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Robert Rodriguez went from enforcing prison rules… to running the prison from the inside. After serving in the military, Robert became a correctional officer in Georgia — stepping into what he describes as one of the most corrupt prison systems in America. As a young officer, he quickly got swept into a brutal culture of violence, cover-ups, and unchecked power. He participated in beatings, witnessed extreme abuse, and says officers were rewarded for silence. Promoted to sergeant, Robert was rising through the system — until one tragic night. A fatal drunk driving accident led to a 14-year prison sentence… and everything flipped. The former sergeant entered the very world he once controlled — now wearing shackles instead of a badge. Inside, Robert didn't just survive — he became a high-ranking gang member, involved in smuggling contraband, controlling prison politics, and even having illicit relationships with staff. He eventually helped run operations behind bars. #PrisonStories #TrueCrimePodcast #DirtyCop #CorrectionalOfficer #WentToPrison #LawEnforcementTruth #RedemptionStory #LockedInPodcast Thank you to BLUECHEW & GLD for sponsoring this episode: BlueChew: Visit https://bluechew.com/ and use promo code LOCKEDIN at checkout to get your first month of BlueChew & pay five bucks for shipping. GLD: New customers get 50% Off AND a FREE chain with code LOCKEDIN at https://www.gld.com/ Connect with Robert Rodriguez: TikTok @RoyalRodriguez824 Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/ Shop Locked In Merch: http://www.ianbick.com/shop Timestamps: 00:00 From Guard to Criminal: The Dark Side of Corrections 03:00 Growing Up Rough & Joining the Military 06:00 Why He Joined Corrections After the Streets 10:00 Inside Prison Culture: Violence, Cover-Ups & Lawsuits 17:00 Dirty Officer Tactics & Getting Promoted Anyway 22:00 Corruption Stories They Never Wanted Exposed 29:00 The DUI That Turned a Sergeant Into an Inmate 36:00 Legal Fight, Conviction & Entering Prison as Former Staff 41:00 Fearing for His Life: Protective Custody vs Yard Politics 47:00 How He Gained Respect & Built a Network Inside 53:00 Becoming a High-Ranking Prison Gang Member 01:00:00 Contraband, Paid-Off Guards & Running the System 01:09:00 Sleeping With Staff & Abusing Power Behind Bars 01:16:00 Insane Prison Stories: Survival, Violence & Fear 01:27:00 Losing It All: How Prison Broke His Ego 01:38:00 Life After Prison: Trying to Rebuild & Find Redemption 01:47:00 Final Lessons: What Prison Taught Him About Power Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Macron's Political Crisis and the Rise of the National Rally Joseph Sternberg, Wall Street Journal, with John Batchelor Sternberg explains that President Macron's political turmoil stems from his determination to avoid new elections, fearing defeat by Marine Le Pen's National Rally. Macron's reform agenda failed because he was perceived as an urban elite disconnected from voters and lacked a cohesive free-market vision. Sternberg also addresses Prince Andrew, noting his lack of accountability regarding his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein makes him a permanent liability for the monarchy. 1871 PARIS SIEGE
Macron's Political Crisis and the Rise of the National Rally Joseph Sternberg, Wall Street Journal, with John Batchelor Sternberg explains that President Macron's political turmoil stems from his determination to avoid new elections, fearing defeat by Marine Le Pen's National Rally. Macron's reform agenda failed because he was perceived as an urban elite disconnected from voters and lacked a cohesive free-market vision. Sternberg also addresses Prince Andrew, noting his lack of accountability regarding his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein makes him a permanent liability for the monarchy.
In this week's Sunday live, we dive deep into critical issues facing Christians today—from childhood trauma and relationship fears to passive husbands, roommate syndrome in marriage, and questions about healing and miracles. We continue a Bible study on the book of 1 John 5, addressing that Sin is Not Who You Are! Q&A Topics Covered: […]
It's Casual Friday at the Majority Report On today's show: On Wednesday night Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders held a townhall in Washington DC hosted by Kaitlin Collins on CNN. At the townhall Sanders and AOC used the opportunity to call out Russ Vought and the Trump administration's attack on "democrat programs". AOC and Sander's both highlight the differences between them and Trump is that they will fight for all Americans, not just the ones that voted for their party. Columnist at salon.com, proprietor of the Hullabaloo blog and Majority Report favorite, Heather 'Digby' Parton joins the show to wrap up the week's news. Filmmaker and friend of the show, Matthew Film Guy joins the program for a catch up. Sign up for Matthew's online film appreciation class In the Fun Half: We take an in-depth look at the NYC Mayoral Debates. ICE continues to wage violence on American citizens, this time ramming a truck in the middle of street only to release the man with no charges. All that and more The Congress switchboard number is (202) 224-3121. You can use this number to connect with either the U.S. Senate or the House of Representatives. Follow us on TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@majorityreportfm Check us out on Twitch here: https://www.twitch.tv/themajorityreport Find our Rumble stream here: https://rumble.com/user/majorityreport Check out our alt YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/majorityreportlive Gift a Majority Report subscription here: https://fans.fm/majority/gift Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! https://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: https://majority.fm/app Go to https://JustCoffee.coop and use coupon code majority to get 10% off your purchase Check out today's sponsors: SUNSET LAKE: Head to SunsetLakeCBD.com and use coupon code “Left Is Best” (all one word) for 20% off of your entire order Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattLech Check out Matt's show, Left Reckoning, on YouTube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Check out Matt Binder's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/mattbinder Subscribe to Brandon's show The Discourse on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse Check out Ava Raiza's music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.co
Headlines for October 15, 2025; Anti-Fascism Scholar Flees U.S. Fearing for His Family’s Safety Amid Trump’s “Antifa” Fearmongering; Historian Joel Beinin on Gaza Deal, Abandoning Zionism, His Israeli Niece’s Captivity in Gaza & More; Lindsey Boylan, Ex-Cuomo Aide Who Accused Him of Sexual Harassment, on Why She Supports Mamdani
ON TODAY'S SHOW: Anti-Fascism Scholar Flees U.S. Fearing for His Family's Safety Amid Trump's “Antifa” Fearmongering Historian Joel Beinin on Gaza Deal, Abandoning Zionism, His Israeli Niece's Captivity in Gaza & More Lindsey Boylan, Ex-Cuomo Aide Who Accused Him of Sexual Harassment, on Why She Supports Mamdani Democracy Now! is a daily independent award-winning news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez. The post Democracy Now! – October 15, 2025 appeared first on KPFA.
Malachi 1:6-14 The Polluted Offerings and the Pure Offering We are in the second week of a new sermon series. We're studying Malachi. It's the last book in the Old Testament. Malachi was prophesying to the returned exiles in Jerusalem…. at some point in the mid-400's BC. However, even though many had returned, the situation was pretty dire. That is why the Lord reminded the people in verses 1-5 that he loved them. He had chosen them to be his people. They had been questioning God's love and thy needed that reaffirmation. Which brings us to verses 6-14 of chapter 1. You can find that on page 953. As you are turning there, let me note that at this point in history, the temple had already been rebuilt – likely a few decades earlier. That meant that the sacrificial system had resumed. People would bring their offerings to the temple, you know, different kinds of animal offerings, and the priests would take them and sacrifice them, presenting them to the Lord. As we come to our text this morning, you will hear that all was not right with the offerings. Stand Reading of Malachi 1:6-14 Prayer – revealed your righteousness. Truth. Like the people of old, failed. HS. Conviction. Ways in which we do not glorify you in our lives and worship. A few years ago, a woman found a Butterball turkey at the bottom of her freezer. She had forgotten about it and after checking the date on it, realized it had been there for 26 years. She wondered if it was still good to use, so she called the Butterball support line. They said that as long as her freezer had stayed below freezing for the entire time, the turkey would be fine to eat. However, the support agent said, it likely has lost all its flavor. To which the woman responded, “if that's the case, I'll just give it to my church.” I know that's just an anecdotal story, but it does illustrate how we often today de-prioritize the things of the Lord including his church and worship and our personal and family Scripture reading and prayer. But as God has called us to in his Word, we're to honor him with our first fruits, or like Mary Magdelene, to anoint Jesus' feet with the finest of perfumes, or like in the sacrificial system, to present to him our unblemished offering, not our leftovers. But what does it mean to offer to the Lord our finest and why does it matter? I hope to answer those questions this morning. Introduction Before we get into our text, I do want to note that the book of Malachi is pretty intense. We are going to see in every section how God confronts the people and the priests with their sin - their corruption, their idolatry, their immorality, their faithlessness, their selfishness, and their lawlessness. God hates it. He hates our sin. His judgment is real, which we will also see over and over. Which brings up a question you may be asking, “ok, well, how does that fit with last week's message that God loves them? That his love for them and us is unconditional? Yet he is angry at their sin?” Let me answer that this way: God's unconditional love does not give us license to live unconditionally. 2x. In other words, we are not free to do whatever we want just because God love us. God's standard and law do not go away when you receive God's love in Christ. To be sure, pursuing God and his commandments are not a prerequisite to receive his love. No, God's love is unmerited meaning we do not earn it by our works or keeping his law in any way. No, we receive it on the basis of Christ's work. But that does not mean that after receiving his love in Christ, we are free to pursue our own desires and will. No, God calls us to submit to him, to pursue his righteousness, to honor him in our lives. That is very important as we study Malachi. God continually calls out their sin because he loves his people. He wants them (and us) to reflect that love by honoring him. Honoring and Fearing the Lord Which brings us to our text. In fact, this whole passage is about honoring the Lord. It is about our hearts reverently fearing him. Honestly, I didn't see that initially. The first couple of times I read it, I only saw the failure of the people to do the thing. You know, they were failing to follow the law. They did not offer the best sacrifices, as they were required. Therefore, I thought that the primary reason the Lord was angry was because their offerings were polluted. Now, it's true that their offerings were unacceptable. But the Lord was angry because they were not honoring him. Their polluted offerings were just a symptom of hearts that did not fear or honor God. That's the thrust of this passage. It's right there in the beginning, the middle, and the end. · First, look at verse 6. God questioned why they had not been honoring him and fearing him? He said to them, “where is my honor? … where is my fear?” He was asking, “why have you not been giving me the reverent awe and worship that I deserve as the God of the universe?” Instead, they were despising his name. That's what it says. They were dishonoring him. · Next, jump now to verse 11, in the middle. It says, “For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations.” Even if you do not honor me, my name will be honored throughout all the earth. · Now look at verse 14. Our passage ends with that same reaffirmation. It begins, “Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished.” Why? Listen to the reason. “For I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations.” You see, their polluted offerings revealed hearts that did not honor and fear the Lord. God is the great king over all the earth, over all of creation. Yet they were despising and dishonoring his name. And do you know what? They did not even realize it. Or, they denied it. Look at the end of verse 6. “But you say, How have we despised your name?” Side comment here - I've read Malachi several times now, and there's something I've been convicted about. The people did not realize their sin nor the depth of their sin. In every section, like this one, God tells them their sin and every single time, he quotes them question him. Like here “How have we despised your name?” And verse 7 “How have we polluted you?” They didn't see it. I've been asking myself, what sin am I blind to in my life? Is there pride or selfishness or some heart idolatry or some area where I am dishonoring God? Every single one of us in this room is blind to some sin. Now, there are many sins in our lives which we know about and struggle with. But there's also sin that we do not recognize, or we suppress. Will you pray that the Lord reveals that sin, that unconfessed sin? And will you listen to him when he does? May the Lord reveal our sin and refine us. Ok, back to our passage, the returned exiles did not know they were dishonoring God. But it was bad. They were polluting God's altar. Their relationship with the Lord revolved around the temple sacrifices. God had commanded them to bring animal offerings of different kinds for different sin on different occasions. The priests were to take the people's offerings and then sacrifice them to the Lord on the large altar just outside of the temple. Those offerings symbolized the need for atonement for their sin. That is why, as we read earlier in Leviticus 22, they were to bring an unblemished male… the very best and purest of their flock. But, as we read in Malachi 1, they failed to do that and they therefore despised the Lord's name. By the way, the priests were especially guilty here. More on that next week. Now, let's enter back into their situation for a moment. Remember from last week, even though they were in Jerusalem and the surrounding areas, they were subjected to a foreign kingdom. That came with heavy taxation. It came with some opposition at the local leve. Much of their forefather's land had been taken over by this godless people. On top of it all, they were enduring a famine. Every day, they struggled to survive. Now, imagine that you lived there and that you had 5 goats. You had to care for and feed them. There wasn't, you know, kudzu everywhere for them to eat. The younger females would produce milk, and you could use and sell the milk. The healthy males were especially valuable – and they could be sold if needed. Your goats were important for your daily sustenance. Well, the time has come for one of the annual sacrifices. You are to bring one of your 5 goats to offer to the Lord. And out of the five, three of them are female. You couldn't offer them. Of the two left, one is a healthy male and the other male has a bad rash and is sterile – it's unable to reproduce. So, which goat would you bring? I know it's hypothetical, but put yourself in their shoes. Their unblemished male goat was their prized possession. Offering it would put themselves at risk. So, what did they do? Well, they brought their weakest or sickliest animal to the temple to be offered. As very 8 tells us, they brought their blind, or lame, or sick animal to present to God Almighty. But it gets even worse. Look at verse 13. It's the parallel verse in the second half. We learn that they didn't even want to bring any sacrifice! The people were saying, “what a weariness this is” and as it says, they snorted at it, you know, like a horse unwilling to move. It furthermore says some even took animals by force for the offering. In other words, they stole and offered what was not even theirs to the Lord. IN all these ways they profaned God's altar. I think we can certainly understand their temptation. But they were dishonoring the creator God of the universe who had commanded them to offer their best…. He's the one who breathed life into them, who called them to be his people, who rules and reigns over all things, who promised them eternity with him. He is the great God who saved Noah and his family, who covenanted with Abraham their forefather, who revealed himself to Moses, and promised through David a kingdom that would never end. And look at the second half of verse 8. God points out that they would never bring such a gift to an earthly governor. The Lord asks, “will he accept you or show you favor?” Of course they would not bring a sickly goat to an earthly ruler as a gift – it would greatly dishonor him. Yet that was the very thing that they were doing to the “Lord of Hosts.” Did you notice that description of the Lord multiple times here – seven times. The Lord of hosts. The Lord of the heavenly armies, king of kings, who has and will subject all earthly rulers under his sovereign reign. Yet they had defamed his great and awesome name. Their worship… because that's what this is – their offering to the Lord… their worship was complacent. They were simply going through the motions. They didn't care about God. After all, as we learned in verses 2-5, they weren't even sure he loved them. Friends, in difficult times, it is easy to slip into a similar pattern. God can become just an afterthought. Instead of giving him our whole heart and mind and body and strength, he's often at the bottom of our list. Instead of giving back to him the first fruits of the talents he's given us, or the first fruits of the resources which we steward; or our most precious resource – our time; instead of honoring him with those things, we direct them to ourselves. We keep our unblemished offering and we offer him our polluted offering. What about Sunday morning worship? Are you bodily present here but your mind is wandering to things of work, or yesterday's football game, or your upcoming vacation? Do you let your mind wander to those things including your difficult situations and struggles? Are you going through the motions, but your heart is far from the Lord? If you were in the presence of the governor of Georgia, would not your attention be fully on him? I think it would. Yet, when you come into the presence of the Lord of the universe, is your attention on other things and not worship directed to the one who created you and who loves you and who invited you into his very presence? And what about those Sundays that you are not here? Are you travelling because flights are the cheapest on Sunday mornings? Are you at the beach and make excuses that because you are in God's beautiful creation that you don't need to worship with God's people? I'm not saying that we shouldn't enjoy travel, but God desires us to be worshipping together with his people. If you are out of town, find a Bible preaching church where you can worship the Lord with other believers in the splendor of his holiness. Find a church where you can exalt his name and where his Word is declared, where you can give him glory in your hearts and praise him with others lifting your voices together to the one who is worthy. You see, in all of these ways, and many more, we are complacent in our worship of God. I'm talking about both our gathered worship and also how we are to worship God in all of life. And then there is verse 10. It's like the nail in the coffin. “Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain!” In other words, it would be better if someone barred you from bringing your sacrifice to the temple. It would be better not to bring any sacrifice than the vain polluted offering that reveals your wayward heart and which despises my name. Or as the Lord put it in Revelation 3, writing to the church in Laodicea, “Because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” The Lord is not mincing his words here. They had profaned God's mercy and holiness. God would have been just to consume them with the fire of his eternal judgment. Yet, he didn't. These verses called them to forsake their vain, polluted, and heartless worship. God desired his name to be honored. He was calling them to return to him… to repent… to once again come to him in reverent holy fear. Instead of bringing their polluted offering, they were to once again bring a pure, unblemished offering. There was an even deeper reason why their polluted offerings were profaning the name of Lord. Yes, they were breaking God's commandments. And yes, their offerings revealed hearts that were complacent. But even more so, they were disregarding the Messiah. They were defaming Christ, who had yet come. You see, all of the sacrificial offerings were set in place in anticipation of a Messiah, of a deliverer, who would come and who would be the perfect sacrifice. He would be the unblemished perfect offering. The sacrificial offerings in the old covenant demonstrated the need for a pure offering to once and for all atone for their sins. And so, by offering their sick and blind and stolen offerings, they were rejecting God's promise that he would send a pure, righteous Savior who would be offered in their place for their sin. It was a matter of faith. Their difficult situation did not relieve them from trusting in the future promise that a Messiah would come and would be the pure offering. This is what verse 11 is alluding to. God's name will be great in all nations. As it says, “in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering.” To translate that, incense was the sweet aroma which signified the prayers of God's people. Psalm 141 speaks of our prayer being an incense before God. And in both Revelation 5 and 8, the incense in the golden bowls were the prayers of the saints which would rise to the very throne room of God. The Lord was saying to them, a time will come when throughout all nations, prayers would be offered to the Lord, and a pure offering would be made. And that time has come. Jesus has come and he has offered up himself as the pure offering. His sacrifice has fulfilled all the sacrificial offerings of old. But more importantly, he has satisfied the debt of our sin before our holy God. And so why do we seek to honor God in our hearts when we worship? Why do we seek to be obedient to his commands to worship him well? Why do we set aside this particular day to gather together and praise the Lord? Two answers: · First, because when we do, with hearts tuned to him and his mercy, we honor our Lord. We bring great fame to Jesus our Savior. Our prayers are received in his name as a holy aroma to our God. God is both honored in our lives and his glory and name is displayed for all to see. · Second, we seek to worship him well because he is the pure offering. As John the Baptist said, Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. We worship him with grateful hearts because of his mercy and forgiveness. Our worship is a testimony of true faith in him. He enables our worship. He is the center of our worship. And we will be worshiping in his presence forever. Even in those days of trials and pain and temptations and grief (especially those days), come before your great God and your Savior, honoring and fearing his great name. So, leave your 26 year-old Butterball turkeys at home. Give him the first fruits of your time, your talents, your resources. They are all from him, anyway. Furthermore, plan your trips around the Lord's day and worship with God's people, in person together. And when you come to worship, focus your hearts and minds on him. And do all of this because of God's great name and because Christ, our Savior, has offered himself, for you. Amen.
Questions, comments? Shoot me a text.If you've ever felt out of control with food at night — or like your hunger can't be trusted — this episode is for you.Amy breaks down why hunger isn't sabotage — it's a signal — and how to stop ignoring it, fearing it, or trying to outsmart it with restriction. You'll learn how to build simple, supportive food rhythms that bring your body back into balance and calm those chaotic cravings.Inside this episode:Why most women are underfed and over-restricted by 3 PMHow ignoring hunger trains your body to panic laterThe real reason you can't stop thinking about food (and how to fix it)How to create repeatable rhythms that work even when life is messyPlus, Amy shares how the Hangry to Healthy Membership blends food guidance with mindset coaching to help you stay in control of your eating — without guilt, spirals, or restriction.Listen now and take the first step toward fat loss, food freedom, and energy that actually lasts.Schedule Your Free Consult: Lose Weight For The Last TimeStart Now: Craving Control FixWebsite: The Simplicity of WellnessFollow Me on InstagramFollow Me on Youtube
When it's extremely difficult to make up your mind. Having the power of choice can actually weaken someone. On this episode we're going to explore the idea of making the choice to celebrate Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas as one holiday inside a very long season. Plus… making the choice to locate a solution to your fear of the future. I'm Arroe. Life is a series of choices. Who decides when you're not making it the right choice? Is it the fear of going wrong? The greatest lessons in life are often lost inside hidden away attempts and concepts. It's time to reopen your heart. Having a choice is a daily gift. On this highway we learn to trust mirages… What is the choice? Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-unplugged-totally-uncut--994165/support.
In this episode of For You From Eve, I sit down with Hannah Aylward, functional nutritionist and founder of HAN, to break down everything you need to know about gut health. We dive deep into why so many women struggle with bloating, IBS, and digestive issues, even when they eat “healthy” and exercise, and how healing your gut can transform not only your digestion but also your skin, hormones, and mental health.Hannah shares her personal health journey, why the conventional medical model wasn't giving her answers, and the inspiration behind her Healin' Guts + Shakin' Butts Program. We also discuss the gut-skin connection, how chronic stress and trauma impact digestion long-term, and the most common mistakes people make when trying to heal their gut on their own.If you've been struggling with bloating, IBS, acne, or hormone imbalances, this conversation will give you simple steps to start improving your gut health today.Video Link: https://youtu.be/URBNRmc2UXY✨Connect with Hannah:https://www.instagram.com/hannahaylwardhhc/https://linktr.ee/hannahaylwardhhc?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaetidp0TmTrbKzticCeoEoxAFUJ9NR4KRN9XpcwW6sWZ-W5AanG2Jo_nhINSg_aem_SUgnrJA6jIqKeo_Wi4n1XA✨Connect with Me:https://linktr.ee/foryoufromevehttps://instagram.com/foryoufromevehttps://www.tiktok.com/@foryoufromeveSponsors:AirDoctorPro.com Code: FROMEVECowboyColostrum.comCode: FROMEVERula.com/fromevetryqs.com/FROMEVE0:58: Intro & Hannah's Business Background1:21: How She Got Into Gut Health From Her Own Struggles3:14: Identifying Digestive and Gut Issues7:20: Healing Herself Through Training and Research13:25: Stress, Overstimulation & Gut Health (Root Cause Approach)17:50: Realizing This Could Become a Business Helping Women23:22: “What Do You Say to the Girl Who's Doing Everything Right But Still Feels Off?” CLIP29:36: Health to Enjoy Life vs Restrictive Approach CLIP35:30: Building Her Program & Business Growth40:20: Common Mistakes in Gut Healing CLIP47:48: This or That Segment50:38: Advice for Listeners CLIPSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Welcome back to Delta Green: Convergence. After a stake out in the woodland of Buck's stud ranch and a close encounter of the third kind our agents pursued an unidentified flying object across the Groversville farmland. Fearing they are each compromised by the strange protomatter infecting the population it could be mere hours before they succumb to whatever is happening to their bodies. Arriving at an abandoned barn Peggy scouts ahead uncovering an alien operation beyond anything our agents could imagine This is Mystery Quest, a roleplaying podcast where we play a variety of one-shot RPG's with a rolling cast of special guests. Check out Delta Green here: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/236576/delta-green-the-role-playing-game You can pick up Convergence here : https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/415615/delta-green-convergence Podcast: https://www.pickaxe.uk/mystery-quest Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/MysteryQuest Follow the Cast: Tom: @AngoryTom Dan: @apocplayers Lydia: https://twitch.tv/squidgame Ravs: @Ravs_ Danann: @apocplayers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Pastor Jose teaches how we may be falling into temptation, simply by fearing it. We have a deep well to draw from in temptation or trials. Audio>
See more: https://thinkfuture.substack.comConnect with Maya: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mackerma/---Is AI here to replace creativity—or to unlock more of it?In this episode of thinkfuture, host Chris Kalaboukis speaks with Maya Ackerman, generative AI pioneer and founder of WaveAI, one of the earliest startups in the space. Maya has been exploring the frontier of human–AI collaboration in creativity for over a decade, and she shares her perspective on how we should really think about these systems.We explore:- Maya's journey as one of the first generative AI founders (2017)- Why AI should augment—not replace—human creativity- How to view AI as an “imagination engine,” not an oracle of truth- The big questions around consciousness and whether AI can ever be “aware”- Why expecting AI to deliver objective facts is a dangerous myth- What the next 10 years could look like for work, art, and human connection- The potential role of universal basic income in an AI-driven society- How AI might allow us to shift from machine-like labor to more creative, expressive livesMaya's vision is optimistic yet grounded: if we embrace AI as a partner in creativity instead of a replacement, we can move into a future where imagination, art, and human connection become the center of our lives.If you're curious about generative AI, creativity, truth, and the evolving role of humans in an AI-first world, this episode is a must-listen.
Indianapolis Public Schools is offering a long-closed school building for one dollar. Purdue University abruptly ended a popular statewide program Tuesday to help low-income Indiana students go to college. Universities in Central Indiana have fewer international students this fall, according to recent enrollment data. Increased activity from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, has made many people without legal status in Indiana fearful of daily life. Want to go deeper on the stories you hear on WFYI News Now? Visit wfyi.org/news and follow us on social media to get comprehensive analysis and local news daily. Subscribe to WFYI News Now wherever you get your podcasts. WFYI News Now is produced by Drew Daudelin, Zach Bundy and Abriana Herron, with support from News Director Sarah Neal-Estes.
In Genesis 12:10-20, Abraham faces a severe famine and chooses to seek refuge in Egypt rather than trust God's promises. Fearing for his life, he deceives Pharaoh by claiming Sarah is his sister, leading to her being taken into Pharaoh's household. When God afflicts Pharaoh with diseases, the truth emerges, and Abraham is sent away with wealth despite his deception. This story reveals Abraham's failures of doubt, deception, and bringing harm instead of blessing, yet also demonstrates God's unfailing reliability, redirection, and mercy. Like Abraham, we often trust in our own 'Egypts' rather than God, but He remains faithful to His promises despite our shortcomings.
Season 5: Episode 28Jen Tullock plays Devon in the Apple TV series "Severance." She's also queer and grew up in an Evangelical mega church in Kentucky. Jen found Mike on Instagram and they got to talking. In this episode, Jen shares her story of growing up in the Evangelical world as a queer woman, finding the love of her life and a peek into her life in acting.Everything NumaJen Tullock: Instagram See her show: Nothing Can Take You From the Hand of God
Rev. Kenneth Bomberger gives today's prayerful thought based on the day's Scripture readings. Begin your morning in word and prayer with Rev. Kenneth Bomberger, who shares scripture, hymns, prayers, and texts for the day, and also gives a short meditation on the day's scripture lessons. Submit comments or questions to: listener@kfuo.org
Host Rich Ehisen is back from the wilderness, just in time to welcome lobbyist Jennifer Fearing. Fearing is perhaps California's best known "White Hat" lobbyist - she largely represents animal rights orgs, environmental groups and other nonprofits - and is recognized for punching above her weight. High on her priority list this session were three bills that would curtail "puppy mill" sales in the state; SB 312, AB 519 and AB 506 have passed the legislature and are currently waiting on the Governor's signature. She spoke with us about those bills, about the unstable environment nonprofit orgs have found themselves in, what she, and her clients are doing about it. And of course we asked her about First Dog Sutter Brown.1:37 Highway 3952:40 The Dave Cogdill Memorial Highway6:15 "Dewey Defeats Truman"8:36 From Culbert Olson to a biography of Lone Pine14:19 Jennifer Fearing15:10 The environment for nonprofits today19:28 How do you plan for this moment?20:42 AB 131822:38 "Giant mess"25:30 Practical actions26:44 "We have GoBiz but we don't have GoNonProfits"27:31 Necessary reforms?29:29 Puppy Mill bills35:59 Gov. Newsom's attitude about animals37:11 The pet otter37:51 The Sutter Brown era43:07 #WWCAWant to support the Capitol Weekly Podcast? Make your tax deductible donation here: capitolweekly.net/donations/Capitol Weekly Podcast theme is "Pickin' My Way" by Eddie Lang"#WorstWeekCA" Beat provided by freebeats.io Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Message from Alvin Litonjua on September 28, 2025
Burner phones played a crucial role in leading police to Rex Heuermann, as investigators were able to trace a network of disposable devices used to communicate with the victims and carry out the killings. Authorities discovered that the same anonymous numbers had been used to contact multiple women who were later found dead along Gilgo Beach. Through painstaking digital forensics, law enforcement linked these burner phones to a primary device associated with Heuermann, triangulating locations and tracking pings that matched his home in Massapequa Park and his Manhattan office. Additionally, investigators connected the burner activity to online accounts used to solicit sex workers and search for violent pornography, further tying the digital footprint back to Heuermann. The meticulous tracing of these otherwise untraceable phones ultimately helped build the foundation of the case against him.An unnamed woman has come forward claiming she narrowly escaped from suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann after a disturbing encounter when she was just 18 years old. Working at a Manhattan club in 1996, she says she was asked to deliver cocaine to Heuermann, but the situation quickly turned alarming. Once alone with him, she alleges that he exposed himself and began sharing deeply disturbing pedophilic fantasies. Fearing for her life, she pulled out a taser and held it to his neck, threatening him until he let her go. The woman never reported the incident to police at the time, fearing she wouldn't be believed, but after Heuermann's arrest, she recognized his face in news reports and felt compelled to speak out. Her account adds to the growing pattern of women describing deeply unsettling and predatory behavior by Heuermann long before his 2023 arrest.to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.com
A commentary and discussion on the Just for Today: Daily Meditations for Recovering Addicts. Contact Information: 919-675-1058 or facebook.com/groups/theanonpodcast
In Genesis 12:10-20, Abraham faces a severe famine and chooses to seek refuge in Egypt rather than trust God's promises. Fearing for his life, he deceives Pharaoh by claiming Sarah is his sister, leading to her being taken into Pharaoh's household. When God afflicts Pharaoh with diseases, the truth emerges, and Abraham is sent away with wealth despite his deception. This story reveals Abraham's failures of doubt, deception, and bringing harm instead of blessing, yet also demonstrates God's unfailing reliability, redirection, and mercy. Like Abraham, we often trust in our own 'Egypts' rather than God, but He remains faithful to His promises despite our shortcomings.
Are you stuck in cycles of shame and people-pleasing—either defensively arguing or over-apologizing when you disappoint someone?In this episode, Jenna shares a personal breakthrough sparked by a friend's spiritual dream about the fear of punishment. Through a real-life story of running late, she unpacks how punishment fuels shame and self-focus, while natural consequences can teach and free us to connect authentically.The turning point comes when she shifts from spiraling from fear of being punished (by their disappointment) to having the emotional space to see the other person's perspective—transforming the moment into one of empathy, vulnerability, and connection.If you're ready to trade shame-based reactions for genuine connection and spiritual growth, this episode will give you practical tools and fresh hope. Class starts in less than a week - click here to get all the info about my Time Management [ for non-type A people] course. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Want to join Jenna's Bible Habit group- become a $9/month sponsor of our podcast & you get access to the Private Group, monthly calls & more - Click this link to start patreon.com/TheHabitLab You can start at any point in the year!
Malachi 1:6-14
It's one of those surely-it-can't-happen-here worries that awakens many of us in the dead of night: Fearing the 2026 midterms won't go his way, Donald Trump imposes martial law and calls off the elections “in the interest of national security.” Alarmist? Preposterous? This is the U.S. of A. after all! Maybe it's not so far-fetched […]
Pod Return to the Waking Sands - A Final Fantasy XIV 14 Lore Companion Podcast
Fearing for Aymeric's fate, we prepare to mount a daring rescue. This sort of venture cannot be made alone though. And so, we turn to the only ally we can think of: The Mongrel. Join us as we continue the Heavensward story in FFXIV! https://discord.gg/SUHTBVMVxj podreturnffxiv@gmail https://www.patreon.com/Podreturnffxiv Shirts! https://tee.pub/lic/cBoKhUlgkrw https://bsky.app/profile/podreturnffxiv.bsky.social FINAL FANTASY is a registered trademark of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd. © SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved. Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/fernweh-goldfish/skippy-mr-sunshine License code: 91CJGK73DTQIXILK https://uppbeat.io/t/danijel-zambo/fairytales License code: PQ1IMSLKP0XTU1IC
A new MP3 sermon from Christ Covenant Reformed Presbyterian is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Fearing the Commandment (5) Subtitle: A Character Study in Proverbs Speaker: Rev. Todd Ruddell Broadcaster: Christ Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Event: Sunday - PM Date: 9/21/2025 Bible: Proverbs 13:13-18 Length: 51 min.
Malichi 1:6-14
Malachi 1:6-14
Message from Alvin Litonjua on September 21, 2025
ROSH HASHANAH 5 FEARING THE KING
Lionel wraps up the show talking about the strange behavior of the defendant in the Kirk murder case which undermines the mainstream narrative. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A new MP3 sermon from Christ Covenant Reformed Presbyterian is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Fearing the Commandment (4) Subtitle: A Character Study in Proverbs Speaker: Rev. Todd Ruddell Broadcaster: Christ Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Event: Sunday - PM Date: 9/14/2025 Bible: Proverbs 13:13-18 Length: 59 min.
Fearing the Lord isn't about being scared of Him—it's about awe and reverence that lead to wisdom, humility, and peace. In this episode, I break down the difference between healthy fear that draws us closer to God and unhealthy fear that pushes us away. We'll also look at why living without the fear of God leaves us vulnerable to sin, pride, and cultural pressure.✨ Stay Connected with Me! ✨
Welcome back my friends to AA Recovery Interviews. I'm your host, Howard L. and I'm an alcoholic, sober since January 1, 1988, one day at a time. I'm grateful you've joined us. AA Recovery Interviews is the podcast where Alcoholics Anonymous members from around the world share their timeless and extraordinary stories of experience, strength, and hope. There are over 180 interviews in this podcast series, all of which you can enjoy on aarecoveryinterviews.com and all podcast apps. As disturbing as some personal stories can be, most take place before sobriety. But in the case of today's guest, Ted O., the worst of the worst happened at nearly ten years into the 42 years of sobriety. For it was on a mostly deserted road in rural Mexico that Ted and another AA friend were way-laid by three modern-day banditos. After being robbed, Ted was tied up and forced to lay in a ditch, while three shots rang out from across the road. Fearing he was the next to die, Ted was surprised when the murderers drove off, only to return to finish the job. The outlaw with the Glock fired two bullets into Ted's torso. A third slug missed his head by inches. Being a gun owner himself, Ted diagnosed a jammed cartridge while he waited for the fatal shot… Rather than make this intro a teaser for a true crime podcast, I'll let Ted finish the story. And, as remarkable as Ted's story is, what's more remarkable is that he stayed sober in the midst and aftermath of a horrible situation in which less-grounded alcoholics might have drank. At 82 years of age and 42 years sober, Ted's testimony is chock full of experiences, both good and bad, that many long-term members will identify with. Newer members may find parts of his incredible story hard to believe, but nevertheless, it is true. No matter where you are on AA's road of recovery, I feel you will be enriched by Ted's story. It's the latest of over 180 interviews in the AA Recovery Interviews podast series. So put please enjoy the next hour with my long-time friend and AA brother, Ted O. If you've enjoyed my AA Recovery Interviews series, have a listen to “Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered From Alcoholism”. This is the word-for-word, cover-to-cover reading of the First Edition of the Big Book, published in 1939. It's a comfortable, meaningful, and engaging way to listen to the Big Book anytime, anyplace. Have a free listen at Audible, Apple Books, or Amazon. I also invite you to check out my latest audio book, Lost Stories of the Big Book, 30 Original Stories Missing from the 3rd and 4th Editions of Alcoholics Anonymous. It's an engaging audiobook I narrated to bring these stories to life for AA members who've never seen them. These timeless testimonials were originally cut to make room for newer stories in the 3rd and 4th Editions. But their vitally important messages of hope are as meaningful today as when they were first published. Many listeners will hear these stories for the first time. Lost Stories of the Big Book is available on Audible, Amazon, and Apple Books. It's also available as a Kindle book and in Paperback from Amazon if you'd like to read along with the audio.
Last time we spoke about the surrender of Japan. Emperor Hirohito announced the surrender on August 15, prompting mixed public reactions: grief, shock, and sympathy for the Emperor, tempered by fear of hardship and occupation. The government's response included resignations and suicide as new leadership was brought in under Prime Minister Higashikuni, with Mamoru Shigemitsu as Foreign Minister and Kawabe Torashiro heading a delegation to Manila. General MacArthur directed the occupation plan, “Blacklist,” prioritizing rapid, phased entry into key Japanese areas and Korea, while demobilizing enemy forces. The surrender ceremony occurred aboard the Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, with Wainwright, Percival, Nimitz, and UN representatives in attendance. Civilians and soldiers across Asia began surrendering, and postwar rehabilitation, Indochina and Vietnam's independence movements, and Southeast Asian transitions rapidly unfolded as Allied forces established control. This episode is the Aftermath of the Pacific War Welcome to the Pacific War Podcast Week by Week, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800's until the end of the Pacific War in 1945. The Pacific War has ended. Peace has been restored by the Allies and most of the places conquered by the Japanese Empire have been liberated. In this post-war period, new challenges would be faced for those who won the war; and from the ashes of an empire, a defeated nation was also seeking to rebuild. As the Japanese demobilized their armed forces, many young boys were set to return to their homeland, even if they had previously thought that they wouldn't survive the ordeal. And yet, there were some cases of isolated men that would continue to fight for decades even, unaware that the war had already ended. As we last saw, after the Japanese surrender, General MacArthur's forces began the occupation of the Japanese home islands, while their overseas empire was being dismantled by the Allies. To handle civil administration, MacArthur established the Military Government Section, commanded by Brigadier-General William Crist, staffed by hundreds of US experts trained in civil governance who were reassigned from Okinawa and the Philippines. As the occupation began, Americans dispatched tactical units and Military Government Teams to each prefecture to ensure that policies were faithfully carried out. By mid-September, General Eichelberger's 8th Army had taken over the Tokyo Bay region and began deploying to occupy Hokkaido and the northern half of Honshu. Then General Krueger's 6th Army arrived in late September, taking southern Honshu and Shikoku, with its base in Kyoto. In December, 6th Army was relieved of its occupation duties; in January 1946, it was deactivated, leaving the 8th Army as the main garrison force. By late 1945, about 430,000 American soldiers were garrisoned across Japan. President Truman approved inviting Allied involvement on American terms, with occupation armies integrated into a US command structure. Yet with the Chinese civil war and Russia's reluctance to place its forces under MacArthur's control, only Australia, Britain, India, and New Zealand sent brigades, more than 40,000 troops in southwestern Japan. Japanese troops were gradually disarmed by order of their own commanders, so the stigma of surrender would be less keenly felt by the individual soldier. In the homeland, about 1.5 million men were discharged and returned home by the end of August. Demobilization overseas, however, proceeded, not quickly, but as a long, difficult process of repatriation. In compliance with General Order No. 1, the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters disbanded on September 13 and was superseded by the Japanese War Department to manage demobilization. By November 1, the homeland had demobilized 2,228,761 personnel, roughly 97% of the Homeland Army. Yet some 6,413,215 men remained to be repatriated from overseas. On December 1, the Japanese War Ministry dissolved, and the First Demobilization Ministry took its place. The Second Demobilization Ministry was established to handle IJN demobilization, with 1,299,868 sailors, 81% of the Navy, demobilized by December 17. Japanese warships and merchant ships had their weapons rendered inoperative, and suicide craft were destroyed. Forty percent of naval vessels were allocated to evacuations in the Philippines, and 60% to evacuations of other Pacific islands. This effort eventually repatriated about 823,984 men to Japan by February 15, 1946. As repatriation accelerated, by October 15 only 1,909,401 men remained to be repatriated, most of them in the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, the Higashikuni Cabinet and Foreign Minister Shigemitsu Mamoru managed to persuade MacArthur not to impose direct military rule or martial law over all of Japan. Instead, the occupation would be indirect, guided by the Japanese government under the Emperor's direction. An early decision to feed occupation forces from American supplies, and to allow the Japanese to use their own limited food stores, helped ease a core fear: that Imperial forces would impose forced deliveries on the people they conquered. On September 17, MacArthur transferred his headquarters from Yokohama to Tokyo, setting up primary offices on the sixth floor of the Dai-Ichi Mutual Life Insurance Building, an imposing edifice overlooking the moat and the Imperial palace grounds in Hibiya, a symbolic heart of the nation. While the average soldier did not fit the rapacious image of wartime Japanese propagandists, occupation personnel often behaved like neo-colonial overlords. The conquerors claimed privileges unimaginable to most Japanese. Entire trains and train compartments, fitted with dining cars, were set aside for the exclusive use of occupation forces. These silenced, half-empty trains sped past crowded platforms, provoking ire as Japanese passengers were forced to enter and exit packed cars through punched-out windows, or perch on carriage roofs, couplings, and running boards, often with tragic consequences. The luxury express coaches became irresistible targets for anonymous stone-throwers. During the war, retrenchment measures had closed restaurants, cabarets, beer halls, geisha houses, and theatres in Tokyo and other large cities. Now, a vast leisure industry sprang up to cater to the needs of the foreign occupants. Reopened restaurants and theatres, along with train stations, buses, and streetcars, were sometimes kept off limits to Allied personnel, partly for security, partly to avoid burdening Japanese resources, but a costly service infrastructure was built to the occupiers' specifications. Facilities reserved for occupation troops bore large signs reading “Japanese Keep Out” or “For Allied Personnel Only.” In downtown Tokyo, important public buildings requisitioned for occupation use had separate entrances for Americans and Japanese. The effect? A subtle but clear colour bar between the predominantly white conquerors and the conquered “Asiatic” Japanese. Although MacArthur was ready to work through the Japanese government, he lacked the organizational infrastructure to administer a nation of 74 million. Consequently, on October 2, MacArthur dissolved the Military Government Section and inaugurated General Headquarters, Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, a separate headquarters focused on civil affairs and operating in tandem with the Army high command. SCAP immediately assumed responsibility for administering the Japanese home islands. It commandeered every large building not burned down to house thousands of civilians and requisitioned vast tracts of prime real estate to quarter several hundred thousand troops in the Tokyo–Yokohama area alone. Amidst the rise of American privilege, entire buildings were refurbished as officers' clubs, replete with slot machines and gambling parlours installed at occupation expense. The Stars and Stripes were hoisted over Tokyo, while the display of the Rising Sun was banned; and the downtown area, known as “Little America,” was transformed into a US enclave. The enclave mentality of this cocooned existence was reinforced by the arrival within the first six months of roughly 700 American families. At the peak of the occupation, about 14,800 families employed some 25,000 Japanese servants to ease the “rigours” of overseas duty. Even enlisted men in the sparse quonset-hut towns around the city lived like kings compared with ordinary Japanese. Japanese workers cleaned barracks, did kitchen chores, and handled other base duties. The lowest private earned a 25% hardship bonus until these special allotments were discontinued in 1949. Most military families quickly adjusted to a pampered lifestyle that went beyond maids and “boys,” including cooks, laundresses, babysitters, gardeners, and masseuses. Perks included spacious quarters with swimming pools, central heating, hot running water, and modern plumbing. Two observers compared GHQ to the British Raj at its height. George F. Kennan, head of the State Department's Policy Planning Staff, warned during his 1948 mission to Japan that Americans had monopolized “everything that smacks of comfort or elegance or luxury,” criticizing what he called the “American brand of philistinism” and the “monumental imperviousness” of MacArthur's staff to the Japanese suffering. This conqueror's mentality also showed in the bullying attitudes many top occupation officials displayed toward the Japanese with whom they dealt. Major Faubion Bowers, MacArthur's military secretary, later said, “I and nearly all the occupation people I knew were extremely conceited and extremely arrogant and used our power every inch of the way.” Initially, there were spasms of defiance against the occupation forces, such as anonymous stone-throwing, while armed robbery and minor assaults against occupation personnel were rife in the weeks and months after capitulation. Yet active resistance was neither widespread nor organized. The Americans successfully completed their initial deployment without violence, an astonishing feat given a heavily armed and vastly superior enemy operating on home terrain. The average citizen regarded the occupation as akin to force majeure, the unfortunate but inevitable aftermath of a natural calamity. Japan lay prostrate. Industrial output had fallen to about 10% of pre-war levels, and as late as 1946, more than 13 million remained unemployed. Nearly 40% of Japan's urban areas had been turned to rubble, and some 9 million people were homeless. The war-displaced, many of them orphans, slept in doorways and hallways, in bombed-out ruins, dugouts and packing crates, under bridges or on pavements, and crowded the hallways of train and subway stations. As winter 1945 descended, with food, fuel, and clothing scarce, people froze to death. Bonfires lit the streets to ward off the chill. "The only warm hands I have shaken thus far in Japan belonged to Americans," Mark Gayn noted in December 1945. "The Japanese do not have much of a chance to thaw out, and their hands are cold and red." Unable to afford shoes, many wore straw sandals; those with geta felt themselves privileged. The sight of a man wearing a woman's high-buttoned shoes in winter epitomized the daily struggle to stay dry and warm. Shantytowns built of scrap wood, rusted metal, and scavenged odds and ends sprang up everywhere, resembling vast junk yards. The poorest searched smouldering refuse heaps for castoffs that might be bartered for a scrap to eat or wear. Black markets (yami'ichi) run by Japanese, Koreans, and For-mosans mushroomed to replace collapsed distribution channels and cash in on inflated prices. Tokyo became "a world of scarcity in which every nail, every rag, and even a tangerine peel [had a] market value." Psychologically numbed, disoriented, and disillusioned with their leaders, demobilized veterans and civilians alike struggled to get their bearings, shed militaristic ideologies, and begin to embrace new values. In the vacuum of defeat, the Japanese people appeared ready to reject the past and grasp at the straw held out by the former enemy. Relations between occupier and occupied were not smooth, however. American troops comported themselves like conquerors, especially in the early weeks and months of occupation. Much of the violence was directed against women, with the first attacks beginning within hours after the landing of advance units. When US paratroopers landed in Sapporo, an orgy of looting, sexual violence, and drunken brawling ensued. Newspaper accounts reported 931 serious offences by GIs in the Yokohama area during the first week of occupation, including 487 armed robberies, 411 thefts of currency or goods, 9 rapes, 5 break-ins, 3 cases of assault and battery, and 16 other acts of lawlessness. In the first 10 days of occupation, there were 1,336 reported rapes by US soldiers in Kanagawa Prefecture alone. Americans were not the only perpetrators. A former prostitute recalled that when Australian troops arrived in Kure in early 1946, they “dragged young women into their jeeps, took them to the mountain, and then raped them. I heard them screaming for help nearly every night.” Such behaviour was commonplace, but news of criminal activity by occupation forces was quickly suppressed. On September 10, 1945, SCAP issued press and pre-censorship codes outlawing the publication of reports and statistics "inimical to the objectives of the occupation." In the sole instance of self-help General Eichelberger records in his memoirs, when locals formed a vigilante group and retaliated against off-duty GIs, 8th Army ordered armored vehicles into the streets and arrested the ringleaders, who received lengthy prison terms. Misbehavior ranged from black-market activity, petty theft, reckless driving, and disorderly conduct to vandalism, arson, murder, and rape. Soldiers and sailors often broke the law with impunity, and incidents of robbery, rape, and even murder were widely reported. Gang rapes and other sex atrocities were not infrequent; victims, shunned as outcasts, sometimes turned to prostitution in desperation, while others took their own lives to avoid bringing shame to their families. Military courts arrested relatively few soldiers for these offenses and convicted even fewer; Japanese attempts at self-defense were punished severely, and restitution for victims was rare. Fearing the worst, Japanese authorities had already prepared countermeasures against the supposed rapacity of foreign soldiers. Imperial troops in East Asia and the Pacific had behaved brutally toward women, so the government established “sexual comfort-stations” manned by geisha, bar hostesses, and prostitutes to “satisfy the lust of the Occupation forces,” as the Higashikuni Cabinet put it. A budget of 100 million yen was set aside for these Recreation and Amusement Associations, financed initially with public funds but run as private enterprises under police supervision. Through these, the government hoped to protect the daughters of the well-born and middle class by turning to lower-class women to satisfy the soldiers' sexual appetites. By the end of 1945, brothel operators had rounded up an estimated 20,000 young women and herded them into RAA establishments nationwide. Eventually, as many as 70,000 are said to have ended up in the state-run sex industry. Thankfully, as military discipline took hold and fresh troops replaced the Allied veterans responsible for the early crime wave, violence subsided and the occupier's patronising behavior and the ugly misdeeds of a lawless few were gradually overlooked. However, fraternisation was frowned upon by both sides, and segregation was practiced in principle, with the Japanese excluded from areas reserved for Allied personnel until September 1949, when MacArthur lifted virtually all restrictions on friendly association, stating that he was “establishing the same relations between occupation personnel and the Japanese population as exists between troops stationed in the United States and the American people.” In principle, the Occupation's administrative structure was highly complex. The Far Eastern Commission, based in Washington, included representatives from all 13 countries that had fought against Japan and was established in 1946 to formulate basic principles. The Allied Council for Japan was created in the same year to assist in developing and implementing surrender terms and in administering the country. It consisted of representatives from the USA, the USSR, Nationalist China, and the British Commonwealth. Although both bodies were active at first, they were largely ineffectual due to unwieldy decision-making, disagreements between the national delegations (especially the USA and USSR), and the obstructionism of General Douglas MacArthur. In practice, SCAP, the executive authority of the occupation, effectively ruled Japan from 1945 to 1952. And since it took orders only from the US government, the Occupation became primarily an American affair. The US occupation program, effectively carried out by SCAP, was revolutionary and rested on a two-pronged approach. To ensure Japan would never again become a menace to the United States or to world peace, SCAP pursued disarmament and demilitarization, with continuing control over Japan's capacity to make war. This involved destroying military supplies and installations, demobilizing more than five million Japanese soldiers, and thoroughly discrediting the military establishment. Accordingly, SCAP ordered the purge of tens of thousands of designated persons from public service positions, including accused war criminals, military officers, leaders of ultranationalist societies, leaders in the Imperial Rule Assistance Association, business leaders tied to overseas expansion, governors of former Japanese colonies, and national leaders who had steered Japan into war. In addition, MacArthur's International Military Tribunal for the Far East established a military court in Tokyo. It had jurisdiction over those charged with Class A crimes, top leaders who had planned and directed the war. Also considered were Class B charges, covering conventional war crimes, and Class C charges, covering crimes against humanity. Yet the military court in Tokyo wouldn't be the only one. More than 5,700 lower-ranking personnel were charged with conventional war crimes in separate trials convened by Australia, China, France, the Dutch East Indies, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Of the 5,700 Japanese individuals indicted for Class B war crimes, 984 were sentenced to death; 475 received life sentences; 2,944 were given more limited prison terms; 1,018 were acquitted; and 279 were never brought to trial or not sentenced. Among these, many, like General Ando Rikichi and Lieutenant-General Nomi Toshio, chose to commit suicide before facing prosecution. Notable cases include Lieutenant-General Tani Hisao, who was sentenced to death by the Nanjing War Crimes Tribunal for his role in the Nanjing Massacre; Lieutenant-General Sakai Takashi, who was executed in Nanjing for the murder of British and Chinese civilians during the occupation of Hong Kong. General Okamura Yasuji was convicted of war crimes by the Tribunal, yet he was immediately protected by the personal order of Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-Shek, who kept him as a military adviser for the Kuomintang. In the Manila trials, General Yamashita Tomoyuki was sentenced to death as he was in overall command during the Sook Ching massacre, the Rape of Manila, and other atrocities. Lieutenant-General Homma Masaharu was likewise executed in Manila for atrocities committed by troops under his command during the Bataan Death March. General Imamura Hitoshi was sentenced to ten years in prison, but he considered the punishment too light and even had a replica of the prison built in his garden, remaining there until his death in 1968. Lieutenant-General Kanda Masatane received a 14-year sentence for war crimes on Bougainville, though he served only four years. Lieutenant-General Adachi Hatazo was sentenced to life imprisonment for war crimes in New Guinea and subsequently committed suicide on September 10, 1947. Lieutenant-General Teshima Fusataro received three years of forced labour for using a hospital ship to transport troops. Lieutenant-General Baba Masao was sentenced to death for ordering the Sandakan Death Marches, during which over 2,200 Australian and British prisoners of war perished. Lieutenant-General Tanabe Moritake was sentenced to death by a Dutch military tribunal for unspecified war crimes. Rear-Admiral Sakaibara Shigematsu was executed in Guam for ordering the Wake Island massacre, in which 98 American civilians were murdered. Lieutenant-General Inoue Sadae was condemned to death in Guam for permitting subordinates to execute three downed American airmen captured in Palau, though his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 1951 and he was released in 1953. Lieutenant-General Tachibana Yoshio was sentenced to death in Guam for his role in the Chichijima Incident, in which eight American airmen were cannibalized. By mid-1945, due to the Allied naval blockade, the 25,000 Japanese troops on Chichijima had run low on supplies. However, although the daily rice ration had been reduced from 400 grams per person per day to 240 grams, the troops were not at risk of starvation. In February and March 1945, in what would later be called the Chichijima incident, Tachibana Yoshio's senior staff turned to cannibalism. Nine American airmen had escaped from their planes after being shot down during bombing raids on Chichijima, eight of whom were captured. The ninth, the only one to evade capture, was future US President George H. W. Bush, then a 20-year-old pilot. Over several months, the prisoners were executed, and reportedly by the order of Major Matoba Sueyo, their bodies were butchered by the division's medical orderlies, with the livers and other organs consumed by the senior staff, including Matoba's superior Tachibana. In the Yokohama War Crimes Trials, Lieutenant-Generals Inada Masazumi and Yokoyama Isamu were convicted for their complicity in vivisection and other human medical experiments performed at Kyushu Imperial University on downed Allied airmen. The Tokyo War Crimes Trial, which began in May 1946 and lasted two and a half years, resulted in the execution by hanging of Generals Doihara Kenji and Itagaki Seishiro, and former Prime Ministers Hirota Koki and Tojo Hideki, for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes against peace, specifically for the escalation of the Pacific War and for permitting the inhumane treatment of prisoners of war. Also sentenced to death were Lieutenant-General Muto Akira for his role in the Nanjing and Manila massacres; General Kimura Heitaro for planning the war strategy in China and Southeast Asia and for laxity in preventing atrocities against prisoners of war in Burma; and General Matsui Iwane for his involvement in the Rape of Nanjing. The seven defendants who were sentenced to death were executed at Sugamo Prison in Ikebukuro on December 23, 1948. Sixteen others were sentenced to life imprisonment, including the last Field Marshal Hata Shunroku, Generals Araki Sadao, Minami Hiro, and Umezu Shojiro, Admiral Shimada Shigetaro, former Prime Ministers Hiranuma Kiichiro and Koiso Kuniaki, Marquis Kido Koichi, and Colonel Hashimoto Kingoro, a major instigator of the second Sino-Japanese War. Additionally, former Foreign Ministers Togo Shigenori and Shigemitsu Mamoru received seven- and twenty-year sentences, respectively. The Soviet Union and Chinese Communist forces also held trials of Japanese war criminals, including the Khabarovsk War Crime Trials, which tried and found guilty some members of Japan's bacteriological and chemical warfare unit known as Unit 731. However, those who surrendered to the Americans were never brought to trial, as MacArthur granted immunity to Lieutenant-General Ishii Shiro and all members of the bacteriological research units in exchange for germ-w warfare data derived from human experimentation. If you would like to learn more about what I like to call Japan's Operation Paper clip, whereupon the US grabbed many scientists from Unit 731, check out my exclusive podcast. The SCAP-turn to democratization began with the drafting of a new constitution in 1947, addressing Japan's enduring feudal social structure. In the charter, sovereignty was vested in the people, and the emperor was designated a “symbol of the state and the unity of the people, deriving his position from the will of the people in whom resides sovereign power.” Because the emperor now possessed fewer powers than European constitutional monarchs, some have gone so far as to say that Japan became “a republic in fact if not in name.” Yet the retention of the emperor was, in fact, a compromise that suited both those who wanted to preserve the essence of the nation for stability and those who demanded that the emperor system, though not necessarily the emperor, should be expunged. In line with the democratic spirit of the new constitution, the peerage was abolished and the two-chamber Diet, to which the cabinet was now responsible, became the highest organ of state. The judiciary was made independent and local autonomy was granted in vital areas of jurisdiction such as education and the police. Moreover, the constitution stipulated that “the people shall not be prevented from enjoying any of the fundamental human rights,” that they “shall be respected as individuals,” and that “their right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness shall … be the supreme consideration in legislation.” Its 29 articles guaranteed basic human rights: equality, freedom from discrimination on the basis of race, creed, sex, social status or family origin, freedom of thought and freedom of religion. Finally, in its most controversial section, Article 9, the “peace clause,” Japan “renounce[d] war as a sovereign right of the nation” and vowed not to maintain any military forces and “other war potential.” To instill a thoroughly democratic ethos, reforms touched every facet of society. The dissolution of the zaibatsu decentralised economic power; the 1945 Labour Union Law and the 1946 Labour Relations Act guaranteed workers the right to collective action; the 1947 Labour Standards Law established basic working standards for men and women; and the revised Civil Code of 1948 abolished the patriarchal household and enshrined sexual equality. Reflecting core American principles, SCAP introduced a 6-3-3 schooling system, six years of compulsory elementary education, three years of junior high, and an optional three years of senior high, along with the aim of secular, locally controlled education. More crucially, ideological reform followed: censorship of feudal material in media, revision of textbooks, and prohibition of ideas glorifying war, dying for the emperor, or venerating war heroes. With women enfranchised and young people shaped to counter militarism and ultranationalism, rural Japan was transformed to undermine lingering class divisions. The land reform program provided for the purchase of all land held by absentee landlords, allowed resident landlords and owner-farmers to retain a set amount of land, and required that the remaining land be sold to the government so it could be offered to existing tenants. In 1948, amid the intensifying tensions of the Cold War that would soon culminate in the Korean War, the occupation's focus shifted from demilitarization and democratization toward economic rehabilitation and, ultimately, the remilitarization of Japan, an shift now known as the “Reverse Course.” The country was thus rebuilt as the Pacific region's primary bulwark against the spread of Communism. An Economic Stabilisation Programme was introduced, including a five-year plan to coordinate production and target capital through the Reconstruction Finance Bank. In 1949, the anti-inflationary Dodge Plan was adopted, advocating balanced budgets, fixing the exchange rate at 360 yen to the dollar, and ending broad government intervention. Additionally, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry was formed and supported the formation of conglomerates centered around banks, which encouraged the reemergence of a somewhat weakened set of zaibatsu, including Mitsui and Mitsubishi. By the end of the Occupation era, Japan was on the verge of surpassing its 1934–1936 levels of economic growth. Equally important was Japan's rearmament in alignment with American foreign policy: a National Police Reserve of about 75,000 was created with the outbreak of the Korean War; by 1952 it had expanded to 110,000 and was renamed the Self-Defense Force after the inclusion of an air force. However, the Reverse Course also facilitated the reestablishment of conservative politics and the rollback of gains made by women and the reforms of local autonomy and education. As the Occupation progressed, the Americans permitted greater Japanese initiative, and power gradually shifted from the reformers to the moderates. By 1949, the purge of the right came under review, and many who had been condemned began returning to influence, if not to the Diet, then to behind-the-scenes power. At the same time, Japanese authorities, with MacArthur's support, began purging left-wing activists. In June 1950, for example, the central office of the Japan Communist Party and the editorial board of The Red Flag were purged. The gains made by women also seemed to be reversed. Women were elected to 8% of available seats in the first lower-house election in 1946, but to only 2% in 1952, a trend not reversed until the so-called Madonna Boom of the 1980s. Although the number of women voting continued to rise, female politicisation remained more superficial than might be imagined. Women's employment also appeared little affected by labour legislation: though women formed nearly 40% of the labor force in 1952, they earned only 45% as much as men. Indeed, women's attitudes toward labor were influenced less by the new ethos of fulfilling individual potential than by traditional views of family and workplace responsibilities. In the areas of local autonomy and education, substantial modifications were made to the reforms. Because local authorities lacked sufficient power to tax, they were unable to realise their extensive powers, and, as a result, key responsibilities were transferred back to national jurisdiction. In 1951, for example, 90% of villages and towns placed their police forces under the control of the newly formed National Police Agency. Central control over education was also gradually reasserted; in 1951, the Yoshida government attempted to reintroduce ethics classes, proposed tighter central oversight of textbooks, and recommended abolishing local school board elections. By the end of the decade, all these changes had been implemented. The Soviet occupation of the Kurile Islands and the Habomai Islets was completed with Russian troops fully deployed by September 5. Immediately after the onset of the occupation, amid a climate of insecurity and fear marked by reports of sporadic rape and physical assault and widespread looting by occupying troops, an estimated 4,000 islanders fled to Hokkaido rather than face an uncertain repatriation. As Soviet forces moved in, they seized or destroyed telephone and telegraph installations and halted ship movements into and out of the islands, leaving residents without adequate food and other winter provisions. Yet, unlike Manchuria, where Japanese civilians faced widespread sexual violence and pillage, systematic violence against the civilian population on the Kuriles appears to have been exceptional. A series of military government proclamations assured islanders of safety so long as they did not resist Soviet rule and carried on normally; however, these orders also prohibited activities not explicitly authorized by the Red Army, which imposed many hardships on civilians. Residents endured harsh conditions under Soviet rule until late 1948, when Japanese repatriation out of the Kurils was completed. The Kuriles posed a special diplomatic problem, as the occupation of the southernmost islands—the Northern Territories—ignited a long-standing dispute between Tokyo and Moscow that continues to impede the normalisation of relations today. Although the Kuriles were promised to the Soviet Union in the Yalta agreement, Japan and the United States argued that this did not apply to the Northern Territories, since they were not part of the Kurile Islands. A substantial dispute regarding the status of the Kurile Islands arose between the United States and the Soviet Union during the preparation of the Treaty of San Francisco, which was intended as a permanent peace treaty between Japan and the Allied Powers of World War II. The treaty was ultimately signed by 49 nations in San Francisco on September 8, 1951, and came into force on April 28, 1952. It ended Japan's role as an imperial power, allocated compensation to Allied nations and former prisoners of war who had suffered Japanese war crimes, ended the Allied post-war occupation of Japan, and returned full sovereignty to Japan. Effectively, the document officially renounced Japan's treaty rights derived from the Boxer Protocol of 1901 and its rights to Korea, Formosa and the Pescadores, the Kurile Islands, the Spratly Islands, Antarctica, and South Sakhalin. Japan's South Seas Mandate, namely the Mariana Islands, Marshall Islands, and Caroline Islands, had already been formally revoked by the United Nations on July 18, 1947, making the United States responsible for administration of those islands under a UN trusteeship agreement that established the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. In turn, the Bonin, Volcano, and Ryukyu Islands were progressively restored to Japan between 1953 and 1972, along with the Senkaku Islands, which were disputed by both Communist and Nationalist China. In addition, alongside the Treaty of San Francisco, Japan and the United States signed a Security Treaty that established a long-lasting military alliance between them. Although Japan renounced its rights to the Kuriles, the U.S. State Department later clarified that “the Habomai Islands and Shikotan ... are properly part of Hokkaido and that Japan is entitled to sovereignty over them,” hence why the Soviets refused to sign the treaty. Britain and the United States agreed that territorial rights would not be granted to nations that did not sign the Treaty of San Francisco, and as a result the Kurile Islands were not formally recognized as Soviet territory. A separate peace treaty, the Treaty of Taipei (formally the Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty), was signed in Taipei on April 28, 1952 between Japan and the Kuomintang, and on June 9 of that year the Treaty of Peace Between Japan and India followed. Finally, Japan and the Soviet Union ended their formal state of war with the Soviet–Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956, though this did not settle the Kurile Islands dispute. Even after these formal steps, Japan as a nation was not in a formal state of war, and many Japanese continued to believe the war was ongoing; those who held out after the surrender came to be known as Japanese holdouts. Captain Oba Sakae and his medical company participated in the Saipan campaign beginning on July 7, 1944, and took part in what would become the largest banzai charge of the Pacific War. After 15 hours of intense hand-to-hand combat, almost 4,300 Japanese soldiers were dead, and Oba and his men were presumed among them. In reality, however, he survived the battle and gradually assumed command of over a hundred additional soldiers. Only five men from his original unit survived the battle, two of whom died in the following months. Oba then led over 200 Japanese civilians deeper into the jungles to evade capture, organizing them into mountain caves and hidden jungle villages. When the soldiers were not assisting the civilians with survival tasks, Oba and his men continued their battle against the garrison of US Marines. He used the 1,552‑ft Mount Tapochau as their primary base, which offered an unobstructed 360-degree view of the island. From their base camp on the western slope of the mountain, Oba and his men occasionally conducted guerrilla-style raids on American positions. Due to the speed and stealth of these operations, and the Marines' frustrated attempts to find him, the Saipan Marines eventually referred to Oba as “The Fox.” Oba and his men held out on the island for 512 days, or about 16 months. On November 27, 1945, former Major-General Amo Umahachi was able to draw out some of the Japanese in hiding by singing the anthem of the Japanese infantry branch. Amo was then able to present documents from the defunct IGHQ to Oba ordering him and his 46 remaining men to surrender themselves to the Americans. On December 1, the Japanese soldiers gathered on Tapochau and sang a song of departure to the spirits of the war dead; Oba led his people out of the jungle and they presented themselves to the Marines of the 18th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Company. With great formality and commensurate dignity, Oba surrendered his sword to Lieutenant Colonel Howard G. Kirgis, and his men surrendered their arms and colors. On January 2, 1946, 20 Japanese soldiers hiding in a tunnel at Corregidor Island surrendered after learning the war had ended from a newspaper found while collecting water. In that same month, 120 Japanese were routed after a battle in the mountains 150 miles south of Manila. In April, during a seven-week campaign to clear Lubang Island, 41 more Japanese emerged from the jungle, unaware that the war had ended; however, a group of four Japanese continued to resist. In early 1947, Lieutenant Yamaguchi Ei and his band of 33 soldiers renewed fighting with the small Marine garrison on Peleliu, prompting reinforcements under Rear-Admiral Charles Pownall to be brought to the island to hunt down the guerrilla group. Along with them came former Rear-Admiral Sumikawa Michio, who ultimately convinced Yamaguchi to surrender in April after almost three years of guerrilla warfare. Also in April, seven Japanese emerged from Palawan Island and fifteen armed stragglers emerged from Luzon. In January 1948, 200 troops surrendered on Mindanao; and on May 12, the Associated Press reported that two unnamed Japanese soldiers had surrendered to civilian policemen in Guam the day before. On January 6, 1949, two former IJN soldiers, machine gunners Matsudo Rikio and Yamakage Kufuku, were discovered on Iwo Jima and surrendered peacefully. In March 1950, Private Akatsu Yūichi surrendered in the village of Looc, leaving only three Japanese still resisting on Lubang. By 1951 a group of Japanese on Anatahan Island refused to believe that the war was over and resisted every attempt by the Navy to remove them. This group was first discovered in February 1945, when several Chamorros from Saipan were sent to the island to recover the bodies of a Saipan-based B-29. The Chamorros reported that there were about thirty Japanese survivors from three ships sunk in June 1944, one of which was an Okinawan woman. Personal aggravations developed from the close confines of a small group on a small island and from tuba drinking; among the holdouts, 6 of 11 deaths were the result of violence, and one man displayed 13 knife wounds. The presence of only one woman, Higa Kazuko, caused considerable difficulty as she would transfer her affections among at least four men after each of them mysteriously disappeared, purportedly “swallowed by the waves while fishing.” According to the more sensational versions of the Anatahan tale, 11 of the 30 navy sailors stranded on the island died due to violent struggles over her affections. In July 1950, Higa went to the beach when an American vessel appeared offshore and finally asked to be removed from the island. She was taken to Saipan aboard the Miss Susie and, upon arrival, told authorities that the men on the island did not believe the war was over. As the Japanese government showed interest in the situation on Anatahan, the families of the holdouts were contacted in Japan and urged by the Navy to write letters stating that the war was over and that the holdouts should surrender. The letters were dropped by air on June 26 and ultimately convinced the holdouts to give themselves up. Thus, six years after the end of World War II, “Operation Removal” commenced from Saipan under the command of Lt. Commander James B. Johnson, USNR, aboard the Navy Tug USS Cocopa. Johnson and an interpreter went ashore by rubber boat and formally accepted the surrender on the morning of June 30, 1951. The Anatahan femme fatale story later inspired the 1953 Japanese film Anatahan and the 1998 novel Cage on the Sea. In 1953, Murata Susumu, the last holdout on Tinian, was finally captured. The next year, on May 7, Corporal Sumada Shoichi was killed in a clash with Filipino soldiers, leaving only two Japanese still resisting on Lubang. In November 1955, Seaman Kinoshita Noboru was captured in the Luzon jungle but soon after committed suicide rather than “return to Japan in defeat.” That same year, four Japanese airmen surrendered at Hollandia in Dutch New Guinea; and in 1956, nine soldiers were located and sent home from Morotai, while four men surrendered on Mindoro. In May 1960, Sergeant Ito Masashi became one of the last Japanese to surrender at Guam after the capture of his comrade Private Minagawa Bunzo, but the final surrender at Guam would come later with Sergeant Yokoi Shoichi. Sergeant Yokoi Shoichi survived in the jungles of Guam by living for years in an elaborately dug hole, subsisting on snails and lizards, a fate that, while undignified, showcased his ingenuity and resilience and earned him a warm welcome on his return to Japan. His capture was not heroic in the traditional sense: he was found half-starving by a group of villagers while foraging for shrimp in a stream, and the broader context included his awareness as early as 1952 that the war had ended. He explained that the wartime bushido code, emphasizing self-sacrifice or suicide rather than self-preservation, had left him fearing that repatriation would label him a deserter and likely lead to execution. Emerging from the jungle, Yokoi also became a vocal critic of Japan's wartime leadership, including Emperor Hirohito, which fits a view of him as a product of, and a prisoner within, his own education, military training, and the censorship and propaganda of the era. When asked by a young nephew how he survived so long on an island just a short distance from a major American airbase, he replied simply, “I was really good at hide and seek.” That same year, Private Kozuka Kinshichi was killed in a shootout with Philippine police in October, leaving Lieutenant Onoda Hiroo still resisting on Lubang. Lieutenant Onoda Hiroo had been on Lubang since 1944, a few months before the Americans retook the Philippines. The last instructions he had received from his immediate superior ordered him to retreat to the interior of the island and harass the Allied occupying forces until the IJA eventually returned. Despite efforts by the Philippine Army, letters and newspapers left for him, radio broadcasts, and even a plea from Onoda's brother, he did not believe the war was over. On February 20, 1974, Onoda encountered a young Japanese university dropout named Suzuki Norio, who was traveling the world and had told friends that he planned to “look for Lieutenant Onoda, a panda, and the abominable snowman, in that order.” The two became friends, but Onoda stated that he was waiting for orders from one of his commanders. On March 9, 1974, Onoda went to an agreed-upon place and found a note left by Suzuki. Suzuki had brought along Onoda's former commander, Major Taniguchi, who delivered the oral orders for Onoda to surrender. Intelligence Officer 2nd Lt. Onoda Hiroo thus emerged from Lubang's jungle with his .25 caliber rifle, 500 rounds of ammunition, and several hand grenades. He surrendered 29 years after Japan's formal surrender, and 15 years after being declared legally dead in Japan. When he accepted that the war was over, he wept openly. He received a hero's welcome upon his return to Japan in 1974. The Japanese government offered him a large sum of money in back pay, which he refused. When money was pressed on him by well-wishers, he donated it to Yasukuni Shrine. Onoda was reportedly unhappy with the attention and what he saw as the withering of traditional Japanese values. He wrote No Surrender: My Thirty-Year War, a best-selling autobiography published in 1974. Yet the last Japanese to surrender would be Private Nakamura Teruo, an Amis aborigine from Formosa and a member of the Takasago Volunteers. Private Nakamura Teruo spent the tail end of World War II with a dwindling band on Morotai, repeatedly dispersing and reassembling in the jungle as they hunted for food. The group suffered continuous losses to starvation and disease, and survivors described Nakamura as highly self-sufficient. He left to live alone somewhere in the Morotai highlands between 1946 and 1947, rejoined the main group in 1950, and then disappeared again a few years later. Nakamura hinted in print that he fled into the jungle because he feared the other holdouts might murder him. He survives for decades beyond the war, eventually being found by 11 Indonesian soldiers. The emergence of an indigenous Taiwanese soldier among the search party embarrassed Japan as it sought to move past its imperial past. Many Japanese felt Nakamura deserved compensation for decades of loyalty, only to learn that his back pay for three decades of service amounted to 68,000 yen. Nakamura's experience of peace was complex. When a journalist asked how he felt about “wasting” three decades of his life on Morotai, he replied that the years had not been wasted; he had been serving his country. Yet the country he returned to was Taiwan, and upon disembarking in Taipei in early January 1975, he learned that his wife had a son he had never met and that she had remarried a decade after his official death. Nakamura eventually lived with a daughter, and his story concluded with a bittersweet note when his wife reconsidered and reconciled with him. Several Japanese soldiers joined local Communist and insurgent groups after the war to avoid surrender. Notably, in 1956 and 1958, two soldiers returned to Japan after service in China's People's Liberation Army. Two others who defected with a larger group to the Malayan Communist Party around 1945 laid down their arms in 1989 and repatriated the next year, becoming among the last to return home. That is all for today, but fear not I will provide a few more goodies over the next few weeks. I will be releasing some of my exclusive podcast episodes from my youtube membership and patreon that are about pacific war subjects. Like I promised the first one will be on why Emperor Hirohito surrendered. Until then if you need your fix you know where to find me: eastern front week by week, fall and rise of china, echoes of war or on my Youtube membership of patreon at www.patreon.com/pacificwarchannel.
For years, Ellie endured nights of terror in her California home. Every night between 1 and 4 AM, the same horrifying pattern occurred: heavy stomps echoed up and down the staircase, as though someone was dragging a suitcase full of bricks. Sometimes the sound rushed to her door, followed by a forceful push as if something unseen was testing the lock. Her parents never heard it. Yet when friends stayed over, they too lay awake listening to the stomping, terrified. Even her sister, skeptical until she stayed in Ellie's room, admitted the sounds were real — and deeply disturbing. Then one night, pots crashed in the kitchen, and locks stopped working, amplifying the danger. Fearing she was losing her mind, Ellie eventually turned to prayer inside a synagogue, despite not being religious. Begging for the stomping to stop, she wept and pleaded. From that night forward, the activity ended. Tony and Todd discuss the terrifying details, the possible connection to Native American burial grounds, and whether fear itself can feed hauntings. More importantly, they reflect on the power of faith, even when someone doesn't believe, to stop something darker than themselves. This stomping entity story is one of the most terrifying hauntings ever shared on the show. #HauntedHouse #Paranormal #GhostStories #RealGhostStories #StompingEntity #HauntedPlaces #CreepyStories #GhostActivity #ParanormalExperience #BurialGround Love real ghost stories? Don't just listen—join us on YouTube and be part of the largest community of real paranormal encounters anywhere. Subscribe now and never miss a chilling new story:
For years, Ellie endured nights of terror in her California home. Every night between 1 and 4 AM, the same horrifying pattern occurred: heavy stomps echoed up and down the staircase, as though someone was dragging a suitcase full of bricks. Sometimes the sound rushed to her door, followed by a forceful push as if something unseen was testing the lock. Her parents never heard it. Yet when friends stayed over, they too lay awake listening to the stomping, terrified. Even her sister, skeptical until she stayed in Ellie's room, admitted the sounds were real — and deeply disturbing. Then one night, pots crashed in the kitchen, and locks stopped working, amplifying the danger. Fearing she was losing her mind, Ellie eventually turned to prayer inside a synagogue, despite not being religious. Begging for the stomping to stop, she wept and pleaded. From that night forward, the activity ended. Tony and Todd discuss the terrifying details, the possible connection to Native American burial grounds, and whether fear itself can feed hauntings. More importantly, they reflect on the power of faith, even when someone doesn't believe, to stop something darker than themselves. This stomping entity story is one of the most terrifying hauntings ever shared on the show. #HauntedHouse #Paranormal #GhostStories #RealGhostStories #StompingEntity #HauntedPlaces #CreepyStories #GhostActivity #ParanormalExperience #BurialGround Love real ghost stories? Don't just listen—join us on YouTube and be part of the largest community of real paranormal encounters anywhere. Subscribe now and never miss a chilling new story: https://www.youtube.com/@realghoststoriesonline Want even more? Become a supporter and unlock exclusive extras, ad-free episodes, and advanced access: Apple Premium: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ad-free-advance-a-ghostly-playlist/id880791662?i=1000723754502 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/realghoststories Stay connected with us on social: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ghostpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@realghoststoriesonline Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/RealGhostStoriesOnline/
On today's Bible Answer Man broadcast (09/04/25), Hank answers the following questions:Where is a good place to start reading the Bible? Matt - Excelsior Springs, MO (0:53)Is the Archko Volume reliable? Can you be a Christian and be afraid of death? David - Winston-Salem, NC (3:58)Can you be a Christian and be afraid of death? David - Winston-Salem, NC (5:05)What is your opinion of Beth Moore's Bible study on the book of Daniel and her view of the End-Times? Olivia - Milford, NE (7:45)Is the element carbon the mark of the Beast? Steve - Bolivar, MO (15:10)Who are the sons of God in Genesis 6? Annie - Wichita, KS (19:28)My friends started going to a Messianic congregation and have now denied Christ and converted to Judaism. Can you help me? Brian - Sunnyvale, TX (21:12)
EPISODE 031
Amanda Holmes reads Kenneth Fearing's “If Money.” Have a suggestion for a poem by a (dead) writer? Email us: podcast@theamericanscholar.org. If we select your entry, you'll win a copy of a poetry collection edited by David Lehman.This episode was produced by Stephanie Bastek and features the song “Canvasback” by Chad Crouch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
PRC: Fearing history. Steve Yates, Gordon Chang @GordonGChang, Gatestone, Newsweek, The Hill
Psalm 25:12 YLTWho [is] this -- the man fearing Jehovah? He directeth him in the way He doth choose.
This is an in depth interview with host @heyitsmeCarolyn. Tonight's show has several internet based interruptions. Let's talk about real hammer accounting. The reference has since been removed from the Congressional records. Never trust anyone that comes out of the Agency. When people live in trailers and are employed by the enemy they can't be convinced. Our women would rather burn standing up, than ever kneel to evil. Q is a multiple level operation with many facets. Fearing the unknown is understandable. Many now know what happens when you don't play along. It's a threat, so have no doubt. Nobody looks very closely at the State Department. They actually do most of the dirty work. People will jump ship to save a lifestyle. The subject of Antarctica comes up. The truths of WWII also. Self censorship and maneuvering public opinion work together. There is even talk about secret subpoena's. FBI is always in the mix. Some people are new to the interference game. Unstable connections take a toll. Stay tuned for a big event filled, long and hot month of August.
SHOW SCHEDULE 7-28 THE SHOW BEGINS IN GAZA IN THE LINES OF GAZANS FEARING FOOD SUPPLU COLLAPSE,,, 1945 CBS EYE ON THE WORLD WITH JOHN BATCHELOR FIRST HOUR 9:00-9:15 GAZA: AIRDRIOS DAVIDDAOUD, BILL ROGGIO, FDD 9:15-9:30 GAZA: AIRDRIOS DAVIDDAOUD, BILL ROGGIO, FDD CONTINUED 9:30-9:45AFGHANISTAN: LESSONS LEARNED OF USE IN UKRAINE. BILL ROGGIO, FDD 9:45-10:00 AFGHANISTAN: LESSONS LEARNED OF USE IN UKRAINE. BILL ROGGIO, FDD (CONTINUED) SECOND HOUR 10:00-10:15 GAZA: DISINFORMATION. MALCOLM HOENLEIN @CONF_OF_PRES @MHOENLEIN1, @THADMCCOTTER @THEAMGREATNESS 10:15-10:30 IRAN: REARMING. MALCOLM HOENLEIN @CONF_OF_PRES @MHOENLEIN1, @THADMCCOTTER @THEAMGREATNESS 10:30-10:45 PRC IN THE MARIANAS (US). CLEO PASKAL, FDD; GORDON CHANG.https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/567970/david-apatang-sworn-in-as-cnmi-s-11th-governor 10:45-11:00 MOBILE NUCLEAR MISSILES. PETER HUESSY, GORDON CHANGhttps://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2014/11/last-thing-us-needs-are-mobile-nuclear-missiles/98828/ THIRD HOUR 11:00-11:15 #NEWWORLDREPORT: MADURO CONDEMNED AS DRUG LORD. JOSEPH HUMIRE @JMHUMIRE @SECUREFREESOC, ERNESTO ARAUJO (FORMER FOREIGN MINISTER, REPUBLIC OF BRAZIL), ALEJANDRO PENA ESCLUSA 11:15-11:30 #NEWWORLDREPORT: ARGENTINA REWARDED. JOSEPH HUMIRE @JMHUMIRE @SECUREFREESOC, ERNESTO ARAUJO (FORMER FOREIGN MINISTER, REPUBLIC OF BRAZIL), ALEJANDRO PENA ESCLUSA 11:30-11:45 SYRIA: DRUZE AND EXISTENTIAL THREAT. AHMAD SHARAWI, BILL ROGGIO, FDD 11:45-12:00 SYRIA: DRUZE AND EXISTENTIAL THREAT. AHMAD SHARAWI, BILL ROGGIO, FDD (CONTINUED) FOURTH HOUR 12:00-12:15 UKRAINE: LESSONS LEARNED FOR NATO. JOHN HARDIE, BILL ROGGIO 12:15-12:30 UKRAINE: SOVIET TANKS. JOHN HARDIE, BILL ROGGIO 12:30-12:45 KGB: THE RED SPARROWS AND EPSTEIN. CRAIG UNGER, SUBSTACK, AUTHOR "AMERICAN KOMPROMAT" 12:45-1:00 KGB: THE RED SPARROWS AND EPSTEIN. CRAIG UNGER, SUBSTACK (CONTINUED)
In September 2023, 45-year-old Eleanore "Ellie" Halverson and her mother, Roxanne, drove to a mental health facility in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. She was planning to check in for treatment. Outside the entrance, Ellie said goodbye to her mother and daughter, as neither of them were allowed to accompany her inside.Roxanne expected she would hear from her daughter within a few days, once Ellie had settled in and was granted phone privileges. But as time passed with no word, a sense of unease set in. Then she learned that Ellie had never officially checked into the facility, and no one had seen or heard from her. Fearing the worst, Roxanne reported Ellie missing in Grand Rapids.Then, on November 4, Ellie was spotted on surveillance footage in Northhome, MN. Ellie's family believed she was likely with her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Geno. Police eventually tracked Geno down in rural Itasca County. He told investigators they had argued one night in early November, and Ellie had stormed off into the freezing Minnesota darkness. That was the last time he claimed to have seen or heard from her.This November will mark two years since Ellie vanished. Her family is still searching, haunted by unanswered questions and desperate for the truth about what really happened that night.If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Eleanor “Ellie” Halverson, please contact the Itasca County Sheriff's Office at 218-326-3477. If you wish to remain anonymous, call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or visit CrimeStoppersMN.org. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety's Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Office Gaagige-Mikwendaagoziwag Reward Fund tip program is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information.If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, help is available. Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or visit thehotline.org for confidential support 24/7.If you have a missing loved one that you would like to have featured on the show, please fill out our case submission form.Follow The Vanished on social media at:FacebookInstagramTwitterPatreonSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.