabbed her waist, ramming himself inside her pussy as she wriggled in ecstasy, bright eyes rolled back and she bit his shoulder in anticipation of the finale. It came on like a wave, forcing him as deep as he could go, balls slapping against wet ass cheeks as he flooded her tight pussy and she tightened in gratification, overwhelmed by sensation as Rick pounded inside her.When the moment of passion had passed, Rick laid at her side as she relaxed into quiet contentment. But it didn't last long before she crawled atop him, laying her head on his chest humming a festive tune.“That was amazing.” he said, absentmindedly stroking her hair.Sugarbell kissed his chest. “Lots better than your hand, isn't it? Heh, you're pretty big. Human girls don't know what they're missing out on.” Her fingertips traced the way down between his legs, wrapped around his shrinking dick and said, “Good job, mister, wanna take me for another spin?”Rick laughed and she rubbed herself against his chest as she joined in, bright eyes merrily twinkling.“Can't fault a girl for trying, can you? It is two in the morning I suppose. Christmas night's almost over and done.” She tugged up the blanket they'd displaced and snuggled herself against him, pointy ear tickling his neck, and hummed a lullaby as the day's exhaustion made sleep less and less voluntary.The morning sun muddled through snow-filled clouds to gently wake Rick. He'd slept clean through the usual time, had a transient shock before remembering the office would be closed for the week.And he was alone.Last night had to have happened. Peppermint lingered in the air and a hickey stung on his neck, but she wasn't there. Of course, he thought, it was a monkey's paw. She'd said she was a Christmas present, and the day had passed…He forced himself out of bed and dressed, then headed for the kitchen.Where a woman in a red turtleneck and costume antlers was using the stove.“Morning, sleepy-head~” Sugarbell cooed, “I'm almost done with brunch so go ahead and take a seat.”“You're still here.”“Of course I am, why? Oh, there's nowhere I need to be.”“I thought I was only going to get the one night.”Sugarbell turned off the stove and set the table with leftover ham omelets and freshly-baked cinnamon rolls. “That's not a girlfriend, that's a one-night stand.” she said, standing on tiptoe to kiss his cheek, “And we still have to continue where we left off after all.”By Demi urging for Literotica

We've got a deep dive into the wild story of the world's creepiest military recruiter, his memoir detailing his own crimes, and the family who got left hanging by NCIS & his unit. Plus super quick news roundup from explosions to a badass sniper making history. HOUSE IN ARLINGTON VA EXPLODING Yesterday afternoon Arlington County Police Department went to a call for possible gunshots where it turned out the fella in the home had discharged a flare gun 30 to 40 times… The suspect then barricaded themselves inside and around 8:30pm when police tried to issue a search warrant he exploded the whole damn house. Huge fireball, was felt all over DC. Three officers reported minor injuries and there were no transports to the hospital related to this incident. The investigation is ongoing. Not clear if the guy survived. MARINE PLEADS GUILTY TO FIREBOMBING PP WHILE ON ACTIVE DUTY A former Marine pleaded guilty to a 2022 firebombing attack on a Planned Parenthood clinic in California. Chance Brannon, 24, is one of three men charged in the Molotov cocktail attack which occurred while Brannon was an active-duty Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton. No one was hurt in the incident but the front entrance had some burn damage, and the clinic had to reschedule about 30 appointments. He had also discussed other attacks along with starting a race war, plus a rifle with a Cyrillic message referring to death and a racial slur, as well as a thumb drive with a recording of the Christchurch, New Zealand, white supremacist mass shooting. Boyyyyyy I bet the folks in his unit could share some stories about him. FIRST ACTIVE DUTY WOMAN TO BECOME AN ARMY SNIPERYou can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime Members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. For more, visit barstool.link/ZeroBlog30

This week's EYE ON NPI surpasses all labels, it's the Brady M210 portable hand labeller - a perfect addition to any electrician, engineer, scientist, or maker who wants to keep things organized! When we first looked at this labeller we were wondering what makes the Brady device better than the Brother brand labeller we bought a few years ago - but after using it for only a few minutes we were blown away by all the excellent features that come built in. We really recommend you check out the User Manual because there's a lot of capabilities that we did not realize were included in the firmware. (https://support.bradyid.com/s/article/M210-User-Manual-and-Quick-Start-Guide) Here's a run down of some of the things it can do that you will not get with other labellers. Internationalization: Support for multiple languages with fonts and accents to match, for this labeller, the languages are all 'Romantic' and of course many Greek symbols are included. There is a separate Russian product if you need Cyrillic. Symbols: Our home labeller has cute symbols like crafting symbols and clouds - this labeller goes straight for safety symbols such as "you will be electrocuted" or "this is poisonous" or "do not look at with remaining eye" (https://observatory.db.erau.edu/generators/signs/) But also electrical symbols, telecom and home electric. Barcodes and 2D Encodings: Barcodes in CODE39 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_39) and CODE128 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_128) format as well as 2D encodings such as Datamatrix or QR code (https://www.gs1.org/standards/barcodes/2d). Perfect for when you want to include a URL or serial number that is longer than the print label allows. Serialization: printing multiple labels with a start and end value, and custom incrementation, it can even handle alphanumeric serials! Date Stamping / Coding: by setting the date and time on-device, you can insert timestamps based on when it prints. You can format the time and date for 12H/24H, with or without seconds, and different MMDDYY ordering. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_format_by_country) Panel and Terminal Blocks: particularly nice for electricians, you can print out labels that are perfectly spaced for breaker panels, or terminal blocks. In general we noticed that this labeller has a strong sense of spacing so that you can have multiple words or numbers and there's likely a mode that will make them center-equidistant...something that is really annoying to try to do with an everyday labeller. Wire Marking: This one is going to be one of our top uses! For complex wire harnesses, being able to label the wires so it isn't just color you're using to identify functions is amazing. There's a few ways to mark wires (https://www.bradyid.com/resources/guides/how-to-select-a-wire-marker). The easiest is Flag mode, where it will print the text twice with a gap in the middle so you can make a little flag that wraps around the wire. You can use any label size or color to make flags. For less intrusive labelling, you wrap the label around the wire. And coolest by far is the 'PermaSleeve' (https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/brady-corporation/M21-125-C-342/11585771) where you can print directly onto heatshrink tubing! Once you have a Brady M210 Label printer (https://www.digikey.com/short/mj7t5fwp) or printer kit (https://www.digikey.com/short/tzjqtm9r) you will use it every day to track and manage your tools and inventory. It's way better than sharpie marker'ing, or sticky notes, with a massive range of different label styles, sizes and colors (https://www.digikey.com/short/77qcpzc5) - all in stock right now for immediate shipment from DigiKey! Pick up an assortment to keep in your lab -- and of course first step is to label the labeller itself so nobody tries sneaking off with it -- when you order today it will ship immediately so you can start labelling everything by tomorrow afternoon.

Tales of adventure and magic connect the Slavic lands: East Slavs (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus), West Slavs (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland) and South Slavs (the countries of former Yugoslavia plus Bulgaria). Matthew Sweet has been reading a new collection of Slavic myths. The authors Noah Charney and Svetlana Slapšak join academic Mirela Ivanova to talk about the way Slavic tales connect with stories from Greece, Rome, Egypt and Scandinavia and how they were used to bolster power in new Slavic nations. Producer: Torquil MacLeod The Slavic Myths by Noah Charney and Svetlana Slapšak and illustrated by Joe McLaren is out now. You might also be interested in a Free Thinking discussion of Albanian culture and history, and in a Radio 3 New Generation Thinker Essay from Mirela Ivanova called Contesting an Alphabet about the competing claims over the invention of Cyrillic.

Today's West Coast Cookbook & Speakeasy Podcast for our especially special Daily Special, Tarrytown Chowder Tuesdays is now available on the Spreaker Player!Starting off in the Bistro Cafe, three military service secretaries urged Tuberville to stop blocking senior officer confirmations, but he only takes his orders in Cyrillic.Then, on the rest of the menu, the US government is eager to restore its powers to keep dangerous chemicals out of extremists' hands after Rand Paul objected to renewing the bill authorizing it; after nearly 30 years, Pennsylvania will end state funding for anti-abortion counseling centers; and, a Georgia trial arguing that redistricting harmed Black voters, could decide control of a US House seat.After the break, we move to the Chef's Table where Northern Ireland's top police officer resigned following a series of controversies, including an “industrial scale” data breach; and, Russian authorities arrested a mathematician on terrorism charges, minutes after his release from four years in detention on a hooliganism conviction.All that and more, on West Coast Cookbook & Speakeasy with Chef de Cuisine Justice Putnam.Bon Appétit!The Netroots Radio Live Player​Keep Your Resistance Radio Beaming 24/7/365!“As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and as I drank their cold liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy and to make plans.”-- Ernest Hemingway "A Moveable Feast"

Today's West Coast Cookbook & Speakeasy Podcast for our especially special Daily Special, Tarrytown Chowder Tuesdays is now available on the Spreaker Player!Starting off in the Bistro Cafe, three military service secretaries urged Tuberville to stop blocking senior officer confirmations, but he only takes his orders in Cyrillic.Then, on the rest of the menu, the US government is eager to restore its powers to keep dangerous chemicals out of extremists' hands after Rand Paul objected to renewing the bill authorizing it; after nearly 30 years, Pennsylvania will end state funding for anti-abortion counseling centers; and, a Georgia trial arguing that redistricting harmed Black voters, could decide control of a US House seat.After the break, we move to the Chef's Table where Northern Ireland's top police officer resigned following a series of controversies, including an “industrial scale” data breach; and, Russian authorities arrested a mathematician on terrorism charges, minutes after his release from four years in detention on a hooliganism conviction.All that and more, on West Coast Cookbook & Speakeasy with Chef de Cuisine Justice Putnam.Bon Appétit!The Netroots Radio Live Player​Keep Your Resistance Radio Beaming 24/7/365!“As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and as I drank their cold liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy and to make plans.”-- Ernest Hemingway"A Moveable Feast"

Follow us here: Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2cAY638 homepage: http://www.cosmic-gate.de Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cosmicgate/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realcosmicgate/ =============================== EPISODE 486: 01. Trilucid - Calling (Extended Mix) [FSOE UV] 02. ChangedFaces x Harry Diamond feat. Émilie Rachel - Home (Original Mix) [Armada] 03. Sundrej Zohar - Per Lunam (Santiago Luna Remix) [deep dip ] 04. Cyrillic & InvictoZ - My Mind (Extended Mix) [Sky Eye Music] 05. ANASTASiiA - Majestic Renaissance (Extended Mix) [OHM Music] 06. Duke Dumont, Nathan Nicholson - Losing Control (Extended Mix) [Universal] 07. Armin van Buuren feat. Sharon Den Adel - In And Out Of Love (Innellea Remix) [Armind] 08. Volaris - Don't You Know (Extended Mix) [mau5trap] 09. Crowd+Ctrl - Zuma (Extended Mix) [Armada] 10. Cosmic Gate - Mirador (Album Mix) [Wake Your Mind] 11. Dan Stone - Placebo (Rodrigo Deem Remix) [FSOE Argento] 12. Röyksopp - Like An Old Dog (Enrico Sangiuliano Remix) [DOG TRIUMPH PROFOUND MYSTERIES] 13. Van Bellen - Let Me Take You (On A Journey) (Extended Mix) [Systematic]

In the southern part of the Balkans, lies a storied nation that has influenced the world around it since its origin. This nation birthed the Cyrillic language which is one of the major language families of today. Never has this nation had its flag captured in battle. This fact and many other historical moments explain why this nation is filled with resilient and hard working people. This is one of my new favorites, this is Bulgaria. 

The two saints were brothers, born in Thessalonica. St Methodius, the elder brother, served as a soldier for ten years before becoming a monk. Cyril was librarian at the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople; then he too became a monk.   Their first missionary work was not among the Slavs: When the king of the Khazars (a Mongol people who then inhabited much of what is now Russia) petitioned the Emperor Michael to sent teachers to instruct his people, the Emperor chose Cyril and Methodius as his emissaries. They converted the Khazar king to the Christian faith, along with many of his nobles and commoners.   When King Rostislav of Moravia likewise sought teachers of the Christian faith, Cyril and Methodius were again sent forth. This time they devised an alphabet for the Slavic language and used it to translate many of the Greek service books into the language of the people. (In theory, the Orthodox people have always been privileged to hear the Church's services in their own tongue, though often attachment to dead languages has prevented this ideal from becoming reality.) Both brothers were repeatedly attacked by Germanic priests of the region, who opposed the use of the common tongue in the liturgy. At different times, both brothers were forced to appeal for exoneration and protection to the Pope of Rome, who supported them warmly each time.   After the two Saints reposed, attacks on their work continued, and their disciples were eventually driven from Moravia. The disciples, fleeing southward, found a warmer welcome among the southern Slavic peoples, and their work bore much fruit in Bulgaria (including modern-day Serbia) and other countries. And, of course, the alphabet that they devised, called Cyrillic after St Cyril, remains the standard alphabet of both the Slavonic service books of the Church and the Slavic languages of today.

The two saints were brothers, born in Thessalonica. St Methodius, the elder brother, served as a soldier for ten years before becoming a monk. Cyril was librarian at the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople; then he too became a monk.   Their first missionary work was not among the Slavs: When the king of the Khazars (a Mongol people who then inhabited much of what is now Russia) petitioned the Emperor Michael to sent teachers to instruct his people, the Emperor chose Cyril and Methodius as his emissaries. They converted the Khazar king to the Christian faith, along with many of his nobles and commoners.   When King Rostislav of Moravia likewise sought teachers of the Christian faith, Cyril and Methodius were again sent forth. This time they devised an alphabet for the Slavic language and used it to translate many of the Greek service books into the language of the people. (In theory, the Orthodox people have always been privileged to hear the Church's services in their own tongue, though often attachment to dead languages has prevented this ideal from becoming reality.) Both brothers were repeatedly attacked by Germanic priests of the region, who opposed the use of the common tongue in the liturgy. At different times, both brothers were forced to appeal for exoneration and protection to the Pope of Rome, who supported them warmly each time.   After the two Saints reposed, attacks on their work continued, and their disciples were eventually driven from Moravia. The disciples, fleeing southward, found a warmer welcome among the southern Slavic peoples, and their work bore much fruit in Bulgaria (including modern-day Serbia) and other countries. And, of course, the alphabet that they devised, called Cyrillic after St Cyril, remains the standard alphabet of both the Slavonic service books of the Church and the Slavic languages of today.

I recently interviewed the Biblical Hebrew and Latin instructor at my business, the Calgary Language Nerds. In today's podcast, I interviewed another CLN instructor. Catherine is a polyglot who speaks English, Spanish, Russian, and Galician. She is also learning French. Catherine has a Masters degree in teaching foreign languages and has taught at the CLN for about 3 years. Catherine will be teaching a few group classes in May of this year on Russian cursive and the Cyrillic alphabet. She will also be doing a class on por/para in Spanish. Fill out this Google Form if you'd like more information: https://forms.gle/gqaojXVWQGh8mHkX7 If you'd like to take private/semi-private lessons with Catherine, visit my website: https://azrenthelanguagenerd.com Enjoy the episode!

This episode we welcome Callum back to Hearts of Oak as he joins us to discuss his latest trip. First it was an Afghanistan vacation, then a cheeky weekend in Serbia and now his recent sabbatical takes him to Russia! He is best known for being the co-host on the hugely popular Lotus Eaters Podcast and is now carving out a 'dark tourism' niche for himself by showing us these countries in a way we have never seen before. His report on his latest trip to Russia, including the Donbass region is a must see, absolutely fascinating viewing. The media tell us one story. Callum is showing the other side. Watch the documentaries of his adventures... Russia: https://youtu.be/B0i0zbuCIIM Afghanistan: https://youtu.be/2oMW5pL9Z4w Serbia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0Q_Tp0IVzc&t=3s Our previous interview with him... Callum - رجل إنجليزي في كابول / An Englishman in Kabul  https://www.podbean.com/pu/pbblog-vti5d-b2f6e6  Connect with Callum at... GETTR https://gettr.com/user/Callum TWITTER https://twitter.com/AkkadSecretary?s=20&t=jM2HdR0iXmda0vJHwrTg-w YOUTUBE https://www.youtube.com/@BritannicaPolitica SUBSCRIBESTAR https://www.subscribestar.com/callum LOTUSEATERS https://www.lotuseaters.com/ Interview broadcast live 16.2.23 *Special thanks to Bosch Fawstin for recording our intro/outro on this podcast. Check out his art https://theboschfawstinstore.blogspot.com/ and follow him on GETTR https://gettr.com/user/BoschFawstin To sign up for our weekly email, find our social media, podcasts, video and livestreaming platforms... https://heartsofoak.org/connect/ Please like, subscribe and share! [0:22] Callum, it is great to have you back with us once again.   Oh hello, thank you for having me again. Not at all. You go to these weird and wonderful places in the world, so it's always good to get a completely different viewpoint. So thanks for coming on and obviously the links to not only this trip but all the other ones are in the description. So people can just click and go to your Britannica, Politica YouTube, which actually gave me it gives me so many ads. So it's obviously popular if it's throwing up so many ads   I don't think YouTube's found out yet. I think they're just doing our travel vlog, right? Nothing unusual there. [1:03] I thoroughly enjoyed it but to our viewers obviously you've done, This is your third one, isn't it? because you were on talking about your Afghan trip and then you did a little sneaky week ender in Serbia. And then this is number three. Yeah. In the series.   I'm trying to go to Chitels for fun. So we did Afghanistan, which thanks to Miles. When we went to Serbia, I mean, the main thing there wasn't, I mean, it was Serbian culture and whatnot, but also we went to go meet the migrants. So loads of Afghans and whatnot, they come up through Serbia. One of the main routes because they're not in the EU to then get into the EU via Hungary or Croatia and then to the rest of where we are. So we went and interviewed those guys and those guys are just not great. I'll be honest. I was not filled with confidence meeting those people because they have no interest in us. They have no interest in anything that is with the West. It's literally just gibs. They're not in danger in the slightest. So whatever. There's that. So go check that video out. And the most recent one was I decided I'd go to New Russia. [2:12] So not only old Russia, as we know it, the Russian Federation, but the new provinces. So I went down to Luhansk and saw what life was like there at the moment. Well, let's get into all this. This is an Englishman in Russia and not some of your others. Again, the links for those documentaries there in the description. But I guess Russia is easier to get into than Afghanistan, but maybe more difficult than Serbia, so its kind of in the middle. [2:41] I mean, what do you define by more difficult, I suppose?   Well, you did. It's probably slightly more difficult. Maybe there aren't as big a range of flights and then you still have to go and pay for your visa. So, I mean, you just go to Serbia. I've been to Serbia quite a few times and you can drive there. So it's actually kind of more accessible, I guess. [3:04] But you got there, your hotel. I love the way you... What was it? Big ass bed. Very nice. Big ass TV. Very nice. Carpet. Very nice. I love the surprise to see carpet. But yeah, it was a decent hotel.   It was a very nice carpet. I'll be honest. I wouldn't have mentioned it if it was. I was like, oh, it's great. Like just to have such a high quality, who cares, carpet, right? You just leave it, you forget it for 10 years, turns into a piece of crap. No one ever replaces it. No, this has been replaced recently by the feel of it. But the getting into part, when I went to Afghanistan, you pay for the visa, you pay for the flight, whatever it was. I think it was, what was it? 30 hours or something of flights. So that was pain. But going through security, you turn up, fill in some form, no one reads it, no one interviews you. What are you going to do? Make the place worse? Good luck. But Russia right now, of course, they're taking their security extremely, extremely seriously. For the understandable reason. So I got taken to a separate room after my passport just failed to scan. [4:16] Okay, they take the passport off you. You're then looking around and you notice that the only people with you are a bunch of people from like Egypt and then some Ukrainians. That's gonna be fun. They then move you to another room where you just get told to sit and wait. How long? [4:34] Four hours later. I've been here for four hours. What's going on? Wait. Thanks. Cool. Everyone around you by that point. The Ukrainians have left. They're fine. You're still there with all the Egyptians. And then eventually you get dragged into a third room where you just have to get, I don't know if the word is interrogated, but they want to know everything about your life. And a mate of mine who's also British, who was only visiting Russia, not the new regions, he had the same experience. So apparently this is for, if not EU citizens, at least all UK citizens, which is you get enhanced security, which is they check your phone, they check what you got in your bag, They ask you what you're doing, who you know, they call them up, ask them why the hell you're here, they want to know where your parents live, the whole shebang. [5:20] So yeah, I mean, that's worse than the Taliban, but you know, it's understandable. Taliban is up there. Hey, I'm sorry, DJ Q says Zelensky green question mark. So is that a Zelensky t-shirt you have?   No, I got this before him. He's stealing my look, if anything. Victoria Willing there says, Mcduck is tasty. We'll get on to that in a bit. But one of the big things obviously is cash. So you were showing your hoards of cash on your desk when you got to the hotel. Obviously cash is the only way. I mean, tell us what that was like. [6:00] Yeah. So for the Russians, people seem to think, so I had all the cash and the people thought that everyone just uses cash there. No. As soon as we kicked them off the payment system in the West, they've just logged onto a new one. [6:13] British, it all works, it's fine. And everything they pay with this card, I saw very few people carrying cash. The only people that affects are us. So when we turn up as foreigners, we have to bring piles of cash now because you won't have a card that works. And if you think, oh, we'll just open a Russian bank, put money in there and then use a card. Yeah, you can, but it's not the easiest thing in the world. And also, I don't know, do you really want to go through that rigmarole. It's easy just to carry the cash. So yeah, if you're going to go, definitely take US dollars. That's the best thing. The other thing is euros. I tried some British pounds. No bank in all of Moscow would accept my British pounds. So I tried like five.   What was it like? I remember when I was living in Bulgaria and I could open up a bank account and it had to be US dollar. So whenever you went to get money, you'd queue up, the 20 years ago at the end of ATO, you'd queue up, you'd eventually get your dollars, you'd join another queue, and then you'd get, that would give you a slip to exchange it into lever. And then you join the third queue, and that would give you lever as about 45 minutes. But how do you just go in and you had to show ID and exchange your money? You don't even need ID. You just turn up to an exchange place, as much dollars, um, they'll give you whatever. I think if you did a high enough amount. [7:37] So if you did like a couple of grand or something like that in one go, maybe a grand, they'd ask you for ID and documentation, but if you do like a few hundred here and there, no one cares. So it's, it's very relaxed.   Or if only we were like that. And what, so you, yeah, you got there, you, You checked it. The hotel was an impressive hotel. I mean, the lobby was huge. [7:58] Yeah, it's an old Stalinist building. I think Stalin used to have dignitaries stay there. [8:03] Beautiful building from the outside as well. If people want to look it up, Hotel Hilton, Leningradskaja. Really old. They actually have a video playing in the lobby of all the different people who have stayed there and Soviet propaganda about how great it is, which is really weird. But whatever. One way of advertising your hotel, propaganda films. I think it was number 50 out of like 750. I guess it wasn't packed full of foreigners. [8:30] It was. I didn't see a single Russian person staying though. There was some Brazilian journalist I met on the last day. He was really nice. What was weird there is he was also, because we're sort of set up in this mindset of the West right now, at least generally, you know, we're combating Russia and Russia's bad and the West is good and we're helping, whatever, like your thing, right? But when you speak to someone from Brazil or the world that's just away from this dichotomy, it just didn't give a crap. I was talking to him, he was like, yeah, I just don't care. I'm just, here to cover a story about this, that or the other Russian-Brazilian trade relations. But when, it came to the conflict, he was just like, who wins, wins. Not interested. So when you met anyone in that hotel that seemed to be that position. I didn't find any Westerners. Quite refreshing. So the first thing was going to get food. I loved it. You went to McDonald's via an off license. So I'm off to McDonald's the next thing you are looking at vodka. So you seem to be more interested in getting your vodka fitting in Russia than getting your Big Mac. [9:42] Yeah, well the vodka is two euros. Sorry, two dollars, not two euros. A bottle. You know how you get to check out in this country and you'll see a bunch of confectionary? They just have crates of different kinds of vodka, all for two bucks. So if you're just popping home, why not get a bottle while you're driving? I don't know. [9:58] It works. I mean, I don't know if it works, but it's how they live. But they do survive on vodka. The Balkans survive on brandy and I guess Russians on vodka. But tell us about food. Whenever you did get food, it was Subway. That's not really Russian cuisine, is it? [10:19] No, I get criticised in a few comments. Like in Afghanistan, people were like, why didn't you eat Afghan food? I do. It's just not very interesting, I didn't find, when looking through the footage. It was me staring at a bunch of borscht or pilemi, which is like pierogis. But I don't know. It's all nice. I don't really have anything insightful to say about it other than it's nice. So it just seems like a bit of a waste of time because you don't know what it is. You don't have the flavour in your mouth. Right? But if I could tell you about their version of Subway or McDonald's, you know what that tastes like. You've got a reference point. So I just thought it was a bit more interesting. But some people say in the chat, Freddos are a safe bet. They always are. Still looking for that KitKat. Did you bring any? No, I'm not. Did you bring those? It was KitKats. I think it was Cadbury buttons. The Caramel ones and the Plain ones and some other stuff I gave away. I only filmed the buttons. I'm actually thinking of reaching out. I mentioned that I want to get sponsored by Cadbury. Why not? It'll be funny as hell for them. They've got nothing going on. You want to go to the middle of nowhere and sell Cadbury to random village people? Sure.   On this trip, I actually saw you eating more than I've ever seen you eat in my whole life. I think every next clip was you eating somewhere. [11:40] Hey, boys go eat.   Another thing that struck me was the architecture, the buildings. They look quite impressive. When you think of England and lots of things being knocked down and built up, you kind to think Russia as well, it'll be communist, it'll be massive concrete blocks, which you kind of get over all different parts of Eastern Europe. But it seemed to have a beautiful, architecture, beautiful buildings. I think you commented on that. [12:12] Yeah, I mean, there's a couple of aspects. So once you get into the more rural parts of Russia. [12:18] So Moscow and St. Petersburg are the classic amazing cities, westerners go there for a couple of days and that's their experience, which is fine. And they're the most astounding places. And the Stalinist architecture for all the bastard things that Stalin did, his Stalinist architecture is really good. The Metro is unbelievable in the sense of how beautiful it is. People big it up a lot and I always thought maybe it's overrated. I've been there before this trip, but still, every time I go back, I'm like, that's gold. I hate going to London and seeing the comparison. The Elizabeth Line opened earlier in London and people raving about it. It looks like shit. Sorry to swear, but it is awful. Just modernist nonsense that'll look terrible in 10 years. Everything in the Moscow Metro looks like that five star hotel, but underground. It's amazing how good that stuff is. But once you do get out into... So I went to Rostov in the south, which is a fairly big city, or some of the places around there, Novoshanskoye, or. [13:20] Kimishkish, or whatever the hell it was called, the one in the middle. And then, and then Luhanskoye, yeah, you get the commie blocks, commie blocks, or still a thing. But you, You do get the occasional building that they've just redone and it looks like something from the Romanov era. So they seem to be having the same sort of transition that maybe you've seen in Hungary, or I saw in Serbia where they've got the old buildings, they were run down and now they're building them back up. So the entire Slavic world seems to be experiencing that, as well as the Hungarians, which is nice. [13:53] And we don't have it.   Yeah, same in Bulgaria. You get them all being put back together and rebuilt and remembering their history after trying to forget about the communist past or life before then. They're trying to find it again. And of course, flags. One other thing I noticed, lots of Russian flags and of course, communist paraphernalia. But the two flags that were missing, which I think are our national flags, our LGBT flag and Ukraine flag, it was quite nice. Those didn't exist there.   Yeah, I mean, there's certainly one of the Ukrainian flags. What is funny about all that is that you see, I mean, I don't not understand the reasons as to why, but in Ukraine, you've seen endless videos of them smashing up statues or anything that was Russian or represents Soviet Union or anything like that. Some of them are understandable where it's like, you know, Lenin, screw that guy, Stalin, screw that guy, whatever, right? But then they started smashing up like Russian authors. Some of them were even like half Ukrainian. [14:59] It all just, I think it seems like people in Ukraine are a bit caught up in that. I don't know. But in Moscow and Rostov, from what I saw, there's loads of Ukrainian writer statues or, you know, the Hotel Ukraina, things like this. They've not got rid of anything Ukrainian, because of course they don't really seem to think they're going to destroy Ukraine as a thing or, the Ukrainian language. But you could argue being invaded and therefore have this massive of Ukraine phobia or something. So there's that argument for sure. As for the LGBT flags. [15:34] Yeah, yeah, none. Didn't see any BLM flags either. Now I think about it. But that's part of what I certainly like about Russia. And generally when you look at a lot of the Eastern European countries, that they have pride in their identity, they have confidence in their identity. And in the West, we've lost that. all of kind of big bear Russia and for it can seem like an aggressor maybe to some of the smaller countries. Actually, at least it has pride in its identity.   Absolutely. I mean, that is one of the things people get confused about. There's some aspect of the right, specifically the right I'm going to talk about here, who get a bit obsessed with Russia. Many of them have never been and never going to be going there. So it's a bit strange from those folks because they kind of get caught caught up in the propaganda, I find. [16:30] But for those who have been, everyone can appreciate it. And it's not just Russia. You find this in Poland. You find this in probably Bulgaria and et cetera. An acceptance of patriotism, an acceptance of, like, this is where I'm born. It's my land. That's why it's good. Not because I'm better than everyone else, but because it's mine, which we don't in the West. We actively suppress that. It's embarrassing that we do so. And when it comes to the homosexual stuff as well, my understanding is that in Russia, it's not a crime to be gay. If you want to be gay, that's fine. If you have a boyfriend or a girlfriend, I don't know how accepting Russian [17:05] Culture of that being public. But I know that the most recent thing I saw in terms of legality, just if anyone's game is planning on visit, I don't think you'll have a problem as long as there's no public displays of affection, I imagine. Like, I know that's a most traditionalist place, to put it politely. But when it comes to the legal side, the only thing they have is that they banned, firstly, it was LGBT propaganda aimed at children. That was banned. Come on, come on. Very Hungarian. [17:38] You know, Ron De Santis would probably approve of that original law, which was just, look, you can't have this stuff aimed at kids. If it's a kids program, if it's aimed 18 or below, you can't do that. If you're aiming a program 18 or above the wave, you want to give a crap. I think whilst I was there, they expanded the law now to include 18 and above, which of course is far more controversial and far less about, let's say, freedom in that regard. But that is what it says. One of the things about this sort of traveling, I don't want to pass too much of a judgment on the places I'm going because I'm just trying to tell you what's there. I ain't living there. So I'm not going to sit around and tell you how they should change their laws because It's foreign land, we have no influence, what would be the point? I barely have any influence in my own country. But I guess that's similar to that stance in Russia. It's actually similar to Serbia and certainly similar to Afghanistan. So I think that's what ties those three countries together.   [18:45] Maybe, I just know it's a bit more... Because they don't really have any pride in being Afghan in that same way that the Serbs, the Russians do, in being Serbian and Russian. Yeah, but I think that's something, I'm thinking of the LGBT stuff. Oh yeah, well they're all certainly on that train. I think the Afghans win that competition though, because Allah Akbar. Yeah Allah doesn't do the LGBT stuff very well. No.   One of the few things they'll command him or Muhammad for, but we'll not get into that conversation.   I think they're accepting of T's. I think T is still okay. T? Do you think so? So in Iran, for example, tea is okay, because if you're found being homosexual in Iran, there is a Quranic solution, which is that clearly this man is not a homosexual man, because that would be a crime against nature according to the Quran. So in fact, he is transgender. He was a woman the whole time, therefore it's not gay. So you either accept that bargain and go through the surgery or get killed. [19:48] So that's the tragedy of being homosexual in Iran. But it does mean that the transgender acceptance is a thing. So I don't know if that's your world, Silver lining. I don't know what to talk about. I'm advertising to the transgender adventure brigade out there. Anyway, moving on. The Metro, how much of the Metro did you use? Because as you said, the pictures I've seen, how impressive it is. And you had that little clip of it. But did you go on it a lot? Obviously you didn't, you got told off for filming all this. [20:25] Yeah, I don't know if that's it's a really weird place for filming in that sense. So I've never seen this in any Slavic country except Russia. Russia seems to still have it was explained to me. So, for example, if you get on a train in Russia, let's avoid the metro first. You have to present your passport. You have to go through airport style security and then you get on the train. You can't just tap and walk in. No, very serious about that. [20:51] I thought this is because of counterterrorism. I was told the reason for this, and also the fact that people checking your papers all have these communist style hats with communist logos on still, is because under the Soviet Union, of course. You mean like this? Yeah, exactly like that.   I could have given that to you to keep warm because you kept getting cold. Well, I would have looked like a police officer if I got arrested. But no, they've got these railway workers. There was no freedom of movement in Soviet Union. You have to have papers to be able to move to the next town or wherever, I was told, at least at one point. So that system is still there for the trains. So when you go on the metro, same thing. You walk into the metro and there's meta detectors. And if you're holding a bag nine times out of 10, someone will shout at you in Russian. You freak out. But then they just take your bag, shove it in a metal detector, nothing, you know, it, gets scanned, there's no bombs. They just give it back to you, bugger off. And then there's some lady at the escalators who's just like on her phone on every escalator, I don't know why she's there. Just pointless. But there's like security everywhere. So you don't know what you can and can't film. But then I tried to film too close to the tracks and then three guys came over and all, started shouting at me. I was just like, sorry, not Russian. Leave me alone.   How visible was your filming? [22:16] I always found it's better to be, if you're ever going to travel to somewhere strange and film, do it publicly. If you're seen trying to secretly film, that's way worse because you can explain, oh, sorry, I'm a stupid foreigner from the foreigner land. And in any culture, they'll be like, yeah, whatever, just bugger off and it'll be over. So always just hold up the camera, look like an American tourist pretty much. And that's usually what I do. The only exemptions to that is probably when I was in Taliban land and we try and maybe, not attract attention.   But the black markers. Yeah, I mean, you don't really want to attract that attention. So the only exception. What was it, did people look at you cynically or with suspicion? Because obviously someone from the West must be coming to put something negative out about Russia. Was that part of it? Because you said you had to wait four hours to get in. Is that a kind of thinking behind a lot of the maybe suspicion of the West? [23:25] To be honest, maybe this is just me being lucky. On this entire trip, I didn't find any suspicious people being suspicious of me except security, and that's their job, so fair enough, or in Luhansk. So the civilians there were a bit distrusting because we spoke to people and tried to ask, do you mind if we interview you, ask you these questions, we're showing the questions. I had a guy look over them just to make sure it wouldn't spook the hell out of anyone. He said, yeah, no, those are fine. But no one, no one would talk to us because they're just that scared. I think for a couple of reasons, which is that if the Ukrainians come back and they're on camera saying something nice about Russia and maybe something will happen, maybe they're worried that they'll say something wrong and get in trouble or something. I don't know. That's the only place I felt any problems. I mean, I ran into a guy in a flea market in Rostov and jabbering away in half Russian, half English with this dude and the other people around us, all friendly. Go to an Irish pub, start talking about the situation, all friendly, all smiles. I never had to explain and sit there and be like, oh yes, I am here to film about Great Russia or something to get someone's trust because they're incredibly isolated. Any foreigner who comes there and is like, yeah, I want to show what life's like, they're [24:48] immediately just like thank you for coming. You know, show people. So.   War Museums, you did some filming, some beautiful tanks in different places, but yeah, tell, us about that. And is that a, do you have a specific tank fetish? Oh, who doesn't like tanks? Come on. So, yeah, there's a few places I went. There's the Victory Museum in Moscow, which if anyone goes to Moscow, it's the easiest place to go on holiday. Go for a weekend or two with a loved one. It's a very romantic place to be as well, especially even winter. Definitely take your girl to the Victory Museum, because even though it's military nonsense, you know, women don't generally like staring at, there's enough there to be fun. There's enough light shows and stuff I didn't really have time to show in the video that they have. There's some old remakes of the Reichstag you can go and see. [25:48] Uh any kind of gun any kind of tank there's patriot park i went to that's a big thing in Russia, various uh there's sort of like theme parks throughout the country and it's just piles of every weapon you could think of every tank every plane, railway tanks or railway guns, and I don't know why they're called that it's like a railway car right but covered in artillery and, and anti-tank guns and machine guns. The idea is you drive the train into the town and shoot it up. I don't remember that on Thomas the Tank Engine.   No, but it should have been. A Russian Thomas the Tank Engine is a whole other thing. But that's, you can also shoot any gun you want there. I chose the Mosin. I was kind of annoyed because we just didn't have the time on the way back out. I just, I had to leave because of time. But I'd love to go back to Patriot Park because it was 500 rubles for like 100 rounds or something on an LMG. I had loads of money left though because I just hadn't spent it. I wish I'd just gone back to Patriot Park and be like, chh, dada, dada, dada, dada, dada, for 30 minutes straight, because that's just fun. So yeah, if you like shooting, that's easy too.   Well, did you, I can't remember, you went with someone there, or did you just turn up as a foreigner saying I'd like to shoot things? [27:03] So the trip was a bit weird. I knew a couple of people in Russia from a previous trip. So I met them in Moscow. I met friends of friends of friends. Your network very quickly expands once you just ask, hey, do you know anyone who's around tomorrow? I went to like an Indian market with a lady, for example. That was really funny actually, because we're walking around and I hear the Indian music and I see the brands and the spices. I was instantly transported back to the UK. [27:29] You get what I mean? Which just was so weird because she didn't get it either. She was like, what do you mean it's like the UK? I'm like, you don't know. You just don't know. [27:41] So that was fun. So you start meeting friends like that and then when I got a train I was going to go meet someone else. So I had someone with me at any given time. Some people seem to think, that someone was chaperoning me like it's the Soviet Union. I can't transmit enough how much things have changed since the Soviet Union. It's not like that at all. Even when I went to Luhansk, the Russian soldier guy I had with me, he was only with me like half the time. And even when he was with me, he didn't even know what he was getting in for, frankly. I decided where we wanted to go. I decided what we're going to see, who we're going to talk to, what we're doing today. [28:20] He was a quirky character.   Yeah, I mean, he was just a friend of a friend of a friend was Rostov. Great guy, made friends with him. I said, look, the guy was going to go meet has been blown up by a mortar. I'm kind of buggered. Do you know what he could take me to the new regions? He says, you know, I have a friend introduced me to an Afghani weird character, big moustache, larger than life, goes to Ukraine a lot, has been fighting since 2014, killing people. He did mention to me at one point apparently he fought in Syria which okay because he talks a lot about Wagner. I never really got to the question about whether or not he worked for Wagner but whatever. [29:04] Fit as a fiddle, clearly does a lot of stuff. He's out there right now, he's upgraded his telegram, he's out fighting today I think. But he seemed to just be some guy because he agreed to take me. And then when we got to the border, it was like, don't speak about this, don't speak about that. And I'm like, brother, you don't know what you're getting in for. Because, of course we get taken to additional security and he's like, oh, it's been 10 minutes. I'm, like, no, it's not going to be 10 minutes. We're getting stuck for four hours talking to Russian border guard, then military intelligence, and then even more. We were just like, who the hell are you? And then when we're going around Luhansk, everything's fine. He knows everyone there. He's been fighting and he used to live in Luhansk for years. That's the thing about all the nationalists, the people who are fighting there, they've, all got massive connections to Ukraine, like family connections. This is a real family thing for them. It's not some group of guys who have no connection to the land. All their family live there or their grandparents live there or something. So that's fine. On the way back out, of course same border, checkpoint, more security. I just remember we got off the bus in Rostov, he was just so pissed at me. So he was just like, oh for god's sake. Like it was just some guy, he didn't know what he was getting in for. I was just like, yeah sorry man, it's gonna be a lot of stops. My passport's cancer in this place. [30:28] Yeah, it's free to travel around. If you meet friends of friends, you'll be able to meet someone in any given town. And if they're a friend of a friend, they'll be nice to you. So what was the part that's kind of partially Russian, partially Ukrainian? Is that Luhansk or the other one, Rostov? Yeah, so to explain for people who might not know the situation Ukraine became a country after the Soviet Union collapsed. It used to basically just be a Soviet Republic of USSR, I don't think a Ukrainian nation really existed before in peacetime. You could argue maybe like the kingdoms of the root of, Kevin Rusev's me, but yeah, I did I mean in modern times probably, then stuff happens, politics Russia ended up annexing Crimea and then there was an uprising in these two places called Donetsk and Luhansk, large Russian populations, Stalin's fault as most things are as to why there's so many Russians. [31:34] If I think that the next used to be called Stalino, because of course These people rose up. They've been fighting an insurgency for years with help from Moscow, And then when the Russian army moved in properly, not just, you know, unofficially, they have now annexed Luhansk province, Donetsk province, Zaporizhian and Kherson. So we went to the Luhansk province, which that place has been a battlefield for, what has it been, eight years, something like that. They've now got all of that province under control. We didn't feel any active threat. There was no, like, range for artillery to kill us. To kill us, there was range for missiles to kill us or airstrikes. You can see bullet holes in all the buildings, much for the buildings been blown up. [32:22] But as for what it is, it's according to the Ukrainians, their lands, all of it. According to the Russians, they've annexed it, it belongs to them now. And according to the people who live there, from what I saw, I didn't see anyone Ukrainian. I didn't see anything that made me think Ukraine, everything that made me think of Russia. The flags, the people, the food, the apartments. The place used to be a large Russian area, even when it was part of Ukraine. And since the uprising eight years ago, and then ever since. Anyone who is pro-Ukraine has probably left. I've read multiple stories online of people used to live in these places, more than the stories I've read, but same thing will be happening in Luhansk. If you were pro-Ukrainian or a young person who's Ukrainian or any of that sort, you've probably gone. Why would you have stayed? In which case the result, I imagine if they did do a census, even if it's done by the UN, run by Canadians or Bangladeshis, there's no interest. The demographics of that place have probably hugely changed. So that's an argument for claiming the land, obviously. I did hear a story from a Russian lady who works for a Western organization in Moscow. So she's got access to both sides. One of the things the Ukrainian government's doing, is near the front line, if there's Ukrainians living there, they desperately want the Ukrainians to continue living there. [33:51] Because if the Ukrainians leave, that's yet more territory that has a huge deficit of Ukrainians versus Russians. So whenever some kind of peace deal ends up coming, you've got less of an argument and the Russians are playing the same game. Don't get me wrong, but it's just funny to me how when it comes down to what everyone understands, the claim of a land is just having your people there. And from what I saw in Luhansk, I didn't see anything Ukrainian. [34:20] I know they're going to be Ukrainians that are like that, but that's how it is, man. I hadn't worked out actually before watching your video because in the middle you kind of look at the geopolitics of the area, but I actually didn't realize that Ukraine was, only a province of Russia because other countries like Bulgaria have got a thousand year history, and other countries had to fight and there was, I should think Slovenia had like a three-week, battle with the USSR to actually gain their freedom as a country. But Ukraine existed as a part, as a province, as opposed to a separate country. So it is quite different, Ukraine, when you look at the other kind of satellite states, the USSR. [35:02] Yeah, I mean, it's really interesting, actually, because so Ukraine was basically a province of the Russian Empire, nothing special. And then when that collapse and you get Soviet Union, most of it was in the Soviet Union. Sure, it was made into a Soviet republic. This is mostly just PR. Anyone looking at the history can tell that, but it's an integral part of the Soviet Union. It's not flourishing in that way or independent in that way that Bulgaria or any of the satellites are. Since independence in the 90s, that's when you really start to get this, it's seemingly and someone could correct me if I'm wrong, this actual solidifying of what are we? And seeing because I mean that's where you get the changes of okay no we should be focusing on the Ukrainian language not this bilingual state this hyper focus and celebration specifically of Ukrainian culture to make it aware in people's minds. One of the great conversations I had was with a guy in a bar in Rostov his half of his family Ukrainian living around that region. [36:06] Again everyone you goddamn meet in this area there's cross-border families no one's some kind of rabid nationalist just for their side. It's not like I'm Bosnian, I'm Croatian or something. There's no crossover. No, there's massive crossover in ethnic times. But he mentioned that he used to go on holiday to Ukraine all the time. And he had gone to the 2000s, everything was cool, meet anywhere you want, no problem. And then around about 2014 and there throughout he started just getting random hostility from people he's on holiday with as if you know He'd like murdered 14 Ukrainian babies or something like we talking to them in Russian. They're talking [36:48] Russian to him because they think he's from Ukrainian Russian province and then if I don't hear some the Russian Federation They just stopped talking to him and they start talking Ukrainian and refused to use the Russian language, So what the hell was that about and then ever since this guy was mentioning he's been on so many more holidays, even before the special operation. And it just got worse and worse and worse. I still haven't been to Ukraine. I'd love to go if it's safe. I don't know how badly some people might take the video I made there, but I'm happy to show the Ukrainian side as well. I'm not got problem with that. But my best guess from what I can see and what I heard is that the Ukrainian identity and Ukrainian culture really is something new in historical terms in the way it is now. And that proper split of when nothing to do with Russia is very new. What was it like when you were getting the bus down to Luhansk? You're kind of thinking, well, I'm going to somewhere which is on the edge of a war zone that's disputed territory. Were you slightly apprehensive going down there? [37:54] So when we got on the bus from Rostov, you then get to the old border, and that's what the border checkpoint is, about hour three and a half into that checkpoint I did honestly sit there and think, what am I doing with my life? Why don't I just stay home? Why don't I just play video games? Who cares? Oh God. Cause you don't know. Maybe the phone call gets made and the guy at the top just goes, arrest him. Fuck him. Like, who is this? Thankfully it got to someone and they just said, yes. Um, don't know who, [38:21] Thanks bro. And then when you get on the bus to the war zone and I honestly, I felt great. Um, don't know if there's something wrong with me, but [38:32] there's something about, I was the same with Afghanistan. I don't know how to put this into words, probably. Maybe you've had this in Eastern Europe when it was less lawful as well. There's something about those kind of places where everything's a bit serious in the regard of only serious things matter, life or death matters. Whether or not you've got a vaccine passport, it's like the stupidest question you could ever ask, that kind of environment. I love it. Because it doesn't feel like you're being controlled anymore, even though everything around you is men with guns, army soldiers, people who could probably kill you if they had no reason to but just felt like it. [39:14] It still feels freer in that way. Am I making any kind of sense? Well, I think the seriousness comes from that life can be harder in those places. And I think in the West we have entertained ourselves to death where there actually life is, you're right, more serious. Here life is what you want to watch on YouTube that evening or that day. It's, or how many likes you have for something that's life is reduced down to that trivialness where there it is life and death. It is more serious. It's way more real. And you actually care about like what you're going to eat tonight, for example, such a, mundane thing. But like I genuinely was thinking about, Oh God, what we're going to have dinner. And so the kind of stress you get from that is almost rewarding in a way. I was trying to have this conversation today about like the acceptance of corruption and why it makes life better. I don't mean bribery, but I was thinking about some more. So when I got on the plane from Afghanistan on the way back. [40:13] I get to this front of the queue, blah, blah, blah, blah, sorry, man, I don't speak Pashtun English. Oh, no problem, sir. And then they take my bag, they wrap it up, And then the guy says, vaccine passport, sir. [40:26] I ain't got a vaccine. He didn't need a vaccine to get into Afghanistan. So I look at him and just go, I ain't got one. He looks at me like utter confusion, like he's never had this before. Gets his supervisor up, the supervisor just looks at him just annoyed and just goes. [40:42] Walks off and the guy just goes, oh bugger off. Just lets me through. [40:47] When like someone who's getting paid minimum wage turns down the stupid pointless laws that we all know are stupid and pointless. It's just a much better life. If he was checking the bag and said, did you put a bomb there? And I said, well, yeah, but you know, I want to blow up the plane. He obviously would have arrested me on the spot. He doesn't not care about serious things. But when it comes to stupid stuff like your vaccine pass, no one gives a crap. And they shouldn't give a crap in that country. But you do that in the West. It's still illegal for me to go to the United States because of the vaccine stuff. If I get that some TSA agent is going to be like, we haven't got it, you've got to go back. [41:24] Bro, what the hell do you care? You're getting paid minimum wage to work in the TSA. You give a crap about the vaccine? No, like you shouldn't for Christ's sake. And it's, we had that in the UK as well. It's not even that rare to us. Remember when Boris was caught with his pants down, he was having parties and the day after, none of those rules applied anymore. Security guys didn't bother trying to stop people for not wearing masks. Nobody gave a crap. We had that culture for a day there. That's what I mean. The fact that those petty laws mean nothing. And when I was in Luhansk and you're back in a zone it's, you know, state of war. [41:59] None of that petty crap means anything. I don't know, it's something spiritually that just makes you happier in a really messed up way because you're in a really messed up place. It's liberating. [42:14] When I last time was flying from Bulgaria and you had to wear masks, it must have been last summer, and everyone had to wear a mask. You wear a mask, they all get on the plane and as soon as they're sitting down, they all just drop it down to their chin. Literally, all the Bulgarians. [42:34] Here, people would have it up over their nose. Here, of course, you've got the, Air Stewardesses checking people. I know I've got friends, Air Stewardesses, and they said they spent all their time checking masks. Where in Bulgaria, they realized it just was a load of crap. Therefore, they didn't, they kind of would pay lip service, but really they knew it was nonsense where in the UK they paid not only did they pay lip service, but they believed, everything they were told. And it's that ability to think for yourselves. And it's quite weird when you come from the West. And so that's what I noticed. I guess you noticed that as well, that they just don't fit in and don't accept things just because you're told them. Yeah, I mean, like a chap in the chat is mentioning anarchism. It's not anarchism. Like in it was the same thing with Afghanistan and Luhansk there is utter security in your position, no one's gonna kill you for no reason, you know if you blaspheme or something in Afghanistan you're buggered but don't do that if uh there's an ISIS terrorist in Afghanistan, there's Taliban every hundred meters with guns that dude's dead before he gets to you in Luhansk there are tanks and army soldiers everywhere, someone tries to start something they're getting arrested or shot immediately you couldn't feel safer in terms of like no one's gonna stab me it's not, It's not like you're in Birmingham. There's none of that, personal threat. [43:51] But the actual rules of life matter again, the things the state are doing, is actually something you can respect, security. That's the number one concern. That's what's actually going on. But none of this, oh, nonsense. Mentality exists. Andrew Tate actually described this in a really interesting way. And maybe you'll get it as well. He was in Romania. He walks into the gas station. And the Romanian guy goes, you need a mask and he just, I don't know, sorry, I thought the story wrong. He's in the UK, goes to a gas station, the guy says, you need a mask. He's like, bro, I filled up the car, here's the money. He says, no, you need to wear a mask before I can make you pay. He's like. [44:31] If you take the money or I'm leaving with the gas for free, I don't. [44:35] I'm not putting on a mask. What are you talking about? The dude starts losing it and he's like, no, you have to wear a mask or I can't take your money. Bro, you're getting paid minimum wage to, to work in a gas station? What the hell do you care? Like if Shell have this policy of you worst man, you think the CEO of Shell gives a crap if the new customer walking in is wearing a mask when he pays. No, nobody cares. This rule is meaningless. Everyone in the room knows it. And yeah, I don't know if it's our Protestant work ethic or something, but the Anglosphere worker who's getting paid minimum wage just goes, the rules are the rules, like a German. And he's just like, yeah, must implement the rules. No one's going to make him implement those rules. He does it to himself. [45:15] And then Tate mentions, you do that in Romania. Same situation. You walk in, the Iranian guy will say, sir, you must wear a mask. And you say, I'm not doing it. And the Romanian worker will go, eh. Not because he wouldn't do that if you were like, I'm not going to pay. [45:31] You've got to pay. That's important. But on stupid nonsensical rules, I don't waste my time with this. And we don't have that in the West. It annoys the crap out of me.   I remember some Bulgarians telling me you have to wear a mask because they were wearing one on their chin. It's just like, it's so weird. Do you realize it's just like a piss take? It's like, we don't give a shit. You kind of pretend. It's like, yeah, so weird. But it's that part of the outside. Once you get outside the Western world, that's really the metric. It's not like corruption and bribery or the law doesn't apply. It's the, I'm not listening to nonsense mindset. And you have that in spades in Russia of the people? So I can appreciate that of the people. Sure, there's other problems. Sure, no, I don't agree with those things. But when I talk about this thing, and you'll recognize it as well in Bulgaria, Tate recognized in Romania, really the ex-Soviet nations really know how to go. I don't care what the dear leader's saying. For a good reason. One thing I want to ask you that actually didn't really talk about, I don't think, but I live in London and sometimes it's difficult to find English people living in London. I assume over there in Russia it's still fairly Russian. I guess it hasn't been hit by the multicultural nonsense. [46:59] So this is a big criticism of Putin from the Russian nationalists I found on both the trips I've done there. And it's true, it's a valid criticism, which is that if you go to Moscow, for example, yep, there's a lot of Russians, but they have some of the same problems we have. The reason for this is because not only is the Russian Federation a huge country, huge amount of ethnic diversity just because it's so big, and there are loads of ethnic republics inside that are made up of ethnic minorities that travel all over the place. They also have the Kazakhstan border, which is ridiculously huge. They don't really man it. They don't really have the ability to man it. So that's not happening. In which case, they have loads of illegals, not to mention the legal immigration from those countries, because the quality of life working in Moscow as a taxi driver is way better, blah, blah, blah. One of the funny stories I got told, so there's a huge amount of those people in Moscow, which is visible, especially in the taxi drivers. One of the stories I got told is that the mayor of Moscow was talking about the fact that they're putting up Uzbek language signs below the Russian signs in this district in Moscow because the Uzbeks are taking too long in the metro. They'll get out, they'll stare at the signs, they don't really know where, they're going. So he's putting up the Uzbek language. And this lady's telling me the story and I'm looking at her like, lady, I've been here three days, I can read Cyrillic. You're [48:18] telling me these people live in Moscow and they can't read a Russian metro sign about, which street they live on. It was just kind of strange that kind of cuck-oldery in that sense of having no standards for your ethnic minorities. You treat them like children. You should just give up all of your culture and language and everything else because, oh, well, they can't read the signs. Learn to read then. I mean, it's not a big ask, learning to read. So they do have those problems as well. It's just nowhere near what we have in the UK. And for them, it's really only in these, big hubs like Moscow where all the money is. So, you know, I don't, this is why I mean by like some sections of the right who have never been to Russia, don't know anything about it, will fetishize, Putin and be like, yeah, he's tough on immigration and whatnot. Yeah, it compared to us, sure. But it doesn't mean there's no problems. And it's [49:14] again, same solution, which is just say no. We're not putting up Uzbek language signs. Learn to read, you goddamn losers. That's the correct response. What do you mean you can't read? Education's free.   Exactly. Let's finish off on food. Looking for food you got McDuck. I'm kind of thinking, did you order a big duck and that just doesn't sound right. Tell us about it because these places, obviously, Western companies have pulled out and then you get McDuck. What was that like?   It probably takes a little bit slower. In the Russian Federation, the old Russia, the Western companies pulled out. You've got mainly the ones you'll find in day-to-day life. Ikea isn't there. Very few Russians went to Ikea. It's very much a rich person thing. So it means nothing. You've got McDonald's, which has been changed to its tasty full stop. It's now run by some Russian guy, all the profits stay in Russia. Supply chains are all the same. All the food comes from Russia. Nothing's changed. So great. That's actually a net win for them. They're no longer sending money to the McDonald's USA company. Starbucks, same deal. There were a couple of others you'll find in day to day life. [50:35] Again, all the products don't come from the West. So, I mean, remember the West is basically a service economy for a place like Russia, and in which case they can do the services. It's not hard. In fact, they could pay Russians to do it, save money. [50:49] And then in Luhansk, because that used to be Ukraine and has been for eight years in a state, of conflicts, they care even less about copyright laws. So they opened McDuck, which I still have the wrappers for. [51:02] And that's the McDonald's there. Yeah, it literally has the Disney font, which is illegal. And they have the Disney characters that they put out, which I guess is illegal. What was weird there is that the interior design of McDonald's, remember when it used to be black and white squares or whatever, and then they changed it so it was those wavy patterns, and they had these wooden things behind the benches that would have gaps missing. Yeah, like slats.   Yeah, you know the kind of design I'm thinking of? That's what they have in Ukraine, Luhansk, the Russian territory, because it's just not been touched in like eight years, it's still clean. All the fryers make the same beeping noises. [51:40] You could buy a black bread Big Mac, which I didn't do because I don't like a black bread. But in Russia, they've got the modern ones because it's only a year ago that changed. When I asked people about all of that, no one could have given a crap. This is something I really, I'm kind of annoyed about that the delusion so many people have in the West about Russia, they think it's just like the West, and it's just as effective as if we lost McDonald's tomorrow, people would be freaking out. [52:12] McDonald's was even only in quite good places in Russia. The people who went there, Russian people don't like McDonald's all that much. They've got their own fast foods, which are frankly better. Smoked salmon is so easy to get there for some reason, so cheap compared to your crappy Big Mac. And even then [52:31] If you're a Russian and some company does that, not only do you not care. If they ever came back, you're not going to go back and shop with them because they betrayed your country. So it's a lose-lose on that front. Places like Burger King hasn't left. They're making bank. McDonald's left, but they're open. So our biggest competitor decided to leave the country. What a retard. Make loads of money. And for the companies doing that, the argument is made that, oh, maybe they did it for moral reasons. [53:01] You think any of these companies do anything for moral? Are you high? No. They're not doing it for Ukrainian nationalism reasons either. None of these companies are Ukrainian. None of them have big markets in Ukraine. They've done this because some letter was sent from the White House. All their CEOs are actually that dumb and have just been taken on with the current thing and jumped in on it. I don't think any of these CEOs actually care about the morality question in any of this. And I cannot stress enough things in Russia are not collapsing as a result of the sanctions. I was re-watching the YouTube channel called LaserPig. I quite like the guy. I've got nothing against him. I love his content. Tank stuff. Love that. Anyway, so he did some videos about when the war started and I was going back and just checking out, what people were saying when it first kicked off. And one of the predictions he makes, for example, is like, oh, the conditions in Russia are perfect for being about the same as the Russian Revolution in 1918. You know, it was sort of a weird thing to say then after being there, food's cheaper than ever. Gas is cheaper than ever. I don't know if you saw it's 19 pence for unlimited gas in the Luhansk. I saw you enjoying just watching gas burn.   Oh, it was great. [54:21] Life could not be more normal. I met people who were anti-Putin as well. I met people who were anti-special operation, anti-war, all of that. And I asked them, what's changed then for you? Because I mean, you're not gonna tell me everything's fine because you're some Russian nationalist who just is sitting there writing Zeds on everything you find. And they just, all of them without thought were just like, well, not really anything. The only lady I could find who told me anything changed was she worked in selling high-tech equipment. So like high tech cameras or high tech computer systems, right? And she said, so I asked her, well, OK, that must have been blocked off now, because those companies aren't doing it in Russia. And she says, no. I said, what do you mean? Is it where they fly to Kazakhstan and then the plane flies to Moscow? So the worst thing that's happened to them on a human level is like really high tech stuff is up 20% in cost. And only rich people were buying that anyway, so they don't give a crap. And like when I went to the GUM, the GYM, the richest place, the Harrods of Russia and all the Western stores have a little sign that's saying down due to technical issues. They're all still paying rent. They all still have equipment. They also have the lights on in those stores. They are just waiting for the right time to reopen those stores. They do not want to give up those spots. They make mad money on those things in normal circumstances. And those companies, again, if you're rich and you want to buy Louis Vuitton and you're Putin's mistress, easily done. Kazakhstan exists. We'll fly it in darling. [55:50] It really kind of hurts me that it seems to have done so little, not because I necessarily want Russians to suffer or something, but just because I am being endlessly propagandized in the West, but trust me, something's being, nothing is being done. The average life of an average Russian has not been affected at all. The rich Russians, not affected at all. If someone wants to make an argument about like their banking industry has taken a hit, and maybe there's some long-term effects there, you can argue. Sure, I don't know anything about that, so I'm not going to speak on it. But if someone wants to think that the average life is about to make the Russian population rise up and overthrow, and you're not living in reality, come back down. Okay. For them, life is more normal than it's ever been. Something weird is happening in our country to do with war. Okay. I'm Russian. That happens every 20 years. It's not new. [56:39] So here, while our fuel bills have quadrupled, actually we're still winning. Even though family finances are decimated. It's a weird winning. Very weird. I actually played a game with everyone I met, even the border guards. So I messaged a mate of mine, I was like, so what's the average gas bill? Because I only have electricity in my apartment here. And he's a landlord, so he's got a few apartments and friends. So he told me, okay, so there's this lady who pays this much. That's about average right now. And so I converted it into roubles and show everyone. Same reaction every single time. [57:12] Serious not that serious. Yes. Yes true. Oh. [57:20] Then they'd ask me how much does the average English person make convert it back into roubles, It's not enough for them to think that's normal because they were like you this much of your salary goes on just gas. [57:33] Yeah, there are so many people in this part of the civilization, who I found are still deluded into thinking that they're living some cold, miserable hell, and we're the ones who are doing just a little bit rough around the winter. No, man, we're really suffering and they're not noticing it. [57:54] That's the truth of the matter. You can be mad about that, you can wish it was the opposite, it's not. Just final thought is that what you talked about, they don't survive on McDonald's, not a big thing if they lose these brands. I think a sign that the West has collapsed is people sitting at home being able to order a McDonald's to come to your home. It's just literally bonkers that actually our populations in the West are living on McDonald's. Just, a sad state of affairs. You can get it with a bike directly to your front door. What am I? And you said salmon maybe? No, no, no. Let's go for a Big Mac and fries. Okay. I'm imagining you looking out the window, seeing Deliveroo and just be like, this is the end of the West. Because I eat a lot of McDonald's. I happen to have a McDonald's right next to my apartment. So pro tip, double cheeseburger, small fries, three quid. [58:52] Best cost for money you can get. And I quite like the concept. It's a very capitalistic mindset, maximize calories, lowest cost, all that stuff gets the rightest part of my capitalist brain. Excited. I know a friend who used to work at McDonald's and he loved the calculation of how quickly you could wrap stuff, would save this many pennies and all that nonsense. [59:15] But if you're really deluded enough to think without McDonald's, Russia is finished or Saudi Arabia is finished or China is finished or some other country you don't like. [59:24] Number one, you're high. Number two, what happens when Burger King stays? That's right, nothing. Nothing happens. And we really seem to have a lot less power than we think we do. The idea that Western sanctions will really cripple the enemy in North Korea, yeah. In Iran, apparently it had some large effect. In a place like Russia that has all the damn resources, it couldn't mean less. Like, we've got all this stuff, it's just the services we don't have. High-level things but if you've already set them up for them. Okay, copy paste. Copyright, what's that?   Yeah, and of course they still have access to the Chinese markets. So what Britain says, we're not buying or whatever, that's okay, we'll just go to China.   You guys don't make anything anymore. Like the world really has changed about who makes things, who's important in that dynamic, and we mentally haven't caught up to that. We aren't, leveraging what we have and instead thinking, oh, we can make them suffer with this, and it doesn't work. [1:00:26] Callum, thank you for coming on and sharing your thoughts. I don't know whether an African shithole country is going to be next on your list.   I mean, if you have any recommendations. I think I recommended Zimbabwe. I was thinking about turning up in a Rhodesian light infantry uniform. I just go and see what's left of Rhodesia. But I called a mate who used to be there, he's like, yeah, they'll probably kill you. I was like, maybe not.   Well, the guy you met, the weird guy, the dancing guy, the moustache guy, some undercover terrorist guy. Evgeny. No, no, no. He's like a soldier slash, you know, soldier of fortune. I don't know. I was just thinking whether Lotus Eaters would have paid your ransom. I could see this going horribly wrong. Originally, he didn't ask for any money either. He was just like, yeah, I'll do it for free. By the time I'd ruined his week, I was just like, yeah, here's 100 quid. Thanks for joining us. And our viewers and listeners, obviously Britannica Politica, you can find the videos there in the description. And however you're watching, the links should be in there. Or if you're listening on podcasting apps, the links are also there. So, Callum, Thank you once again for joining us. [1:01:47] Thanks so much for having me. I'll come around next time I go to some hellhole. No, no, you didn't bring any AK-47s back or t-shirts, no? [1:01:57] I got some Hello Kitty t-shirts actually. Maybe I should sell stuff. Have you still got Hello Kitty? Yeah, yeah. Well, I don't know how much of that I could say. So I've got all the Russian stuff, still I've got some merch. Got on my Twitter page. There's a full list there of the things, Afghan, Serbian and Russian stuff. If it has a quote teat selling sold out, it's sold out. If it don't, I probably got it. Message me on Twitter or SubscribeStar. If you want to support me, subscribe to SubscribeStar. But the Hello Kitty shirts. So guy I knew in Afghan, I said to him, like, bring them to the UK. I'll come pick them up. He did that. [1:02:33] Bad news. He's gone bye-bye now. So the shirts I have are the last shirts I'm ever getting. So limited supply.   Like all your friends keep dying in these places. It's weird. Well, I mean, it's not Miami. That is true. That is true. Give us your handle again on Twitter. I think it's @akkadsecretary. It's called Callum. There's a picture of me with Luhansk sign behind me and a couple of Russian soldiers off to kill people. Who knows? And people can click on the subscribe star there and they can actually support your extensive travels.   Yeah. Again, if you go to the YouTube channel, you'll find these things fairly easily around there somewhere. Okay. Perfect. Well, on that, I'll say goodbye to our viewers and we'll see you on Saturday with David Vance and his week's review of the news. So thank you very much for tuning in, for watching. Have a good rest of your Thursday. We'll see you back on Saturday. Thank you very much and good night to you all.

Full Text of ReadingsMemorial of Saints Cyril, Monk, and Methodius, Bishop Lectionary: 336The Saint of the day is Saints Cyril and MethodiusSaints Cyril and Methodius' Stories Because their father was an officer in a part of Greece inhabited by many Slavs, these two Greek brothers ultimately became missionaries, teachers, and patrons of the Slavic peoples. After a brilliant course of studies, Cyril (called Constantine until he became a monk shortly before his death) refused the governorship of a district such as his brother had accepted among the Slavic-speaking population. Cyril withdrew to a monastery where his brother Methodius had become a monk after some years in a governmental post. A decisive change in their lives occurred when the Duke of Moravia asked the Eastern Emperor Michael for political independence from German rule and ecclesiastical autonomy (having their own clergy and liturgy). Cyril and Methodius undertook the missionary task. Cyril's first work was to invent an alphabet, still used in some Eastern liturgies. His followers probably formed the Cyrillic alphabet. Together they translated the Gospels, the psalter, Paul's letters and the liturgical books into Slavonic, and composed a Slavonic liturgy, highly irregular then. That and their free use of the vernacular in preaching led to opposition from the German clergy. The bishop refused to consecrate Slavic bishops and priests, and Cyril was forced to appeal to Rome. On the visit to Rome, he and Methodius had the joy of seeing their new liturgy approved by Pope Adrian II. Cyril, long an invalid, died in Rome 50 days after taking the monastic habit. Methodius continued mission work for 16 more years. He was papal legate for all the Slavic peoples, consecrated a bishop and then given an ancient see (now in the Czech Republic). When much of their former territory was removed from their jurisdiction, the Bavarian bishops retaliated with a violent storm of accusation against Methodius. As a result, Emperor Louis the German exiled Methodius for three years. Pope John VIII secured his release. Because the Frankish clergy, still smarting, continued their accusations, Methodius had to go to Rome to defend himself against charges of heresy and uphold his use of the Slavonic liturgy. He was again vindicated. Legend has it that in a feverish period of activity, Methodius translated the whole Bible into Slavonic in eight months. He died on Tuesday of Holy Week, surrounded by his disciples, in his cathedral church. Opposition continued after his death, and the work of the brothers in Moravia was brought to an end and their disciples scattered. But the expulsions had the beneficial effect of spreading the spiritual, liturgical, and cultural work of the brothers to Bulgaria, Bohemia and southern Poland. Patrons of Moravia, and specially venerated by Catholic Czechs, Slovaks, Croatians, Orthodox Serbians and Bulgarians, Cyril and Methodius are eminently fitted to guard the long-desired unity of East and West. In 1980, Pope John Paul II named them additional co-patrons of Europe. Reflection Holiness means reacting to human life with God's love: human life as it is, crisscrossed with the political and the cultural, the beautiful and the ugly, the selfish and the saintly. For Cyril and Methodius much of their daily cross had to do with the language of the liturgy. They are not saints because they got the liturgy into Slavonic, but because they did so with the courage and humility of Christ. Saints Cyril and Methodius are the Patron Saints of: Slavic PeoplesEcumenism Saint of the Day, Copyright Franciscan Media

February 14: Saints Cyril, Monk, and Methodius, Bishop St. Cyril: 827–869; St. Methodius: 815–884 Memorial; Liturgical Color: White (When Lenten Weekday, Optional Memorial; Violet) Co-Patrons of Europe and Apostles to the Slavs Two makers of Europe light the flame of Eastern Christianity The Cyrillic alphabet, used by hundreds of millions of people in Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and Russia, is named after today's Cyril. Numerous proofs could be advanced for why a certain person is historically significant. Few proofs, however, can eclipse an alphabet being named after you. The evangelical labors of Cyril and Methodius were so path breaking, long lasting, and culture forming that these brothers stand in the very first rank of the Church's greatest missionaries. Shoulder to shoulder with brave men such as Patrick, Augustine of Canterbury, Boniface, Ansgar, and others, they baptized nations, mustered clans from the forests, codified laws, transcribed alphabets, and transformed the crude pagan gropings for the divine into the transcendent worship of the one true God at Mass. Saints Cyril and Methodius helped form the religiously undivided reality of Christendom long before it was ever called Europe. Cyril was baptized as Constantine and was known by that name until late in his life. He and Methodius were from Thessalonica, in Northern Greece, where they spoke not only Greek but also Slavonic, a critical linguistic advantage for their later missionary adventures. Cyril and Methodius received excellent educations in their youth and, as they matured, were given important educational, religious, and political appointments in an age when those disciplines were braided into one sturdy cord. The people, the state, and the Church were an undivided whole. Cyril and Methodius served the imperial court, the one true Church, and their native land as professors, governors, abbots, deacons, priests, and bishops. Sometime after 860, the brothers were commissioned by the Emperor in Constantinople to lead a missionary crew heading into Moravia, in today's Czech Republic. They walked straight into a tangled web of political, religious, linguistic, and liturgical controversies which have vexed Eastern and Central Europe until today. The Church of Rome allowed only three languages to be used in its liturgical and scriptural texts—Hebrew, Greek, and Latin—the three languages inscribed above Christ's head on the cross. The Church in the East, juridically under Rome but culturally spinning off into its own orbit over the centuries, was a patchwork of peoples where local vernaculars were used in the liturgy. Languages are always spoken long before they are written, and the spoken Slavonic of Moravia had unique sounds demanding new letters populating a new alphabet. Cyril created that new alphabet, and then he and Methodius translated Scripture, various liturgical books, and the Mass into written Slavonic. This led to some serious tensions. The newly Christianized German bishops were suspicious of missionaries in their own neighborhood who came from Greece, spoke Slavonic, and who celebrated the sacred mysteries in a quasi-Byzantine style. Moravia and the greater Slavic homeland were under German ecclesiastical jurisdiction, not Greek. How could the Mass be said in Slavonic, or the Gospels translated into that new language? How could a Byzantine liturgy co-exist with the Latin rite? Cyril and Methodius went to Rome to resolve these various issues with the Pope and his advisers. The brothers were treated respectfully in Rome as well-educated and heroic missionaries. Cyril died and was buried in the Eternal City. Methodius returned to the land of the Slavs and to ongoing tensions with German ecclesiastics and princes. He translated virtually the entire Bible into Slavonic, assembled a code of Byzantine church and civil law, and firmly established, with the Pope's permission, the use of Slavonic in the liturgy. After Methodius' death, however, German and Latin Rite influences prevailed. The Byzantine Rite, the use of Slavonic in the liturgy, and the Cyrillic alphabet were all forced from Central to Eastern Europe, particularly into Bulgaria, shortly after Methodius died. While they were always honored in the East, the Feast of SS. Cyril and Methodius was extended to the entire Catholic Church only in 1880. Pope Saint John Paul II named Saints Cyril and Methodius Co-Patrons of Europe. Their massive legacy inspires the two lungs of the Church, both East and West, to breathe more deeply the enriched oxygen of the entire Christian tradition. Saints Cyril and Methodius, you prepared yourselves for brave and generous service to Christ and His Church through long years of preparation and, when the time came, you served heroically. May we so prepare, and so serve, until we can serve no more.

Hello everyone and welcome back. In this episode, we are here with Roger Grimes, Data-Driven Defense Evangelist at KnowBe4, cybersecurity architect, and Author.   Roger first made his debut on the podcast in 2020, when he unlocked the truth and disproved assumptions about multifactor authentication. We are excited to welcome Roger back to discuss his new book, "Ransomware Protection Playbook," in which he outlines a practical roadmap to protect your networks against one of the most insidious and damaging cyber threats, ransomware!  In today's episode, learn why the Zero Trust method is the future of computer security and how ransomware attacks better equip companies for future attacks. Be a part of our discussion as we uncover the secrets behind cryptocurrencies, Web 3.0, NFTs, cybercriminal safe havens, dynamic DNS services, network access brokers, and AI bots.  Are you ready to explore the uncharted territories of the dark web? We sure are. Listen in today.   As a CIO and Business IT Leader here are some wins you will get by listening: Roger (6:11): Technological advancements exist that make the internet more secure. Why do people need to agree to and utilize them to prevent cyber-attacks we should've seen coming?  Roger (8:03): Who is Kevin Mitnick and why is he the most infamous hacker of our time?  Roger (11:07): The benefit of offensive penetration and how this provides better advice to keep cyber-attacks away.  Roger (13:10): The truth about cryptocurrencies, Web 3.0, and NFTs.  Roger (14:00): Secrets behind cryptocurrency transactions and money laundering.  Roger (18:00): Cybercriminal safe havens do exist! What measures can users take to protect themselves against cybercrime?  Roger (21:30): How nuclear programs are funded with stolen ransomware and cryptocurrency.  Roger (22:00): Ransomware on Windows machines checks for coded languages in Russian, Cyrillic, Ukrainian, and other deviations. Learn why setting as a second language on your Windows machines can protect against ransomware.  Roger (24:00): The ransomware industry is considered the malware industry. Ransomware is a subclass of malware.   Roger (26:00): The dangers that network access brokers create through secret deals that are happening behind the scenes.  Roger (33:00): What is dynamic DNS services and why is it a solution for fixing the internet's malicious attacks?  Roger (35:00): What is Zero Trust and is this method the future of computer security?  Roger (35:30): "Zero Trust" is a mentality that says we are not going to trust you simply because you authenticated correctly.  Roger (38:30): Cyber threats are increasing due to the automation of artificial intelligence bots.  Roger (51:00): The majority of attacks are client-side attacks that get past the firewall, past the antivirus, and past the VPN. Zero Trust says you don't trust anybody, even those claiming to be Zero Trust.  Roger (52:00): Zero trust is about evaluating a user's behavior and other characteristics. From those behaviors, a rating takes place. If the rating is above the risk threshold, the system aims to block you or will ask for additional information.  Roger (56:30): How ransomware forced companies to be better by revealing to organizations what they needed to be protected from or by showing the great secure backups they had in place.    Resources  Ransomware Protection (Book)  Kevin Mitnick  Hacking Multifactor Authentication  Whitepapers called Fix the Internet. To receive and read email: rogerg@knowbe4.com   

John Gallagher discusses the latest research on the languages of the ancient world that weren't Latin and Greek. We associate places like Italy and Cyprus with those two best known ancient languages. But both were linguistically diverse. What informed people's choice of language in these places? How were alphabets developed and used? Plus, an exhibition at the British Museum explores the world opened up when Egyptian hieroglyphics were deciphered 200 years ago, and how the invention of the Cyrillic alphabet, developed in the Balkans over 1,000 years ago, still has political repercussions today. With Dr Katherine McDonald, Assistant Professor in the Department of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Durham, Dr Mirela Ivanova, Lecturer in Medieval History at the University of Sheffield, and a BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinker, Dr Philippa Steele is Senior Research Associate in the Faculty of Classics at the University of Cambridge, and Dr Ilona Regulski, an Egyptologist based at the British Museum. The British Museum exhibition Hieroglyphs: Unlocking Ancient Egypt runs until Feb 189th 2023. This New Thinking episode of the Arts and Ideas podcast was made in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council, part of UKRI. Producer: Luke Mulhall You can find other episodes exploring language in the New Research playlist on the Free Thinking programme website

Today in the studio we have a diary that was kept by a teenage girl during her family's emigration odyssey from Russia to the United States. They left Moscow in 1917, embarking on a year-long journey that took them across the continent on the Trans-Siberian Railroad, then through Vladivostok, Yokohama, Hawaii, and San Francisco. Mostly written in Cyrillic, the diary contains photos, little English-language jokes, and references to Jascha Heifetz, a family friend—and violin prodigy—whose family took a parallel trip when they left Russia. Learn about what makes a diary interesting, our translation processes, and the importance of treating these historical documents with respect on this meandering episode of the #brattlecast.

I read from cypress vine to cysteamine.     Haven't you wanted to learn the Cyrillic alphabet? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrillic_script     The word of the episode is "cyrenaic". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrenaics     Theme music from Tom Maslowski https://zestysol.com/     Merchandising! https://www.teepublic.com/user/spejampar     "The Dictionary - Letter A" on YouTube   "The Dictionary - Letter B" on YouTube   "The Dictionary - Letter C" on YouTube     Featured in a Top 10 Dictionary Podcasts list! https://blog.feedspot.com/dictionary_podcasts/     Backwards Talking on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmIujMwEDbgZUexyR90jaTEEVmAYcCzuq     dictionarypod@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/thedictionarypod/ https://twitter.com/dictionarypod https://www.instagram.com/dictionarypod/ https://www.patreon.com/spejampar https://www.tiktok.com/@spejampar 917-727-5757

Images of Cyril and Methodios adorn libraries, universities, cathedrals and passport pages in Slavonic speaking countries from Bulgaria to Russia, North Macedonia to Ukraine. But the journeys undertaken as religious envoys by these inventors of the Cyrillic alphabet have led to competing claims and political disagreements. Mirela Ivanova's essay considers the complications of basing ideas about nationhood upon medieval history. Mirela Ivanova teaches at the University of Sheffield and was selected as a New Generation Thinker in 2021 on the scheme run by BBC Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council, which turns research into radio. You can hear her discussing Sofia's main museum in this episode of Free Thinking https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000wc3p Producer: Luke Mulhall

The two saints were brothers, born in Thessalonica. St Methodius, the elder brother, served as a soldier for ten years before becoming a monk. Cyril was librarian at the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople; then he too became a monk.   Their first missionary work was not among the Slavs: When the king of the Khazars (a Mongol people who then inhabited much of what is now Russia) petitioned the Emperor Michael to sent teachers to instruct his people, the Emperor chose Cyril and Methodius as his emissaries. They converted the Khazar king to the Christian faith, along with many of his nobles and commoners.   When King Rostislav of Moravia likewise sought teachers of the Christian faith, Cyril and Methodius were again sent forth. This time they devised an alphabet for the Slavic language and used it to translate many of the Greek service books into the language of the people. (In theory, the Orthodox people have always been privileged to hear the Church's services in their own tongue, though often attachment to dead languages has prevented this ideal from becoming reality.) Both brothers were repeatedly attacked by Germanic priests of the region, who opposed the use of the common tongue in the liturgy. At different times, both brothers were forced to appeal for exoneration and protection to the Pope of Rome, who supported them warmly each time.   After the two Saints reposed, attacks on their work continued, and their disciples were eventually driven from Moravia. The disciples, fleeing southward, found a warmer welcome among the southern Slavic peoples, and their work bore much fruit in Bulgaria (including modern-day Serbia) and other countries. And, of course, the alphabet that they devised, called Cyrillic after St Cyril, remains the standard alphabet of both the Slavonic service books of the Church and the Slavic languages of today.

The two saints were brothers, born in Thessalonica. St Methodius, the elder brother, served as a soldier for ten years before becoming a monk. Cyril was librarian at the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople; then he too became a monk.   Their first missionary work was not among the Slavs: When the king of the Khazars (a Mongol people who then inhabited much of what is now Russia) petitioned the Emperor Michael to sent teachers to instruct his people, the Emperor chose Cyril and Methodius as his emissaries. They converted the Khazar king to the Christian faith, along with many of his nobles and commoners.   When King Rostislav of Moravia likewise sought teachers of the Christian faith, Cyril and Methodius were again sent forth. This time they devised an alphabet for the Slavic language and used it to translate many of the Greek service books into the language of the people. (In theory, the Orthodox people have always been privileged to hear the Church's services in their own tongue, though often attachment to dead languages has prevented this ideal from becoming reality.) Both brothers were repeatedly attacked by Germanic priests of the region, who opposed the use of the common tongue in the liturgy. At different times, both brothers were forced to appeal for exoneration and protection to the Pope of Rome, who supported them warmly each time.   After the two Saints reposed, attacks on their work continued, and their disciples were eventually driven from Moravia. The disciples, fleeing southward, found a warmer welcome among the southern Slavic peoples, and their work bore much fruit in Bulgaria (including modern-day Serbia) and other countries. And, of course, the alphabet that they devised, called Cyrillic after St Cyril, remains the standard alphabet of both the Slavonic service books of the Church and the Slavic languages of today.

Did You Hear How the FBI, NSA, and CIA Got Tracked Because of Their Smartphones? How About You? You're worried about surveillance. Hey, I'm worried about surveillance. And it turns out that there's a secretive company out there that to prove their mustard tracked the CIA, and NSA yeah. Fun thing. [Following is an automated transcript.] [00:00:16] This is a company that is scary. We've talked before about a couple of these scary guys. [00:00:22] There's this Israeli company called NSO group. And this it is, so group is absolutely incredible. What they've been doing, who they'll sell to these. Guys are a company that sells cell phones, smart phone exploits to its customers. And there are alleged to have sold their software to a variety of human rights abusers. [00:00:53] We're talking about NSO group coming up with what we would term a zero day hack against I-phones against Android phones against pretty much anything out. So in other words, I hacked that no one ever seen before and then use that in order to get into the phone and find information, they views things like the, I think it was what's app and video that was sent and usually. [00:01:22] To hack Saudi Arabian phones. You might remember Chris Shogi this journalist. I guess he was who apparently was murdered by them. Big problem. So this Israeli group. Yeah. Yeah. They sell to anybody that's willing to pay. At least that's what the allegations are. I've never tried to buy their stuff, but yeah, they're assisting government with hacks with. [00:01:48] Ultimate in surveillance. Another one clear view. We've talked about them on the show before this is a company that has done all kinds of illegal stuff. Now some of it's technically not illegal. They're against the terms of usage, what Clearview has done. And now they've gotten involved in this Russian Ukrainian. [00:02:12] War that's been going on here and they've gotten involved with a number of legal cases in the us. What they did is they said, okay great. Let's do something. You remember Facebook, right guys. So you've heard of that before. And how Facebook got started. Mike Zuckerberg. MK went ahead and stole the pictures of the women that were in Harvard's cattle. [00:02:41] And I will, when I'm, when I say catalog, okay, this isn't like a catalog of women, order one mail order type thing. We're talking about their index, their contacts, there is a catalog of all of the students that are there in the school. So Zuckerberg goes and grabs those against policy. [00:03:00] Okay. Maybe it wasn't strictly against policy at the time. And then he puts up some. Called the Facebook where people can look at a picture of a girl and decide whether or not she should get a five or a 10 or a one. Yeah. That sort of stuff, abusing people that really is abuse. I can't imagine. [00:03:19] The way people felt, I had seen their ratings by people that didn't know them, that somehow their Def definition of beauty really defined who they are. It's crazy what the stuff he did. So he started his business by stealing stuff. Microsoft started his business by. By going ahead and misrepresenting, some would say lying to IBM about what he had as far as an operative system goes right, again and again, we're seeing dishonest people getting involved, doing dishonest things to get their companies off of the ground. [00:03:54] And I have a friend who's an attorney who says, and Craig, that's why you will never be wealthy because you just wouldn't do any of that. So Clearview is another example of these types of companies. In this case, clear view, went to Facebook and crawled any page. It could get its little grubby crawlers on. [00:04:18] So it found your public fake Facebook page. It went. Over the internet. There's a number of websites. Some are out of business now, but the, you upload your pictures to you. People can rate them, can share them. You can share them. Hey, you got your own photo gallery here that you can share with friends and a million other people. [00:04:39] I'm right. That's what ended up happening. That's how those guys made the money. They're selling you on, Hey, you can look at how convenient this. And you can have your own little photo gathered at gallery and you can take that full load photo gallery and share it with your friends. And then if you read the fine print at T and we'll make money off of showing your pictures and showing ads well, Ah, Clearview went and scanned every website. [00:05:08] It could get its grubby little scanners on crawled through the mall, downloaded pictures of any face that it could find. And then went ahead and digitized information about people's faces. So it spent years scraping and then it put together its technology, facial recognition technology, and went to the next level, which is, Hey, please department, get my app so you can get the clear view. [00:05:41] And do you encounter someone? You can take a picture of them and upload it, which now gives them another face. Doesn't it. And then once it's uploaded, it'll compare it. It'll say, okay. Found the guy here. So with the Russia Ukrainian war, what they were doing is taking pictures of dead and injured, Russian soldiers, running them through this database online of all of these spaces, found out who they were and went so far as to use. [00:06:14] Stolen data online. Now this is war, right? The whole thing is crazy, but the stolen database online find out who their mothers were, the phone numbers for the mothers, and to have people all over the world, sending text messages to mom about their dads. Yeah. Okay. So Clearview sells it to police departments. [00:06:38] They sell it to pretty much the highest bidder they say, Hey, listen, we don't do that. Come on right now. There's other data brokers. And I've had a few on my show in the past who are using harvested information from phone apps to provide location data. To law enforcement so that they can then circumvent. [00:07:03] What you have a right to privacy. Don't you it's codified right in the bill of rights. I was first 10 amendments to the U S constitution and it was all defined by the Supreme court's carpenter decision. So we have protections in the constitution, natural, right? That were confirmed by the Supreme court that say, Hey, the federal government, you cannot track all of the citizens. [00:07:31] You can't track what they're doing. You can't harvest their information. And yet at the same time, They go to the data brokers that have put together all of these face pictures, figured out who your friends are, you sign up for Facebook and it says, Hey, you want me to find your friends? [00:07:49] See if they're already on Facebook. Just hit. Yes. Here, not blowed your contact list. So I'll go. Facebook says, oh, look at all your friends. Or we found isn't this exciting. And in the meantime, in the background, Facebook is looking at all of this data and saying, we now know who your friends are. And so many people have wondered I wait a minute. [00:08:10] I didn't talk about. I didn't do a search for product X online, and yet I'm getting ads for product X. Well, did you mention it to a friend who might've done a search for it? Because these search engines, these companies like Facebook know who your friends are, what they're interested in, and they'll sell ads to people who are going to promote to you the same items they're promoting to your friends. [00:08:35] It's absolutely crazy. So this company. It's called and they're very quiet, very low key. The website doesn't say anything at all, but they took their software. That's pulling all of this data together and compiling it. Yeah. And ASX pointed all of this technology towards the national security agency and the C I a and Jews, their own cell phones against them. [00:09:08] Now, why did they do this? They didn't do it to prove something about how, you shouldn't allow this sort of thing to happen and they didn't do it to prove that man, we've got to have tighter controls because look at what we can do. If we can do it, other people can do it. No. According to audio, visual presentations and recordings of an ACX presentation reviewed by the intercept and tech inquiry. [00:09:36] claimed that it can track roughly 3 billion devices in real time. That's equivalent to a fifth of the world population. You're not going to find anything out about Asics it's called anomaly six. Good luck online. If you find it, let me know me@craigpeterson.com. I'd love to know more about these guys. The only thing on a website for them as an email address and a six anomalies six in that presentation showed the nation spooks. [00:10:13] Exactly what knew about. All right. Apparently is also ignoring questions from journalists and will only respond to emails from people in upper levels of federal agencies, which means, and maybe this is a supposition from our friends over at tech dirt. I don't know. But then what that means is they're looking to sell your information in real time. [00:10:43] To the feds to get around the carpenter decision and the constitution just absolutely amazing. Hey, go online right now. Craig peterson.com. I'll send you my special report on passwords and my two other most popular Craig peterson.com. Stick around. [00:11:06] Have you ever wondered about search engines? Which one should you be using? You're not alone. It's probably the number one question I get from people. What should I use? Google is falling behind, but we're going to talk about the top engines and the why. [00:11:23] Google has been an amazing company moving up. Of course, we're just talking about the cheats. [00:11:31] So many companies have taken over the years and Google has certainly had its share of cheat. I haven't seen anything about them just doing completely underhanded things to get started. I think. They were pretty straightforward. They had a great idea back in the beginning, where they were just looking at links, how many sites linked into this one particular site? [00:11:57] And that gave this concept of a page rank. Very simple, very easy to do. Of course, are problems with. Because you would end up with pages that are older, having more links to them, et cetera. And they have over the years really improved themselves, but we also have some other problems right now with Google. [00:12:22] If you do searches on Google for a number of different. And you'll see that really Google search quality has deteriorated in recent years. We've talked before here about some of the problems with Google and elections and how they have obviously gone out of their way to influence the election. [00:12:43] There is study down in, done in orange county, California, or at least about orange county, California, and an election down there showed that Google had a major influence on that election and also tilted it a certain way on purpose. Absolutely amazing. So that's one way Google has fallen behind, but you can. [00:13:06] At all kinds of searches and hope you're going to get a great response. And you don't have you noticed that it's gotten worse and then on top of it, you're starting to see more ads squeezed in it is not great. I have used. Of course for programming in years past, before that I liked alter Vista, which was a digital equipment corporation product out there. [00:13:32] Vista was pretty darn good. And you could use Boolean logic with it. Google says you can use Boolean with us, but it's not the same as Google's is very simple. But at any rate they have not made any. Leaps here going forward. It's been absolutely amazing. So let's go through the search engines. [00:13:53] I'm going to give you right now, the pros and cons to some of these search engines out there. So we started with. It is 800 pound gorilla. And in case you didn't know the number two overall search engine is YouTube. Okay. But let's stick with straight searches, not video searches. So what is great about Google? [00:14:19] One of the big things is they like fresh content. So if you're looking to do search engine optimization for your business, you are best off having some Keystone pages. So having these pages that are. Kept up to date. So you might have a page on whatever it might be hacking VPNs, right? And you make sure you update it because Google does favor the fresh content. [00:14:45] They rank blogs and. Services, which is really nice and they're accessible in any device. They have apps that work well on a browser. And I'm right now, I'm looking@anarticlebylifewire.com on the best search engine. So you'll see some of this information there. They don't like about it is the same thing you don't. [00:15:09] Right? Which is, it collects all kinds of data on you. They also have hidden content that, that might damage your ranking as a business or someone who has a website and the search delivers. Too many results, millions of results. Yeah, there probably are millions of results for a single search, but what I want are the really relevant ones and Google learns over time. [00:15:38] What kind of results that you want, which is kudos to them, but they are tone deaf sometimes, frankly as well. Okay. Our number two on our list of topics. Is duck go. Now I've been talking about them for quite a while and some people have been disparaging talk, talk, go lately. And the reason is they say, what. [00:16:03] And those search results maybe are a little wrong, right? They are maybe student little sensory, not as much as Google does, but some, at first duck go.com is where you'll find them online named after that kids game. Is a privacy search engine. So it is not tracking or storing any information about you. [00:16:29] That's a very big one. There are searches are very fast, but they're backed. The actual backend search engine is. Which is Microsoft. We're going to get to that in a couple of minutes here. That means that if Microsoft is deciding to do some weighting on search results, based on their political views, then that's going to show up in duck go, but it's nowhere near as bad. [00:16:54] And I've talked about it on the show before we'd done some examples. So it is also now giving you the option to restrict your searches to the last month worth of results, which is really nice. That keeps a little more up to date. They also aren't great at image searches, no personalized results, and it is free, which is nice. [00:17:17] You might also want to look at quant Q w a N T. If you look at. A private or privacy browser. Quanta's a French company, but it does leave English as well. Okay. English results. They like the older and well-established web pages, they rank home pages. They do not rank blogs. They crawl all kinds of hidden content and non hidden, equally, unlike Google, which is really great being as not great at forums. [00:17:50] As I mentioned, blogs, they're not as fast as Google. And they have some seriously heavy search results screened. Dogpile they've been around for quite a while. You might want to check them out. They have something called fetches and favorite fetches. So you can have a home screen when you go to dog pile and you'll see right there. [00:18:14] Your favorite searches and they're right there for you. You can just keep going to them. They use multiple databases so they can get broad results, multiple backend search engines, and there's no home screen personalization available. And lots of sponsored results, which isn't a real big deal, but you'll find them online@dogpile.com, Google scholar search. [00:18:38] I've used this a number of times. If you're looking for scholarly articles, it is really good. You can get citations in various styles. If you are working on your master's PhD, whatever. B and they're imposing a style in the document that you're writing. So you can put it into the bibliography and a, they got a lot of great stuff. [00:19:02] Google scholar you'll find online at scholar dot, google.com. Wearable PDs, sir. It focuses on technical terms and applications, which is good, friendly to non-tech users. And it is only searching the web well, PD is 10,000 word and phrase database. So that's pretty. To to understand to Yahoo search, they have a home screen, has news trending topics. [00:19:33] I've used y'all who? Of course it's not what it used to be, but it does have everything right there. Even your horoscope. And the ads are not marked out clearly. And then there's the internet archive search. This is actually a site that I fund. I donate money to them every month and you'll find them@archive.org, but it is really cool. [00:19:58] You can search based on timeframes again, if you are doing papers, if you're a journalist. You can find what was the internet like? Or was this webpage? What was it like around a hurricane Katrina in 2005, right there. We will find it online@archive.org. Hey, stick around. We'll be right back. [00:20:23] You already know that hackers are coming after you we've talked about how they are out there, scraping web pages, putting together stuff. I want to bring up again, the Ukraine, Russian war and Russia leaking data like a sieve . [00:20:39] It is, of course in the news again, it seems like it has been in the news for how long now, six years, maybe longer in this case, we're going to talk about what the hackers are doing because they're not just doing it to Russia. [00:20:56] They're doing. Us. And it's a problem. We're going to explain why you've heard of doxing before D O X I N G two docs, someone which is basically to find documentation about people and to release it. That's really a part of it. So you've seen some political operatives who have gone online and doxed people. [00:21:22] For instance one of them is libs of tick talk. You might've heard of that one, and this is where they take all of these crazy things that crazy people on tick talk, go ahead and publish and just put excerpts of them together. They don't cut it up to make them look crazy. No. They let them be crazy. [00:21:42] All by themselves and put it online. So some libs decided, Hey, we don't like this. And journalists who had been complaining about doxing before that shouldn't be done and it's unethical. It should be illegal. Yeah. What does she do? She goes and docks. The lady that was running libs of tick talk. [00:22:07] And I, it just blows my mind here. How can these people be so two faced, they really are just crazy to face. So she went ahead and did what she said should never be done. And I'm sure she had some form of justification for it and put it out online. So I went online, comes this lady's home. Address her name. [00:22:31] Kinds of stuff and that's available online right now. Now you might want to try and do something that I've done before, which is, if you go to one of these data brokers, ads for these things, right? Do a search for yourself with us. And have a look at how accurate that information is. When I looked last time I looked cause I had a few data brokers on the radio show. [00:22:58] I would say less than a third of the information that they claimed was information about me was actually accurate less than a third, frankly. And I don't think that's a particularly, what's the word I'm looking for, but Unique situation. Let me put it that way. I don't think it's unique at all. I think they get a lot of it wrong because remember, they're trying to piece together this piece together that and put it all together. [00:23:27] So you can't a hundred percent rely on any of that stuff. And as I said, for me, it wasn't particularly accurate. Now let's move into. Ukraine has claimed to have doxed Russian troops as well as FSB spies. Do you remember them from the Soviet union? They still exist, and hacktivists actually have official scheduled meetings and are leaking private information from various Russian organizations in Russia. [00:23:59] So we're talking about things like their names, birth dates, passport numbers, job titles, and the personal information that they have released about these Russian companies. And people goes on for pages here. It looks like frankly, any data breach, you'll find a great article about this that I'm referring to in wired.com, but this particular data. [00:24:25] Can change personal information on 1600 Russian troops who served in bootcamp, a Ukrainian city, that's been attacked by Russia. And by the way, you've probably seen these things. There were all kinds of accusations here of multiple potential war crimes. What was going on over there? So this data sets not the only one. [00:24:50] There's another one that legislature legislation. Allegedly contains the names and contact details of 620 Russian spies who are registered to work at the Moscow office of the F S B. That is Russia's main security agents. Now this information wasn't released by hackers in North Korea or hackers in the us or Russia, because we already know Russian hackers. [00:25:22] Don't attack Russia. They're not stupid. Okay. They don't want boudin coming after them, but this was published by Ukraine's intelligence service. So all of these names, all of these personal details, birth dates, passport numbers, job titles, where they're from all kinds of stuff. I'm freely available online to anyone who cares to look now, Ukrainian officials wrote in a Facebook post as they publish the data that every year peon should know their names. [00:25:56] So you got to bet, there are a lot of people freaking out over there. Absolutely freaking out in Russia that is. Since the Russians invaded Ukraine, there have been huge amounts of information about Russia itself, the Russian government activities and companies in Russia. These, all the guards that are over there and it's all been made public. [00:26:21] So it's very interesting because these are been closed off private institutions in the us. Yeah, we do some hacking of potential adversaries, but they don't release. All right. Not at all, but there's really two types of data here. First of all, you've got the information that the Russian authorities are publishing. [00:26:42] Their allies are publishing, and then you've got the hacktivists, these companies, these groups, I should say. Anonymous hundreds of gigabytes of files and millions of emails have been made public, including some of the largest companies within Russia. The big guys, oil and gas companies or lumber companies, et cetera, et cetera. [00:27:08] So there's a former British Colonel in the military intelligence. Wired is quoting here, his name's Phillip Ingram. And he said, both sides in this conflict are very good at information operations. The Russians are quite blatant about the lies that they'll tell we're used to that aren't we, and much of the Russian disinformation has been debunked, but they say. [00:27:36] They have to make sure that what they're putting out is credible and they're not caught telling out right. Lies in a way that would embarrass them or embarrass their international partners. So it's really quite interesting. We've started seeing the stuff coming out in March 20, 22. Of course. And it's hard to tell how accurate the data is. [00:28:00] Looks probably pretty accurate. It has been scooped up as I mentioned on the show before, but. Some activists, one of whom has put together an app that anyone can download. And that allows you to send texts to the mothers of Russian soldiers, some alive, some dead, and it automatically translated into Russian. [00:28:24] I assume it's a crude translation, but whatever. So you can. Harass some bore a babushka over there in Russia, whose grandson is out there fighting. This is just incredible. We've never seen anything like any of this before, but doxing very toxic online behavior. And when it comes to war, the gloves are off. [00:28:48] And by the way, these groups that I mentioned, these hacktivists have official meetings, Tuesday mornings on telegram, and they talk about who the next target is. Absolutely amazing. Make sure you visit me online. Craig Peter sawn.com and don't go anywhere because we've got more coming up here about organizations in general, here in the us breaches are up stolen data or. [00:29:17] And the number of bankruptcies are up because of it. [00:29:23] Hacks or up no, you know that we've known that for awhile, but did you know that is not necessarily the number one reason businesses are suffering breaches. So we're going to talk about that right now. What else you have. [00:29:39] We've talked before about some of the websites that I keep an eye on. [00:29:44] One of them is called dark reading and they've got a lot of good stuff. Some of the stuff I don't really agree with, who agrees with everybody or another person, just one, even a hundred percent of the time. Like no one. Okay. So in this case, we're talking to. Organization suffering a breach. [00:30:03] And the stat that they're quoting here is that more than 66, 0% of organizations have suffered a breach in the last 12 months. That's huge. And the breaches have gotten more expensive. Global average breach cost is $2.4 million. And if you are unprepared to respond to a compromise, that price tag increases to $3 million. [00:30:36] Yeah. That's how bad it is. That's what's going on out there right now. But the point that really they're trying to make here, a dark reading in this article by Robert Lim. Is that organizations are focused too narrowly on external attackers when it's insiders third parties and stolen assets that cause many breaches. [00:31:02] That's what this new study is showing from Forrester research. Now I had them on the show a few times in the past, you might be familiar with them. They are a research company. The charges a lot for very little information, they've got the research to back it up right there. They're really one of the leading, if not the leading research company out there. [00:31:26] So last month they came in. With the 20, 21 state of enterprise breaches report. And they found that the number of breaches in the cost of breaches varied widely, depending on where the organization is based. And. The big one that you have control over is whether they were prepared to respond to breaches. [00:31:53] Now, companies in north America had the largest disparity between the haves and have not listened to these numbers. They're bad for businesses, these numbers, and they're worse for individuals. The average organization required 38 days. 38 days over a month on average to find eradicate and recover from a breach, but companies that were not prepared for security challenges took 62 days. [00:32:28] Now the good news here is that this is down. It used to take nine months on average, and now we're down to two months, but here's the big question. Can you, or can a company survive 62 days or is it going to be out of business? Do you have enough money to make payroll for the next two months? That's where the problem. [00:32:55] Really starts to come in. That's why small businesses that are hacked small businesses that are using things like Norton or some of the other real basic software without having a good firewall and good security practices. And same thing with individuals here. You are going to be out of business. [00:33:17] That's of the showing right now. And your insurance policy that you have for cybersecurity insurance will not pay out. I did a presentation for an insurance industry group. This was in Massachusetts and it was a statewide group. And we'd talked about how the. Are not paying out the companies. [00:33:41] Aren't right. And why, and if you are not prepared, if you are not doing the right things and I can send you a list of what you need to be doing, if you'd like, just email me@craigpeterson.com. Be glad to send it to me. M E at Craig Peterson, P E T E R. So when Dr. And just to ask for it and I'll respond to you or we'll get married or someone else to forward it to you because I've already got it. [00:34:07] Okay. This isn't a big deal for me. Okay. It's ready to go. But that list is an important list because if you don't meet the standard. That the insurance industry has set forward and you are a hack. They're not going to pay you a dime, even if you Sue them. And we've seen this with very large companies as well, where they're trying to recover tens of millions of dollars from the insurance policy, and they didn't get a dime. [00:34:36] They had to also pay who knows how many millions to lawyers to Sue the insurance companies. And they lost. Okay. It's a very big deal. So there's a huge misalignment, according to Forrester, between the expectation and the reality of breaches on a global scale, there's a big disparity of above $600,000 between those. [00:34:59] Paired to respond to a breach and those who are not. And we can talk about that as well, because there's things you need to do obviously backup, but backup means you've got to check the backup. You've got to make sure it's valid. You should be spinning up the backups on, in a virtual environment in order to make sure the backups are good. [00:35:22] There's a lot of things you should be doing. Okay. And that's just a part of it. Plus, do you have your PR people ready? Are you able to respond to the state requirements? A lot of states. Now, if you are hacked require you to report it to the state, in some cases in as little as 72 hours. So do you have that paperwork ready? [00:35:46] Do you have the phone numbers of all of the people that are on the team? Okay. All of these things now, the threats are not just the external hack. Anybody who's trying to protect their data is focused on obviously the external hackers. That's where we tend to focus part one part two is we focus in on the people that are working inside. [00:36:13] The company, right? It's a zero trust narrative here. Why is this guy in sales, trying to get into the engineering files? Why are they trying to get into payroll? You understand where I'm going with this, you buy and what I'm selling. You don't want them to have access to stuff that they don't need access. [00:36:37] Attacks that Forrester found were spread over external attacks, internal incidents, third party, and supply chain attacks, which is really big nowadays and lost or stolen. Assets globally. Half of companies consider external attacks to be this top threat, but in reality, only a third of the incidents come from external actors. [00:37:04] Nearly a quarter of them are traced back to an internal event. 23% consisted of lost or stolen assets and 21% involved with third. Partner. Interesting. Hey, so we've got to keep an eye on this. These external attacks are a very big deal and that's where they have success with what are called zero day attacks. [00:37:31] But your internal people can be a problem. Now I have. Put together in 2022, this is something really important. What we call a POA and M it's a plan of action and milestones of what you need to be doing. For your cybersecurity. Okay. This is available absolutely free. You have to email me M e@craigpeterson.com. [00:38:00] But the idea behind this is it's a spreadsheet that you can use in numbers on a Mac or Excel on windows. And it has all of the key items. Now we follow what's called the. 801 71 standard. This is the national Institute of standards and technology, and they've laid out all of the different things. That you should be doing now. [00:38:26] We've broken them down into eight cybersecurity activators as what we called them. And we have, you should have already gotten an email this week from me. If you're on my email list, just talking about, cause we're starting now getting into those cybersecurity activators. I'm showing you. To do about each one of them. [00:38:46] So you can do it yourself. So many of us are stuck with being the CTO or the guy or gal in charge of it just because we like computers or we know more than somebody else. So if you're on my email list, you will be getting these things off. We're going to be going through them in the weeks. I had little quick mini micro trainings, if you will, but you gotta be on the email list in order to get them. [00:39:12] These are also appropriate for home users right now. You're going to have to make your decisions as to what you're going to do, but home users have the same exposure, the same basic problems that they have in bigger organizations out. So I follow the national Institute of standards and technologies. [00:39:34] They have broken it down into a number of different sections. They actually require it. And if you are compliant with this new standard you are going to be able to recover your money from the insurance company. If you are hacked, I don't know. I was going to say it for a win, but hopefully you won't get hacked because of this. [00:39:58] So it's an important thing to follow. So make sure you go to Craig peterson.com/subscribe right now and get subscribed. A lot of stuff for home users. My business is focused on securing businesses. Particularly regulated businesses, right? If you have intellectual property, you don't want to have stolen a few do government contracts where they're requiring you to be compliant with this new standard or some of the others, but it's. [00:40:27] Basic stuff that every business should be following. So just email me, M e@craigpeterson.com with your questions. We've been really good at answering them. We've probably lately been averaging about a dozen a day. Which is quite a few, but so it might take us a little bit to get back to, but we've gotten much better. [00:40:48] Mary her number one responsibility right now is making sure that we answer all of your emails. We'll send out this plan of action and milestone spreadsheet for you. So you know what to do. This is updated. This is 2022. Everything you need right there. Me at Craig Peterson dot. Alright, you'll also find my podcast there. [00:41:14] Craig peterson.com. And I want to point out that I'm not doing the show on video anymore. Just wasn't getting enough traction with, if it just takes too long. Anyways, Craig peterson.com. [00:41:29] This is one of the top topics I've had people ask about lately, and that is protecting yourself and your business against Russian hacker. So I've got a presentation. We're going to run through it. We're going to talk about what you can do. [00:41:46] This has been a long time coming. I have been doing a lot over the years of webinars of online meetings, trying to help people understand what's going on, what can be done. [00:41:58] And I got a great email this week from one of the listeners. Who's been man on my email list now for years, I'm not even sure how many years. And he was saying, Hey, thanks for giving all of this information for free for small businesses. I can't afford it. And I got to thinking, because there've been a lot of requests lately, for instance, backups how should I be doing them? [00:42:22] What should I be doing? And a number of other topics that really all go together into the, how do I protect myself? My business. From ransomware from these Russian hackers. So that's what we're going to be talking about today. We're going to go through a few of these. This is going to be a series. [00:42:41] We're going to continue this here and weeks ahead, and I appreciate all your feedback. And if you miss part of it, make sure you email me just M. Craig peterson.com. Let me know, and I'll be glad to send some of it to you. Now I'm recording this on video as well. So it's great when you're driving around and listening in picking up some tidbits. [00:43:04] And if you do want to see the recorded version again, dropping them in an email to me@craigpeterson.com or search for me on YouTube or on one of the other sites that are out there like grumble and you'll. This as I release it. Cause this is going to take a few weeks to really get into the whole thing. [00:43:26] So let's get started. I'm going to pull this up here. Full screen. For those watching at home and what this is called today, we're talking about protecting your business and your self from Russian hackers because they have been out there. They have been causing just all kinds of problems, but there's a few things that you can do. [00:43:48] And I have them up on the screen here. Let me pull them up, but I want to get into the background first. Russian ransomware group. They're a bunch of bad guys and it's called Conti. Now. Conti has been around for a long time. These are the guys that have been ransoming us. They're the guys who in rants. The businesses they've been rants. [00:44:10] Government, you might've heard them. They've got into hospitals. They have been all over the place and they've raised a whole lot of. For the Russians. I'm also going to tell you about a couple of things you can do here. Cause there's a real neat trick when it comes to keeping Russians out of your computers, but Conti decided, Hey, listen, we are all for Russia and president and Putin. [00:44:34] So they came out with an official warning, oh, I want to read this to it says if anybody. We'll decide to organize a cyber attack or any war activities against Russia. We are going to use our all possible resources to strike back at the critical infrastructures of an enemy. Yeah, no, not the best English, but much better than my Russian. [00:44:55] I got to say that I know two words or so in Russian, but they said that they were announcing full support for president. That's a pretty bad thing. If you asked me, they also have ties to Russian intelligence intelligence, but what are we talking about really? Think of the KGB. [00:45:13] The FSB is what they're called nowadays, but directly tie. China and North Korea, Iran, or also now tied in with Russia to varying degrees, but all of them are a little bit concerned about getting into it a little too much, but we're going to talk about their tactics. That's what's important today. What are they doing? [00:45:35] Why are they doing it? What can you do about. So the first thing is password sprain. This is big deal. I've got a nice big slide up here. I like that color blue. I don't know about you, but I think it's pretty, but password sprain is something we all need to understand a little bit better. It's a brute force attack that has been really hurting. [00:46:00] Many of us. Let me see if I can get this to work. For some reason it has decided it just doesn't want. Let me see here. What is up? Oh, is something isn't it's just, I'm getting a white screen, but it's a brute force attack targets users who have common passwords. Now this is a problem. When we're talking about passwords. [00:46:25] If you have a password that has been breached in any of these breaches that have gone on over the last, however long, right? 30 years plus now that password is known to the bad guy. So what they'll do is they'll take that common password and they'll start to try it. So password sprain is where they will go to a bank site or they'll go to Google. [00:46:51] The, oftentimes they're trying to get at your email accounts. So if you have Google email or Yahoo or Hotmail, they'll try it. Use passwords that they have found against accounts that they have found on those various sites that ends up being quite a big problem for everybody out there. Okay. I got that screen back here. [00:47:12] So I'll put that up for those people who are well. But they will send multiple times attacks using variations of these passwords. And it's known as a low and slow method of password hacking because if they were to go bam, and send all of these passwords and login attempts. [00:47:35] They'd get caught. The automated systems would say, Hey, wait a minute. This is not good. We're going to cut you off. In fact, that's what I do for my client. We have remote access using SSH, which is a an encryption session so that we can have a terminal session. And if you try and log in three times, We automatically zap you, right? [00:47:58] We shut you down. So they take a very slow approach to this password sprain technique. And they're also going after volume, which makes a whole lot of sense. And there are right now, billions of passwords usernames, email addresses that have been stolen that are sitting out in the dark. So you've got to make sure that you are not reusing passwords. [00:48:24] How many times have we talked about that? You've got one common password that you're using over and again, while that's a problem, but they're not going to keep hacking your account. They're going to switch from one account to another because they don't want to get locked out. [00:48:39] Just like I lock out somebody who's trying to get in. So if someone's coming from that same. IP address that same internet site. And they're trying to log into that same account multiple times. Bam. They are gone. So with path's word sprain, they're trying to get around the problem of you noticing they're trying to get into a bunch of different accounts and they try and leverage it. [00:49:04] So they'll oftentimes use multiple computers that they've stolen access to. We've talked about that before too. It gets to be a real big. Now they're also targeting these single sign-on and cloud-based applications, because once they're on. Using one of these federated authenticated authentication protocols, they can mask the malicious traffic. [00:49:30] We've heard some of these hacks lately where they're using a token that they managed to pick up from somebody's email, I account, or they got onto Microsoft and they got into the email account on Microsoft. That happened recently. In a supply chain attack, solar winds. You heard about that 20, 21, right? [00:49:52] So they're going after these email applications, including Microsoft or Microsoft has done they're going after routers and internet of things, devices for a very good reason, those IOT devices, which are things like your smart lights, they can be. Controlling the cameras outside, they go on and on there's thousands, millions of them. [00:50:14] Now I actually all the way through your microwave, they tend to not be very well protected. So that's a real big target for them. So step. They want to acquire a list of usernames. Step two, they're going to spray the passwords. Where do they get those passwords in those usernames? Or they get them from breaches. [00:50:36] So again, if you have an account that's breached at some online shopping site, a big one, a small one, it doesn't really mean. That particular breach is now well known and they can, will and do gain access to your account which is step three, gain access to it. It gets to be a serious problem. [00:50:57] Okay. How do you know if you are under attack? Number one? There is a spike in failed. Log-ins this is where having a system and there's technical terms is tough for this. I'm trying to avoid a lot of those terms, but this is where the system is watching logins, noticing that there's a problem and going ahead and stopping it, not just noticing it, but stop. Very important to do. There are a high number of locked accounts, which means what it means that again, someone's been trying to log in. You should make sure that your account, if there are invalid, lock-ins automatic. Locks it out after some number of attempts and five attempts is usually considered to be okay. [00:51:44] I know on my phone, for instance, I have a higher number of the neck, cause sometimes the grandkids get at it. But when it comes to your business account, when it comes to your bank account, you probably don't want to have a whole bunch of attempts, and then in known or valid or invalid, I should say use. [00:52:04] Attempt again, why are they trying to log in with a username that just doesn't exist? Yeah, it can be a problem. Hey, when we come back. We're going to talk about some steps. Like you can take here to really remediate, maybe even stop a password spraying attack. I've already given you a few ideas here, but what are some act of things that you can do, particularly for a small business to really protect yourself? [00:52:33] Hey, stick around. We'll be right back. Craig peterson.com. [00:52:39] Russia has, been hacking our computers, Russia's continuing to hack our computers and this is a real problem. So we are going to talk right now about how to stop some of these things. We already talked about password sprain. How do you stop it? [00:52:56] There are a lot of things we have to pay attention to, and that's what I'm going to be doing in the weeks ahead. [00:53:03] We're going to be going through some of the things you need to do to keep yourself safe. Keep your business safe in this really dangerous online. There are so many things going on. So many people that are losing their retirement businesses, losing their operating accounts. We've seen it before with clients of ours while you know their clients now. [00:53:29] And it was just a devastating thing to them. So I don't want that to happen to you now, if you are interested. All of this is recorded and I am doing this as video as well. We've got slides and you can find out more about it. Just email me M e@craigpeterson.com. It's really that simple. And I didn't let me know. [00:53:54] And I'll be glad to send it off to you. Okay. This is available to anybody I'm trying to help. And we've had a lot of emails recently about some of these things. So th this is covering everything from the password spraying we're talking about right now through backups and other things that you need to do. [00:54:14] Let's get going on our sprain problem. So w what are the steps that we need to take in order to really remediate against one of these password spraying attacks? And frankly, it is. Oh, a lot to do. It has a lot to do with our users and what we do, if you're a business, if you are an individual, we need to be using longer passwords. [00:54:43] Now we're not talking about all of these random characters that we used to have. I remember having to have my password be at least four characters, long APAC, when didn't even have to have a username, it was just all based on the password. And things changed over the years, the latest standards that are out there right now come from this too, which is the national Institute for science and technology. [00:55:07] They are the guys that put together, all of the guidelines said federal government and businesses need to follow. And they're telling us that a longer passwords means elaborate pass phrase. So you should use 15 character passwords. I had an article just a couple of weeks ago saying that an eight character password can be cracked almost instantly, certainly within an hour, any eight character password. [00:55:39] So if you're still using that, you've got to make a change. And obviously nine characters is a lot more possibilities, takes a lot longer to crack. I don't have those numbers right in front of me, but 15 is the ideal. So use pass phrases instead of single words. So phrases like I don't know secretary of one, the Kentucky. [00:56:04] There you go. There's a phrase. So what you would do is put, maybe dashes between each one of the words. Maybe you would go ahead and use a comma, put some numbers in there, put some special characters in upper lowercase, right? So it's basically on uncrackable at that point. And that's what you want. [00:56:24] Next one. When we're talking about rules for your passwords, the best passwords are the passwords that you can remember without writing them down and words that don't make sense to anyone else's. I remember taking a memory course a few years back and they had random words and you had to remember them. [00:56:49] And the whole idea was okay, visualize this happening. And as I recall, man, it's been a lot of years I won't say decades, but it hasn't been. Since I did this, I still remember a part of it, it was first word was airplane. Next was all envelope. The next one was paper clip. Next one was pencil. [00:57:08] So I visualized an airplane flying into an all envelope and that all envelope then goes into a paper clip and a pencil writes on the outside. Like it's addressing it to someone. That is a good little password, actually airplane or envelope, paperclip, a pencil with a mixed case and maybe a number two or special symbol thrown in. [00:57:35] Those are the types of rules that we're talking about. The types of rules that really. Next up here. Oops. Wrong keyboard. Stay away from frequently used passwords. We've talked about this many times. If you're using one of the better password managers, like for instance, one password, you will automatically have any passwords that you are there in Shirin or that it creates you'll have them checked via a website out there. [00:58:07] It's called. Yeah. Okay. It's called. Have I been poned I, and I hated to say this because how do you spell it? It's all one big, long word. Have I been poned to.com and poned is P w N E d.com. It will tell you if a password that you're trying to use is a known password. If it has been found out in the wild, okay. [00:58:32] Use unique passwords for every site you visit, I can't stress this enough. We were talking about password sprain. If you use the same password and email address on multiple sites, you're in. Because all they have to do is try your email address and your password for whichever site it is that they might want to try out. [00:58:58] Remember, many of them are trying to get into your email and they have done that successfully. With Microsoft email, if you have their Microsoft 365 service and you might want to read the fine print there very carefully, because Microsoft does not guarantee much of anything. You make sure you back it up yourself. [00:59:20] Make sure you do all of these things because Microsoft just plain, isn't doing them for you. Next one here. Next up is our password manager. And I mentioned this before installing and using a password manager is phenomenal. It automates the generation of passwords. If you have. Integrated with your web browser. [00:59:45] It now allows your web browser to work with your password manager. So when you go to a site, you can have it pull up your passwords. How could it be much easier than that? It's really rather simple. That way it's keeping track of your logins. And again, One password.com is the one I recommend and people get confused. [01:00:06] When I say that, when I'm saying one password, I don't mean only have one password used for everything. One password is a name of a company. Okay. So it Talking about only having a single password, but use a password manager. And I've got all of these up on the screen right now. If you're interested in getting copies of these, you can go ahead and just email me M e@craigpeterson.com. [01:00:35] And I'll make sure I send you a copy of the slide deck of this presentation as well. Cause this is just so important, frankly, but having these points is going to be huge for you. Now strange activity. That's another very big deal. And we're going to talk about this when we get back, what is it? [01:00:55] What does it mean? But I'm going to hold off the rest of this, I think for another week. But right now, what let's hit this, we're talking about odd log-in attacks. A lot of login attempts, the excessive login attempts trends in unusual activities take any, you need to basically take measures to block it and determine if this activity is legitimate. [01:01:20] Is someone just for forgetting their password and spraying themselves or what's going on? Okay. There you go. Simple. Hey, everybody, you can find out a lot more and you'll be getting links to this automatically to these videos, et cetera. If you're on my email list, Craig peterson.com and you can email me M e@craigpeterson.com. [01:01:45] We'd be glad to send you this or any other information I might have. All right. Take care. We'll be right back. [01:01:54] Putin has been working for a while. In fact, it looks like as early as September in 2021, Putin started going after major us corporation. So we're going to talk about that. And what does it mean? [01:02:10] Putin has been going crazy for a while. I'm going to put this up on the screen for those of you who are watching either on rumble or YouTube, but Putin planned this whole invasion apparently quite a while ago. [01:02:27] And I got an article from the Washington post up on MSN talking about what Putin did at least a little bit about what he did. And you can see right here if you're following. That Russian agents came to the home of Google's top executive and Moscow. And what they did is gave an ultimatum. They told that Google, a senior executive that they needed. [01:02:55] Pull down an app that was in use in Russia. And this app was polling. It was for people to do polls and say, Hey what do you think about Putin's garden performance, et cetera. We do them in the U S all of the time you hear about the polls right left and center. Poland, which is a small country next to another small country called Ukraine next to a large country called Russia. [01:03:21] But we're talking about Paul's favoribility polls. What do you think they should be doing? What do you think that the government should be doing and maybe what they should not be. So Putin didn't like this. He didn't like this at all. And so what he did is he sent a couple of guys ex KGB, FSB, the secret police over in Russia by to visit this Google executive. [01:03:47] If you're the Google executive, what are you going to do? If you Google. Yeah, you're going to say, oh my gosh, I'm out of here. So I'm not sure if she, if this executive was an American or Russian, this article doesn't seem to be clear about it, but what happened is they said, okay let's go hide. [01:04:12] So they rented a hotel room for the. They put her in it and they rented the room under an assumed name. So it wasn't the real name of the executive. It wasn't tied into Google and they thought, okay, now we're pretty safe. Cause you got a hotel security, I guess there are a couple of Google people hanging out with her and they felt pretty safe. [01:04:35] What happens next? There is a knock on the door. These same agents, again, that are believed to be Russian secret. Police showed up at her room and told her that the cock was still ticking because they had given her 24 hours for Google to take down the app because Putin, dental. People weren't particularly pleased with Putin. [01:05:02] So at that point, of course it was forget about it. And within hours, Google had pulled down the app. Now you might complain, right? A lot of people might complain about it. It's one thing for a company like Google or apple to capitulate, to a government to do maybe some censorship, like the great firewall of China. [01:05:25] You might've heard of that where the Chinese citizens can't get certain information. Russia has something pretty similar and us companies have gone ahead and helped build it, provided the technology for it and put it in place. They sold it to them. I don't like that in case you didn't guess, right? [01:05:43] I'm all for free speech. I think it's very important for any form of a democracy. No question about it, but these companies apparently don't have a problem with that. However, now this is something, a little different. If you have employees who are being threatened and I mean threatened to serve 15 years in a Russian prison, what are you going? [01:06:10] Are you going to say no, I'm going to leave that app up. And then now all of a sudden your executives, or even a coder, somebody a programmer, like the guy that sweeps the floors, whatever are you going to let them be arrested so that you can have this app up on your Google play store or your app store over the apple side? [01:06:29] Probably not because frankly, this is something that is not worth it. So what are you. I think the only answer is what we've seen company after company do, and that is get out of Russia completely. And there was an interesting story. I read this recently about McDonald's you might remember back in the Soviet days, McDonald's worked out this deal with the Soviet union to open a McDonald's right there in downtown Moscow. [01:07:03] I guess it was pretty prominent. I don't know if it was, I think I might've been even on red square and there were people like. To have an American hamburger and it's been pretty popular the whole time. McDonald's closed that store and pulled out of the country. Starbucks has pulled out, are they going to reopen? [01:07:21] Cause I don't think either one of them said, forget about it. We're not coming back, but I know both of them have closed on operations. Automobile manufacturers from the U S have closed on operations. What is their choice? You can't just go ahead and say, okay yeah. Okay. Yeah. You're just going to arrest people or, we'll keep quiet for now and come back later. [01:07:42] What are you supposed to do? That's part of the problem with these oligarchies, with these people who are basically all powerful. Now we actually see some of that here in the us, which is just as shame, just a shame because we see these companies going ahead and cutting out free speech saying, oh, you can't say that there was a time where if you said masks work, that you would have been censored. And then there was a time where if you said masks don't work. You cloth mass don't work, you would have been censored. There was a time when you said masks aren't necessary. You would have been censored right now, but the science is settled. [01:08:27] It was just crazy. Science has never settled and oh, we could go on with this for hours and hours, but potent is not a good guy. And this article, I'm going to bring it up on the screen here again. But this article talks about. And a single year. And again, this is MSN. Potent had his political nemesis, Aloxi Novolin novel ne yeah, I got it right. [01:08:54] He had him in prison after a poisoning attempt, felled to kill him. Do you remember that whole poison in attempt? Where they gave him this really nasty radioactive bride product, as I recall, and potent went ahead and basically shut down. They pushed all of these independent news organizations to the brink of extinction. [01:09:17] Look at what happened with Russia today. The entire staff walked off on the. Saying, we're not going to report on any of these lies that are coming out of Moscow. It's happened again and again, Putin orchestrated a Kremlin controlled takeover of Russia's Facebook equivalent, and he's also issued liquidation orders against human rights organizations. [01:09:43] And so all this is going on. What are you going to do if you're. If you're a Google, right? I can see the criticism of those countries or companies should say when they're cooperating with the regimes, putting in place, things like facial recognition to, to spy on people, to have a social credit system, these great firewalls in these countries. [01:10:05] But when you have something like this happen, I forget about it. There's nothing you can do. And the crackdown is accelerated Facebook and Twitter were knocked offline by the government for millions of Russians news outlets had survived the state harassment for years, shut down in the face of a new law impose. [01:10:26] 15 year prison sentences for spreading fake news. It's incredible what has happened. And we've got to be careful here in the U S too, because we see this censorship, there's a lot of complaints about what was happening under Donald Trump president and old Biden, both Obama and Biden. [01:10:45] Both of those have done some of these same things to a lesser extent. Stick around. We'll be right back. [01:10:53] This whole war with the crane, Ukraine and Russia has brought a few things to light here over the months, and really the more than year that it's been leading up to the beginning of that war even, but we've got clear view in the news again. [01:11:09] So you can always follow along at rumble or at YouTube, but there's a great article here. [01:11:16] I have up on my screen for you to see. And this is from writer. Para carried over on MSN. And it is an exclusive story talking about Ukraine, using something called clear views. AI facial recognition. This to me is absolutely fascinating because what is happening. Is the technology that Clearview develop and has it been selling to police forces in the United States is being used on the battlefield and. [01:11:51] How here's what the technology did. And does Clearview illegally went on websites, major websites all over the world and did what we call scraping. Now, scraping is where they go to the site and they grab the pictures. So they scraped Facebook. They scraped you tube. They scraped. Dan and many more. [01:12:18] And then they put it all into a big database that told them where they found it, who that person was. And then they also took that biometric information from that image of the face and came up with some unique codes, a hash basically is what they did. And. Now what Clearview is doing is if you are a police organization, you can get a little app that runs right there on your. [01:12:46] And you have an encounter with someone you're a policeman, right? Let's say, and you just hold the camera up and it gets a picture of that person. It now finds the background information on them. And then you can use that tied into the police databases to check and see if there's any record of this person. [01:13:06] If they've been doing anything illegal. It's really quite cool. What they're able to do and scary at the same time, we use the same basic technology over in Afghanistan. So literary troops as they're out, and they're having encounters with civilians, people in the street fighters, et cetera. They could hold the device up. [01:13:29] It would identify them. It went further than just the face that actually did retinal scans and things, all kinds of cool stuff, but basically recognize the face. And they were able to tell if this was a friend of foe or. So a friend might be someone who worked as a translator who has been known to be helping the us troops in Afghanistan, et cetera. [01:13:53] So we built this huge database of hundreds, of thousands of people's biometrics person, very personal information in it. And if they were getting paid even how much they're getting paid, all of that was in the database, in the backend. And then we abruptly. And we left that equipment behind. I hope the database was destroyed. [01:14:16] I haven't found anything. Absolutely conclusive on it. That the withdrawal from Afghanistan was frankly unforgivable. It just I can't believe they did what they did at any rate. This is Clearview. This is this company. So now that same technology has moved to Ukraine. What's interesting. About this whole Ukrainian thing to me was okay, great. [01:14:42] Now they can identify people. Can they really identify a pretty much everybody? Who are they going to identify? As it turns out clear Clearview also illegally stole photos of people over in Russia and in Ukraine. So the clear view founder said that they had more than 2 billion images from. How's that right from this social media service called V contact a or somebody like that out of a database of 10 billion photos total. [01:15:16] So one out of five of the pictures they scraped was Russian, which surprised me. So the Ukrainians have been using it to identify dead Russian. And it's, they're saying it's much easier than matching fingerprints even works. If there's facial damage, it's scary to think about right. Wars, terrible. [01:15:38] Who wants to go to war? I can't believe all of the people that want to jump in there. I really feel for these people in Ukraine, what can we do? I'll start proximal interest. Research for the department of energy, found the decomposition, reduce the technology's effectiveness while a paper from 2021 showed some promising results. [01:16:01] Now, this again is an example of technology being used in a way it's never been used before. And having that ability to identify dead or living combined combatants on a field like this is just amazing. So this is the most comprehensive data set. There's critics, of course, they're saying that the facial recognition could misidentify people at checkpoints, obviously. [01:16:29] Could miss identify people in a battle mismatch could lead to civilians. Just like unfair arrests have risen from police use. And that's from Albert Kahn, executive director of surveillance, technology oversight, product project in New York. So as usual, these things can backfire and I think they probably will given a little bit of time and that's a sad. [01:16:56] Now I also want to talk about this. This is cool. Another article here, I'm pulling up on the screen right now, and this is about some hackers. Now we know that the Kremlin has been lying. Do we know that if a politician's lips are moving their line, right? Isn't that the old standby, but Russians apparently don't know this. [01:17:22] And the average Russian on the street is thinking that, okay, we're rescuing Ukraine. Isn't that just a wonderful thing? There's a couple of ways that the hackers have been getting around it. It's called a squad 3 0 3. They have this tool that's hosted at the domain. 1920 dot I N. There's

When people think of rebellion, they often think of guerilla warfare, rousing speeches and protests. But what about books? When the Russian Empire sought to "Russify" much of what is now Lithuania, the Tsar's forces waged a war against culture, forcing children to learn a Cyrillic alphabet -- and even banning the pre-existing Lithuanian alphabet from printing presses. Native Lithuanians from all walks of life responded by becoming knygnešiaĩ, or book carriers. Tune in to learn how this vast smuggling ring preserved the Lithuanian alphabet, and eventually won the war for a country's hearts and minds. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, we look at the origins of the Bulgars, claimed as ancestors by several peoples of the Russian Empire from the Volga Bulgars to the Gagauz in modern day Moldova, and also, through Bulgaria, the source of the Cyrillic alphabet. Read the episode blog post at: https://therussianempirehistorypodcast.com/blog/episode-114-bulgars-of-the-western-steppe

Episode one hundred and forty-six of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys, and the history of the theremin. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode. Patreon backers also have a ten-minute bonus episode available, on "You're Gonna Miss Me" by the Thirteenth Floor Elevators. Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt's irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/ Resources There is no Mixcloud this week, because there were too many Beach Boys songs in the episode. I used many resources for this episode, most of which will be used in future Beach Boys episodes too. It's difficult to enumerate everything here, because I have been an active member of the Beach Boys fan community for twenty-four years, and have at times just used my accumulated knowledge for this. But the resources I list here are ones I've checked for specific things. Stephen McParland has published many, many books on the California surf and hot-rod music scenes, including several on both the Beach Boys and Gary Usher.  His books can be found at https://payhip.com/CMusicBooks Andrew Doe's Bellagio 10452 site is an invaluable resource. Jon Stebbins' The Beach Boys FAQ is a good balance between accuracy and readability. And Philip Lambert's Inside the Music of Brian Wilson is an excellent, though sadly out of print, musicological analysis of Wilson's music from 1962 through 67. I have also referred to Brian Wilson's autobiography, I Am Brian Wilson, and to Mike Love's, Good Vibrations: My Life as a Beach Boy. As a good starting point for the Beach Boys' music in general, I would recommend this budget-priced three-CD set, which has a surprisingly good selection of their material on it, including the single version of "Good Vibrations". Oddly, the single version of "Good Vibrations" is not on the The Smile Sessions box set. But an entire CD of outtakes of the track is, and that was the source for the session excerpts here. Information on Lev Termen comes from Theremin: Ether Music and Espionage by Albert Glinsky Transcript In ancient Greece, the god Hermes was a god of many things, as all the Greek gods were. Among those things, he was the god of diplomacy, he was a trickster god, a god of thieves, and he was a messenger god, who conveyed messages between realms. He was also a god of secret knowledge. In short, he was the kind of god who would have made a perfect spy. But he was also an inventor. In particular he was credited in Greek myth as having invented the lyre, an instrument somewhat similar to a guitar, harp, or zither, and as having used it to create beautiful sounds. But while Hermes the trickster god invented the lyre, in Greek myth it was a mortal man, Orpheus, who raised the instrument to perfection. Orpheus was a legendary figure, the greatest poet and musician of pre-Homeric Greece, and all sorts of things were attributed to him, some of which might even have been things that a real man of that name once did. He is credited with the "Orphic tripod" -- the classification of the elements into earth, water, and fire -- and with a collection of poems called the Rhapsodiae. The word Rhapsodiae comes from the Greek words rhaptein, meaning to stitch or sew, and ōidē, meaning song -- the word from which we get our word "ode", and  originally a rhapsōdos was someone who "stitched songs together" -- a reciter of long epic poems composed of several shorter pieces that the rhapsōdos would weave into one continuous piece. It's from that that we get the English word "rhapsody", which in the sixteenth century, when it was introduced into the language, meant a literary work that was a disjointed collection of patchwork bits, stitched together without much thought as to structure, but which now means a piece of music in one movement, but which has several distinct sections. Those sections may seem unrelated, and the piece may have an improvisatory feel, but a closer look will usually reveal relationships between the sections, and the piece as a whole will have a sense of unity. When Orpheus' love, Eurydice, died, he went down into Hades, the underworld where the souls of the dead lived, and played music so beautiful, so profound and moving, that the gods agreed that Orpheus could bring the soul of his love back to the land of the living. But there was one condition -- all he had to do was keep looking forward until they were both back on Earth. If he turned around before both of them were back in the mortal realm, she would disappear forever, never to be recovered. But of course, as you all surely know, and would almost certainly have guessed even if you didn't know because you know how stories work, once Orpheus made it back to our world he turned around and looked, because he lost his nerve and didn't believe he had really achieved his goal. And Eurydice, just a few steps away from her freedom, vanished back into the underworld, this time forever. [Excerpt: Blake Jones and the Trike Shop: "Mr. Theremin's Miserlou"] Lev Sergeyevich Termen was born in St. Petersburg, in what was then the Russian Empire, on the fifteenth of August 1896, by the calendar in use in Russia at that time -- the Russian Empire was still using the Julian calendar, rather than the Gregorian calendar used in most of the rest of the world, and in the Western world the same day was the twenty-seventh of August. Young Lev was fascinated both by science and the arts. He was trained as a cellist from an early age, but while he loved music, he found the process of playing the music cumbersome -- or so he would say later. He was always irritated by the fact that the instrument is a barrier between the idea in the musician's head and the sound -- that it requires training to play. As he would say later "I realised there was a gap between music itself and its mechanical production, and I wanted to unite both of them." Music was one of his big loves, but he was also very interested in physics, and was inspired by a lecture he saw from the physicist Abram Ioffe, who for the first time showed him that physics was about real, practical, things, about the movements of atoms and fields that really existed, not just about abstractions and ideals. When Termen went to university, he studied physics -- but he specifically wanted to be an experimental physicist, not a theoretician. He wanted to do stuff involving the real world. Of course, as someone who had the misfortune to be born in the late 1890s, Termen was the right age to be drafted when World War I started, but luckily for him the Russian Army desperately needed people with experience in the new invention that was radio, which was vital for wartime communications, and he spent the war in the Army radio engineering department, erecting radio transmitters and teaching other people how to erect them, rather than on the front lines, and he managed not only to get his degree in physics but also a diploma in music. But he was also becoming more and more of a Marxist sympathiser, even though he came from a relatively affluent background, and after the Russian Revolution he stayed in what was now the Red Army, at least for a time. Once Termen's Army service was over, he started working under Ioffe, working with him on practical applications of the audion, the first amplifying vacuum tube. The first one he found was that the natural capacitance of a human body when standing near a circuit can change the capacity of the circuit. He used that to create an invisible burglar alarm -- there was an antenna sending out radio waves, and if someone came within the transmitting field of the antenna, that would cause a switch to flip and a noise to be sounded. He was then asked to create a device for measuring the density of gases, outputting a different frequency for different densities. Because gas density can have lots of minor fluctuations because of air currents and so forth, he built a circuit that would cut out all the many harmonics from the audions he was using and give just the main frequency as a single pure tone, which he could listen to with headphones. That way,  slight changes in density would show up as a slight change in the tone he heard. But he noticed that again when he moved near the circuit, that changed the capacitance of the circuit and changed the tone he was hearing. He started moving his hand around near the circuit and getting different tones. The closer his hand got to the capacitor, the higher the note sounded. And if he shook his hand a little, he could get a vibrato, just like when he shook his hand while playing the cello. He got Ioffe to come and listen to him, and Ioffe said "That's an electronic Orpheus' lament!" [Excerpt: Blake Jones and the Trike Shop, "Mr. Theremin's Miserlou"] Termen figured out how to play Massenet's "Elegy" and Saint-Saens' "The Swan" using this system. Soon the students were all fascinated, telling each other "Termen plays Gluck on a voltmeter!" He soon figured out various refinements -- by combining two circuits, using the heterodyne principle, he could allow for far finer control. He added a second antenna, for volume control, to be used by the left hand -- the right hand would choose the notes, while the left hand would change the volume, meaning the instrument could be played without touching it at all. He called the instrument the "etherphone",  but other people started calling it the termenvox -- "Termen's voice". Termen's instrument was an immediate sensation, as was his automatic burglar alarm, and he was invited to demonstrate both of them to Lenin. Lenin was very impressed by Termen -- he wrote to Trotsky later talking about Termen's inventions, and how the automatic burglar alarm might reduce the number of guards needed to guard a perimeter. But he was also impressed by Termen's musical invention. Termen held his hands to play through the first half of a melody, before leaving the Russian leader to play the second half by himself -- apparently he made quite a good job of it. Because of Lenin's advocacy for his work, Termen was sent around the Soviet Union on a propaganda tour -- what was known as an "agitprop tour", in the familiar Soviet way of creating portmanteau words. In 1923 the first piece of music written specially for the instrument was performed by Termen himself with the Leningrad Philharmonic, Andrey Paschenko's Symphonic Mystery for Termenvox and Orchestra. The score for that was later lost, but has been reconstructed, and the piece was given a "second premiere" in 2020 [Excerpt: Andrey Paschenko, "Symphonic Mystery for Termenvox and Orchestra" ] But the musical instrument wasn't the only scientific innovation that Termen was working on. He thought he could reverse death itself, and bring the dead back to life.  He was inspired in this by the way that dead organisms could be perfectly preserved in the Siberian permafrost. He thought that if he could only freeze a dead person in the permafrost, he could then revive them later -- basically the same idea as the later idea of cryogenics, although Termen seems to have thought from the accounts I've read that all it would take would be to freeze and then thaw them, and not to have considered the other things that would be necessary to bring them back to life. Termen made two attempts to actually do this, or at least made preliminary moves in that direction. The first came when his assistant, a twenty-year-old woman, died of pneumonia. Termen was heartbroken at the death of someone so young, who he'd liked a great deal, and was convinced that if he could just freeze her body for a while he could soon revive her. He talked with Ioffe about this -- Ioffe was friends with the girl's family -- and Ioffe told him that he thought that he was probably right and probably could revive her. But he also thought that it would be cruel to distress the girl's parents further by discussing it with them, and so Termen didn't get his chance to experiment. He was even keener on trying his technique shortly afterwards, when Lenin died. Termen was a fervent supporter of the Revolution, and thought Lenin was a great man whose leadership was still needed -- and he had contacts within the top echelons of the Kremlin. He got in touch with them as soon as he heard of Lenin's death, in an attempt to get the opportunity to cryopreserve his corpse and revive him. Sadly, by this time it was too late. Lenin's brain had been pickled, and so the opportunity to resurrect him as a zombie Lenin was denied forever. Termen was desperately interested in the idea of bringing people back from the dead, and he wanted to pursue it further with his lab, but he was also being pushed to give demonstrations of his music, as well as doing security work -- Ioffe, it turned out, was also working as a secret agent, making various research trips to Germany that were also intended to foment Communist revolution. For now, Termen was doing more normal security work -- his burglar alarms were being used to guard bank vaults and the like, but this was at the order of the security state. But while Termen was working on his burglar alarms and musical instruments and attempts to revive dead dictators, his main project was his doctoral work, which was on the TV. We've said before in this podcast that there's no first anything, and that goes just as much for inventions as it does for music. Most inventions build on work done by others, which builds on work done by others, and so there were a lot of people building prototype TVs at this point. In Britain we tend to say "the inventor of the TV" was John Logie Baird, but Baird was working at the same time as people like the American Charles Francis Jenkins and the Japanese inventor Kenjiro Takayanagi, all of them building on earlier work by people like Archibald Low. Termen's prototype TV, the first one in Russia, came slightly later than any of those people, but was created more or less independently, and was more advanced in several ways, with a bigger screen and better resolution. Shortly after Lenin's death, Termen was invited to demonstrate his invention to Stalin, who professed himself amazed at the "magic mirror". [Excerpt: Blake Jones and the Trike Shop, "Astronauts in Trouble"] Termen was sent off to tour Europe giving demonstrations of his inventions, particularly his musical instrument. It was on this trip that he started using the Romanisation "Leon Theremin", and this is how Western media invariably referred to him. Rather than transliterate the Cyrillic spelling of his birth name, he used the French spelling his Huguenot ancestors had used before they emigrated to Russia, and called himself Leo or Leon rather than Lev. He was known throughout his life by both names, but said to a journalist in 1928 "First of all, I am not Tair-uh-MEEN. I wrote my name with French letters for French pronunciation. I am Lev Sergeyevich Tair-MEN.". We will continue to call him Termen, partly because he expressed that mild preference (though again, he definitely went by both names through choice) but also to distinguish him from the instrument, because while his invention remained known in Russia as the termenvox, in the rest of the world it became known as the theremin. He performed at the Paris Opera, and the New York Times printed a review saying "Some musicians were extremely pessimistic about the possibilities of the device, because at times M. Theremin played lamentably out of tune. But the finest Stradivarius, in the hands of a tyro, can give forth frightful sounds. The fact that the inventor was able to perform certain pieces with absolute precision proves that there remains to be solved only questions of practice and technique." Termen also came to the UK, where he performed in front of an audience including George Bernard Shaw, Arnold Bennett, Henry Wood and others. Arnold Bennett was astonished, but Bernard Shaw, who had very strong opinions about music, as anyone who has read his criticism will be aware, compared the sound unfavourably to that of a comb and paper. After performing in Europe, Termen made his way to the US, to continue his work of performance, propagandising for the Soviet Revolution, and trying to license the patents for his inventions, to bring money both to him and to the Soviet state. He entered the US on a six-month visitor's visa, but stayed there for eleven years, renewing the visa every six months. His initial tour was a success, though at least one open-air concert had to be cancelled because, as the Communist newspaper the Daily Worker put it, "the weather on Saturday took such a counter-revolutionary turn". Nicolas Slonimsky, the musicologist we've encountered several times before, and who would become part of Termen's circle in the US, reviewed one of the performances, and described the peculiar audiences that Termen was getting -- "a considerable crop of ladies and gentlemen engaged in earnest exploration of the Great Beyond...the mental processes peculiar to believers in cosmic vibrations imparted a beatific look to some of the listeners. Boston is a seat of scientific religion; before he knows it Professor Theremin may be proclaimed Krishnamurti and sanctified as a new deity". Termen licensed his patents on the invention to RCA, who in 1929 started mass-producing the first ever theremins for general use. Termen also started working with the conductor Leopold Stokowski, including developing a new kind of theremin for Stokowski's orchestra to use, one with a fingerboard played like a cello. Stokowski said "I believe we shall have orchestras of these electric instruments. Thus will begin a new era in music history, just as modern materials and methods of construction have produced a new era of architecture." Possibly of more interest to the wider public, Lennington Sherwell, the son of an RCA salesman, took up the theremin professionally, and joined the band of Rudy Vallee, one of the most popular singers of the period. Vallee was someone who constantly experimented with new sounds, and has for example been named as the first band leader to use an electric banjo, and Vallee liked the sound of the theremin so much he ordered a custom-built left-handed one for himself. Sherwell stayed in Vallee's band for quite a while, and performed with him on the radio and in recording sessions, but it's very difficult to hear him in any of the recordings -- the recording equipment in use in 1930 was very primitive, and Vallee had a very big band with a lot of string and horn players, and his arrangements tended to have lots of instruments playing in unison rather than playing individual lines that are easy to differentiate. On top of that, the fashion at the time when playing the instrument was to try and have it sound as much like other instruments as possible -- to duplicate the sound of a cello or violin or clarinet, rather than to lean in to the instrument's own idiosyncracies. I *think* though that I can hear Sherwell's playing in the instrumental break of Vallee's big hit "You're Driving Me Crazy" -- certainly it was recorded at the time that Sherwell was in the band, and there's an instrument in there with a very pure tone, but quite a lot of vibrato, in the mid range, that seems only to be playing in the break and not the rest of the song. I'm not saying this is *definitely* a theremin solo on one of the biggest hits of 1930, but I'm not saying it's not, either: [Excerpt: Rudy Vallee, "You're Driving Me Crazy" ] Termen also invented a light show to go along with his instrument -- the illumovox, which had a light shining through a strip of gelatin of different colours, which would be rotated depending on the pitch of the theremin, so that lower notes would cause the light to shine a deep red, while the highest notes would make it shine a light blue, with different shades in between. By 1930, though, Termen's fortunes had started to turn slightly. Stokowski kept using theremins in the orchestra for a while, especially the fingerboard models to reinforce the bass, but they caused problems. As Slonimsky said "The infrasonic vibrations were so powerful...that they hit the stomach physically, causing near-nausea in the double-bass section of the orchestra". Fairly soon, the Theremin was overtaken by other instruments, like the ondes martenot, an instrument very similar to the theremin but with more precise control, and with a wider range of available timbres. And in 1931, RCA was sued by another company for patent infringement with regard to the Theremin -- the De Forest Radio Company had patents around the use of vacuum tubes in music, and they claimed damages of six thousand dollars, plus RCA had to stop making theremins. Since at the time, RCA had only made an initial batch of five hundred instruments total, and had sold 485 of them, many of them as promotional loss-leaders for future batches, they had actually made a loss of three hundred dollars even before the six thousand dollar damages, and decided not to renew their option on Termen's patents. But Termen was still working on his musical ideas. Slonimsky also introduced Termen to the avant-garde composer and theosophist Henry Cowell, who was interested in experimental sounds, and used to do things like play the strings inside the piano to get a different tone: [Excerpt: Henry Cowell, "Aeolian Harp and Sinister Resonance"] Cowell was part of a circle of composers and musicologists that included Edgard Varese, Charles Ives, and Charles Seeger and Ruth Crawford, who Cowell would introduce to each other. Crawford would later marry Seeger, and they would have several children together, including the folk singer Peggy Seeger, and Crawford would also adopt Seeger's son Pete. Cowell and Termen would together invent the rhythmicon, the first ever drum machine, though the rhythmicon could play notes as well as rhythms. Only two rhythmicons were made while Termen was in the US. The first was owned by Cowell. The second, improved, model was bought by Charles Ives, but bought as a gift for Cowell and Slonimsky to use in their compositions. Sadly, both rhythmicons eventually broke down, and no recording of either is known to exist. Termen started to get further and further into debt, especially as the Great Depression started to hit, and he also had a personal loss -- he'd been training a student and had fallen in love with her, although he was married. But when she married herself, he cut off all ties with her, though Clara Rockmore would become one of the few people to use the instrument seriously and become a real virtuoso on it. He moved into other fields, all loosely based around the same basic ideas of detecting someone's distance from an object. He built electronic gun detectors for Alcatraz and Sing-Sing prisons, and he came up with an altimeter for aeroplanes. There was also a "magic mirror" -- glass that appeared like a mirror until it was backlit, at which point it became transparent. This was put into shop windows along with a proximity detector -- every time someone stepped close to look at their reflection, the reflection would disappear and be replaced with the objects behind the mirror. He was also by this point having to spy for the USSR on a more regular basis. Every week he would meet up in a cafe with two diplomats from the Russian embassy, who would order him to drink several shots of vodka -- the idea was that they would loosen his inhibitions enough that he would not be able to hide things from them -- before he related various bits of industrial espionage he'd done for them. Having inventions of his own meant he was able to talk with engineers in the aerospace industry and get all sorts of bits of information that would otherwise not have been available, and he fed this back to Moscow. He eventually divorced his first wife, and remarried -- a Black American dancer many years his junior named Lavinia Williams, who would be the great love of his life. This caused some scandal in his social circle, more because of her race than the age gap. But by 1938 he had to leave the US. He'd been there on a six-month visa, which had been renewed every six months for more than a decade, and he'd also not been paying income tax and was massively in debt. He smuggled himself back to the USSR, but his wife was, at the last minute, not allowed on to the ship with him. He'd had to make the arrangements in secret, and hadn't even told her of the plans, so the first she knew was when he disappeared. He would later claim that the Soviets had told him she would be sent for two weeks later, but she had no knowledge of any of this. For decades, Lavinia would not even know if her husband was dead or alive. [Excerpt: Blake Jones and the Trike Shop, "Astronauts in Trouble"] When Termen got back to the USSR, he found it had changed beyond recognition. Stalin's reign of terror was now well underway, and not only could he not find a job, most of the people who he'd been in contact with at the top of the Kremlin had been purged. Termen was himself arrested and tortured into signing a false confession to counter-revolutionary activities and membership of fascist organisations. He was sentenced to eight years in a forced labour camp, which in reality was a death sentence -- it was expected that workers there would work themselves to death on starvation rations long before their sentences were up -- but relatively quickly he was transferred to a special prison where people with experience of aeronautical design were working. He was still a prisoner, but in conditions not too far removed from normal civilian life, and allowed to do scientific and technical work with some of the greatest experts in the field -- almost all of whom had also been arrested in one purge or another. One of the pieces of work Termen did was at the direct order of Laventy Beria, Stalin's right-hand man and the architect of most of the terrors of the Stalinist regime. In Spring 1945, while the USA and USSR were still supposed to be allies in World War II, Beria wanted to bug the residence of the US ambassador, and got Termen to design a bug that would get past all the normal screenings. The bug that Termen designed was entirely passive and unpowered -- it did nothing unless a microwave beam of a precise frequency was beamed at it, and only then did it start transmitting. It was placed in a wooden replica of the Great Seal of the United States, presented to the ambassador by a troupe of scouts as a gesture of friendship between the two countries. The wood in the eagle's beak was thin enough to let the sound through. It remained there for seven years, through the tenures of four ambassadors, only being unmasked when a British radio operator accidentally tuned to the frequency it was transmitting on and was horrified to hear secret diplomatic conversations. Upon its discovery, the US couldn't figure out how it worked, and eventually shared the information with MI5, who took eighteen months to reverse-engineer Termen's bug and come up with their own, which remained the standard bug in use for about a decade. The CIA's own attempts to reverse-engineer it failed altogether. It was also Termen who came up with that well-known bit of spycraft -- focussing an infra-red beam on a window pane, to use it to pick up the sound of conversations happening in the room behind it. Beria was so pleased with Termen's inventions that he got Termen to start bugging Stalin himself, so Beria would be able to keep track of Stalin's whims. Termen performed such great services for Beria that Beria actually allowed him to go free not long after his sentence was served. Not only that, but Beria nominated Termen for the Stalin Award, Class II, for his espionage work -- and Stalin, not realising that Termen had been bugging *him* as well as foreign powers, actually upgraded that to a Class I, the highest honour the Soviet state gave. While Termen was free, he found himself at a loose end, and ended up volunteering to work for the organisation he had been working for -- which went by many names but became known as the KGB from the 1950s onwards. He tried to persuade the government to let Lavinia, who he hadn't seen in eight years, come over and join him, but they wouldn't even allow him to contact her, and he eventually remarried. Meanwhile, after Stalin's death, Beria was arrested for his crimes, and charged under the same law that he had had Termen convicted under. Beria wasn't as lucky as Termen, though, and was executed. By 1964, Termen had had enough of the KGB, because they wanted him to investigate obvious pseudoscience -- they wanted him to look into aliens, UFOs, ESP... and telepathy. [Excerpt, The Beach Boys, "Good Vibrations (early version)" "She's already working on my brain"] He quit and went back to civilian life.  He started working in the acoustics lab in Moscow Conservatory, although he had to start at the bottom because everything he'd been doing for more than a quarter of a century was classified. He also wrote a short book on electronic music. In the late sixties an article on him was published in the US -- the first sign any of his old friends had that he'd not  died nearly thirty years earlier. They started corresponding with him, and he became a minor celebrity again, but this was disapproved of by the Soviet government -- electronic music was still considered bourgeois decadence and not suitable for the Soviet Union, and all his instruments were smashed and he was sacked from the conservatory. He continued working in various technical jobs until the 1980s, and still continued inventing refinements of the theremin, although he never had any official support for his work. In the eighties, a writer tried to get him some sort of official recognition -- the Stalin Prize was secret -- and the university at which he was working sent a reply saying, in part, "L.S. Termen took part in research conducted by the department as an ordinary worker and he did not show enough creative activity, nor does he have any achievements on the basis of which he could be recommended for a Government decoration." By this time he was living in shared accommodation with a bunch of other people, one room to himself and using a shared bathroom, kitchen, and so on. After Glasnost he did some interviews and was asked about this, and said "I never wanted to make demands and don't want to now. I phoned the housing department about three months ago and inquired about my turn to have a new flat. The woman told me that my turn would come in five or six years. Not a very reassuring answer if one is ninety-two years old." In 1989 he was finally allowed out of the USSR again, for the first time in fifty-one years, to attend a UNESCO sponsored symposium on electronic music. Among other things, he was given, forty-eight years late, a letter that his old colleague Edgard Varese had sent about his composition Ecuatorial, which had originally been written for theremin. Varese had wanted to revise the work, and had wanted to get modified theremins that could do what he wanted, and had asked the inventor for help, but the letter had been suppressed by the Soviet government. When he got no reply, Varese had switched to using ondes martenot instead. [Excerpt: Edgard Varese, "Ecuatorial"] In the 1970s, after the death of his third wife, Termen had started an occasional correspondence with his second wife, Lavinia, the one who had not been able to come with him to the USSR and hadn't known if he was alive for so many decades. She was now a prominent activist in Haiti, having established dance schools in many Caribbean countries, and Termen still held out hope that they could be reunited, even writing her a letter in 1988 proposing remarriage. But sadly, less than a month after Termen's first trip outside the USSR, she died -- officially of a heart attack or food poisoning, but there's a strong suspicion that she was murdered by the military dictatorship for her closeness to Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the pro-democracy activist who later became President of Haiti. Termen was finally allowed to join the Communist Party in the spring of 1991, just before the USSR finally dissolved -- he'd been forbidden up to that point because of his conviction for counter-revolutionary crimes. He was asked by a Western friend why he'd done that when everyone else was trying to *leave* the Communist Party, and he explained that he'd made a promise to Lenin. In his final years he was researching immortality, going back to the work he had done in his youth, working with biologists, trying to find a way to restore elderly bodies to youthful vigour. But sadly he died in 1993, aged ninety-seven, before he achieved his goal. On one of his last trips outside the USSR, in 1991, he visited the US, and in California he finally got to hear the song that most people associate with his invention, even though it didn't actually feature a theremin: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Good Vibrations"] Back in the 1930s, when he was working with Slonimsky and Varese and Ives and the rest, Termen had set up the Theremin Studio, a sort of experimental arts lab, and in 1931 he had invited the musicologist, composer, and theoretician Joseph Schillinger to become a lecturer there. Schillinger had been one of the first composers to be really interested in the theremin, and had composed a very early piece written specifically for the instrument, the First Airphonic Suite: [Excerpt: Joseph Schillinger, "First Airphonic Suite"] But he was most influential as a theoretician. Schillinger believed that all of the arts were susceptible to rigorous mathematical analysis, and that you could use that analysis to generate new art according to mathematical principles, art that would be perfect. Schillinger planned to work with Termen to try to invent a machine that could compose, perform, and transmit music. The idea was that someone would be able to tune in a radio and listen to a piece of music in real time as it was being algorithmically composed and transmitted. The two men never achieved this, but Schillinger became very, very, respected as someone with a rigorous theory of musical structure -- though reading his magnum opus, the Schillinger System of Musical Composition, is frankly like wading through treacle. I'll read a short excerpt just to give an idea of his thinking: "On the receiving end, phasic stimuli produced by instruments encounter a metamorphic auditory integrator. This integrator represents the auditory apparatus as a whole and is a complex interdependent system. It consists of two receivers (ears), transmitters, auditory nerves, and a transformer, the auditory braincenter.  The response to a stimulus is integrated both quantitatively and selectively. The neuronic energy of response becomes the psychonic energy of auditory image. The response to stimuli and the process of integration are functional operations and, as such, can be described in mathematical terms , i.e., as  synchronization, addition, subtraction, multiplication, etc. But these integrative processes alone do not constitute the material of orchestration either.  The auditory image, whether resulting from phasic stimuli of an excitor or from selfstimulation of the auditory brain-center, can be described only in Psychological terms, of loudness, pitch, quality, etc. This leads us to the conclusion that the material of orchestration can be defined only as a group of conditions under which an integrated image results from a sonic stimulus subjected to an auditory response.  This constitutes an interdependent tripartite system, in which the existence of one component necessitates the existence of two others. The composer can imagine an integrated sonic form, yet he cannot transmit it to the auditor (unless telepathicaliy) without sonic stimulus and hearing apparatus." That's Schillinger's way of saying that if a composer wants someone to hear the music they've written, the composer needs a musical instrument and the listener needs ears and a brain. This kind of revolutionary insight made Schillinger immensely sought after in the early 1930s, and among his pupils were the swing bandleaders Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey, and the songwriter George Gershwin, who turned to Schillinger for advice when he was writing his opera Porgy and Bess: [Excerpt: Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, "Here Come De Honey Man"] Another of his pupils was the trombonist and arranger Glenn Miller, who at that time was a session player working in pickup studio bands for people like Red Nichols. Miller spent some time studying with him in the early thirties, and applied those lessons when given the job of putting together arrangements for Ray Noble, his first prominent job. In 1938 Glenn Miller walked into a strip joint to see a nineteen-year-old he'd been told to take a look at. This was another trombonist, Paul Tanner, who was at the time working as a backing musician for the strippers. Miller had recently broken up his first big band, after a complete lack of success, and was looking to put together a new big band, to play arrangements in the style he had worked out while working for Noble. As Tanner later put it "he said, `Well, how soon can you come with me?' I said, `I can come right now.' I told him I was all packed, I had my toothbrush in my pocket and everything. And so I went with him that night, and I stayed with him until he broke the band up in September 1942." The new band spent a few months playing the kind of gigs that an unknown band can get, but they soon had a massive success with a song Miller had originally written as an arranging exercise set for him by Schillinger, a song that started out under the title "Miller's Tune", but soon became known worldwide as "Moonlight Serenade": [Excerpt: Glenn Miller, "Moonlight Serenade"] The Miller band had a lot of lineup changes in the four and a bit years it was together, but other than Miller himself there were only four members who were with that group throughout its career, from the early dates opening for  Freddie Fisher and His Schnickelfritzers right through to its end as the most popular band in America. They were piano player Chummy MacGregor, clarinet player Wilbur Schwartz, tenor sax player Tex Beneke, and Tanner. They played on all of Miller's big hits, like "In the Mood" and "Chattanooga Choo-Choo": [Excerpt: Glenn Miller, "Chattanooga Choo-Choo"] But in September 1942, the band broke up as the members entered the armed forces, and Tanner found himself in the Army while Miller was in the Air Force, so while both played in military bands, they weren't playing together, and Miller disappeared over the Channel, presumed dead, in 1944. Tanner became a session trombonist, based in LA, and in 1958 he found himself on a session for a film soundtrack with Dr. Samuel Hoffman. I haven't been able to discover for sure which film this was for, but the only film on which Hoffman has an IMDB credit for that year is that American International Pictures classic, Earth Vs The Spider: [Excerpt: Earth Vs The Spider trailer] Hoffman was a chiropodist, and that was how he made most of his living, but as a teenager in the 1930s he had been a professional violin player under the name Hal Hope. One of the bands he played in was led by a man named Jolly Coburn, who had seen Rudy Vallee's band with their theremin and decided to take it up himself. Hoffman had then also got a theremin, and started his own all-electronic trio, with a Hammond organ player, and with a cello-style fingerboard theremin played by William Schuman, the future Pulitzer Prize winning composer. By the 1940s, Hoffman was a full-time doctor, but he'd retained his Musicians' Union card just in case the odd gig came along, and then in 1945 he received a call from Miklos Rozsa, who was working on the soundtrack for Alfred Hitchcock's new film, Spellbound. Rozsa had tried to get Clara Rockmore, the one true virtuoso on the theremin playing at the time, to play on the soundtrack, but she'd refused -- she didn't do film soundtrack work, because in her experience they only wanted her to play on films about ghosts or aliens, and she thought it damaged the dignity of the instrument. Rozsa turned to the American Federation of Musicians, who as it turned out had precisely one theremin player who could read music and wasn't called Clara Rockmore on their books. So Dr. Samuel Hoffman, chiropodist, suddenly found himself playing on one of the most highly regarded soundtracks of one of the most successful films of the forties: [Excerpt: Miklos Rozsa, "Spellbound"] Rozsa soon asked Hoffman to play on another soundtrack, for the Billy Wilder film The Lost Weekend, another of the great classics of late forties cinema. Both films' soundtracks were nominated for the Oscar, and Spellbound's won, and Hoffman soon found himself in demand as a session player. Hoffman didn't have any of Rockmore's qualms about playing on science fiction and horror films, and anyone with any love of the genre will have heard his playing on genre classics like The Five Thousand Fingers of Dr T, The Thing From Another World, It Came From Outer Space, and of course Bernard Hermann's score for The Day The Earth Stood Still: [Excerpt: The Day The Earth Stood Still score] As well as on such less-than-classics as The Devil's Weed, Voodoo Island, The Mad Magician, and of course Billy The Kid Vs Dracula. Hoffman became something of a celebrity, and also recorded several albums of lounge music with a band led by Les Baxter, like the massive hit Music Out Of The Moon, featuring tracks like “Lunar Rhapsody”: [Excerpt: Samuel Hoffman, "Lunar Rhapsody”] [Excerpt: Neil Armstrong] That voice you heard there was Neil Armstrong, on Apollo 11 on its way back from the moon. He took a tape of Hoffman's album with him. But while Hoffman was something of a celebrity in the fifties, the work dried up almost overnight in 1958 when he worked at that session with Paul Tanner. The theremin is a very difficult instrument to play, and while Hoffman was a good player, he wasn't a great one -- he was getting the work because he was the best in a very small pool of players, not because he was objectively the best there could be. Tanner noticed that Hoffman was having quite some difficulty getting the pitching right in the session, and realised that the theremin must be a very difficult instrument to play because it had no markings at all. So he decided to build an instrument that had the same sound, but that was more sensibly controlled than just waving your hands near it. He built his own invention, the electrotheremin, in less than a week, despite never before having had any experience in electrical engineering. He built it using an oscillator, a length of piano wire and a contact switch that could be slid up and down the wire, changing the pitch. Two days after he finished building it, he was in the studio, cutting his own equivalent of Hoffman's forties albums, Music For Heavenly Bodies, including a new exotica version of "Moonlight Serenade", the song that Glenn Miller had written decades earlier as an exercise for Schillinger: [Excerpt: Paul Tanner, "Moonlight Serenade"] Not only could the electrotheremin let the player control the pitch more accurately, but it could also do staccato notes easily -- something that's almost impossible with an actual theremin. And, on top of that, Tanner was cheaper than Hoffman. An instrumentalist hired to play two instruments is paid extra, but not as much extra as paying for another musician to come to the session, and since Tanner was a first-call trombone player who was likely to be at the session *anyway*, you might as well hire him if you want a theremin sound, rather than paying for Hoffman. Tanner was an excellent musician -- he was a professor of music at UCLA as well as being a session player, and he authored one of the standard textbooks on jazz -- and soon he had cornered the market, leaving Hoffman with only the occasional gig. We will actually be seeing Hoffman again, playing on a session for an artist we're going to look at in a couple of months, but in LA in the early sixties, if you wanted a theremin sound, you didn't hire a theremin player, you hired Paul Tanner to play his electrotheremin -- though the instrument was so obscure that many people didn't realise he wasn't actually playing a theremin. Certainly Brian Wilson seems to have thought he was when he hired him for "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times": [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times"] We talked briefly about that track back in the episode on "God Only Knows",   but three days after recording that, Tanner was called back into the studio for another session on which Brian Wilson wanted a theremin sound. This was a song titled "Good, Good, Good Vibrations", and it was inspired by a conversation he'd had with his mother as a child. He'd asked her why dogs bark at some people and not at others, and she'd said that dogs could sense vibrations that people sent out, and some people had bad vibrations and some had good ones. It's possible that this came back to mind as he was planning the Pet Sounds album, which of course ends with the sound of his own dogs barking. It's also possible that he was thinking more generally about ideas like telepathy -- he had been starting to experiment with acid by this point, and was hanging around with a crowd of people who were proto-hippies, and reading up on a lot of the mystical ideas that were shared by those people. As we saw in the last episode, there was a huge crossover between people who were being influenced by drugs, people who were interested in Eastern religion, and people who were interested in what we now might think of as pseudo-science but at the time seemed to have a reasonable amount of validity, things like telepathy and remote viewing. Wilson had also had exposure from an early age to people claiming psychic powers. Jo Ann Marks, the Wilson family's neighbour and the mother of former Beach Boy David Marks, later had something of a minor career as a psychic to the stars (at least according to obituaries posted by her son) and she would often talk about being able to sense "vibrations". The record Wilson started out making in February 1966 with the Wrecking Crew was intended as an R&B single, and was also intended to sound *strange*: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Good Vibrations: Gold Star 1966-02-18"] At this stage, the song he was working on was a very straightforward verse-chorus structure, and it was going to be an altogether conventional pop song. The verses -- which actually ended up used in the final single, are dominated by organ and Ray Pohlman's bass: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Good Vibrations: Gold Star 1966-02-18"] These bear a strong resemblance to the verses of "Here Today", on the Pet Sounds album which the Beach Boys were still in the middle of making: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Here Today (instrumental)"] But the chorus had far more of an R&B feel than anything the Beach Boys had done before: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Good Vibrations: Gold Star 1966-02-18"] It did, though, have precedent. The origins of the chorus feel come from "Can I Get a Witness?", a Holland-Dozier-Holland song that had been a hit for Marvin Gaye in 1963: [Excerpt: Marvin Gaye, "Can I Get a Witness?"] The Beach Boys had picked up on that, and also on its similarity to the feel of Lonnie Mack's instrumental cover version of Chuck Berry's "Memphis, Tennessee", which, retitled "Memphis", had also been a hit in 1963, and in 1964 they recorded an instrumental which they called "Memphis Beach" while they were recording it but later retitled "Carl's Big Chance", which was credited to Brian and Carl Wilson, but was basically just playing the "Can I Get a Witness" riff over twelve-bar blues changes, with Carl doing some surf guitar over the top: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Carl's Big Chance"] The "Can I Get a Witness" feel had quickly become a standard piece of the musical toolkit – you might notice the resemblance between that riff and the “talking 'bout my generation” backing vocals on “My Generation” by the Who, for example. It was also used on "The Boy From New York City", a hit on Red Bird Records by the Ad-Libs: [Excerpt: The Ad-Libs, "The Boy From New York City"] The Beach Boys had definitely been aware of that record -- on their 1965 album Summer Days... And Summer Nights! they recorded an answer song to it, "The Girl From New York City": [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "The Girl From New York City"] And you can see how influenced Brian was by the Ad-Libs record by laying the early instrumental takes of the "Good Vibrations" chorus from this February session under the vocal intro of "The Boy From New York City". It's not a perfect match, but you can definitely hear that there's an influence there: [Excerpt: "The Boy From New York City"/"Good Vibrations"] A few days later, Brian had Carl Wilson overdub some extra bass, got a musician in to do a jaw harp overdub, and they also did a guide vocal, which I've sometimes seen credited to Brian and sometimes Carl, and can hear as both of them depending on what I'm listening for. This guide vocal used a set of placeholder lyrics written by Brian's collaborator Tony Asher, which weren't intended to be a final lyric: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Good Vibrations (first version)"] Brian then put the track away for a month, while he continued work on the Pet Sounds album. At this point, as best we can gather, he was thinking of it as something of a failed experiment. In the first of the two autobiographies credited to Brian (one whose authenticity is dubious, as it was largely put together by a ghostwriter and Brian later said he'd never even read it) he talks about how he was actually planning to give the song to Wilson Pickett rather than keep it for the Beach Boys, and one can definitely imagine a Wilson Pickett version of the song as it was at this point. But Brian's friend Danny Hutton, at that time still a minor session singer who had not yet gone on to form the group that would become Three Dog Night, asked Brian if *he* could have the song if Brian wasn't going to use it. And this seems to have spurred Brian into rethinking the whole song. And in doing so he was inspired by his very first ever musical memory. Brian has talked a lot about how the first record he remembers hearing was when he was two years old, at his maternal grandmother's house, where he heard the Glenn Miller version of "Rhapsody in Blue", a three-minute cut-down version of Gershwin's masterpiece, on which Paul Tanner had of course coincidentally played: [Excerpt: The Glenn Miller Orchestra, "Rhapsody in Blue"] Hearing that music, which Brian's mother also played for him a lot as a child, was one of the most profoundly moving experiences of Brian's young life, and "Rhapsody in Blue" has become one of those touchstone pieces that he returns to again and again. He has recorded studio versions of it twice, in the mid-nineties with Van Dyke Parks: [Excerpt: Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, "Rhapsody in Blue"] and in 2010 with his solo band, as the intro and outro of an album of Gershwin covers: [Excerpt: Brian Wilson, "Rhapsody in Blue"] You'll also often see clips of him playing "Rhapsody in Blue" when sat at the piano -- it's one of his go-to songs. So he decided he was going to come up with a song that was structured like "Rhapsody in Blue" -- what publicist Derek Taylor would later describe as a "pocket symphony", but "pocket rhapsody" would possibly be a better term for it. It was going to be one continuous song, but in different sections that would have different instrumentation and different feelings to them -- he'd even record them in different studios to get different sounds for them, though he would still often have the musicians run through the whole song in each studio. He would mix and match the sections in the edit. His second attempt to record the whole track, at the start of April, gave a sign of what he was attempting, though he would not end up using any of the material from this session: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Good Vibrations: Gold Star 1966-04-09" around 02:34] Nearly a month later, on the fourth of May, he was back in the studio -- this time in Western Studios rather than Gold Star where the previous sessions had been held, with yet another selection of musicians from the Wrecking Crew, plus Tanner, to record another version. This time, part of the session was used for the bridge for the eventual single: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys: "Good Vibrations: Western 1966-05-04 Second Chorus and Fade"] On the twenty-fourth of May the Wrecking Crew, with Carl Wilson on Fender bass (while Lyle Ritz continued to play string bass, and Carol Kaye, who didn't end up on the finished record at all, but who was on many of the unused sessions, played Danelectro), had another attempt at the track, this time in Sunset Studios: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys: "Good Vibrations: Sunset Sound 1966-05-24 (Parts 2&3)"] Three days later, another group of musicians, with Carl now switched to rhythm guitar, were back in Western Studios recording this: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys: "Good Vibrations: Western 1966-05-27 Part C" from 2:52] The fade from that session was used in the final track. A few days later they were in the studio again, a smaller group of people with Carl on guitar and Brian on piano, along with Don Randi on electric harpsichord, Bill Pitman on electric bass, Lyle Ritz on string bass and Hal Blaine on drums. This time there seems to have been another inspiration, though I've never heard it mentioned as an influence. In March, a band called The Association, who were friends with the Beach Boys, had released their single "Along Comes Mary", and by June it had become a big hit: [Excerpt: The Association, "Along Comes Mary"] Now the fuzz bass part they were using on the session on the second of June sounds to my ears very, very, like that intro: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Good Vibrations (Inspiration) Western 1966-06-02" from 01:47] That session produced the basic track that was used for the choruses on the final single, onto which the electrotheremin was later overdubbed as Tanner wasn't at that session. Some time around this point, someone suggested to Brian that they should use a cello along with the electrotheremin in the choruses, playing triplets on the low notes. Brian has usually said that this was Carl's idea, while Brian's friend Van Dyke Parks has always said that he gave Brian the idea. Both seem quite certain of this, and neither has any reason to lie, so I suspect what might have happened is that Parks gave Brian the initial idea to have a cello on the track, while Carl in the studio suggested having it specifically play triplets. Either way, a cello part by Jesse Erlich was added to those choruses. There were more sessions in June, but everything from those sessions was scrapped. At some point around this time, Mike Love came up with a bass vocal lyric, which he sang along with the bass in the choruses in a group vocal session. On August the twenty-fourth, two months after what one would think at this point was the final instrumental session, a rough edit of the track was pulled together. By this point the chorus had altered quite a bit. It had originally just been eight bars of G-flat, four bars of B-flat, then four more bars of G-flat. But now Brian had decided to rework an idea he had used in "California Girls". In that song, each repetition of the line "I wish they all could be California" starts a tone lower than the one before. Here, after the bass hook line is repeated, everything moves up a step, repeats the line, and then moves up another step: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Good Vibrations: [Alternate Edit] 1966-08-24"] But Brian was dissatisfied with this version of the track. The lyrics obviously still needed rewriting, but more than that, there was a section he thought needed totally rerecording -- this bit: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Good Vibrations: [Alternate Edit] 1966-08-24"] So on the first of September, six and a half months after the first instrumental session for the song, the final one took place. This had Dennis Wilson on organ, Tommy Morgan on harmonicas, Lyle Ritz on string bass, and Hal Blaine and Carl Wilson on percussion, and replaced that with a new, gentler, version: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys: "Good Vibrations (Western 1966-09-01) [New Bridge]"] Well, that was almost the final instrumental session -- they called Paul Tanner in to a vocal overdub session to redo some of the electrotheremin parts, but that was basically it. Now all they had to do was do the final vocals. Oh, and they needed some proper lyrics. By this point Brian was no longer working with Tony Asher. He'd started working with Van Dyke Parks on some songs, but Parks wasn't interested in stepping into a track that had already been worked on so long, so Brian eventually turned to Mike Love, who'd already come up with the bass vocal hook, to write the lyrics. Love wrote them in the car, on the way to the studio, dictating them to his wife as he drove, and they're actually some of his best work. The first verse grounds everything in the sensory, in the earthy. He makes a song originally about *extra* -sensory perception into one about sensory perception -- the first verse covers sight, sound, and smell: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Good Vibrations"] Carl Wilson was chosen to sing the lead vocal, but you'll notice a slight change in timbre on the line "I hear the sound of a" -- that's Brian stepping into double him on the high notes. Listen again: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Good Vibrations"] For the second verse, Love's lyric moves from the sensory grounding of the first verse to the extrasensory perception that the song has always been about, with the protagonist knowing things about the woman who's the object of the song without directly perceiving them. The record is one of those where I wish I was able to play the whole thing for you, because it's a masterpiece of structure, and of editing, and of dynamics. It's also a record that even now is impossible to replicate properly on stage, though both its writers in their live performances come very close. But while someone in the audience for either the current touring Beach Boys led by Mike Love or for Brian Wilson's solo shows might come away thinking "that sounded just like the record", both have radically different interpretations of it even while sticking close to the original arrangement. The touring Beach Boys' version is all throbbing strangeness, almost garage-rock, emphasising the psychedelia of the track: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Good Vibrations (live 2014)"] While Brian Wilson's live version is more meditative, emphasising the gentle aspects: [Excerpt Brian Wilson, "Good Vibrations (live at the Roxy)"] But back in 1966, there was definitely no way to reproduce it live with a five-person band. According to Tanner, they actually asked him if he would tour with them, but he refused -- his touring days were over, and also he felt he would look ridiculous, a middle-aged man on stage with a bunch of young rock and roll stars, though apparently they offered to buy him a wig so he wouldn't look so out of place. When he wouldn't tour with them, they asked him where they could get a theremin, and he pointed them in the direction of Robert Moog. Moog -- whose name is spelled M-o-o-g and often mispronounced "moog", had been a teenager in 1949, when he'd seen a schematic for a theremin in an electronic hobbyist magazine, after Samuel Hoffman had brought the instrument back into the limelight. He'd built his own, and started building others to sell to other hobbyists, and had also started branching out into other electronic instruments by the mid-sixties. His small company was the only one still manufacturing actual theremins, but when the Beach Boys came to him and asked him for one, they found it very difficult to control, and asked him if he could do anything simpler. He came up with a ribbon-controlled oscillator, on the same principle as Tanner's electro-theremin, but even simpler to operate, and the Beach Boys bought it and gave it to Mike Love to play on stage. All he had to do was run his finger up and down a metallic ribbon, with the positions of the notes marked on it, and it would come up with a good approximation of the electro-theremin sound. Love played this "woo-woo machine" as he referred to it, on stage for several years: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Good Vibrations (live in Hawaii 8/26/67)"] Moog was at the time starting to build his first synthesisers, and having developed that ribbon-control mechanism he decided to include it in the early models as one of several different methods of controlling the Moog synthesiser, the instrument that became synonymous with the synthesiser in the late sixties and early seventies: [Excerpt: Gershon Kingsley and Leonid Hambro, "Rhapsody in Blue" from Switched-On Gershwin] "Good Vibrations" became the Beach Boys' biggest ever hit -- their third US number one, and their first to make number one in the UK. Brian Wilson had managed, with the help of his collaborators, to make something that combined avant-garde psychedelic music and catchy pop hooks, a truly experimental record that was also a genuine pop classic. To this day, it's often cited as the greatest single of all time. But Brian knew he could do better. He could be even more progressive. He could make an entire album using the same techniques as "Good Vibrations", one where themes could recur, where sections could be edited together and songs could be constructed in the edit. Instead of a pocket symphony, he could make a full-blown teenage symphony to God. All he had to do was to keep looking forward, believe he could achieve his goal, and whatever happened, not lose his nerve and turn back. [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Smile Promo" ]