Podcasts about Damocles

The Blasters & Blades PodcastIn the near future, data is currency, corporations are kingdoms, and survival is a luxury few can afford. This week, we sit down with author J. Kenton Pierce to discuss his thrilling sci-fi novel, A Kiss for Damocles. We dive deep into the neon-drenched underbelly of his world, exploring the high-stakes chess match of corporate espionage, the psychological toll of cybernetic modification, and what happens when a precision operation spirals into absolute chaos. Pull up a chair and pour a drink, it's time to step into the shadows. This was a fun interview, so go check it out. Join us for a fun show! We're just a couple of nerdy Army veterans geeking out on things that go "abracadabra," "pew," "zoom," "boop-beep" and rhyme with Science Fiction & Fantasy. Co-Hosts: JR Handley (Author) (Grunt)Nick Garber (Comic Book Artist) (Super Grunt)Madam Stabby Stab (Uber Fan) (Horror Nerd)Jana S Brown (Author) (Chief Shenanigator)We work for free, so if you wanna throw a few pennies our way there is a linked Buy Me A Coffee site where you can do so. Just mention the podcast in the comments when you donate, and I'll keep the sacred bean water boiling!Support the Show: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/AuthorJRHandley Our LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/blastersandbladespodcast Today's SponsorSupercarrier: The Ixan Prophecies Trilogy Book 1 by Scott Bartlett: https://a.co/d/050Vbw9S A Kiss for Damocles by J. Kenton Pierce: https://www.amazon.com/Kiss-Damocles-Tales-Long-Night-ebook/dp/B0FF18GKYB Follow J. Kenton Pierce on social mediaKenton's Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/J.-Kenton-Pierce/author/B00GZP811E Kenton's Twitter: https://x.com/jkenton2000 Kenton's Substack: https://jkentonpierce.substack.com/ Kenton's GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/7809767.J_Kenton_Pierce Kenton's Publisher: https://www.raconteurpress.com/ The Prime Directive is to Dance: https://youtu.be/XYoKtmYJ5YY?si=4LvDq0B2Lmg8fulI One Funk to Rule Them All: https://youtu.be/Nm9codc_zwk?si=QpwzKLl7NkYh6JpMRed Shirt Romeo: https://youtu.be/fuulmgitbkM?si=1aqPAuDGNfg61jAD Star Trek Disco: https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1Chs9pBCL3/ Star Trek Soul Funk: https://youtu.be/d4QcJYP6SFo?si=skfNTZ8KRrfHzNNc Redneck Star Wars: https://youtu.be/Yy3F9O2k2Yg?si=j2Q7-qCkObkTIetf Angry Staff Officer: https://angrystaffofficer.com/ #scifishenanigans #scifishenaniganspodcast #bbp #blastersandblades #blastersandbladespodcast #podcast #scifipodcast #fantasypodcast #scifi #fantasy #books #rpg #comics #fandom #literature #comedy #veteran #army #armyranger #ranger #scififan #redshirts #scifiworld #sciencefiction #scifidaily #scificoncept #podcastersofinstagram #scificons #podcastlife #podcastsofinstagram #scifibooks #awardwinningscifi #newepisode #podcastersofinstagram #podcastaddict #podcast #scifigeek #scifibook #sfv #scifivisionaries #firesidechat #chat #panel #fireside #religionquestion #coffee #tea #coffeeortea #CoffeeBrandCoffee #JRHandley #NickGarber #MadamStabby #JenaRey #JanaSBrown #OpalKingdomPress #AKissForDamocles #JKentonPierce #starwars #jedi #georgelucas #lucasfilms #startrek #trekkie #firefly #serenity #browncoat #wheeloftime #wot #robertjordan #brandonsanderson #gameofthrones #got #grrm #georgerrmartin #ChroniclesofNarnia #CSLewis #RaconteurPress #GalacticEmpire #Colonization #Babylon5 #Retro #urbanfantasy #MercedesLackey #LarryCorreia #MHI #MonsterHunterInternational #stegosaurus #triceratops #TyrannosaurusRex #trex #FarSideComics #ScholasticBookFaire #WarOfTheWorlds #JulesVerne #Watchers #DeanRKoontz #D&D #DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #ttrpg #mmorpgs #CityOfHeroes #StarTrekOnline #EdgarRiceBurroughs #JimButcher #RobertAHeinlein #Heinlein #AndreNorton #JamesHSchmitz #TheWitchesOfKarres #PeakyBlinders #AngryStaffOfficer #postapocalypse #Yellowstone #SuperVolcano #dystopian #PromethiusAward #SarahHoyt #HarryTurtledove

Trump's visit to China lasted two days. Nothing concrete came of it. What is becoming increasingly clear is that China held the winning hand. Controlling over 85% of the rare earth minerals needed for our 21st century techno military, China dictates the terms. So it comes as no surprise that in spite of the rhetoric, the sanctions on oil with Iran are apparently being suspended following Trump's visit. Trump sat in the Emperor's throne and was reminded of the sword hanging over his head held by a single strand of horse hair... the parable of The Sword of Damocles. #BardsFM_Morning #China #TheSwordOfDamocles Bards Nation Health Store: www.bardsnationhealth.com MYPillow promo code: BARDS >> Go to https://www.mypillow.com/bards and use the promo code BARDS or... Call 1-800-975-2939.  EMPShield protect your vehicles and home. Promo code BARDS: Click here Treadlite Broadforks...best garden tool EVER. Promo code BARDS26: TreadliteBroadforks.com EnviroKlenz Air Purification, promo code BARDS to save 10%: www.enviroklenz.com Morning Intro Music Provided by Brian Kahanek: www.briankahanek.com Founders Bible 20% discount code: BARDS >>> TheFoundersBible.com Windblown Media 20% Discount with promo code BARDS: windblownmedia.com White Oak Pastures Grassfed Meats, Get $20 off any order $150 or more. Promo Code BARDS: www.whiteoakpastures.com/BARDS Mission Darkness Faraday Bags and RF Shielding. Promo code BARDS: Click here If you wish to support this podcast directly you can donate here... DONATE: Click here Mailing Address: Xpedition Cafe, LLC Attn. Scott Kesterson 591 E Central Ave, #740 Sutherlin, OR  97479  

A version of this essay has been published by rediff.com at https://www.rediff.com/news/column/gulf-war-crisis-why-india-will-take-a-huge-hit/20260511.htmIn the heat and dust of elections, many of us have forgotten that there is a war going on. But the PM's warning about sacrifices and conservation reminds us that this essentially unwinnable war, and the on-again, off-again negotiations to bring it to a closure, are going to hit every one of us in our wallets.On 30th April, the Pentagon announced that the US had so far spent $25 billion on the West Asia war. This is a staggeringly huge number, and I was startled because I had casually thrown around this number as the ultimate cost of the war for all parties. Clearly I underestimated the damage, if this is the US' cost alone. Add the other frontline states, and then the untold misery and cost imposed on all of us innocent bystanders. And it's not over yet by any means.Pete Hegseth, the US secretary of war (self-fulfilling prophecy, isn't it, they changed the name from secretary of defense, and lo! they went to war immediately thereafter) bristled at the idea of a quagmire, according to The Economist. But I am old enough to remember Vietnam, and then Afghanistan. These forever wars are easy to get into, but hard to get out of.Indeed, the war has become not only an impasse, but also a charade. Even considering how the narrative gets bizarre from all sides during every war, this one seems especially messed up. So much so that there literally is no point in paying attention to the day-to-day events, because they don't seem to make much difference. Except of course, when the price of Brent crude hits $120, as it did on April 30th, twice what it was before the war. Ouch! And Hormuz is still closed.India is reeling under a heatwave, and we live under the Damocles' sword of power cuts. Kerala announced a half hour of rolling cuts (anodyne euphemism: “load shedding”) every night, but they will not tell you when or where the cuts will be. This is like the Malayalam proverb: “the guy who got hit by lightning was then bitten by a snake”. Incidentally, there's been a number of deaths from snakebites in Kerala as the reptiles enter houses seeking cooler temperatures.If this El Nino weather holds up, India's assumptions about load (maximum 270 GW) will be challenged: we hit a record on April 25th of 256 GW peak demand, and the fact that the grid didn't collapse is admirable, but being so close to the maximum is worrying. In Kerala, the grid cannot absorb the solar electricity produced by many households during the day because the Electricity Board did not purchase enough storage batteries: so much for on-grid.I am also fairly confident that once the elections are over, the government will be forced to increase fuel prices. Petrol has held steady at pump prices of Rs. 107.45/liter for a few years, but as crude oil prices have doubled, I see an inevitable rise not of Rs. 28 or so as speculated, but Rs. 50-100 based on how much inflation the Reserve Bank is willing to tolerate. In passing, I remember seeing somewhere that petrol prices have reached Pak Rs. 500/liter in that country.Therefore I have stopped paying much attention to the daily press releases and JUST IN, BREAKING NEWS types of ‘analysis' (some of the most prominent of these are clear AI slop, possibly manufactured by Chinese troll farms). The big picture is that the Straits of Hormuz remain blocked, the amount of oil and gas coming from the Persian Gulf remains diminished dramatically, and recovery may take months, if not years, even if the strait is unblocked.The chances are increasing that this will become a protracted war, as the principals are standing by their maximalist positions, where this is little reason to believe they will be able to arrive at a via media and a lasting ceasefire.It is not business as usual. This is the biggest energy shock since 1973, and as always, it is developing countries that will be most seriously affected. India is going to take a large hit, with inflation rising by, say, 2%, and GDP growth falling from 7+% to 6%.There are several things India needs to do urgently:* Strive for self-reliance (“Atmanirbhar”) in a variety of areas* Diversify its sources of hydrocarbons to other geographies eg. Africa, South America, Central Asia (through Chabahar), and accelerate exploration of its own (offshore and onshore) blocks as Mumbai High and Assam fields are aging rapidly* Pursue other forms of energy:* Renewables* Coal, including carbon sequestration* Biofuels* Nuclear (both SMR and FBR)* Shift households from LPG to LNG, including tapping Krishna Godavari wells, coal gasification, biomassEspecially at a time when electricity demand for new industries (eg. generativeAI data centers, semiconductors) is ramping up, it is important for India's manufacturing rise to ensure that this does not become a constraint. From a consumer perspective, increased affluence brings increased electricity demand.In addition, the Indian migrant worker population of about 10 million in West Asia, and their inward remittances of some $40-$50 billion per annum (total of $120 billion globally) may be increasingly under pressure if oil/gas production does not go back to pre-war levels.There is one more factor: India needs military muscle. As I said about Pax Indica, the Indian Ocean needs a strong, impartial facilitator of trade in the Hormuz to Malacca sea-lanes, and India is best placed to do this, harking back to Rajendra Chola re-opening Malacca in 1025 CE. But this requires three things:* Major container ports: Trivandrum (Vizhinjam), Vadhavan, Great Nicobar (Galathea Bay)* The ‘switch' to ease multiparty, multi-protocol trade: the India Stack* Security: three aircraft carrier groups, two dozen SSBNs, SSNs, AIP diesel submarinesThis is the time for India to plan forward fully, with the goal of Atmanirbharata, and energy security. The Persian Gulf is no longer a reliable source. The war is indeed a quagmire.950 words This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rajeevsrinivasan.substack.com/subscribe

Download this leaflet as a pdf: https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/s3.cpgb-ml.org/Iran-No-cooperation-Victory-202603.pdf British workers are duty-bound to stand with the Iranian people, who are under attack from the same imperialist class that subjects, exploits and impoverishes us. The escalation to a region-wide war was guaranteed from the moment the imperialists began their assault, since the USA has constructed a massive network of bases and ports across the Gulf from which it wages its wars and dominates the region, and all of which are ultimately aimed at any country or people who strive for sovereignty. Iran and every thinking person in west Asia knows full well and from bitter experience that they will never be able to achieve peace, security or sovereign development while this Sword of Damocles is suspended over their heads. ------------------------------------------------ Subscribe! Donate! Join us in building a bright future for humanity! www.thecommunists.org www.lalkar.org www.redyouth.org Telegram: t.me/thecommunists Twitter: twitter.com/cpgbml Soundcloud: @proletarianradio Rumble: rumble.com/c/theCommunists Odysee: odysee.com/@proletariantv:2 Facebook: www.facebook.com/cpgbml Online Shop: https://shop.thecommunists.org/ Education Program: https://thecommunists.org/education-programme/ Each one teach one! www.londonworker.org/education-programme/ Join the struggle www.thecommunists.org/join/ Donate: www.thecommunists.org/donate/

The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret is a podcast in which your hosts, Joanna Hagan and Francine Carrel have emerged from Discworld and are now exploring the worlds of speculative fiction. This week, Gormenghast Part 2!Stormclouds! Villany! Isthmuses!  Find us on the internet:BlueSky: @makeyefretpod.bsky.socialInstagram: @TheTruthShallMakeYeFretFacebook: @TheTruthShallMakeYeFretEmail: thetruthshallmakeyefretpod@gmail.comPatreon: www.patreon.com/thetruthshallmakeyefretDiscord: https://discord.gg/29wMyuDHGP Want to follow your hosts and their internet doings? Follow Joanna on BlueSky @2hatsjo and follow Francine @francibambi Things we blathered on about:Benjamin Franklin's Glass Armonica - The Franklin InstitutePrimogeniture and ultimogeniture - Britannica Skewbald - Etymology, Origin & Meaning  blaze - WiktionaryMusic: Chris Collins, indiemusicbox.com

Get the full episode here: https://www.10percenttrue.com/pricing-plans/listIn Episode 3, Benji Prefontaine takes you into the most demanding phase of his combat experience—flying the Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard over Afghanistan in a crowded, chaotic coalition battlespace.With limited sensors, minimal weapons, and no datalink, every mission becomes a test of situational awareness and judgment. He describes near-misses in mid-air, fuel emergencies, comms failures, and the constant risk of fratricide—all while supporting troops in contact on the ground.The central theme is stark: the biggest danger isn't always the enemy—it's the environment, the complexity, and your own decisions. Benji explains why the urge to drop a weapon can be the most dangerous instinct a pilot has—and why sometimes the right call is to hold fire.This episode is a raw, honest look at the reality of close air support—and the responsibility carried by the person in the cockpit.⸻0:00 intro teaser - CAS story2:40 Welcome back (Again!) Benji3:30 recap of Super E capabilities as deployment to Afghanistan looms6:28 Spinning up and deploying 9:02 commencing ops in a relatively quiet 200611:04 2007 tougher (expanded ops, integration of new Rafale capabilities)14:30 “joint” Navy buddy mission with Rafale on 27/03/07 (including 5:59:59 flameout)19:01 admin can kill you - fuel problems and deconfliction 22:48 2008 Carrier stood down for refit/repair so Super E is ground based at Kandahar 26:55 reviewing the learning points emerging from the initial engagement (including Damocles limitations and intro story)34:36 integration into ATO? 37:25 personal growth?42:24 USB exchange pilot contributions?44:48 full access? (and the perils of Super E cockpit for the well built gentleman)48:07 kneeboard capabilities 52:11 comms - satcom54:11 going back to F1, missing it, an adjustment?58:58 back to Kandahar in the F11:02:44 revisiting the psychological aspect in terms of Afghanistan (and Libya)1:06:41 Dollars!1:11:40 Libya - state of play/the vagaries of real world deployment and getting in on the action 1:23:50 the benefits of a tight knit community (moving a squadron whilst fighting a war and training new people) 1:29:58 the toll on family?1:32:42 threat levels in Libya1:37:22 XCAS and Intel?1:40:28 SCUD launcher mission1:44:00 tanker scarcity1:45:10 ATL21:46:12 QRA/policing/Chad (again)1:53:10 intercepts and “etiquette”1:55:30 flying with MiG-29SMTs2:00:17 drinking vodka with MiG-31 squadron cmdr 2:01:43 Foxhound intel?/diplomacy/history2:05:49 rounding out Air Force career and next chapter2:11:40 Merci Benji

Llevan los peruanos unos diez años realizando un experimento político en vivo del que toda Hispanoamérica (y también España) debería aprender, pero para no reproducirlo. Este domingo han vuelto a las urnas en unas elecciones muy esperadas para elegir presidente, dos vicepresidentes, 130 diputados, 60 senadores y 5 representantes para el Parlamento Andino. Nótese que está incluido el Senado, una cámara eliminada en 1992 tras el autogolpe de Alberto Fujimori. En principio estas elecciones deberían aclarar el panorama y reencauzar la vida política del país, pero lo más probable es que no sea así. Para entender lo que está en juego hay que recordar de dónde viene Perú. La última década ha sido un larguísimo desfile de presidentes. Desde Ollanta Humala han pasado por la Casa de Pizarro ocho presidentes en diez años y ninguno ha conseguido terminar su mandato. Casi todos cayeron por una figura legal, la de la vacancia presidencial por incapacidad moral, una herramienta decimonónica convertida en arma arrojadiza entre el Ejecutivo y el Legislativo. Hoy cuatro expresidentes están de forma simultánea en el penal de Barbadillo: Pedro Castillo, Martín Vizcarra, Ollanta Humala y Alejandro Toledo. El episodio más sonado fue el de Pedro Castillo, aquel maestro rural con un vistoso sombrero que en diciembre de 2022 intentó disolver el Congreso por decreto mediante un autogolpe de Estado. Su sucesora, Dina Boluarte, gobernó tres años con una aprobación que llegó a desplomarse al 3% hasta ser destituida a finales del año pasado. Sobre ese terreno tan resbaladizo se han celebrado las elecciones. La oficina encargada de organizarlas, la ONPE, las ha definido como las más complejas de la historia, y razón no les falta. Se presentaron un total 35 candidaturas presidenciales para un electorado fragmentado hasta la atomización. La gran protagonista ha vuelto a ser Keiko Fujimori en su cuarto intento. Hija del expresidente, lleva dos décadas siendo el rostro visible del fujimorismo, ese movimiento que combina liberalismo económico con autoritarismo conservador y que cuenta con mucho arraigo en ciertas capas sociales. Ha perdido tres segundas vueltas consecutivas y su Fuerza Popular sigue siendo una de las pocas estructuras de partido organizadas que quedan en pie. Promete orden, mano dura contra la criminalidad y reformas económicas en la línea de Milei. La campaña giró sobre tres ejes: la inseguridad ciudadana, el deterioro económico y la corrupción. La jornada electoral ha sido muy accidentada. Se produjeron retrasos en la llegada de papeletas y hubo problemas en el voto en el extranjero. El director de la ONPE, de hecho, ha tenido que dimitir. Con el 92% escrutado, Keiko Fujimori va a la cabeza con un 17%. Le siguen, casi empatados, Roberto Sánchez de Juntos por el Perú con un 12%, y Rafael López Aliaga de Renovación Popular con otro 12%. Jorge Nieto queda cuarto con un 11%. Conviene leer estos números con perspectiva: 83 de cada cien peruanos votaron por otro candidato distinto al ganador. Los dos finalistas sumarán juntos apenas el 30% del voto. El próximo presidente llegará por puro rebote, con poca legitimidad de origen, condenado a gobernar con un Congreso atomizado y la espada de Damocles de la vacancia sobre su cabeza desde el primer día. La segunda vuelta del 7 de junio decidirá quién ocupa el cargo, si es que llega siquiera a un año sin que lo saquen de ahí. En La ContraRéplica: 0:00 Introducción 4:06 Perú vuelve a empezar 35:35 El precio de la gasolina 39:23 El PP y China 43:04 ¿Por qué Irán no se rinde? · Canal de Telegram: https://t.me/lacontracronica · “Contra el pesimismo”… https://amzn.to/4m1RX2R · “Hispanos. Breve historia de los pueblos de habla hispana”… https://amzn.to/428js1G · “La ContraHistoria del comunismo”… https://amzn.to/39QP2KE · “La ContraHistoria de España. Auge, caída y vuelta a empezar de un país en 28 episodios”… https://amzn.to/3kXcZ6i · “Contra la Revolución Francesa”… https://amzn.to/4aF0LpZ · “Lutero, Calvino y Trento, la Reforma que no fue”… https://amzn.to/3shKOlK Apoya La Contra en: · Patreon... https://www.patreon.com/diazvillanueva · iVoox... https://www.ivoox.com/podcast-contracronica_sq_f1267769_1.html · Paypal... https://www.paypal.me/diazvillanueva Sígueme en: · Web... https://diazvillanueva.com · Twitter... https://twitter.com/diazvillanueva · Facebook... https://www.facebook.com/fernandodiazvillanueva1/ · Instagram... https://www.instagram.com/diazvillanueva · Linkedin… https://www.linkedin.com/in/fernando-d%C3%ADaz-villanueva-7303865/ · Flickr... https://www.flickr.com/photos/147276463@N05/?/ · Pinterest... https://www.pinterest.com/fernandodiazvillanueva Encuentra mis libros en: · Amazon... https://www.amazon.es/Fernando-Diaz-Villanueva/e/B00J2ASBXM #FernandoDiazVillanueva #peru #elecciones Escucha el episodio completo en la app de iVoox, o descubre todo el catálogo de iVoox Originals

Swords of Damocles.   Music Credits: Pack Animals: A Little Help from my Friends - Robert Purzycki

Send us Fan MailOn-Demand Programme Link - https://mailchi.mp/bb2a7b851246/kairos-centreSex - Addict, maybe you really are not yet at the 'ACTION' stage, as you think you are! 'Tools for 'ACTION' won't work if that is not the STAGE you are at. Let's look at where you might be at, despite turning up at the Therapists office because you have been caught and you have the Damocles sword over your head from the threats to leave and take the children - from your partner; or you have had the early morning knock at the door from the police and you are in the Criminal legal proccess and need to show to the system that you are taking steps to quit.Presenting for therapy does not mean you are ready for change and or to give up the behaviours. You see the 'need to give it up', but the 'desire to give it up' is lagging behind.I am multi-talented and do brain surgery on all of my Sex Porn Love Addiction clients. I explain that I am going to cut round your skull; lift off the top; remove your brain and put your brain on the chair next to you. (Don't forget to take it when you leave!)Why do I do something so bizzare? Because I want you to know that your brain (we also call them “Parts”), is not your best friend all of the time. It is well intended. It is seeking to look after and protect you; but it does not always make right or best decisions for you in the moment.There are times when it will work against you. It will sabotage. That is why I encourage all of my clients to build in “Treats & Rewards” into their programme of change. Over time, of the brain experiencing treats & rewards for small incremental good outcomes, I hope (eventually) to entice the parts of the brain to Start to work with you. It likes treats & rewards for good outcomes. Make sense?There is another reason for doing brain surgery. I want to have a conversation with my clients, but I don't want their brain to hear. I need to tell them something, but if their brain hears it, the brain may receive it as permission to Relapse. I don't want to unwittingly give them that message.But I do want them to hear that all the stats will tell us that most individuals do not achieve sobriety at their first attempt to change any behaviour in their life. Usually there are a number of repeated attempts. Learn to get up, dust off and get back in. Remember 'The Potholes Poem'? Request a copy from me, if you need it.What are those 'STAGES OF CHANGE ' you are talking about Gary? The Stages of Change in behaviour occurs gradually. A person moves from being uninterested, unaware or unwilling to make a change (Pre-contemplation), to considering change (Contemplation), to deciding and Preparing to make a change. Genuine determined Action then follows. Endeavours to Maintain the new behaviour occur, as well as the potential for Relapse snapping at its heel, to upset the journey towards life-long change.  Get some help from The Kairos Centre. See what you cannot see. Begin to change that which you begin to better understand.,Help is here for you: bit.ly/pornaddictionhelpGary McFarlane (BA, LLM, Dip, Certs), Accredited EMDR Practitioner.Key words: sex addiction, addicted, partner, porn addiction, recovery, sex drive, therapy, sex therapy, relationships, relationship counseling, addiction, couples, couples therapy, sex therapy, emdr, love addiction, sex addict, porn, recovery, porn addiction issue, relationship issues, sexual, trauma, ptsd, The sex porn love Addiction Podcast, The Singles Partners Marrieds and Long Time Support the show

Najważniejszy dowódca floty Ulthuanu jest postacią mocno kontrowersyjną. Często działa, nie konsultując się z nikim, ma dziwne podejście do osobistego honoru i gardzi polityką. A jednocześnie docenia umiejętności u podwładnych i, zazwyczaj, może pochwalić się skutecznością. Aislinn nie jest kimś, wobec kogo można przejść obojętnie. Dlatego właśnie dziś przyjrzymy się mu trochę bliżej. ------------------------------------------------------------

A version of this essay has been published by firstpost.com at https://www.firstpost.com/opinion/iran-war-no-winners-oil-de-dollarisation-global-impact-13992276.htmlWar is hell, we all know, and it's bad for everybody, but there is – usually – a winner. After more than three weeks of the Iran war, I am beginning to believe that there are no winners here, only losers. The principals are overextending themselves, and will suffer as a consequence. Innocent or not-so-innocent bystanders are suffering significant collateral damage.Some are getting hurt more than others, so it's mostly a question of degree: but the bottom line is that this is war that is just not good for anybody. As usual, Henry Kissinger had a useful aphorism: “It's a pity both sides can't lose”, quoth he. (Hat tip to reader Sudarshan M). Well, Henry, both sides are losing this one, so take heart: your wish has come true.Someone made the analogy of going to Family Court with a dispute: there are no winners, as the father, mother, and the children, will all suffer, whatever the outcome. It is best in that situation to listen to a counselor and solve your problems amicably. Similarly, it would be good to find a neutral intermediary to help iron out a ceasefire in this war, too.In a way, this war is the classic idea of irresistible force meeting an immovable object, thus leading to a stalemate, as Walter Russel Mead suggested in the Wall Street Journal.First, the toll on the belligerents, in alphabetical order:* Iran. It is creditable that Iran has held out against the might of the US war machine for three weeks and more. My belief is that they can keep it up for a while longer, because they have been preparing for this eventuality for some decades, ever since the 1979 crisis in which they held Americans hostage for 444 days. They are taking, and will take, horrendous losses, but it will be difficult to completely overthrow the Islamist regime. Among other things, Iran is a large country, about half the size of peninsular India.* The US attack on Kharg Island's military targets (but not its oil terminals) has shown that Iran's oil exports could be in jeopardy, pushing global prices up.* Just like their proxy Hamas, it appears Iran has built extensive tunnel complexes, veritable underground labyrinths, where they are hiding all sorts of things, including fast patrol boats. Their military assets are doubtless ensconced in these tunnels which makes them hard to locate and possibly quite mobile.* Israel. Iran's consistent rhetoric that Israel doesn't deserve to exist leads to fears that Iran's nuclear arsenal (if and when built) will be primarily aimed at Israel. This, and troubles with Iranian proxies such as Hezbollah and Hamas, have led to massive Israeli human intelligence penetration of Iran (as seen in the Stuxnet incident as well as the effective strikes on the Ayatollahs and Hamas, including the pager incident). But Israel is also believed to be taking heavy losses, which it can ill afford, although information has been tightly censored. There were apparently missile attacks near Israel's nuclear sites at Dimona as well.* The US. The original idea of a decapitation strike that would lead to a rapid regime change as the Iranian public rose up and anointed a new leadership (one more acceptable to the US), was questionable, as I pointed out fairly early. It appears that the CIA and US intelligence have just one playbook, which they used more or less successfully in Iraq, Libya, etc. But that was never going to work in Iran, and now the US is stuck with a tar-baby and may be quietly seeking de-escalation and an off-ramp.* Talk of a Marine Expeditionary Unit of 2500 American soldiers re-deployed from Japan means “boots on the ground” followed inevitably by that dreaded word, “body bags”. The troops will be meant to keep Hormuz open, or perhaps to capture Kharg Island. Whether they can achieve these is unclear right now.* However, overall it appears that the US' capacity to coerce other countries through economic means is declining, as suggested by the FT in “The era of US dominance in economic warfare is over” on March 17th.Now for the others in the firing line and in the periphery:* The GCC, consisting of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. They have taken the brunt of the Iranian drone and missile attacks, and their oil and gas exports, and economies, are affected by the closure of the Straits of Hormuz. But more alarmingly, their food and water supplies may also be affected, and they are, being desert nations, highly dependent on imported items via the blockaded Hormuz, and critically dependent on their desalination plants. Keeping the Straits of Hormuz open may be critical for them. They have been with human casualties, infrastructure damage, and reputational damage as well. In particular, Dubai, which has been a magnet for high-net-worth individuals, is affected.* Lebanon and Jordan. Lebanon was hit by Israeli fire, and Jordan by Iranian fire, although they are mostly bystanders. Israel has been responding to increased activity by Iranian proxy Hezbollah, and Iran has sent drones and missiles towards Jordan as part of general horizontal escalation.* Pakistan and Turkey. These are wild card nations in the conflict. So far they have not (yet) been affected badly, but they have to walk a tightrope. On the one hand, it is very likely that Pakistan has offered logistical and intelligence support to the US in its air attacks on Iran. On the other, as a fellow-Islamic nation, Iran has, under both the Shah and the mullahs, consistently supported Pakistan (especially against India).* Furthermore, if there is a ground assault on Iran, it will probably involve Balochis from Pakistan and Kurds from Turkey, both attempting to capture land in, respectively, the Sistan and Baluchistan Province, and the heavily Kurdish regions of Iran bordering Turkey.* Turkey, as a NATO member, is obligated to support the US, despite its Islamist leadership which is duty-bound to side with the fellow-Islamic Iranian regime. The traditional Sunni-Shia split, which has been exacerbated by Shia Iran attacking Sunni Gulf nations, sharpens the dilemma for both nations. (Meanwhile, Pakistanis slaughtered 400 Afghans by bombing a hospital, but they get a free pass from, e.g. the BBC.)* The United Nations. It has been rendered superfluous. Nobody even called for a Security Council meeting condemning the war. This is the latest in a long process wherein whatever the UN, or many other multilateral organizations do or say has become immaterial. The UN, hit by a budget crunch, might as well be shut down.* Europe and Britain. The EU and NATO have been noticeably absent in the discussions about the war. Of course, they are likely to be affected by the increase in hydrocarbon prices. In fact, their folly in shuttering their nuclear power plants in pursuit of vague ‘green' goals has put them at the mercy of Russian oil and gas. In particular, the virtual shutting out of Britain from the entire war is notable, considering that their Whitehall has long managed to treat the US Deep State as their vassals, ‘master-blaster' style.* Russia. Even though Russia has long been friendly with Iran, it has desisted from doing anything that could bring it into direct conflict with the US. Russia is probably supplying satellite and other reconnaissance data as well as spares for existing systems (such as the S-300 air defense batteries, Su-35 fighters) and possibly Iranian-designed Shahed drones as well. Interestingly enough, Russia may be the one possible winner in the war, considering its oil is now a coveted commodity, prices have soared, and there is less attention being paid to its Ukraine war. Europe, China and India are ever-more dependent on Russian oil, and the windfall profits may be sustainable. The US may even lift its sanctions and bring Russia back into the Western fold.* China. There are wins and losses for China, but in sum it may also be a bit of a winner.* The loss is in energy security: China has lost Venezuelan oil as well as access to Iranian oil, but they have overland pipelines from Russia, as well as access to Russian tankers at sea. Besides, they have a massive strategic petroleum reserve (1 billion barrels), so it should be manageable, for a while at least. Cuba, their reliable ally in the US' backyard, is now back to the wall with the US enforcing a blockade.* On the other hand, they have acquired a significant military edge: US munitions inventory has been getting depleted at a furious rate, so much so that if China were to attack Taiwan now, the US would be hard pressed to intervene. Even US THAAD (Theater High Altitude Air Defense) systems are being cannibalized: after four of their radars in the GCC were damaged, the US is forced to scavenge for them from their South Korean bases. Now comes news that China is massing both civilian ships and military aircraft near Taiwan, quite possibly a precursor to an actual invasion.* Unfortunately for China, their weapons systems don't seem to have performed very well in Iran, just as they didn't in Operation Sindoor. There are sarcastic posts on X, especially about their radar that looks like a big grille and is supposed to detect stealth aircraft, but didn't quite work.* China has also been on the horns of a dilemma, as it were: what would Xi do when Trump visits in April while in the midst of a war with one of China's principal allies? It would be “damned if you do, damned if you don't”. If China were to greet him warmly, it would send a negative message to Iran, as well as its other Belt and Road Initiative partners. If China were to treat Trump coldly, then trade wars will continue. Fortunately for Xi, Trump decided to delay his visit; perhaps he intends to continue the war well into April, or maybe he thought he'd be too much at physical risk. It's interesting to speculate on why Trump did this, but of course it may have been just whimsy.* India. This war is pretty much a disaster for India from every perspective. Being dependent on Persian Gulf oil and gas for everything from transportation to household cooking fuel to raw material for plastics to APIs for pharmaceuticals leaves India particularly exposed. There are other big vulnerabilities:* The $50 billion in remittances sent back yearly by 10 million Indians toiling away (often in very difficult circumstances) in that area, in addition to the personal hardships these migrants will face, including life and death situations.* Despite large increases in renewable energy, the major energy input, especially in transportation, continues to be imported oil and gas. Households have largely switched from wood-burning stoves to (admittedly much less polluting) bottled or piped gas. At the very time that electricity demand is peaking (e.g. AI data centers and railways), this disruption may have severe consequences.* The feedstock for agriculture is increasingly petroleum-based, and disruptions in fertilizer availability may cause production costs to skyrocket. Increased transportation costs will make vegetables and grains more expensive for those states (such as Kerala) that depend on internal transfers from producing states. In the short run, some agricultural commodity prices have collapsed as their primary markets in the Persian Gulf are inaccessible due to the Hormuz blockade. Basmati rice prices are down by Rs 5-10/kg according to LiveMint.* Trade through Chabahar Port (where India's $120 million investment is at risk) to Central Asia bypassing Pakistan, will likely grind to a halt* The dramatic increase in the price of oil (from around $60 per barrel to $100-$120, and threatening to go higher) is a huge ‘tax' on India, and a transfer of wealth out of India, which may reduce GDP growth by as much as 1-2%, and push inflation up to 4-5% (according to the Economic Times).* The ‘Goldilocks moment' of low inflation and high growth is possibly over.* The one positive for India will be the increasing importance of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), which is basically the old Spice Route,, e.g. containers from Mundra and Vizhinjam to Dammam in Saudi Arabia or Jebel Ali in the UAE, then by rail to Haifa in Israel, and onwards to Piraeus in Greece by sea.* There is really no obvious benefit to India if the war continues, and therefore it is in India's interest to try to be an ‘honest broker' intermediary which has reasonably good relations with all the belligerents as well as the frontline GCC states. India could use its diplomatic goodwill to try to bring the war to a quick close, thus pursuing its own interests as well as something in the larger good of the global economy.There are a couple of other notable points in this war. One is from systems theory, and the other is from 18th century colonial British machinations in India; and finally a speculation about the future of the US economy and even the US nation.Distributed SystemsSystems theory suggests that distributed systems are far more resilient than centralized systems, because they may have redundant mechanisms that come into play when the primary mechanism is knocked out. Iran has anticipated decapitation strikes on its leadership, and the danger that signals intelligence from their foes may tap into all communications. Therefore, it appears they have created a system where 31 independent IRGC military commands have the autonomy to take local decisions without a go-ahead from a central authority.This means it will be relatively hard to quell all resistance, as some commands may fight on even if large parts of the country are conquered. It makes their actions also more unpredictable and potentially more dangerous.It is interesting to compare this to the sudden collapse of the Persian Sasanian Empire to invading Arab Muslim armies in the 7th century, when they were conquered in a space of no more than twenty years. Even though there were other factors like imperial exhaustion from constant wars and long supply chains for the Arab armies, the contrast with the Hindu resistance (of several hundred years in Sindh) suggests that the decentralized nature of the Hindu kingdoms played a significant role in their ability to fend off the Muslims for centuries.The Tipu SyndromeIn the late 18th century, imperial Brits pulled off a particularly clever ploy in southern India. Tipu Sultan, Muslim king of Mysore, invaded Malabar in a combination of religious jihad and economic loot. He was intent on both forced conversion and on the loot of Hindu temples in Malabar, which had grown rich from millennia of the trade in spices, especially black pepper. As Sanjeev Sanyal suggests, temples were banks and venture capitalists to trading guilds.Britain did conduct some desultory campaigns against Tipu, who was allied with the French, but did not accomplish much. In the end it was the desperate breaching of a natural dam on the Periyar by Travancore forces in 1790 that forced Tipu to retreat, as his artillery, munitions and supplies were flooded and swept away. Of course, then the British charged the entire cost of the 3rd Anglo-Mysore War to ‘ally' Travancore, bankrupting it.Next, the British attacked Tipu's headquarters, Srirangapatnam, killed him, and took all the loot. In other words, Tipu did all the dirty work in collecting the booty from the temples, and the British got it all in one stroke. And looked good, at least in their own propaganda, for killing a tyrant.A very similar thing happened in 1973. Arab oil states quadrupled oil prices (from $3/barrel to $12), imposing a massive strain on hapless developing countries such as India, leading to severe distress. Under the 1974 US-Saudi agreement, oil sales were to be only denominated in US dollars, thus leading to the ‘petrodollar' accumulation with OPEC. They recycled this money via buying US Treasury bonds, and especially via buying US arms, to the delight of the Military-Industrial Complex.Thus the net effect of the 1973 oil crisis was a large transfer of wealth from the developing countries to OPEC. The US economy did not suffer greatly (despite long lines at gas stations) and in fact US deficits were funded by petrodollars for the last several decades. This is why any move to de-dollarize oil sales is strongly resisted by the US.Summary: Oil and the petrodollarAt the end of the day, American wars always seem to go back to simple ideas: control of oil, and the prevention of de-dollarization. It makes sense: why not use economic and military heft in pursuit of the national interest? Those who go against this learn a big lesson, to their discomfiture: Saddam Hussein in Iraq wanted to trade oil in Euros, Muammar Gaddafi in Libya wanted to create a new pan-African currency in which to trade oil, Nicolas Maduro was trading in yuan and stablecoin, Ayatollah Ali Khameini has been selling in yuan mostly, and not at all in dollars. That meant they all had a Damocles' sword hanging over their heads.Putin and Xi are undesirables too, but then they have nuclear arsenals, which everybody has to respect.The dollar has been hegemonistic ever since Bretton Woods. Even allies learn to respect American sensitivity over the currency. The Japanese economy, once growing at a blistering pace, was ruined after the Plaza Accord of 1984, which set the yen-dollar exchange rate artificially high. Japan lost its mojo and is yet to recover, forty years later.Tailpiece: The end of many eras?Balaji Srinivasan, formerly a Silicon Valley VC, a thought leader and a supporter of ‘Network States' and crypto, posted this intriguing tweet on March 17th. I don't necessarily agree with his framework of (US) ups and downs (see diagram) or his assertions: he surely paints a grim picture for the US, including de-dollarization. He openly wonders if the US itself will survive in its present form.The AI-generated podcast courtesy notebookLM.google.com is at 3000 words, 18 March 2026 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rajeevsrinivasan.substack.com/subscribe

McAnally's Pubcast - A Dresden Files PodcastWe discuss Chapter 17 & 18 where Harry plays dummy and Molly catches on, and Tansenn is influenced by Jes and annoyed that Elaine is Harry's copy cat.White Night Chapter 17 Summary:Harry calls on Ramirez to find out what he knows about the current situation with The White Court and Elaine. Harry explains to Molly about his own past with being under the Doom of Damocles.White Night Chapter 18 Summary:Harry goes to the Hotel where Elaine and the Ordo are held up at and confronts Hellen Beckitt. Elaine explains to Harry another member was taken and shows him a picture of the man responsible - Thomas.Find Us Elsewhere:Do you want to follow up with us for even more Dresden? We're all over the internet - you can email us at pubcast@freeflowrambling.com, or you can track us down at Facebook, Instagram, Discord, X (formerly known as Twitter), Reddit, our Dresden Files website, or our parent website. If you want hypnotic visuals with your podcast, you can find us at YouTube. Not enough? Why not show your support by clicking here and donating or joining us on our Patreon. Also, if you're in the market for some merch, you can click here. If you still aren't satisfied, click here and tell us all about it!

CW: Suicide This episode we are talking about Law and Order--where Ritsuryo system gets its name.  We are going to look at some of the underlying theory of how the government was set up and then some of the new laws people were expected to follow and examples of punishment--as well as pardons and general amnesties. For the blogpost, check out:  https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-145 Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  My name is Joshua, and this is Episode 145:  Law and Order in the Reign of Temmu     The sound of struggle could be heard, as a man, hands bound behind him, was roughly brought into the courtyard by several sturdy men.  They thrust him roughly to the bare ground in front of the pavilion.  The man's clothes were disheveled, his hair was unkempt, and his right eye was swollen shut.  He was a stark contrast from the four officials standing over him, and even more from those who stood in the pavilion, above, prepared to dole out judgment.  A clerk was handling the paperwork at a nearby desk, but the court official already knew this case.  He had read the reports, heard the testimony of the witnesses and, to top it all off, he had read the confession.  It seems it had taken some coercion, but in the end, the criminal before him had admitted to his wrongdoing. And thus the official was able to pronounce the sentence with some sense of moral clarity.  After all, if this man was innocent, why would he confess?  On the other hand, if he were truly innocent, how would he even have come to their attention?  Even if he was not guilty of this crime, if he had been such an upstanding citizen, why would his neighbors have accused him in the first place?  One way or another, justice was being done.     We remain—for at least the next couple of episodes—firmly in the reign of Ohoama, aka Temmu Tennou.  There is a lot more in this reign, and we are reaching a period where we won't be able to cover nearly as much as previously, so we'll have to summarize some things, but there is still a lot here to discuss.  Last episode we looked at what was happening outside of the court.  This episode we turn our attention back to the center, and specifically, what law and order meant in Ohoama's time. This period is called the Ritsuryo period, and as the name indicates, it is characterized by the set of laws and accompanying penal codes, the ritsu and the ryo.  Most of these codes are no longer extant, only known to us by other sources which contain only fragments of the originals.  But it was this adoption of a continental style of law that seems to most characterize this period.  So this episode, we are going to look at the project Ohoama kicked off to establish  one such law code —possibly even the first actual—for Yamato, as well as some of the examples of how law and order were enforced. In Episode 143 we talked about Ohoama's  historiographical project, which kicked off in the third month of 681 and culminated in the very chronicles we have been poring over.  However, a month before that, we see the start of a different and likely more immediate project, as the sovereign ordered work to begin on a new legal code.  This task was decreed from the Daigokuden to all of the Princes and Ministers -- who were then cautioned to divide it up and take it in shifts, since after all, they still needed to administer the government.  And so this division of labor began. The code would take years to compile, so, like so many of the ambitious projects of this reign, it was not quite ready by the time of Ohoama's death in 686.  In fact, it wouldn't be promulgated until 689, and even then that was only the "Ryou" part of the "Ritsuryou"—that is to say it contained the laws, the "ryou", but no the penal code, or "ritsu".  Still, we are told that the total body of laws was some 22 volumes and is known today as the Asuka Kiyomihara Code.  It is unfortunately no longer extant—we only have evidence of the laws based on those edicts and references we see in the Nihon Shoki, but it is thought by some to be the first such deliberate attempt to create a law code for Yamato.  We do have an earlier reference to Naka no Ohoye putting together a collection of laws during his reign, known as the Afumi Code, but there is some question as to whether that was actually a deliberate code or just a compilation of edicts that had been made up to that point.  These various codes are where the "Ritsuryo" period gets its name, and the Asuka Kiyomihara Code would eventually be supplanted in 701 by the Taihou code—which is one of the reasons why copies of previous codes haven't been kept around.  After all, why would you need the old law code when you now have the new and improved version? This also means that often, when we don't have other evidence, we look to later codes and histories to understand what might be happening when we get hints or fragments of legal matters.  The Chronicles often make note of various laws or customs, but they can be sparse on details.  After all, the main audience, in the 8th century, would be living the current law codes and likely understood the references in ways we may have to work out through other sources. As for the Kiyomihara Code, there are further notes in the Chronicles that seem to be referencing this project.  Besides the obvious—the new laws that were promulgated through various edicts—we see a few entries sprinkled throughout that appear to be related to this project.  First, I would note that in the 10th month of the same year that they started the project, 681, there was issued an edict that all those of the rank of Daisen on down should offer up their admonitions to the government.   Bentley notes that Article 65 of the Statutes on Official Documents provides a kind of feedback mechanism via this admonitions, where anyone who saw a problem with the government could submit it to the Council of the State.  If they had a fear of reprisals they could submit anonymously. This entry for the 10th month of 681 could just refer to a similar request that all those who had a problem should report it so it could be fixed, but in light of several other things, I would also suggest that it was at least in line with the ongoing efforts to figure out what needed to be figured out vis a vis the laws of the land.  Later, in the 8th month of 682 we see a similar type of request, where everyone from the Princes to the Ministers were instructed to bring forward matters suitable for framing new regulations.   So it looks like that first year or so there were, in a sense, a lot of "listening sessions" and other efforts going on to give deliberate thought to how the government should operate.  A few days later in 682 the Chronicles tell us that the court were working on drawing up the new laws, and as they did so they noticed a great rainbow.  Bentley suggests that this was an auspicious sign—even Heaven was smiling on the operation. So we know that there was lawmaking going on.  But what did these laws actually look like? This episode we are going to look at both criminal law – crimes and punishments, and gow they could be mitigated as well as those laws that were less about criminal activities and more about how the state itself was to be run. As I just stated, a lot of the laws and edicts are not necessarily about criminal activities.  Many of them are about the government and how it works—or at least how it is supposed to work.  Some of this helps to reveal a bit about the theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of this project.  That said, I'm not always sure that Ohoama and his officials were necessarily adherents to those philosophies or if they saw them more as justifications fro their actions.  And, in the end, does it matter?  Even if they weren't strict Confucianists, it is hard to argue that Confucian theory didn't loom large in their project, given its impact on the systems they were cribbing from.  Furthermore, if we need to extrapolate things that go unsaid, we could do worse than using Confucianism and similar continental philosophies as our guide, given what we see in the record.  A particularly intriguing record for understanding how that government was supposed to work is a declaration that civil and military officials of the central and provincial governments should, every year, consider their subordinates and determine what promotions, if any, they should receive.  They were to send in their recommendations within the first ten days to the judges, or "houkan".  The judges would compare the reports and make their recommendations up to the Daibenkan—the executive department of the Dajokan, the Council of State.  In addition, officers who refused orders to go on various missions for the court were ineligible for promotion, unless their refusal was specifically for genuine illness or bereavement following the loss of a parent. This feels like an important note on how the whole bureaucratic appointment and promotion system worked.  It actually follows early ideas of the meritocratic bureaucracy that was at the heart of how the government was supposed to work.  It isn't quite the same as magistrates roaming the land and seeking out talented individuals, but it still demonstrates a promotion system that is at least nominally about the merit of the individual and not solely based on personal patronage—though I'm sure the sovereign, the sumera no mikoto, or tennou, could still issue promotions whenever he so wished. And as cool as I find all that to be, I think the piece that I find particularly fun is the fact that they had to specify that only a "genuine" illness was a valid excuse.  That suggests to me that there were people who would feign illness to get out of work.  In other words, faking a sick day is nothing new and you could totally have a ritsuryo version of "Ferris Buehler's Day Off". This meritocratic idea seems to be tempered a bit a few years later, in 682.  We see an edict that not only describes the language and character of the court ritual, but also talking about verifying the lineage and character of anyone who applies for office.  Anyone whose lineage was found to be less than sufficient would be declared ineligible, regardless of whatever else they had done. And this is the tension of trying to overlay a theoretical system, based on the idea of merit, on a hereditary aristocracy.  In a meritocracy, one wouldn't blink twice at a person from a "lesser" ranked family making their way up and above those of "superior" families.  Then again, you probably wouldn't have families ranked in a hierarchy, anyway.  I feel like we've touched on this in a past episode, somewhere, but it isn't the last time we'll be talking about this.  After initially adopting the system as it theoretically should be, the cultural pressures of the elite nobles would start to shape the government into something that was not quite so threatening to the power of those elite families.  After all, those families held a lot of power—economic, political, and otherwise—and, as elites throughout history have done, they would do whatever they could to hold onto that power. This is actually something we see on the continent.  Whatever sense of justice or equality may have lay at the heart of the theory behind good governance, it was always going to be impacted by those with resources and the familial connections that bind people together.  For instance, it was the wealthy who would have the money and leisure time to be able to hire tutors, acquire books, and spend time studying and learning—something that is hard to do if you have to help your family work in the fields.  And the court would always be a place of politics, which was fueled by wealth and connections.  No doubt, if you asked someone of the time, they would say that the "correct" thing to do would be to work your way up from the bottom, starting from a low ranked position and climbing up based on their good deeds.  That's all well and good, but then we see preference given to the highest nobles, with their own progeny getting a jump on things by being automatically placed higher in rank.  With only a finite number of positions in the government, this meant  that climbing through the ranks would be almost impossible at some point, as there just weren't enough positions for those qualified to take them. This is an all-too-common problem, regardless of the actual system of government.  The powerful and wealthy have always had a leg up—though sometimes more than others. That isn't to say that those less fortunate were always ignored.  For instance, early in his reign, Ohoama made a decree to divide the common people—those who were not members of the royal family, so not princes or princesses—into three different classes, Upper, Middle, and Lower, all based on their wealth or financial status.  Only the two lower groups were eligible for loans of seed rice, should they need it.  That isn't so different than a lot of modern, means-tested government assistance programs, when you think about it.  The idea of breaking up groups into an "Upper", "Middle", and "Lower" category is found elsewhere—Bentley notes Article 16 of the Statutes of Arable Land dividing up families who planted mulberry.  "Ryou no Shuuge", a 9th century commentary on the Yoro law-code, notes that, at least by that time, the three categories were based on the number of people in a given household, not just the total wealth, it would seem.     Other decrees help us understand the make-up of the court, such as decree in the 8th month of 679, with the sovereign requesting that various houses send women to work in the court.  Bentley notes that this is very similar wording to Article 18 of the statutes of the Rear Palace, where the sovereign's consorts lived.  He also mentions a note in Ryou no Shuuge stating it was specifically women from noble families in the capital city and nearby who were employed for low-level tasks in the palace.     Continuing with the ordering of the government, in the third month of 681, Ohoama went to the well of the New Palace—the Nihi no Miya—and he ordered the military drums and other instruments to be played.  In the continental style, music was an important part of the military, with certain instruments and tunes that would be played for a variety of purposes.  It is unclear that the archipelago had such a detailed history of military music, and so it seems that this is in emulation of the continental practice. Then, in the 5th month, Ohoama had to crack down on another practice that was apparently taking off with the various public functionaries.  As we noted, earlier, public functionaries were reliant on their superiors, the judges, and then the Council of State for their promotion.  However, some appear to have found another way to garner favor, and that was through female palace officials—those working in the private quarters.  Those palace officials would have access to the sovereign and his families—his queen and various consorts.  And of course, if Ohoama heard good things about a person, then perhaps he would put them forward for promotion.  At the very least, if that person's name came forward, it might be well thought of.  And so public functionaries had taken to paying their respects to the women working in the palace.  Sometimes they would go to their doors and make their case directly.  Other times they would offer presents to them and their families.  This was clearly not how the system was intended to work.  As such, Ohoama told everyone to knock it off—should he hear about anyone trying this in the future, then the offenders would be punished according to their circumstances. Of course, I would note that this only would be a problem if the individuals were caught.  If the rest of Japanese history—heck, world history—is anything to go on, then humans are going to human and the court was no doubt deeply steeped in political maneuvering of all kinds.  I imagine that this practice never fully stopped, but it probably stopped being quite as blatant—for now. Continuing with the development of how the government operated, we get the entry for the 28th day of the 3rd lunar month of 682.  It starts with various sumptuary laws, with Princes down to public functionaries no longer wearing specialized caps of office—effectively getting rid of the idea of "cap-rank".  They also would no longer wear the aprons, sashes, or leggings that were part of the previous outfit.  Likewise the Uneme and female palace officials would no longer wear the elbow-straps or shoulder-scarves.  This appears to have moved the court closer to what the continent was wearing at the time, with belted garments based on clothing not too dissimilar from what was found across the Silk Road, to be honest.  They also discontinued all sustenance-fiefs for Princes and Ministers.  Those had to be returned to the State.  Presumably their salaries would then come from any stipends associated with their rank, instead.  This doesn't seem all that connected with the other edict, focused on clothing and rank, except that is part of the further centralization of power and authority—all taxes were to go to the central government and then get parceled out, and everyone—or at least those in the court—were to conform to a standard uniform.  That said, for all that it may have been the intent, as we shall see, the court would never fully get rid of the idea of privately held tax land—it would just take different forms over time. Later, we get more sumptuary laws, some about what the people of the court would wear, but others that were more general.  Sumptuary laws are laws specifically focused on controlling things such as expenditures or personal behavior—including what one wore and how they expressed themselves--and they are generally made to help order society in some way.  There were a lot of cultures where purple, for instance, was reserved for royalty—often because of how expensive it was and difficult to make.  Wearing an expensive purple fabric could be seen as an expression of wealth—and thus power—and that could feel like a challenge to those in power themselves.  It probably also meant that there was enough dye for the royal robes and it was not nearly so scarce. In other instances, we see sumptuary laws to call out people of certain groups.  Some laws are to distinguish an in-group, and others to call out a group to be set apart from society.  Other such laws were made to distinguish between social constructs such as caste or gender.  Even today we have a concept of "cross-dressing" as we have determined that certain clothing or styles are seen as either more masculine or feminine, and there are those who call out such things as somehow perverting society.  And yet, the clothing is simply pieces of fabric, and what may have been considered masculine or feminine in one time or place may not bee seen as such in another. In this case, the sumptuary laws in question focused on hairstyles.  Ohoama decreed that all persons, male or female, must tie up their hair—they couldn't leave it hanging down. This was to be done no later than the last day of the year—the 30th day of the 12th lunar month, though it could be required even before that.  We are also told that women were expected to ride horses in the saddle similar to the way men did. This appears to mean they would sit astride a saddle, with their legs on either side, and not in something akin to side saddle.  This also likely meant that women riding horses would want trousers, similar to what men wore, at least for that part of it.  Trying to wear a long skirt with your legs on either side of a horse does not strike me as the most comfortable position to put yourself in, not that people haven't figured it out over the centuries in various ways.  Indeed, in some Tang statuary, women are often depicted riding horseback with trousers.   In the 9th month of 682 we get a fun entry.  Well, I find it amusing.  We are told that the practice of ceremonial crawling and kneeling was to be abolished and that they would adopt the ceremonial custom of standing, as had been practiced in the Naniwa court.  And a part of me thinks of some old courtier who was having trouble with all of the kneeling who was suddenly very happy with this new ordinance.  On the other hand, it is fascinating to think of the other implications. First, we are being told that there was a custom of standing at the Naniwa court, while in Asuka there was a tradition of ceremonial crawling and kneeling.  Bentley's translation makes it apparent that this was specifically as you entered through the gates: that you would bow and then crawl through the entranceway. I'm assuming that the standing custom was based on continental tradition, since that seemed to be what the Naniwa palace was built to emulate, and that in returning to Asuka they were partaking in a more local ritual—though I'm not entirely certain as I just don't have enough information to know at this point.  Aston does claim that it was custom in the Tang court, though I'm not sure of his source for that. In 683 we get more information on how the court functioned.  We are told that there was a decree that all persons of rank in the Home Provinces were expected to present themselves at Court at some point in the first month of each quarter.  You were only excused if you were sick, at which point an official would need to send a report up to the judicial authorities.  So every noble in the Home Provinces had to travel to the court once every four months.  And if they couldn't, they need to be able to produce the equivalent of a doctor's note, saysing so. We aren't told why this was implemented.  I suspect that there had to be some compromise between nobles being at and working at the court and going back to their hometown to also keep an eye on things there.  It is possible that there were plenty of people who just weren't coming to the court unless they had to—living off their stipend, but not necessarily doing the work.  So this may have been a "return to office" type order to make sure that people were there, in the "office" of the court at least once every four months. This brings to mind the Edo period practice of alternate attendance, or Sankin-koutai, where daimyo would have to attend on the Shogun for a time and then could return home.  Of course, that was also done as a means to drain their coffers, and I don't believe this was meant in quite so punishing a manner. Having a permanent city, where the nobles had houses in the city, would likely fix these issues, allowing the court to be more regularly staffed.  Sure enough, that same decree included the decree that there would be a Capital City at Naniwa as well as other places, while the work at Nihiki, on what would become the Fujiwara capital, was already underway. Speaking of the capital, that work would require labor and people to oversee it.  In 10th month of 684, we see a note that gives us a glimpse into the management of corvee labor, as Prince Hatsuse and Kose no Asomi no Umakahi, as well as officials down to facilities managers, 20 people in all, were set up as corvee labor managers for the royal region.      Next, let's talk criminal matters.  What kinds of things were people being accused of or what laws were being set up to constraing the activities of individuals.   We'll start by looking at how justices was handled, generally speaking.  Some of it seems almost obvious, like in 675, when we are told that the sovereign ordered that nobody—whether a minister, a functionary, or a citizen—should commit an offense lest they be punished accordingly.  'But what was happening previously to make such a proclamation necessary? On the one hand, I suspect that this was a warning to the elites of the archipelago more than anything else, especially those who might not have been in direct fealty to the Yamato sovereign previously.  Those elites farther out in the provinces were probably used to a looser hand, and fewer consequences for their actions.  Back in Taika years, in the late 640s, just as everything was kicking off, the court had had to bring the hammer down on the governors and various kuni no miyatsuko, local elites who had been doing things their own way.  I suspect this was just a similar attempt to bring people into line and a reminder of who actually wore the hakama in this administration.  It also seems to be a straightforward statement that the law applied to every person—or at least every person outside of the sovereign, himself. That was likely a novel idea for many people, where those in positions of power were likely able to get away with murder, quite literally, because who was going to stop them?  We've seen how many of the more powerful families controlled what were essentially private armies. At the same time, 675 is before these new formal law codes and punishments were in place.  Presumably there was tradition in place and some understanding that the sovereign could declare laws and punishment, but I also wonder if this isn't part of the reason that they felt that centralized, authoritative, written law codes were required in the first place.  After all, communicating laws and punishments verbally across the archipelago, even with the potential for written edicts, likely relied a lot on local administrators to interpret the edicts and figure out what was going on. This seems to align with an edict from the 10th month of 679, which decried that there were many people guilty of crimes and violence hanging around the capital.  This was blamed on the Princes and Ministers, since the edict claimed that these high officials heard about it but didn't do anything, instead treating it like a nuisance that was too much trouble—or perhaps too personally expensive—to do anything about.  Alternatively, those same princes and ministers would see people that they knew were guilty, but they didn't want to go through the trouble of actually reporting them, and so the offenders could get away with it.  The proposed solution was to exhort those in higher stations to punish the offenses of those beneath them, while those of lower stations were expected to remonstrate with their superiors when those superiors were rude or violent.  In other words, if everyone just held everyone else accountable, then things would work out. This seems like a great sentiment, but I have to imagine that there was something more beyond the high-minded ideals. Again,  I suspect that it was probably as much Ohoama putting people on notice.  Still, this seems aspirational rather than definitive.      A clear example of the kind of thing that was being prohibited is likelye the decree about fishermen and hunters, who were forbidden from making pitfalls or using spear traps or similar devices.  Also, from the beginning of the 4th month until the 13th day of the 9th month, no one was to set fish-weirs, or himasakiri—an unknown device, but probably another type of fish trap.  Ohoama also prohibited the eating of cattle, horses, dogs, monkeys, or chickens.  Other animals, including boar, deer, fish, etc., were all fair game, as it were. The prohibition on traps is likely because they were a hazard to anyone walking through the area.  In the Tang dynasty they did something similar, but they did make exceptions for hunters in the deep mountains, who were supposed to put up signs warning any travelers.  As for the weirs and himasakiri, whatever that might be, I have less context, but likely it did have some reasoning—possibly similar to our modern concepts of having certain seasons for various types of fishing.  Fish weirs do create obstructions, and between the 4th and 9th lunar months Japan does see the summer monsoon rains—could that be the reason?  Tsuyu, or rainy season, is often around July to mid-June, today.  Or perhaps there is another motivation for that particular prohibition. As for the eating of various animals—of the animals listed, all but the monkeys are domesticated animals who generally weren't considered as food animals.  Cattle were used for working the fields, horses were ridden, and dogs were used for hunting.  I wonder if monkeys were just too close to people. The chicken prohibition may seem odd to us, today.  The word for chicken, "niwatori", literally means garden bird, though the Nihon Shoki uses something more like "barn door bird".  We know that cock-fighting was a thing in later periods, and that chickens were associated with Amaterasu, possibly for their legendary habit of crowing as the sun comes up.  We can also note the lack of some animals, like cats, from the list.  Perhaps cats were never in danger of being seen as a food source, or perhaps cats just weren't as prevalent at the time—we know cats were around from at least the Nara period, but there isn't much evidence before that.  There are examples of bones thought to be from a cat from the Yayoi period found on Iki island, but it is hard to say from that if they were fully established across the archipelago. Still,  I do find it curious they are not on the list.Continuing on, we later see where see the court issued an edict that prohibited the cutting of grass or firewood on Mt. Minabuchi and Mt. Hosokawa.  Furthermore they prevented any indiscriminate burning or cutting on all of the mountains in the Home Provinces.  This feels somewhat religious—after all, the mountains were often considered the domain of the kami.  Perhaps there were some religious restrictions.  On the other hand, some of it sounds like they were trying to just ensure that with a growing population they didn't denude the mountains around the capital. This whole incident brings to mind problems that occurred in and around Chang'an, the western Tang capital.  The palace itself—not to mention all of the houses and temples—took so much wood that it was a drain on the nearby forests.  And that is without taking into account the simple harvesting of wood for cooking fires, tools, etc.  In fact, the logging industry of that time devastated the local environment, meaning that they had to travel farther and farther to find suitable wood for the monumental buildings they wished to create.  It is also thought to have contributed to various natural disasters in and around the capital.  Perhaps Yamato was worried that unrestricted logging in the Home Provinces could likewise cause problems?  Or was that simply an added benefit gained from the idea that mountains were sacred spaces?   Later in the 10th month of 679, there was an edict determining sumptuary rules for monks clothing, as well as what kind of retinue could accompany them when they went out.  We talked about this back in Episode 142.  That same month, there was an edict that, while monks and nuns might normally be expected to stay at a temple—such as in the quarters identified in the ruins of Kawaradera—that it became a problem when older monks became bed-ridden.  After all, if they couldn't leave their bed, then one can only imagine how it must have been.  Not to get overly graphic, but they couldn't exactly make it out to the latrine at that point, either.  So it was determined that if an elderly monk were to reach the stage that they were bed-ridden, and unlikely to recover, then the temple would seek out relatives or laypersons to help build a hut or two in vacant spaces on the temple grounds.  There, the sick and bed-ridden monks could be cared for in a more sanitary manner. Now the way this is written, on the one hand it seems they were worried about ritual purification as much as anything, but I imagine that this was also practical.  After all, as you get all of those monks living together, one can only imagine that disease and illness could easily spread in those close quarters.  So separating those who were quite sick only makes sense, like an early form of quarantine. A lot of these prohibitions seem to be fairly practical.  Don't put traps where people could accidentally fall into them.  Don't chop down the nearby forest—we may need that later.  And even: don't leave a sick or elderly monk in a crowded dormitory situation.But what about the penal codes? If you lived in the latter part of Temmu's reign and you did violate one of the rules mentioned above, or one of the many others at play, what would happen to you, and how did that vary based on your place in society? Unfortunately, most of what we get on this is kind of bare bones.  We often see the punishment, but not t he crime.  We are just told that someone was found guilty, or condemned.  Take, for example, the Buddhist Priest, Fukuyou, of Asukadera, who was condemned and thrown into prison.  We aren't told what he did to deserve confinement, but it wouldn't last long.  Apparently Fukuyou cut his own throat, ending his life, rather than face other consequences or live with the shame of whatever crime he had committed. By the way, the term "prison" here is interesting.  We certainly see people being imprisoned in some way, shape, or form—locked up and unable to freely travel.  That isn't exactly the same, however, as a prison complex or system.  There may have been buildings used a jail—a temporary holding facility while the actual punishment was determined.  And we also see the equivalent of house arrest.  Later, there would be formal "prisons" set up for the detention of individuals, who were often then forced to labor as part of their punishment.  However, they had many other forms of punishment, many of which required much fewer staff.  After all, a prison requires that you have guards constantly watching the prisoners to make sure nothing gets out of hand.  Instead, you could just exile them to an island or even just another province, with a lot less manpower. A less drastic punishment was handed out back in the 4th month of 675, when we are told that Tahema no Kimi no Hiromaro and Kunu no Omi no Maro were both forbidden from attending the court—for what purpose we aren't immediately told.  However, six days later, Kunu no Maro was held accountable for offering resistance to a royal messenger—maybe the one who communicated that he was banished from the court.  As a punishment, he was stripped of all of his offices and dignities.  Both Tahema no Hiromaro and Kunu no Maro appear to have been pardoned at a later date, though we aren't sure when.  It could have been one of the various general amnesties—and we'll talk about that in a moment.  Hiromaro passed away in 685, but he was provided a posthumous promotion in rank and is noted for his efforts supporting Ohoama during the Jinshin no Ran.  Meanwhile, Kunu no Maro—also known as Abe no Kunu no Maro is seen delivering a eulogy in 686.  Perhaps somewhat ironically, he did so on behalf of the Office of Punishments—later the Keimu-shou, or Ministry of Punishment.  These actions certainly seem to be at odds with them being punished, let alone banished from the court. We also see an example where  Prince Womi, who was of the 3rd princely ranks—even higher than Prince Kurikuma, whom we discussed last episode—was guilty of some kind of offense and banished to Inaba.  One of his children was also banished to Izushima and the other to Chikashima.  Aston suggests that this means Ohoshima and Chikashima may be in Hizen.  Again, very little to go on as to what was happening, though it seems that all three were punished together and sent away from each other, perhaps so that they could not plot or scheme together.  Later amnesties would probably have resulted in pardons for them.   Speaking of pardons—the punishments that we are speaking about all appear to be permanent, other than imprisonment, which may have been more of a temporary situation.  It wasn't like being sent away for so many years.  However, on the other side of the coin was the option for a pardon or amnesty.  While I imagine that the sovereign could always provide a pardon directly, we more regularly see general amnesties declared, sometimes with very specific guidelines. One of the most illuminating such instances, and possibly where Kunu no Maro and Tahema no Hiromaro were pardoned, came in the 7th month of 676.  That month the court issued a general amnesty, likely to increase the merit accrued to the State through an act of mercy and forgiveness, given the drought and famine that had been reported earlier that summer.  Perhaps paradoxically, this act of leniency gives us an interesting view into the types of punishments that were made, as well as how severe each was considered.    The amnesty mitigated all sentences of death, enforced servitude, or the three classes of banishment, and they would all be mitigated by one degree.  So anyone sentenced to death would instead just become enslaved.  Those who were sentenced to enslavement would be banished to a distant province.  Those banished to a distant province would only be banished to a province at a medium distance.  Banishment to a medium province would be downgraded to a nearer province.  And Banishment to a nearer province would be downgraded to banishment—or removal—to a place in the same province.  For anyone who committed a crime for which they would be removed to a place in the same province—or for any lesser crime—would be completely pardoned, whether or not the crime was actually known.  So you couldn't be held responsible, retroactively. This gives us a kind of hierarchy to use as far as the kinds of punishment that might be handed out.  Of course, there are also a few others, which I generally assume were considered lesser.  For instance: banishment from the court, or being stripped of government rank, that sort of thing. There was a caveat that this amnesty would not apply to those who had already left for their place of banishment—nor, obviously, to those who had already been executed.  So if you had already settled in to your new life, this amnesty didn't exactly matter.  This could be where Tahema no Hiromaro and Kunu no Maro were pardoned and thus allowed to find their way back into the court's good graces.  On the other hand, others probably wish that this amnesty happened a bit later—one month later, to be exact.  We are told that Prince Yagaki, the current viceroy of the Dazaifu, was accused of some offense and banished to Tosa, in Shikoku.  As usual, the record does not feel the need to tell us what the offense was or try to justify it anyway.   This is all well and good, but what exactly did the justice system look like?  How were criminals accused, and how would they investigate and prove your guilt?  In the 11th month of 682, we see a rather detailed description of how trials and punishment were to be carried out.  For any offense against the law, whether it was in the palace or the court, it would be immediately examined, and nobody was allowed to conceal information about it.  If the offense was grave enough, then the next step would depend on the rank of the individual.  For individuals of high birth, their guilt would be reported to the court, presumably for whatever punishment they deemed appropriate from there.  For others, they would be arrested.  If they resisted arrest, then the palace guards would be sent after them.  A typical punishment was flogging, which was not to go beyond 100 blows.  Finally, if the individual were clearly guilty, but yet continued to profess their innocence, then that would be considered perjury and added to their sentence. It should be noted that in East Asia at this time, there was no concept of innocent until proven guilty.  If you were accused of a crime, then it was up to you to prove that you were innocent.  It was not uncommon for an arrest to occur, and then for the authorities to then torture a confession out of the individual.  Since they already had assumed the individual's guilt, this was just meant to get them to admit it.  Even into modern times, Japan has had a high conviction rate, but there are accusations that this is simply because of the presence of coerced confessions.  A coerced confession helps to demonstrate that the system is correct, and working as designed, whilst protestations of innocence call into question the validity of the system. There is another type of guilt and punishment—and leniency, for that matter—mentioned in the 6th month of 677: We are told that the Yamato no Aya no Atahe were considered guilty of the "seven misdemeanors", which seems like it is more an indictment of their moral failings rather than any kind of direct criminal behavior.  Furthermore, they were accused of pushing back against the rightful sovereigns from the time of Kashikiya Hime down to the time of the Afumi court.  This would seem to indicate that they had been supporting the Soga and the Afumi court, but if so, I wouldn't say that the Chronicles help to clarify it in any way.  Perhaps they just were willful and not showing the right amount of loyalty to the throne.  Whatever they did, Ohoama was none too pleased, but he also didn't want to completely destroy the uji.  Instead, as a compromise, he offered them clemency for any past actions, pardoning them, but also claiming that if they stepped out of line again, then their offense would be unpardonable.  This whole entry is a vibe.  It is less of a punishment and more of a sword of Damocles being set up above them. Several years later, in 682, we see the Yamato no Aya being granted the title of Muraji.  In consequence of the appointment, the entire household—all the men and women alike, presented themselves to the court.  They rejoiced and praised Ohoama, thanking him for raising them in status.  This doesn't feel like a normal entry—it isn't like every family was coming into court and giving thanks every time that a promotion was handed out.  This feels like classic "kissing the ring" to get back into good graces with someone who was, effectively, an autocratic ruler.  While there was a bureaucracy, based on everything we've seen Ohoama had bent it largely to his will by appointing family members and other members of the elite princely class—those with at least nominal familial connections—to positions of power and authority.   And with that, I think we will bring this episode to a close.  Next episode we'll finish out this reign with a few projects and various other miscellaneous events. Until then if you like what we are doing, please tell your friends and feel free to rate us wherever you listen to podcasts.  If you feel the need to do more, and want to help us keep this going, we have information about how you can donate on Patreon or through our KoFi site, ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo, or find the links over at our main website,  SengokuDaimyo.com/Podcast, where we will have some more discussion on topics from this episode. Also, feel free to reach out to our Sengoku Daimyo Facebook page.  You can also email us at the.sengoku.daimyo@gmail.com.  Thank you, also, to Ellen for their work editing the podcast. And that's all for now.  Thank you again, and I'll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  

Het sleutelwoord in de reeks der rafelrandjes: autonomie. Baskenland kan erover meepraten. Hoe dwing je het af? Hoe hard moet je ervoor willen vechten? En hoeveel autonomie wil je dan precies? Het zijn vragen waar menig rafelrandje nog geen antwoorden op heeft. Maar Baskenland is al een paar stappen verder. Eeuwenlang hing de dreigende verzwelging door het machtige Spanje - en Frankrijk - als een zwaard van Damocles boven de groene Baskische bergen. Maar nu hangen er overal weer trotse, maar kletsnat geregende rood-wit-groene vlaggen boven de huizen, en de letters T, Z en X rollen weer over de tongen. Eind goed, al goed? Zo snel willen we niet gaan. Maar het is hier wel eens minder gezellig geweest.

New music from MOSCOW LEGEND, OBEKA, PLEASE + HEAVEE, JACE INMAN, BODYMAN, THE BLACK DOG + more, on this ABSTRACT SCIENCE podcast, hosted by BILL BEARDEN aka WHOA-B + CHRIS WIDMAN. BILL begins the program with a mix of grime, uk garage, breakbeat + juke. WIDMAN follows with footwork jungle, drum n bass, electro, dub + experimental sounds [aired 15 January 2026 on WLUW-Chicago 88.7FM] >BILL BEARDEN aka WHOA-B Kush Arora “Alghoza Reaper” (Not On Label, 2025) Cesco & Bidle “Overdue” (1985 Music, 2023) L-VIS 1990 “Junglism” (Club Djembe, 2025) Ivy Lab “Cut Cut” (Twenty Twenty, 2024) Liquid DnB-like Ambient Grime “’22 Grime Mix” (Sneaker Social Club, 2024) DJ Fitness ft Señor Faxwater “Tres Tristes Tigres” (Isla, 2025) Hekkla “Damocles” (3024, 2021) Rygby “Giardino Bellini” (Not On Label, 2025) Moscow Legend “Watts” (Not On Label, 2026) Mani Festo “Pathfinder” (Shall Not Fade, 2022) Sun People “Exhausting Care” (Candy Mountain, 2024) Obeka ft Big Dreco “Ready for the Soundman” (Metrodome Remix, Yuku, 2025) Alohn “Horloge du 3ème Âge” (Soa420 Remix, Traverse, 2024) Prettybwoy “Holocene” (SVBKVLT, 2025) Proc Fiskal “Imagemage” (Shleekit Doss, 2025) DJ Polo “If The Glove Fits” (Livity Sound, 2024) Samurai Breaks “Oshee” (Worst Behavior, 2023) Sam Binga & Fracture “I Jus Wanna” (Pineapple Records, 2024) >CHRIS WIDMAN Konx-om-Pax “Phantasy 2” (Uaxuctum, 2025) Wordcolour “Spiral Emoji” (Ratios IV Please & Heavee “High Quality Ramen” (Year of the Snake, Issa Party, 2025) Weval “DOPAMINE (Tim Reaper Remix)” (Ninjatune, 2025) Suburban Architecture “Turning Point (4hero Remix)” (The Complete Architecture Dubs, 2025) Om Unit “The Chase” (Acid Dub Studies III, 2025) Identified Patient “Return” (Reset, Dekmantel UFO, 2025) Jace Inman “Mover” (All Energy, NFC Records, 2025) Bodyman “Stimulant Hoarder” (World Leader EP, Satellite Trax, 2025) Lapalux “DPO Melt” (On The Grid JASSS “Sand Wrists” (Eager Buyers The Black Dog “Working Class Sabbath” (Loud Ambient, Dust Science, 2025) The Bug “Duppied (Brixton Rec) (The Bug vs Ghost Dubs – Implosion, Pressure, 2025) Fivepaw “Heaven Scent” (Fivepaw / Memory Dust EP, 2025) The post absci radio 1404 – whoa-b + chris widman appeared first on abstract science >> future music chicago.

Fallas como la corrupción y el narc0tráf1c0 mantiene espada de Damocles de EU sobre nosotros: MeyerEnlace para apoyar vía Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/julioastilleroEnlace para hacer donaciones vía PayPal:https://www.paypal.me/julioastilleroCuenta para hacer transferencias a cuenta BBVA a nombre de Julio Hernández López: 1539408017CLABE: 012 320 01539408017 2Tienda:https://julioastillerotienda.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're returning after a long unplanned break with the most important awards ceremony in film: the Trashies!Nick and Erin are running down their favourite performances of 2025, talk instrumental & song scores, and our best theatre-going memories of the year before discussing new-to-us discoveries and our top 5 of the year.It all leads up to the key questions of the year: how did they make Ethan Hawke just a little guy? Why is Josh O'Connor legally mandated to appear in every film? What's with all the dual roles (looking at you Robert Pattinson, Michael B Jordan, and Wagner Moura)? And just who is Damocles?But most importantly, who will take home the vaunted Golden Garbage Can Lid? Past winners include Nolan's OPPENHEIMER and Guadagnino's CHALLENGERS.Movies discussed - light spoilers on all of the below:BLUE MOON - Richard LinklaterIF I HAD LEGS I'D KICK YOU - Mary BronsteinWAKE UP DEAD MAN - Rian JohnsonBLACK BAG - Steven SoderberghSINNERS - Ryan CooglerTHE SECRET AGENT - Kleber Mendonça FilhoONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER - Paul Thomas AndersonNIRVANNA THE BAND THE SHOW THE MOVIE - Matt JohnsonNO OTHER CHOICE - Park Chan-wookTHE NAKED GUN - Akiva SchafferUNIVERSAL LANGUAGE - Matthew RankinDEUX FEMMES EN OR (TWO WOMEN) - Chloé RobichaudMICKEY 17 - Bong Joon Ho

John welcomes The Daily Show's Jordan Klepper back to the show for a fond remembrance of the lives and legendary film and television careers of Rob and Michele Singer Reiner. Klepper also discusses his latest Daily Show special, which took him from Mississippi to Norway to Portland, Oregon, where he took part in a naked anti-ICE protest and got pepper-sprayed in the process; the challenges of finding the funny amid the fear and loathing that have typified the Trump 2.0 era; and the sword of Damocles that hung over late night comedy in the year of Jimmy Kimmel's suspension and Stephen Colbert's cancellation. See all the ways bp is investing in America at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠bp.com/InvestingInAmerica⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ . To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We talk about turbo cancer, government agencies doing things we'd rather they didn't, and the Sword of Damocles that is inevitable betrayal by politicians.

O todo o nada. Dicen que no habrá más oportunidades de fallar. La espada de Damocles pende sobre su cabeza indefinidamente. Si no es el próximo partido, será el siguiente. No hay margen para el error. Min. 01 Seg. 51 – Intro Min. 07 Seg. 30 - El último ultimátum Min. 11 Seg. 28 - Ultimátum en sesión continua Min. 17 Seg. 18 - Decisión tomada salvo que remonte Min. 22 Seg. 26 - Algo se torción muchos meses atrás Min. 27 Seg. 07 - Los siguientes serán los jugadores Min. 35 Seg. 51 - Está deseando que le echen Min. 38 Seg. 47 – Ya no da la talla Min. 42 Seg. 15 – Algo tienen en común Benítez, Lopetegui y Alonso Min. 47 Seg. 41 – No sabemos quién, pero tiene que haber un sustituto Min. 53 Seg. 06 - Enfermo en cuidados paliativos Min. 58 Seg. 59 - Hace falta fichar, pero están tiesos Min. 63 Seg. 48 - Despedida Faces (Providence, RI 25/02/1975) Guitar solo Bring It On Home To Me > You Send Me Twistin' The Night Away Take A Look At The Guy Angel Maggie May It's All Over You Wear It Well Too Bad Stay With Me Sweet Little Rock And Roller (I Know) I'm Losing You Elvis Costello & The Imposters - She (Poznan 28/06/2008)

PREVIEW — Chris Riegel — US Tariffs Devastate Chinese Manufacturing and Economic Stability. Riegel reports that American tariff policies have severely damaged Chinese manufacturing sectors, catalyzing emergence of dark factories with minimal human employment and declining utilization rates. Riegel documents that China's attempted export pivot toward Russia cannot compensate for lost Western markets, leaving China's economy unstable beneath catastrophic debt burden functioning as structural sword of Damocles. Riegel emphasizes that China's debt-constrained economic model prevents stimulus and infrastructure spending necessary to absorb factory closures and employment displacement from American trade restrictions. V

- Primero, que Gertz cuidó el pacto de Impunidad, eficazmente, durante casi 7 años. - Segundo, que Gertz era el arma política más dura contra cualquier cualquier amenaza o contrincante del Narco Régimen. - Tercero, sabemos que lópez se lo impuso a Sheinbaum como seguro de continuidad del pacto de impunidad. - Cuarto, sabemos que el expediente de Raúl Rocha Cantú es tan grave que su filtración fue la gota que derramó el vaso. - Quinto, sabemos que él o la nueva titular de la FGR trabajará para el expresidente lópez, como nueva espada de Damocles. - De esas 5 cosas, tengo plena certeza. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

¿Sabías que hay coches con etiqueta CERO que contaminan más que uno con etiqueta C? ¿Y que esa etiqueta CERO puede tener los días contados? Hoy en GH analizamos el ciclo de vida COMPLETO (fabricación, uso y reciclaje) de un coche con datos reales. Comparamos 4 versiones de un SUV (Gasolina, Híbrido, PHEV y Eléctrico) en un uso de 10 años y 150.000 km. El veredicto de nuestra "Pizarra Hermética" te va a sorprender. FASE 1: LA FABRICACIÓN: La "Deuda de Carbono". Aquí empieza la sorpresa. Fabricar un coche de gasolina genera unas 14 toneladas de CO2. Fabricar su equivalente eléctrico (basado en datos de Volvo) genera 25 toneladas. ¡Casi un 80% más! El culpable es la batería, por la enorme energía necesaria para extraer el litio, cobalto y níquel. El coche eléctrico sale de fábrica con una gran "deuda de carbono" y, además, con un precio de compra mucho más alto. FASE 2: EL USO A 10 AÑOS: Ahorro vs. Riesgo Catastrófico) Durante su uso, el eléctrico es imbatible en el día a día. Recargarlo es mucho más barato que repostar gasolina (aprox. 2,70 € vs 10,15 € cada 100 km). PERO... ¿qué pasa en el año 9 y 10? La garantía media de la batería es de 8 años. Un coche de gasolina de 10 años tendrá gastos previsibles (quizá 1.000 € o 2.000 €). Un coche eléctrico fuera de garantía se enfrenta a una "espada de Damocles" financiera: un fallo de batería puede costar 10.000 €, 15.000 € o incluso 20.000 €. Esa única factura anula de golpe todo el ahorro de la década. Este riesgo destruye el Coste Total de Propiedad (TCO). ¿Quién compra un coche eléctrico de 10 años fuera de garantía? El mercado de segunda mano penaliza esta incertidumbre y el valor de reventa se desploma. LA TRAMPA DE LOS PHEV Y LAS ETIQUETAS DGT El otro gran mito: los Híbridos Enchufables (PHEV) y su consumo de 1,5 L/100km. Es una fantasía de laboratorio que solo se cumple si lo cargas a diario. La UE lo sabe y, desde 2025, cambiará las reglas (Factor de Utilidad) basándose en el USO REAL (la gente no los carga). Consecuencias: El CO2 homologado de los PHEV se multiplicará. Perderán el acceso a ayudas (MOVES) y pagarán más Impuesto de Matriculación. Esto impacta de lleno en las etiquetas de la DGT. El sistema actual es un coladero. Se espera que los Mild-Hybrid (MHEV) pierdan la etiqueta ECO y los PHEV pierdan la CERO (salvo los de gran autonomía). Aunque la DGT dice que no será retroactivo, la inseguridad jurídica para los coches ya vendidos es enorme. EL VEREDICTO FINAL Tenemos dos veredictos: 1. Veredicto Medioambiental (Total a 150.000 km) (De menos a más contaminante) Eléctrico (BEV): ~32,5 t CO2 (Gana si se carga con energía limpia). Híbrido Convencional (HEV). Gasolina: ~39 t CO2. Híbrido Enchufable (PHEV): El PEOR de todos si no se carga, superando al gasolina. 2. Veredicto Económico (Riesgo a 10 años) (De más a menos recomendable financieramente) Gasolina: El más predecible. Coste bajo, mantenimiento conocido y sin "facturas-bomba". Híbrido Convencional (HEV): Muy fiable. Híbrido Enchufable (PHEV): Doble riesgo (térmico + batería) y futuro legal incierto. Eléctrico (BEV): El más arriesgado. El ahorro diario queda anulado por el riesgo de la batería post-garantía. La película a 10 años vista es muy diferente a la que nos cuentan. ¿Estás de acuerdo con este análisis? ¿Cuál es tu experiencia? Déjanos tu opinión en los comentarios.

Het Congres in de VS heeft vrijwel unaniem gestemd voor de vrijgave van die Epstein-files, het dossier over de zaak rond Jeffrey Epstein. President Donald Trump heeft dat maandenlang proberen tegenhouden, maar maakte dit weekend een bocht. Waarom? Investeerder Jeffrey Epstein werd voor zijn dood beschuldigd voor het opzetten van een netwerk waarbij minderjarigen seksueel werden misbruikt. Het dossier hangt als een zwaard van Damocles boven het hoofd van Donald Trump, want hij was jarenlang bevriend met Epstein en zou ook opduiken in het dossier. Trump riep de Republikeinen van zijn partij deze op om vóór de wet te stemmen die de vrijgave mogelijk maakt. Waarom die nieuwe bocht? Wat betekent de hele Epstein-saga voor zijn MAGA-achterban? En is de macht van Trump nog zo absoluut als we vooraf dachten? CREDITS Journalist Steven De Foer | Presentatie en (eind)redactie Alexander Lippeveld | Redactie Magali Duchesne, Sofie Steenhaut | Audioproductie Joris Van Damme | Muziek Brecht Plasschaert | Chef podcast Alexander Lippeveld See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kijkcijferkanon Even tot hier er weer, net als Wie is de Mol?, een jubileumeditie nog wel, terwijl Temptation Island er ook weer aan komt. Mediaverslaggever Mark den Blanken verheugt zich op de terugkeer van het realityprogramma ‘als het integer gemaakt wordt’. Columniste Angela de Jong vindt de titel ‘walgelijk’. ,,Je bent als programmamaker geen knip voor de neus waard als je deze show laat terugkeren.” Gespreksstof voldoende voor het panel van de AD Media Podcast dat ook het gloednieuwe SBS 6-programma Zwaard van Damocles onder de loep neemt. Kritisch, dat wel, ‘er hangt een negatieve sfeer’. Hilarischer is de laatste aflevering van VT Wonen, waarin René en Denise de make-over van hun onderkomen, op z’n zachtst gezegd, afkeurden. Verder wordt stilgestaan bij het overlijden van Joost Prinsen en komen de ‘zaak Marco Borsato’ en 100 jaar (BNN)Vara aan de orde. In de rubriek Het Radiohoekje bespreekt Mark den Blanken de ingreep van Talpa om Jan Grootentraast toe te voegen aan de ochtendshow van Gordon en Froukje de Both op Radio 10. De mediaverslaggever sprak onder anderen Jeroen van Inkel over de zet. Angela de Jong heeft een verrassende serie in haar Etalage. Luisteren dus! Naar de wekelijkse AD Media Podcast, waarin TV-columniste Angela de Jong, mediaverslaggever Dennis Jansen en Mark den Blanken alle hoofd-, rand-, en bijzaken bespreken op het gebied van radio en televisie. De presentatie is in handen van Manuel Venderbos. Gebruik je liever je favoriete podcastsapps via Spotify of Apple? Dat kan! Vind alle onze podcasts op ad.nl/podcasts.Support the show: https://krant.nl/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Het panel van de AD Media Podcast heeft zich verveeld bij Vandaag Inside. Gast Frans Timmermans werd weinig kritisch bevraagd en er viel ook weinig te lachen in het programma. „Met al die politici te gast wordt VI doodsaai.” Bij Manuel Venderbos thuis wordt er kritisch gekeken naar De slimste mens. In huize Venderbos missen ze chemie tussen presentator Herman van der Zandt en eenmansjury Paulien Cornelisse. Oud-De slimste mens-winnaar Angela de Jong kan zich daar niet in vinden. Eric Corton krijgt kritiek op zijn rol als rechercheur in het nieuwe seizoen van Flikken Maastricht. Fans van de serie leggen zich niet neer bij het vertrek van Victor Reinier als Floris Wolfs. Dan heeft ook Flikken Rotterdam nog eens lagere kijkcijfers dan voorheen. Maar er is ook goed nieuws voor de Flikken-franchise. Daarnaast wordt het afvallerseiland bij Expeditie Robinson besproken. Het nieuwe Art Rooijakkers-programma Zwaard van Damocles wordt kritisch bekeken. Wat is het format nou precies? En de kandidaten waren ook al erg vaak te zien in gelijksoortige programma’s. Het panel kreeg buikpijn bij het kijken van Kiespijn. Diederik Ebbinge wordt gemist als presentator en Roel Maalderink maakt geen goede beurt. Dennis Jansen heeft een kijktip en er is een oproep aan de luisteraars: geef ons tips voor programma’s waar je wel blij van wordt. Luisteren dus! Naar de wekelijkse AD Media Podcast, waarin columnist Angela de Jong en verslaggevers Dennis Jansen en Mark den Blanken alle hoofd-, rand-, en bijzaken bespreken op het gebied van media. De presentatie is in handen van Manuel Venderbos. Luister je liever via Spotify of Apple, of een andere podcastapp? Dat kan! Vind al onze podcasts op ad.nl/podcasts.Support the show: https://krant.nl/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Vandaag duiken we in een onderwerp dat België op zijn grondvesten doet schudden: de Belgische begroting en de grootste sanering in meer dan een generatie. Het tekort loopt op tot astronomische hoogtes – we praten over miljarden die als een zwaard van Damocles boven ons hoofd hangen. De Federale regering staat voor een titanentaak: niet zomaar wat knippen en plakken, maar een fundamentele herstructurering die pijn doet, maar essentieel is voor onze toekomst. Laten we beginnen met de basis: waarom is deze sanering zo gigantisch en moeilijk? In Trends podcasts vind je alle podcasts van Trends en Trends Z, netjes geordend volgens publicatie.  De redactie van Trends brengt u verschillende podcasts over wat onze wereld en maatschappij beheerst.  Vanuit diverse invalshoeken en met een uitgesproken focus op economie en ondernemingen, op business, personal finance en beleggen.  Onafhankelijk, relevant, telkens constructief en toekomstgericht.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Crystal shares some health news and discusses why your closest friends are the worst people.

Hoy escuchamos: Iron Maiden- Bring your daughter to the slaughter, Trivium- Like a sword over Damocles, Sabaton- Stormtroopers, The Gathering- Strange machines, Queensryche- Queen of the reich, Heat- Disaster, Lacuna Coil- Gravity, Kinnia- La danza del cuervo, Marylin Manson- Antichrist superstar, Feuerschwanz- Sam the brave, The Vintage Caravan- Alone, Caliban- Solace in suffer, Imminence- Come what may.Escuchar audio

Charlie Kirk, the Kirk assassination, George Zinn, Zinn's arrest for child porn, June 14 SLC No Kings march, Armed Queers LLC, Utah County Sheriff's Department, David Lee Hamblin, Satanic ritual abuse (SRA), Hamblin's use of narco-hypnosis, David Leavitt, Ukraine, Gordon Bowen, Sundance, Robert Redford, M. Russell Ballard, Timothy Ballard, Operation Underground Railroad (OUR), Minnesota and OUR's move to, OUR's links to Ukraine, Kash Patel, Patel's links to Ballard, Richard C. O'Brien, Kirk's links to Ballard, Medvedev's Ukraine accusations, Jason Goodman, George Webb, attempts to link Ukraine to the assassination, Cambridge Analytica and its network, Russia-Israel links, intrigues in Trump 2.0, OUR as the Sword of Damocles in Trump 2.0, the similarities between Hamblin's techniques and CIA/Pentagon behavior modificationResourcesMusic by: Keith Allen Dennishttps://keithallendennis.bandcamp.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

En este episodio, El Dr. César Lozano nos cuenta la moraleja de la espada de Damocles, un joven que pensaba que tener dinero y poder era la felicidad...  ¿Cómo resultó? Escucha esta historia de ilusiones.Escucha Pregúntale a César en el podcast de Por el Placer de Vivir con César Lozano, en Uforia App, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, ViX y el canal de YouTube de Uforia Podcasts, o donde sea que escuches tus podcasts. ¿Cómo te sentiste al escuchar este Episodio? Déjanos tus comentarios, suscríbete y cuéntanos cuáles otros temas te gustaría oír en #porelplacerdevivir 

Agosto de 1945: La Segunda Guerra Mundial está por terminar. Sólo Japón, aun estando prácticamente derrotado, sigue en pie de guerra. El presidente de los Estados Unidos, Harry Truman, decide doblegarlos, desatando el infierno sobre los inocentes habitantes de dos ciudades. Con las bombas atómicas sobre Hiroshima y Nagasaki la humanidad colocó la “espada de Damocles” de una guerra apocalíptica sobre su cabeza.BibliografíaBadia, Félix. Bomba Atómica. ¿La causa de la rendición de Japón? En Revista Historia y Vida #689. Agosto, 2025. Pp. 64-69 S/A. Hiroshima y Nagasaki: La masacre de las bombas atómicas. Revista Historia. National Geographic. 6 de agosto de 2024. Página Web: https://historia.nationalgeographic.com.es/a/hiroshima-nagasaki-masacre-bombas-atomicas_10590 Serrano, Carlos. 80 años de Hiroshima y Nagasaki: cómo fue el “infierno” en el que murieron decenas de miles por las bombas atómicas. BBC News Mundo 6 de agosto de 2025. Página WEB: https://www.bbc.com/mundo/resources/idt-897d70df-056b-413c-ac44-cdacae33bc8c Wallace, Arturo. ¿Era necesario lanzar la bomba atómica sobre Hiroshima? BBC Mundo 6 de aosto de 2015. Actualizado al 26 de mayo de 2016. Página Web: https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias/2015/08/150805_hiroshima_bomba_atomica_aniversario_razones_aw#:~:text=Y%20pocos%20despu%C3%A9s%2C%20el%2015,tiempo%20se%20le%20ven%C3%ADa%20exigiendo.&text=Terminaba%20as%C3%AD%20la%20Segunda%20Guerra,vidas%20humanas%2C%20para%20ambos%20bandos.&text=Pie%20de%20foto%2C%20Los%20aliados,recurrir%20a%20las%20armas%20nucleares

La Tertulia de los Jueves con Cecilia Eguiluz, Gabriel Mazzarovich, Ana Laura Pérez y Daniel Supervielle. *** El presidente Yamandú Orsi tuvo a su cargo las palabras de apertura, este lunes, en la conferencia “Narcotráfico: una espada de Damocles sobre las democracias”, organizada por el canal digital Yunta. En su ponencia, Orsi repasó los efectos de medio siglo de guerra contra las drogas y reconoció que, aunque Uruguay ha preservado su institucionalidad, el narcotráfico logró instalarse y transformar al país en un punto de acopio. “Y con el acopio empezaron a aparecer armas de guerra en manos de muchachos cada vez más jóvenes. Y, de la mano de eso, el país vio cómo, en treinta años, su población carcelaria se multiplicó por ocho, integrada por gente cada vez más joven, pobre y adicta. Nos convertimos en uno de los países con mayor consumo per cápita de cocaína en el mundo. Y los que consumen, a diferencia de la mayoría de los pequeños traficantes, no son necesariamente pobres; por eso las naciones más ricas son también las que más droga consumen”. En el coloquio expusieron tres expertos en el tema: el politólogo uruguayo-chileno Juan Pablo Luna, el investigador estadounidense Benjamin Lessing y el sociólogo argentino Marcelo Saín. La jornada convocó a un público numeroso y calificado, que incluyó autoridades nacionales, los principales dirigentes de todos los partidos políticos, líderes empresariales y público en general.

Send us a textThis week we review the season four episode Between the Darkness and the Light.Mike is pretty sure JMS was very very tired, Joe really doesn't want to call this a heist, and Sarah tries to figure our what the resistance does with all of their time.Spoiler-free discussion: 0:00:00 - 0:57:05Spoiler Zone: 0:57:05 - 1:01:08Next Episode and other Shenanigans: 1:01:08Music from this episode:"Surf Punk Rock" By absentrealities is licensed under CC-BY 3.0"Please Define The Error" By Delta Centauri is licensed under CC-BY 3.0"The Haunted McMansion" By Megabit Melodies is licensed under CC-BY 3.0

Matty A. retells the ancient Sword of Damocles parable—a cautionary tale about the hidden risks, pressures, and responsibilities that come with power. He draws parallels between this story and today's world of investing and entrepreneurship, where success can feel glamorous but often carries unseen danger over your head.Ancient Story RecapDamocles, a courtier, envies the life of King Dionysius and is offered to switch roles for a day.While enjoying his new status, Damocles discovers a sword hanging by a single hair above his throne—illustrating that prestige often conceals constant peril.He quickly steps down, realizing that what appeared desirable from afar held immense hidden burden.Core LessonsPrestige comes with peril: The more power and success you pursue, the greater the hidden risks you inherit.Appreciation vs. reality: Outsiders see only the shine; insiders bear unrelenting stress and threat.Balanced ambition: True elite success demands awareness and acceptance of continuous pressure, not blind pursuit.Relevance to Investors & EntrepreneursReal estate risks: Each opportunity—whether CRE, syndication deals, or entrepreneurial ventures—hides potential "swords" like financing pitfalls, market shifts, and regulatory hurdles.Leadership burden: Scaling a business or leading teams brings responsibility, scrutiny, and complex decision-making that can feel like a sword hanging overhead.Strategic resilience: Success requires building both mental and financial safeguards—reserve funds, legal structures, and support systems—to withstand those pressures.Tools & Next StepsRisk Audit: Identify your personal and investment-related “swords”—the threats only you can see.Protective Measures: Build buffer systems—insurance, contingencies, advisors—to neutralize risk.Sustainable Success Planning: Create a roadmap that aligns your ambition with your capacity, ensuring growth without collapse.Key TakeawayElite success isn't just about climbing higher—it's about maintaining balance while a metaphorical sword lies overhead. Let the parable of Damocles remind you: True leadership and wealth come not from avoiding pressure, but from preparing to hold your ground under it.Episode Sponsored By:Discover Financial Millionaire Mindcast Shop: Buy the Rich Life Planner and Get the Wealth-Building Bundle for FREE! Visit: https://shop.millionairemindcast.com/CRE MASTERMIND: Visit myfirst50k.com and submit your application to join!FREE CRE Crash Course: Text “FREE” to 844-447-1555FREE Financial X-Ray: Text "XRAY" to 844-447-1555

In de FCA Daily van 18 juli bespreken Lars Jesse van Eijden, Mart ten Have en Lars van Velsum het aller laatste voetbalnieuws. Feyenoord loopt toch nog binnen op Al-Nassr aankoop David Hancko, Ajax heeft interesse in een Israëlisch toptalent, Vitesse moet het zoveelste zwaard van Damocles overleven en De Eerste De Beste staat op de Zwarte Cross!(00:00) | FCA talk(04:33) | Overlevingskans Jean-Paul Rison stijgt met verplaatsen wedstrijd(05:22) | Hancko toch naar Al-Nassr!(10:05) | Gloukh in belangstelling van Ajax(16:07) | Forbs naar Club Brugge(25:08) | Lukaku op stage bij FC Volendam(29:23) | Het einde van Vitesse nabij?(38:00) | Snoop Dogg mede-eigenaar Swansea CityLars, Lars en Mart verwijzen naar: https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/06/02/hoe-anton-gaaei-zijn-demonen-overwon-en-volwassen-werd-bij-ajax-a4895314Zie het privacybeleid op https://art19.com/privacy en de privacyverklaring van Californië op https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

New Yorkers shocked the country last week when they picked a Democratic Socialist TikTok star as the Democratic Party's nominee for mayor. So could a Zohran Mamdani-type phenomenon happen here? Our politics contributor Deep Singh Badhesha joins producer Paul Karolyi and host Bree Davies to talk about how our local politics are different. Plus, a food influencer shared a traumatizing and seemingly racist experience at Morning Story in DTC and our wins and fails of the week.  Come see us live at the Colfax Indie Bash on July 10! We'll be on stage with Mayor Mike Johnston on the patio at Champagne Tiger, and tickets are FREE. All you need to do is RSVP and come out for some good food, great people, and a live podcast with the mayor. RSVP here.  UPDATE: After we recorded this episode, the owners of Morning Story released another statement with more details about the incident with @UnfocusedFoodie. Bree talked about ⁠UMS's⁠⁠ big announcement⁠, ⁠Bar Bar's wall⁠, and ⁠Bruce Brown's return to the Nuggets⁠. Paul mentioned ⁠this Colorado Sun story⁠ about budding local entrepreneurs, ⁠9News' recent interview⁠ with DOTI director Amy Ford, the ⁠NYT's interview with Trump's border czar Tom Homan⁠, and the ⁠sword of Damocles⁠. Deep discussed the Boulder attack victim ⁠who passed⁠ this week and ⁠his personal restaurant guide⁠ to Denver. What do you think about a Zohran Mamdani-style candidate emerging in Denver? Could it happen here? Who might that be? We want to hear from you! Text or leave us a voicemail with your name and neighborhood, and you might hear it on the show: 720-500-5418 For even more news from around the city, subscribe to our morning newsletter Hey Denver at denver.citycast.fm. Watch the Friday show on YouTube: youtube.com/@citycastdenver Follow us on Instagram: @citycastdenver Chat with other listeners on reddit: r/CityCastDenver Support City Cast Denver by becoming a member: membership.citycast.fm/Denver Learn more about the sponsors of this July 2nd episode: City & County Denver Tech Looking to advertise on City Cast Denver? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Badlands Book Club, CannCon and Ashe in America tackle Chapter 4 of Overruled by Justice Neil Gorsuch and Janie Nitze, titled “Sword of Damocles.” The hosts dive into the story of racing legend Bobby Unser, who survived a deadly snowstorm only to be charged as a federal criminal for straying onto protected land. They explore how this case, and dozens like it, illustrate the explosive growth of federal criminal law, the erosion of mens rea standards, and the weaponization of vague regulations. Ashe and CannCon highlight shocking examples of ordinary Americans criminalized for minor infractions, from orchid collectors to schoolchildren charged over harmless pranks. The conversation also touches on the Supreme Court's weakening of the rule of lenity, the explosion of plea bargains replacing jury trials, and the unchecked power of bureaucracies to write laws ordinary citizens can't even locate, let alone understand. Drawing parallels to the January 6 prosecutions, they warn about a justice system that has become an engine of coercion rather than accountability. This is a sobering, detailed look at the hidden architecture of modern tyranny, one regulation at a time.

Yes, we are finally at chapter 22.Some time stamps for today's episode:45:25 - Tangletongue tries to stop the podcast1:08:00 - During Pride Month?!1:23:52 - Huh?x31:32:32 - Tangletongue befriends the groundBook: Warriors, Series 3: Power of Three #5: Long ShadowsSupport us on Ko-fi! WCWITCast Ko-fiFollow us on BlueSky! WCWITCastFollow us on Instagram! WCWITCastCat Fact Sources:Sir Indiana Bones | Skeleton MuseumIndiana Bones (@sir.indiana.bones) • InstagramMuseum of Osteology | OKC

Joanna Coles returns to dissect the latest turn in the Trump–Elon Musk war—and who better to decode the thoughts in Donald Trump's head than Michael Wolff, Trump's biographer. Wolff explains how the feud puts JD Vance's future in question because Vance's "only hardcore support" is from within the tech community. Wolff reminds us that Trump's Epstein connection still hangs over Trump like a sword Damocles. And Wolff shares that within the White House, people are saying "Thank God for LA" and the mass protests against ICE agents, which have stolen the American people's attention. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When it seems there's not enough time to enjoy the best things in life, we need to step back and get some perspective. Paul Rosenberg describes the luxury of thinking one's own thoughts. If you're not familiar with the Sword of Damocles, take a look at this essay by Jeff Thomas. It's not just political leaders who could feel that sword fall, but also entire populations. Article of the Day: I can't believe it's been almost a decade since Jacob Hornberger wrote this essay. His breakdown of gun control and the right to resist tyranny is as true today as it was then. Definitely information worth having. Sponsors: Life Saving Food Fifty Two Seven Alliance HSL Ammo Quilt & Sew

This week on The Tarot Diagnosis Podcast, I'm stepping back into my music-journalist roots (yes, I share a tidbit of my personal lore in this episode haha) and I'm leaning hard on my therapist brain to do something I've been dying to do: a Jungian-tarot psychoanalysis of Sleep Token's new single, “Damocles.” Beyond dissecting the song itself, this episode journeys into the artist's mind and unpacks the relentless push to outdo one's last creation, highlighting the unique ache of making art under capitalism.In this episode, I look at how a seemingly stripped-down metal track can crack open huge psychological themes of coping with fame, creative and emotional burnout, cognitive dissonance, and the inevitable collapse of any persona. Drawing on Jung's ideas of the Persona and Shadow, I unpack Vessel's lyrics line by line, explore the myth of Damocles, and show how the song mirrors key tarot archetypes like The Tower, The Moon, Seven of Wands, and The Emperor (but specifically The Emperor from the Somnia Tarot with that anvil-over-the-throne vibe).Along the way, you'll hear:Why the song's minimal arrangement is a clever metaphor for longing to return to simplicity amid skyrocketing successHow anonymity and adoration create cognitive dissonance and create emotional whiplashThe inner critic's cameo: “I know these chords are boring, but I can't always be killing the game”A tarot-infused reading of the lyrics that reveal a map from persona collapse to individuation and integrationEven if Sleep Token never hits your playlist, you'll still love hearing a therapist psychoanalyze a song and weave its themes through universal tarot archetypes.So grab your deck, hit play on “Damocles,” and join me for a deep dive where metal meets myth and tarot meets therapy.Want to find out all of the ways you can connect with me live this month? Join us inside⁠ The Symposium⁠! If you love The Tarot Diagnosis Podcast, please consider leaving a review! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This helps more people discover the show and is a great way to support my work

In this episode I will be sharing my initial thoughts of the new single Damocles. https://buymeacoffee.com/sleepstudy4

A manipulative "dark guru" assaults women in your community while event organizers ignore reports. How can safety be restored? It's Feedback Friday!And in case you didn't already know it, Jordan Harbinger (@JordanHarbinger) and Gabriel Mizrahi (@GabeMizrahi) banter and take your comments and questions for Feedback Friday right here every week! If you want us to answer your question, register your feedback, or tell your story on one of our upcoming weekly Feedback Friday episodes, drop us a line at friday@jordanharbinger.com. Now let's dive in!Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/1141On This Week's Feedback Friday:If you've ever wanted to hear Gabriel discuss feet, thumbs, and hot tubs with another J. Harbinger, you're going to love how this episode begins!Your arts community should be a safe haven, but it's been infiltrated by a predator who uses spiritual "shadow work" (à la Carl Jung) as a cover for assault. Multiple women have shared their stories with you, but event organizers won't act. How can you protect these women while ensuring this shady manipulator faces consequences without putting yourself in danger?Your mother-in-law threw you a baby shower featuring strangers from her MLM "tribe" who didn't follow registry instructions. The event felt more like her show than your celebration. Now you're anticipating boundary battles when the baby arrives — especially around her anti-science beliefs. You don't want to seem ungrateful, but what can you do to gain control of this awkward situation?As a federal employee during massive governmental "re-alignment," you're watching colleagues get "released" after lifetimes of civil service. With the sword of Damocles hanging over your own head daily, how do you process the potential loss of purpose, the anxiety of uncertainty, and the feeling that important work might remain undone? What's next if your mission suddenly evaporates?Your intellectually disabled sister-in-law attempted suicide in front of your young son after refusing an apology. Without legal guardianship established, paramedics couldn't force treatment, and your in-laws seem unwilling to address the situation properly. How do you protect your children, handle familial responsibility, and prepare for her eventual care?Recommendation of the Week: Strrrrrrrrretchiiiiiing!Remember the 27-year-old daughter who refused to leave her parents' home on Feedback Friday episode 1127? After discussing this "failure to thrive" case, listeners offered their perspectives on potential autism, cultural norms around adult children living at home, and the delicate balance between support and enabling. What does true parental love look like?Have any questions, comments, or stories you'd like to share with us? Drop us a line at friday@jordanharbinger.com!Connect with Jordan on Twitter at @JordanHarbinger and Instagram at @jordanharbinger.Connect with Gabriel on Twitter at @GabeMizrahi and Instagram @gabrielmizrahi.And if you're still game to support us, please leave a review here — even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter handle so we can thank you personally!This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors: jordanharbinger.com/dealsSign up for Six-Minute Networking — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course!Subscribe to our once-a-week Wee Bit Wiser newsletter today and start filling your Wednesdays with wisdom!Do you even Reddit, bro? Join us at r/JordanHarbinger!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This Lenten talk from Psalm 32 is about weight; internal weight upon the conscience; let it be an act or a past behavior that worries your heart, that you cannot get off your mind. It hangs over your head like the Sword of Damocles. Exhausting you; robbing you of living; stealing from you your peace; you can't really enjoy life as your eyes are always darting to see if the sword is yet in motion; and maybe some days you might even pray that the thread would go ahead and break and put you out of your fitful misery. But there is a way out... As the Talmud says: “God's forgiveness is the opening of a door to the light. If we only crack that door, God will then throw it open as wide as a highway...Confession is the hinge on which the door of repentance turns.” Your hinges may be a little rusty, but you just have to make a start; give it a little nudge - and God opens the door.

Donald Trump's Department of Justice officials have been trying to dismiss the criminal prosecution against New York City Mayor Eric Adams without prejudice, meaning they could continue holding the prosecution over his head as leverage. Judge Dale Ho appointed an outside attorney to brief and argue the issue, given that the DOJ prosecutors and defendant Adams are lockstep in their positions and no one is truly representing the interests of the American people. The outside lawyer, Paul Clement, has filed a 33-page brief arguing that the DOJ should not be permitted to dismiss the case without prejudice - meaning they could indict Adams again on the same charges any time they wanted. Clements said this is like DOJ "hanging the sword of Damocles over Adams' head."Glenn takes a look at this new court filing in the Eric Adams case.If you're interested in supporting our all-volunteer efforts, you can become a Team Justice patron at: / glennkirschner If you'd like to support Glenn and buy Team Justice and Justice Matters merchandise visit:https://shop.spreadshirt.com/glennkir...Check out Glenn's website at https://glennkirschner.com/Follow Glenn on:Threads: https://www.threads.net/glennkirschner2Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/glennkirschner2Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glennkirsch...Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/glennkirschn...TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/glennkirschner2See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Donald Trump's Department of Justice officials have been trying to dismiss the criminal prosecution against New York City Mayor Eric Adams without prejudice, meaning they could continue holding the prosecution over his head as leverage. Judge Dale Ho appointed an outside attorney to brief and argue the issue, given that the DOJ prosecutors and defendant Adams are lockstep in their positions and no one is truly representing the interests of the American people. The outside lawyer, Paul Clement, has filed a 33-page brief arguing that the DOJ should not be permitted to dismiss the case without prejudice - meaning they could indict Adams again on the same charges any time they wanted. Clements said this is like DOJ "hanging the sword of Damocles over Adams' head."Glenn takes a look at this new court filing in the Eric Adams case.If you're interested in supporting our all-volunteer efforts, you can become a Team Justice patron at: / glennkirschner If you'd like to support Glenn and buy Team Justice and Justice Matters merchandise visit:https://shop.spreadshirt.com/glennkir...Check out Glenn's website at https://glennkirschner.com/Follow Glenn on:Threads: https://www.threads.net/glennkirschner2Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/glennkirschner2Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glennkirsch...Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/glennkirschn...TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/glennkirschner2See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Our Head of Corporate Credit Research and Global Chief Economist explain why they're watching the consumer savings rate, tariffs and capital expenditures.----- Transcript -----Andrew Sheets: Welcome to Thoughts on the Market. I'm Andrew Sheets, Head of Corporate Credit Research at Morgan Stanley.Seth Carpenter: And I'm Seth Carpenter, Morgan Stanley's Global Chief Economist.Andrew Sheets: And today on this special episode of the podcast, we'll be discussing what could cause our optimistic view on the economy and credit to go wrong.Andrew Sheets: It's Friday, Oct 11th at 4pm in London.Seth Carpenter: And as it turns out, I'm in London with Andrew.Andrew Sheets: So, Seth you and your global economics team have been pretty optimistic on the economy this year. And have been firmly in the soft-landing camp. And I think we've seen some oscillation in the market's view around the economy over the course of the year, but more recently, we've started to see some better data and increasing confidence in that view.So, this is actually maybe the perfect opportunity to talk about – well, what could go wrong? And so, what are some of the factors that worry you most that could derail the story?Seth Carpenter: We have been pretty constructive all along the whole hiking cycle. In fact, we've been calling for a soft- landing. And if anything, where we were wrong with our forecast so far is that things have turned out even better than we dare hoped. But it's worth remembering part of the soft-landing call for us, especially for the US is that coming out of COVID; the economy rebounded employment rebounded, but not proportionally. And so, for a long time, up until basically now, US firms had been operating shorthanded. And so, we were pretty optimistic that even if there was something that caused a slowdown, you were not going to see a wave of layoffs. And that's usually what contributes to a recession. A slowdown, then people get laid off, laid off people spend less, the economy slows down more, and it snowballs.So, I have to say, there is gotta be just a little bit more risk because businesses basically backfilled most of their vacancies. And so, if we do get a big slowdown for some reason, maybe there's more risk than there was, say, a year ago. So, what could that something be is a real question. I think the first one is just -- there's just uncertainty.And maybe, just maybe, the restraint that monetary policy has imparted -- takes a little bit longer than we realized. It's a little bit bigger than we realized, and things are slowing down. We just haven't seen the full force of it, and we just slowed down a lot more.Not a whole lot I can do about that. I feel pretty good. Spending data is good. The last jobs report was good. So, I see that as a risk that just hangs over my head, like the sword of Damocles, at all times.Andrew Sheets: And, Seth, another thing I want to talk to you about is this analysis of the economy that we do with the data that's available. And yet we recently got some pretty major revisions to the US economic picture that have changed, you know, kind of our basic understanding of what the savings rate was, you know, what some of these indicators are.How have those revisions changed what you think the picture is?Seth Carpenter: So those benchmark revisions were important. But I will say it's not as though it was just a wholesale change in what we thought we understood. Instead, the key change that happened is we had information on GDP -- gross domestic product -- which comes from a lot of spending data. There's another bit of data that's gross domestic income that in some idealized economic model version of the world, those two things are the same -- but they had been really different. And the measured income had been much lower than the measured gross domestic product, the spending data. And so, it looked like the saving rate was very, very low.But it also raised a bit of a red flag, because if the savings rate is, is really low, and all of a sudden households go back to saving the normal amount, that necessarily means they'd slow their spending a lot, and that's what causes a downturn.So, it didn't change our view, baseline view, about where the economy was, but it helped resolve a sniggling, intellectual tension in the back of the head, and it did take away at least one of the downside risks, i.e. that the savings rate was overdone, and consumers might have to pull back.But I have to say, Andrew, another thing that could go wrong, could come from policy decisions that we don't know the answer to just yet. Let you in on a little secret. Don't tell anybody I told you this; but later this year, in fact, next month, there's an election in the United States.Andrew Sheets: Oh my goodness.Seth Carpenter: One of the policies that we have tried to model is tariffs. Tariffs are a tax. And so, the normal way I think a lot of people think about what tariffs might do is if you put a tax on consumer goods coming into the country, it could make them more expensive, could make people buy less, and so you'd get a little bit less activity, a little bit higher prices.In addition to consumer goods, though, we also import a lot of intermediate goods for production, so physical goods that are used in manufacturing in the United States to produce a final output. And so, if you're putting a tax on that, you'll get less manufacturing in the United States.We also import capital goods. So, things that go into business CapEx spending in the United States. And if you put a tax on that, well, businesses will do less investment spending. So, there's a disruption to actual US production, not just US consumption that goes on. And we actually think that could be material. And we've tried to model some of the policy proposals that are out there. 60 per cent tariff on China, 10 per cent tariff on the rest of the world.None of these answers are going to be exact, none of these are going to be precise, but you get something on the order of an extra nine-tenths of a percentage point of inflation, so a pretty big reversion in inflation. But maybe closing in on one and a half percentage points of a drag on GDP – if they were all implemented at the same time in full force.So that's another place where I think we could be wrong. It could be a big hit to the economy; but that's one place where there's just lots of uncertainty, so we have to flag it as a risk to our clients. But it's not in our baseline view.Seth Carpenter: But I have to say, you've been forcing me to question my optimism, which is entirely unfair. You, sir, have been pretty bullish on the credit market. Credit spreads are, dare I say it, really tight by historical standards.And yet, that doesn't cause you to want to call for mortgage spreads to widen appreciably. It doesn't call for you to want to go really short on credit. Why are you so optimistic? Isn't there really only one direction to go?Andrew Sheets: So, there are kind of a few factors the way that we're thinking about that. So, one is we do think that the fundamental backdrop, the economic forecast that you and your team have laid out are better than average for credit -- are almost kind of ideal for what a credit investor would like.Credit likes moderation. We're forecasting a lot of moderation. And, also kind of the supply and demand dynamics of the market. What we call the technicals are better than average. There's a lot of demand for bonds. And companies, while they're getting a little bit more optimistic, and a little bit more aggressive, they're not borrowing in the kind of hand over fist type of way that usually causes more problems. And so, you should have richer than average valuations. Now, in terms of, I think, what disrupts that story, it could be, well, what if the technicals or the fundamentals are no longer good? And, you know, I think you've highlighted some scenarios where the economic forecasts could change. And if those forecasts do change, we're probably going to need to think about changing our view. And that's also true bottom up. I think if we started to see Corporates get a lot more optimistic, a lot more aggressive. You know, hubris is often the enemy of the bond investor, the credit investor. I don't think we're there yet, but I think if we started to see that, that could present a larger problem. And both, you know, fundamentally it causes companies to take on more debt, but also kind of technically, because it means a lot more supply relative to demand.Seth Carpenter: I see. I see. But I wonder, you said, if our outlook, sort of, doesn't materialize, that's a clear path to a worse outcome for your market. And I think that makes sense.But the market hasn't always agreed with us. If we think back not that long ago to August, the market had real turmoil going on because we got a very weak Non Farm Payrolls print in the United States. And people started asking again. ‘Are you sure, Seth? Doesn't this mean we're heading for a recession?' And asset markets responded. What happened to credit markets then, and what does it tell you about how credit markets might evolve going forward, even if, at the end of the day, we're still right?Andrew Sheets: Well, so I think there have been some good indications that there were parts of the market where maybe investors were pretty vulnerably positioned. Where there was more leverage, more kind of aggressiveness in how investors were leaning, and the fact that credit, yes, credit weakened, but it didn't weaken nearly as much -- I think does suggest that investors are going to this market eyes wide open. They're aware that spreads are tight. So, I think that's important.The other I think really fundamental tension that I think credit investors are dealing with -- but also I think equity investors are -- is there are certain indicators that suggest a recession is more likely than normal. Things like the yield curve being inverted or purchasing manager indices, these PMIs being below 50.But that also doesn't mean that a recession is assured by any means. And so, I do think what can challenge the market is a starting point where people see indicators that they think mean a recession is more likely, some set of weak data that would seem to confirm that thesis, and a feeling that, well, the writing's on the wall.But I think it's also meant, and I think we've seen this since September, that this is a real, in very simple terms, kind of good is good market. You know, I got asked a lot in the aftermath of some of the September numbers, internally at Morgan Stanley, 'Is it, is it too good? Was the jobs number too good for credit?'And, and my view is, because I think the market is so firmly shifted to ‘we're worried about growth,' that it's going to take a lot more good data for that fear to really recede in the market to worry about something else.Seth Carpenter: Yeah, it's funny. Some people just won't take yes for an answer. Alright, let me, let me end up with one more question for you.So when we think about the cycle, I hear as I'm sure you do from lots of clients -- aren't we, late cycle, aren't things coming to an end? Have we ever seen a cycle before where the Fed hiked this much and it didn't end in tears? And the answer is actually yes. And so, I have often been pointing people to the 1990s.1994, there was a pretty substantial rate hiking cycle that doesn't look that different from what we just lived through. The Fed stopped hiking, held out at the peak for a while, and then the economy wobbled a little bit. It did slow down, and they cut rates. And some of the wobbles, for a while at least, looked pretty serious. The Fed, as it turns out, only cut 75 basis points and then held rates steady. The economy stabilized and we had another half decade of expansion.So, I'm not saying history is going to repeat itself exactly. But I think it should be, at least from my perspective, a good example for people to have another cycle to look at where things might turn out well with the soft landing.Looking back to that period, what happened in credit markets?Andrew Sheets: So, that mid-90s soft-landing was in the modern history of credit -- call it the last 40 years -- the tightest credit spreads have ever been. That was in 1997. And they were still kind of materially tighter from today's levels.So we do have historical evidence that it can mean the market can trade tighter than here. It's also really fascinating because the 1990s were kind of two bull markets. There was a first stage that, that stage you were suggesting where, you know, the Fed started cutting; but the market wasn't really sure if it was going to stick that landing, if the economy was going to be okay. And so, you saw this period where, as the data did turn out to be okay, credit went tighter, equities went up, the two markets moved in the same direction.But then it shifted. Then, as the cycle had been extending for a while, kind of optimism returned, and even too much optimism maybe returned, and so from '97, mid-97 onwards, equities kept going up, the stock market kept rallying, credit spreads went wider, expected volatility went higher. And so, you saw that relationship diverge.And so, I do think that if we do get the '90s, if we're that lucky, and hopefully we do get that sort of scenario, it was good in a lot of ways. But I think we need to be on the watch for those two stages. We still think we're in stage one. We still think they're that stage that's more benign, but eventually benign conditions can lead to more aggressiveness.Seth Carpenter: I think that's really fair. So, we started off talking about optimism and I would like to keep it that you pointed out that the '90s required a bit of good luck and I would wholeheartedly agree with that.So, I still remain constructive, but I don't remain naive. I think there are ways for things to go wrong. And there is a ton of uncertainty ahead, so it might be a rocky ride. It's always great to get to talk to you, Andrew.Andrew Sheets: Great to talk to you as well, Seth.And thanks for listening. If you enjoy the show, leave us a review wherever you listen, and share Thoughts on the Market with a friend or colleague today.

In which X-Force is kind of silly; that really isn't what “quantum” means; polite and lawful are two entirely different things, and Sam Guthrie is only one of them; Selene vogues; and the Hellfire Club plays the dead girlfriend card.