Podcasts about florida division

Congressman Jared Moskowitz: Pro-Israel, Proudly Jewish, and Unapologetically Honest | Behind the Bima

This is The Briefing, a daily analysis of news and events from a Christian worldview.Part I (00:13 - 10:27)Abortion on the Ballot in Ten States: A Radical Constitutional Amendment Packaged as ‘Reproductive Health Care' Faces Missouri Voters2024 Ballot Measures by Missouri Secretary of StateAmendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion by Florida Division of ElectionsPart II (10:27 - 15:57)Where Did the Pro-Lifers Go? A Secular Age Clarifies Who is Convictionally and Genuinely Pro-LifePart III (15:57 - 20:10)We Are About to Learn How Effective a Pro-Abortion Platform Is: The Inconsistency of the American Voter and the Need to Continue to Fight for Unborn LifeAs Election Day Nears, Democrats Test Just How Powerful Abortion Really Is by The New York Times (Elizabeth Dias and Lisa Lerer)Part IV (20:10 - 25:46)There's a New Key to Unlocking Who Might Win the Election? Why the Betting World Might Indicate Who Will Be the Next President of the United StatesThe Crypto Website Where the Election Odds Swing in Trump's Favor by The New York Times (David Yaffe-Bellany and Erin Griffith)Sign up to receive The Briefing in your inbox every weekday morning.Follow Dr. Mohler:X | Instagram | Facebook | YouTubeFor more information on The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, go to sbts.edu.For more information on Boyce College, just go to BoyceCollege.com.To write Dr. Mohler or submit a question for The Mailbox, go here.

With Florida being hit with consecutive hurricanes, we are replaying our conversation with Executive Director Kevin Guthrie. We hope this episode provides much needed information as this season continues. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-sean-pittman-podcast/support

This week hosts Tiffany Cross, Angela Rye, and Andrew Gillum process a storm of historical proportions, Hurricane Milton. The storm recalls the trauma of Hurricane Katrina and the misinformation that targeted the Black community during that disaster which led to so many unnecessary deaths. Now we're seeing more misinformation than ever–what lessons do we draw from Katrina and how do we avoid the worst with Milton?    FEMA Rumor Response: www.fema.gov/disaster/current/hurricane-helene/rumor-response   Florida Division of Emergency on X/Twitter : https://x.com/FLSERT   Florida Shelter Info: https://www.floridadisaster.org/shelter-status   South Carolina Emergency Management: https://www.scemd.org/   And Tiffany shares a story about getting put into a confrontational interview in front of high school students, at an event where she found herself surrounded by unfriendly white conservatives. How do we act when we find ourselves in what feels like an alternate universe (with alternate facts)?    And of course we'll hear from you, our #NLPFam listeners. If you'd like to submit a question, check out our tutorial video: www.instagram.com/reel/C5j_oBXLIg0/.    We are 26 days away from the election. Welcome home y'all!    —--------- We want to hear from you! Send us a video @nativelandpod and we may feature you on the podcast.    Instagram  X/Twitter Facebook NativeLandPod.com   Watch full episodes of Native Land Pod here on YouTube. Thank you to the Native Land Pod team:    Angela Rye as host, executive producer and cofounder of Reasoned Choice Media; Tiffany Cross as host and producer, Andrew Gillum as host and producer, and Lauren Hansen as executive producer; Loren Mychael is our research producer, and Nikolas Harter is our editor and producer. Special thanks  to Chris Morrow and Lenard McKelvey, co-founders of Reasoned Choice Media.  Theme music created by Daniel Laurent.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Audible Bleeding editor Wen (@WenKawaji) is joined by 1st year vascular surgery fellow Richa Kalsi (@KalsiMD), 3rd year medical student Nishi (@Nishi_Vootukuru), 4th-year general surgery resident Sasank Kalipatnapu (@ksasank) from UMass Chan Medical School, JVS editor Dr. Forbes (@TL_Forbes), JVS-VLD associate editor Dr. Arjun Jayaraj and JVS social media liaison Dr. Haurani to discuss some of our favorite articles in the JVS family of journals.   This episode hosts Dr. Amy Felsted, Dr. Salvatore Scali, and Dr. Arjun Jayaraj, the authors of the following papers. Dr. Arjun Jayaraj and Dr. Haurani will also spend time discussing a virtual special issue, centered around iliofemoral venous stenting published in the Journal of Vascular Surgery, Venous and Lymphatic Disorders that includes six articles published between August 2023 and May 2024.    Articles: Part 1: A patient-centered textbook outcome measure effectively discriminates contemporary elective open abdominal aortic aneurysm repair quality by Dr. Felsted, Dr. Scali and colleagues.    Part 2: Virtual special issues on contemporary role of iliofemoral venous stenting    Show Guests  Dr. Amy Felsted (@aefelsted): Completed fellowship at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, Currently an assistant professor of surgery at Boston University School of Medicine and practicing vascular surgeon at the VA in Boston   Dr. Salvatore Scali: Professor of Surgery at University of Florida Division of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy, program director of the vascular fellowship at University of Florida.   Dr. Arjun Jayaraj: Vascular surgeon at the RANE Center in Jackson, Mississippi with a focus on the management of venous and lymphatic diseases, Associate Editor of JVS-VL.  Follow us @audiblebleeding Learn more about us at https://www.audiblebleeding.com/about-1/ and provide us with your feedback with our listener survey.

Local 10 News This Week In South Florida Anchor Glenna Milberg interviews Kevin Guthrie, the management director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management; Pete Gomez, the management director of the Miami-Dade County Department of Emergency Management; and Clay Pacheco, the management director of the Broward County Office of Emergency Management, about the flood emergency. Milberg also interviewed Steadman Stahl, the president of the South Florida Police Benevolent Association; and Lori Alhadeff, a member of the Broward County School Board, the founder of Make Our Schools Safe, and the mother of 14-year-old Alyssa, who died during a mass shooting on Feb. 14, 2018, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hurricane season is here! The Museum of Discovery and Science is teaming up again with FIU International Hurricane Research Center and the Florida Division of Emergency Management for the "Eye of the Storm" event, to be held Saturday, June 1, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Future storm chasers, meteorologists and engineers will learn about hurricanes and disaster preparedness. Friday on Mornings with Eric and Brigitte, Meteorologist, Erik Salna will join us to share more about this family-kid friendly event full of activities, demonstrations, entertainment, all getting ready for hurricane season. Erik will also give us details on predictions of the upcoming hurricane season. 2024 Eye of the Storm Flyer.pdfSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This year's theme for the state of Florida is from Forecast to Action

Listen, Watch, & Support DTP: www.thereadinesslab.com/dtp-linksBoost the Signal with a $5 monthly donation! Become a TRL Insider Member with a ton of extra content! #emergencymanagement #disastertough #leadership #emergencyservicesIt's been said that three is a crowd, but four is a party.  This week's episode of the Disaster Tough Podcast lives up to that moniker as four Emergency "Momagers" get together to discuss balancing the demands of motherhood and successful Emergency Management careers.  Whether it's raising young children, young adults, or even the single-motherhood perspective, Ashley Lauria-Golden, Vanessa Flores, Cori Smith, and Michelle Chechowski bring varying life experiences to this insightful and entertaining discussion on the connections between motherhood and Emergency Management.Ashley Lauria-Golden brings more than a decade's experience to the field of Emergency Management and response working mainly in Georgia.  As she has transitioned to the role of mother to a young toddler, she has been able to continue to work more on the subject matter expert side of Emergency Management both for Doberman Emergency Management and recently for the Lafayette Group.  Vanessa Flores has a 9-year-old daughter and currently serves as the Deputy Director of Emergency Management at UC Irvine in California.  Before that, Vanessa spent more than a decade as an Emergency Management professional in the US Air Force.  Cori Smith also spent time in Emergency Management with the Air Force before eventually landing in her current role as the Executive Director of Enterprise Resiliency for Wells Fargo.  She is also the mother of children of varying ages.Michelle Chechowski serves as the Director of Emergency Preparedness for the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council, the Executive Director and Symposium Lead for the Florida HazMat Symposium, and works as an Instructor of upper-level classes at the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM).  Her children are in their teens and are either in college or their last years of high school.  Does work-life balance exist?  Does working in Emergency Management make you a better mother, or is it the other way around?  How do you stay present for your child(ren) in this increasingly connected world?  All of these questions and more are answered in this special Mother's Day edition of the Disaster Tough Podcast.  Major Endorsements: L3Harris's BeOn PPT App.   Learn more about this amazing product here: www.l3harris.comPaladin by Acela: Move into recovery with mobile MCI refrigerated morgues: www.paladinprepare.com   Impulse: Bleeding Control Kits by professionals for professionals:    www.dobermanemg.com/impulseDoberman Emergency Management Group provides subject matter experts in planning and training: www.dobermanemg.com 

Web: www.JonesHealthLaw.com Phone: (305)877-5054 Instagram: @JonesHealthLaw Facebook: @JonesHealthLaw YouTube: @JonesHealthLaw In 2018, the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 was signed into law, authorizing the production of hemp and removing hemp and hemp seeds from the Drug Enforcement Agency's (DEA) list of controlled substances. The act also allowed the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide guidance to implement a program that would help establish the regulatory framework regarding the production of hemp throughout the United States.   Following the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018, Senate Bill 1020 in Florida was signed. This bill provided a state plan for the regulation of cultivating hemp within Florida. Under the bill, hemp-derived cannabinoids are not controlled substances so long as the hemp derivates do not exceed a total delta-9 tetrahydro cannibal (THC) concentration of 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis. Any product with a THC concentration over 0.3 percent is considered a controlled substance. It is important to note that the sale of topical CBD products is not required to be licensed by the FDACS and is rather regulated by the Florida Division of Business and Professional Regulation. Additionally, there may be further requirements for CBD products that contain dairy or frozen ingredients. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/joneshealthlaw/support

Listen, Watch, & Support DTP: www.thereadinesslab.com/dtp-linksBoost the Signal with a $5 monthly donation! Become a TRL Insider Member with a ton of extra content! #emergencymanagement #disastertough #leadership #emergencyservicesAn author once wrote, "Doing one thing at a time is a recipe for a life that won't keep up with your dreams."Emergency Manager, and master multitasker, Michelle Cechowski is living this reality every day as she balances her many leadership roles both professionally and personally.  As the Director of Emergency Preparedness for the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council, Michelle also works as the Executive Director and Symposium Lead for the Florida HazMat Symposium and is an Instructor of upper-level classes at the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM), among other responsibilities.Michelle's professional journey started in law enforcement and response.  After nearly a decade in that profession, she was led to Emergency Management and continues to look to grow and evolve in the field.  In this, her second appearance on the Disaster Tough Podcast, Michelle talks about that journey and how she manages to remain efficient in her Emergency Management leadership despite being involved with so many different entities.  Major Endorsements: L3Harris's BeOn PPT App.   Learn more about this amazing product here: www.l3harris.comPaladin by Acela: Move into recovery with mobile MCI refrigerated morgues: www.paladinprepare.com   Impulse: Bleeding Control Kits by professionals for professionals:    www.dobermanemg.com/impulseDoberman Emergency Management Group provides subject matter experts in planning and training: www.dobermanemg.com   The Readiness Lab Podcast Network: Disaster Tough Podcast is part of The Readiness Lab Podcast Network   For sponsorship requests: contact@thereadinesslab.com or visit our website: www.thereadinesslab.com  

On the latest episode of the This Week in South Florida podcast, host Glenna Milberg interviews Kevin Guthrie, the director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management; Ron Book, the chairman of the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust; Danielle Cohen Higgins, a Miami-Dade commissioner; and Douglas Roberts, the president of the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The long-awaited return of Water for Fighting is here! In the first episode of Season 3, Brett travels to Tampa to record live in front of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary's (NAALJ) National Conference. His conversation partners were Elizabeth Fernandez and Doug Manson. Elizabeth is the Deputy General Counsel at the Southwest Florida Water Management District. Doug is President of the Manson, Bolves, Donaldson, Tanner Law Firm. They discuss Western versus Eastern Water Law, and where Florida's water resource philosophy fits on that spectrum. They also talk about the genesis of conflict as it relates to water resources in Florida, and more importantly, the path to conflict resolution when stakeholders disagree. To learn more about what Elizabeth's great organization is up to and how they're working to protect West Central Florida's water resources, head here: https://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us To find out how Doug and his partners can put their decades of legal expertise in water resource regulation and conflict resolution, visit them here: https://www.mansonbolves.com/attorneys/douglas-manson/ A special thank you goes out to Judges Brian Newman, Bruce Culpepper, Francine Ffolkes, and Bill Horgan from the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings for inviting me to the conference and for supporting the mission of the show. To learn more about my gracious hosts from the NAALJ, please visit their website here: https://www.naalj.org To learn more about the Southern Water Use Caution Area (SWUCA) with Swiftmud, go here: https://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/projects/southern-water-use-caution-area Brett and his guests talk about the Polk Regional Water Cooperative (PRWC) and its goal of meeting water resource needs and protection goals in a place where the demand for water has outpaced supply. To learn more about that, go here: https://prwcwater.org West-Central Florida has been a hotbed for water resource conflict over the decades, but the path to cooperative resolution really culminated with the creation of Tampa Bay Water over 25 years ago. To find out more about its creation, go here: https://www.tampabaywater.org/about-tampa-bay-water This Episode of Water for Fighting is brought to you by my friends at Resource Environmental Solutions. RES is the nation's leader in ecological restoration, helping to restore Florida's natural resources with water quality and stormwater solutions that offer communities guaranteed performance and outcomes. Check them out at www.res.us Please be sure to check out a relatively new podcast Brett hosts with his friend and colleague, Ryan Matthews, called the Florida Specifier Podcast. It's part of a new venture that is striving to become Florida's first source for environmental news, educational tools, and unique perspectives on our state's natural environment and the events that shape it. To learn more about its flagship publication and more, visit The Florida Specifier. If you're enjoying this show, please be sure to subscribe on whatever platform you use, and don't forget to leave a 5-star rating and review. You can follow the show on LinkedIn and Instagram @flwaterpod, and you can reach me directly at FLwaterpod@gmail.com with your comments and suggestions for who and/or what you'd like to know more about. Production of this podcast is by Lonely Fox Studios. Thanks to Karl Sorne for making the best of what he had to work with. And to David Barfield for the amazing graphics and technical assistance. A very special thank you goes out to Bo Spring from the Bo Spring Band for giving permission to use his music for this podcast. The song is called Doing Work for Free, and you should check out the band live, or wherever great music is sold.

It's Monday, January 8th, A.D. 2024. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Adam McManus Sri Lankan pastor criminally charged for sermon comments A Sri Lankan pastor was granted bail on Wednesday, January 3rd after being jailed since December 1 on a charge of “outraging religious feelings” for comments in a sermon that appeared online, reports Morning Star News. He spent Christmas in jail. Authorities arrested Pastor Jerome Fernando of The Glorious Church in Colombo after a court had ordered officials to abstain from arresting him. He was released on a cash bail of $1,540 and two personal bails of $30,810 each. In Matthew 5:11-12, Jesus said, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in Heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” A video of Pastor Fernando's Sunday sermon of April 30th went viral on social media in May, prompting accusations that in his message he had offended religious sentiments of the Buddhist, Hindu, and Islamic communities. Some media outlets stated that the pastor said in his sermon that Buddha had been “looking for Jesus,” which led to the uproar among Buddhists. Days of secrecy around Defense Secretary's hospital stay Senior Biden administration leaders, top Pentagon officials, and members of Congress were unaware for days that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had been hospitalized since January 1st, reports PBS. The Pentagon did not inform the White House National Security Council or top adviser Jake Sullivan of Austin's hospitalization at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland until Thursday. The Pentagon's failure to disclose Austin's hospitalization for days reflects a stunning lack of transparency about his illness, how serious it was, and when he may be released. Such secrecy, at a time when the United States is juggling myriad national security crises, runs counter to normal practice. The Pentagon, citing privacy, did not disclose the elective surgical procedure that led to Austin's complications. Tornado in Fort Lauderdale, Florida On Saturday, a tornado appeared to touch down three times in Broward County, Florida, including Fort Lauderdale, leaving several structures damaged before it went out to sea, reports NBC Miami. Florida abortion group hopes to enshrine baby-killing In other Floridian news, a pro-abortion advocacy group has announced that its disturbing ballot measure seeking to enshrine a right to abortion in the Florida Constitution has amassed the required number of signatures, making it one step closer to appearing on the ballot this fall, reports The Christian Post. Floridians Protecting Freedom, the baby-killing advocacy group behind the push to make abortion a constitutional right in the Sunshine State, said in a statement Friday that the Florida Division of Elections verified 910,946 petitions. Isaiah 59:7 describes the misnamed Floridians Protecting Freedom group to a “t.” The prophet wrote, “Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. They pursue evil schemes; acts of violence mark their ways.” Harvard president resigns over plagiarism and antisemitism Last Tuesday, Harvard University President Claudine Gay  announced her resignation, following mounting accusations of plagiarism and backlash for her response at a congressional hearing in December to questions about antisemitism on U.S. college campuses, reports ABC News. Listen to this exchange between GOP Congresswoman Elise Stefanik of New York and Claudine Gay. STEFANIK: “What action has been taken against students who are harassing and calling for the genocide of Jews on Harvard's campus?” GAY: “I can assure you we have robust …” STEFANIK: “What actions have been taken?” GAY: “… disciplinary processes that are underway.” STEFANIK: “I'm asking what actions have been taken against those students.” GAY: “Given students' rights to privacy and our obligations under FERPA – [Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act], I will not say more about any specific cases, other than to reiterate that processes are ongoing.” STEFANIK: “Do you know what the number one hate crime in America is?” GAY: “I know that over the last couple of months there has been an alarming rise of antisemitism which I understand is the critical topic that we are here to discuss.” STEFANIK: “That's correct. It is anti-Jewish hate crimes. And Harvard ranks the lowest when it comes to protecting Jewish students. This is why I've called for your resignation. And your testimony today, not being able to answer with moral clarity, speaks volumes.” Gay was the first person of color and second woman in Harvard University's 386-year history to serve as president. Her tenure as president is the shortest in the school's history. Anniversary of Jim Elliot's murder in Ecuador And finally, on this day in history, January 8, 1956, five Christian missionaries -- named Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, and Pete Fleming -- were speared to death by Ecuadorean Indians they sought to evangelize. Jim had famously said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Life Magazine published a ten-page article on Elliot and his friends' mission and deaths.  Remarkably, after their murders, Jim's wife, Elisabeth Elliot, and Nate's sister, Rachel Saint, continued the evangelistic outreach to the very people who had killed their relatives. In October 1958, Mrs. Elliot, and her three-year-old daughter Valerie, went to live with the Indian tribe along with Rachel Saint. Elisabeth Elliot later published two books featuring the story of the missionaries and how God used them. They were entitled Through Gates of Splendor and Shadow of the Almighty: The Life and Testament of Jim Elliot. In the first book, she wrote, “The other wives and I talked together one night about the possibility of becoming widows. What would we do? God gave us peace of heart, and confidence that whatever might happen, His Word would hold. We knew that 'when He puts forth His sheep, He goes before them.' God's leading was unmistakable up to this point. Each of us knew when we married our husbands that there would never be any question about who came first -- God and His work held first place in each life. It was the condition of true discipleship; it became devastatingly meaningful now.” In 2006, a theatrical movie entitled End of the Spear, was released based on the story of the pilot, Nate Saint, and the return trip of Saint's son, Steve Saint, attempting to reach the natives of Ecuador. I had the great honor of interviewing Steve years ago on Christian talk radio. You and your family can also watch a 34-minute animated Torchlighters video entitled “The Jim Elliot Story”. We have both films linked in our transcript today at www.TheWorldview.com. Close And that's The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Monday, January 8th in the year of our Lord 2024. Subscribe by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com.  Or get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com).  Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

Host: Mary Katherine Cheeley, PharmD, BCPS, CLS, FNLA Guest: David Selzer, MD New research suggests that a GLP-1 receptor agonist medication, semaglutide, which has been approved for type 2 diabetes and obesity, could also be used to treat type 1 diabetes in patients. So what are the risks for patients who have type 1 diabetes and who are obese? Joining Dr. Mary Katherine Cheeley to discuss this is Dr. David Selzer, Clinical Instructor of Medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and leads the Medical Weight Loss Program at NYU Langone Medical Associates in the Florida Division.

Hour 3 -  Good Wednesday morning! Here's what Nick Reed covers this hour: Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is driving the media nuts... Because her office bought a podium. “In terms of specific features, the height of the podium is specific, I don't know if you've noticed, but women are traditionally a little bit shorter than most of our male counterparts, and uh, so that makes a little bit of a difference, but it also incorporates sound components that make it easier to plug in for multiple media outlets at one time to get the best sound quality, I guess, for relaying back to TV and purposes of that nature, and a number of other things I'll let come through in the audit process.” Hundreds of Lebanese protesters, including some waving Palestinian flags, are currently swarming the US embassy in Beirut. Gov. DeSantis is taking action... The Florida Division of Emergency Management has deployed two cargo planes with 85 pallets of donated supplies to Israel. Assailants threw two Molotov cocktails early Wednesday at a synagogue in the center of the German capital of Berlin. Iran's foreign minister posted an ominous tweet on Wednesday that said time is "running out" for Israel.

Head Coach Doug Rose and Assistant Coach Ryan Cote sit down with Dan and Lucas at the Florida Cup to talk about the program, competing in the Florida Division, and how they bring a modern view of coaching to the ice. For more info, go to FloridaJrBlades.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dks-hockey/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dks-hockey/support

Introduction Ed McCrane has over 21 years of Emergency Response and Emergency Management experience and is currently serving as the Emergency Management Chief for Sarasota County, Florida. He is a Florida Professional Emergency Manager (FPEM) and has extensive experience in emergency management, including his role as the Region 4 Coordinator for the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM). While with FDEM he served as state liaison for seven area emergency management agencies and responded to seven major hurricanes to provide state assistance to impacted counties. A U.S. Army veteran of 22 years, his experience includes Multi-National Force & Observers, Sinai Egypt, Operation Just Cause in Panama and JTF 94-95 Operation Sea-Signal, Cuban mass migration in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. After the attack on September 11th, he was instrumental in training the Florida National Guard to work in Florida's airports, seaports, and nuclear power facilities. While serving as EM Chief for Sarasota County, Ed has served as the Incident Manager for 3 Major Hurricanes, 7 Tropical Storms, 1 Tornado, H1N1 Pandemic, Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill, and the COVID-19 Pandemic. Ed has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Homeland Security and Emergency Management from Ashford University and is a recipient of the Florida Distinguished Service Medal. Key Positions - Chief (Director) Sarasota County Emergency Management - Chair Sarasota County Local Mitigation Strategy Working Group - Regional Response Coordinator (Region 4) Florida Division of Emergency Management - Military Support to Civil Authorities Coordinator, Department of Military Affairs (FLNG) US Army: - Senior Enlisted Advisor to the 53rd Infantry Brigade, Florida National Guard - Battalion Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge 2nd Bn/5th Inf 25th Infantry Division - Rifle Platoon Leader & Logistics Support Platoon Sergeant 2/9 Infantry - U.S Army Recruiter San Antonio, Texas - U.S. Army Drill Instructor Fort Jackson, South Carolina Contact Information linkedin.com/in/Edward-j-mccrane-jr Edward.mccrane@outlook.com

Have you ever heard of Ren'ee Rentmeester? Well, possibly especially if you lived in Florida in the early 2000s or if you searched around YouTube. Ren'ee is the producer and creator of a program called “Cooking Without Looking”. Ren'ee always wanted to have a career in journalism and began by getting her college degree in the subject.   She worked for television stations in Florida until she decided to start her own advertising agency. While interested in journalism Renee also has a strong entrepreneurial streak which was enhanced as she worked on a number of nonprofit boards.   In 2001 she decided to create this unique show called “Cooking Without Looking”. Ren'ee is not blind but felt having a program that would feature blind cooks and chefs was worth exploring. The program aired on a public tv station for a time in Miami. Now you can find it on YouTube and there is also a Cooking Without Looking podcast. Renee is seeking ways to bring the program back to a major streaming service. Don't be surprised if this happens as Renee is clearly unstoppable.     About the Guest:   For the past 22 years, I have advocated for people who are Blind/Visually impaired through the TV show called, “Cooking Without Looking,” the ONLY TV show which features people who are Blind/Visually Impaired. We aired on PBS in South Florida.   Blind people prepare their favorite recipes and speak frankly (including humor) about their lives as People living with Blindness. It's not sad. The feeling is like, “This is my life, and oh, by the way, I'm blind.”   Mr. Fred Schroeder, President of the World Blind Union, says this about our show: “Your work fits well with our belief that blind people need encouragement to live normal lives and the sighted public needs the opportunity to learn that blindness does not render people helpless nor grant them with superhuman gifts. Your show shows blind people doing normal things, and that is a powerful message for the sighted public and for blind people themselves.”   Over the years, I have spoken to thousands of Blind people in various organizations such as the National Federation of the Blind (NFB); the American Council of the Blind(ACB); and the American Federation of the Blind(AFB).   Before that time, I worked at CBS as a Press and Public Relations Manager/Spokesperson; Associate News Producer; and Assignment Editor. I've been nominated for two Emmys...one for a series of Black History Month PSAs about the Miami people who fought in the Civil Rights movement. The other was for the writing of a special on youth gangs, “Youth Violence: Walking The Line.” I've written/published two books of poetry available on Amazon…”Visions From a Dream Called, ‘Life': The Poetry of Meadowville”; and “Visions II: The Poetry of Life.”     Ways to connect with Ren'ee:   www.cookingwithoutlookingtv.wordpress.com   Twitter:   @cookwithoutlook   Facebook:   The Cooking Without Looking TV Show   YouTube channel:   Cooking Without Looking TV Show   Cooking Without Looking Podcast:   Anywhere you get your podcast, and is available on Alexa-enabled devices     About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.     Transcription Notes   Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i  capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Well, Hi, and welcome to another exciting episode of unstoppable mindset. They're all exciting, actually. So I don't know why I said that. But they are and it's fun to talk about whatever comes along. today. Our guest is Ren'ee Rentmeester Ren'ee has an actually a very interesting story to tell, in terms of what she's doing now, what she has done, and so on. And I think it is a fascinating thing that hopefully will fascinate all of you as well. So we are really glad that you're here to listen to it. And Ren'ee, welcome to unstoppable mindset. Good morning or afternoon to you.   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 01:58 Well, thank you so much, Michael. And thank you for the honor, I'm truly humbled by you honoring me with the interview. So thank you so much.   Michael Hingson ** 02:08 Well, my pleasure. And you know, as usual, this is really more of a conversation than just a plain old interview. So feel free to treat it that way. It's it's both of us talking to each other. Well, let's start with a little bit about the early Ren'ee you know, before you did what you've been doing lately and so on, so tell us about you growing up and all that and how you got where you are is it were?   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 02:31 Well, usually my airplanes perfect.   Michael Hingson ** 02:35 Come fly with me.   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 02:38 I was a born and raised in Green Bay, Wisconsin was a daughter My father is Anthony rent Meester. My mom, Margaret and dad was a worker in a factory, paper factory Procter and Gamble. And so you know, I'm just just was born and raised there. And I always wanted to go into TV. And my family were, you know, farmers and factory workers. So that seemed like, sort of a crazy idea to them. Like, what are you talking about get real and such. But I did it anyway. And I worked myself through college, working about six jobs. The favorite I could tell about is working in a pickle factory working six days a week, 12 hours a day putting pickles in jars or one at a time. I don't know if you remember the I Love Lucy episode where they were working in a factory. It was pretty much like   Michael Hingson ** 03:42 Yeah, well, one at a time. So why one at a time.   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 03:48 Because they were spears, the pickle spears and and you had to put them in there because you had to get them standing nicely. next to one another. And in the middle, there would be a half a pickle half a half a cucumber that would go in and then at the end of the whole thing. The machine would cut that middle pickle into more spheres. So it was it was quite a learning experience. And I knew that I wanted to continue with college so I wasn't working in a pickle factory the rest of my life.   Michael Hingson ** 04:26 You didn't want to be in that much of a pickle. Oh, I had to say   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 04:30 it was a doozy of an opportunity.   Michael Hingson ** 04:32 I get it. Yeah, well we've been so it's pretty unique that that that kind of a job. How did all the pickle juice get into the jars? Did they also put pickle juice in or did the pickles just leak   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 04:50 in cotton pickles was a in the machine. I'm trying to visualize it now because honestly I don't remember but I know There was a part of the machine that just poured the pickle juice into it. Yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 05:04 And then when you filled a jar, what did you do with the jar?   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 05:09 Well, it was on a moving line. So you know I'm a conveyor belt would just take it and then someone was at the end of the line, and those people will have to put them in put the jars that are already covered into a box.   Michael Hingson ** 05:28 So did you put pickles in while the jars were moving? Or? Oh, yeah. So you had to work at a at a decent speed and they didn't let you slow down.   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 05:40 And they didn't let me talk, which earned me rubber gloves over the head several times from little Katie, the four person   Michael Hingson ** 05:51 which is for talking.   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 05:52 That's right for talking, you know, so um, yeah, it was a problem. My head I talked too much.   Michael Hingson ** 05:59 Well, so that was one of your unique jobs in college. What were you majoring in?   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 06:05 Journalism? I have a degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Wisconsin in Eau Claire.   Michael Hingson ** 06:12 So you did pickles among other things? Yes. You go ahead. Oh, no, no,   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 06:20 and and worked in a disco bar? I thought I just throw that out there. So pretty much you can you can tell I was also a bouncer at that disco bar.   Michael Hingson ** 06:31 Wow. And did you throw pickles at people? Or why you? No, no, I hear you that that you had a variety of different kinds of jobs. You just were pretty flexible in that regard? Huh? Yes. Well, you know   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 06:45 what, I had the goal, I had the goal of working myself through college. And that was the only way I was gonna get through. And actually the I was bartending at the bar. But then they found that I could be useful as a as a bouncer as well, because guys didn't want to look nasty when I walked up to them on was really nice and said, Okay, you have to go now, you know, they couldn't get into a barber all with me and look bad in front of the girlfriend. So   Michael Hingson ** 07:20 that's pretty cool. What did your parents think of all these jobs?   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 07:24 Well, a mom would after I got home from the pickle factory. Mom would make me take my most of my clothes off in the garage, and she gave me a set of clothes because I smelled so bad. Imagine vinegar times 1000. That's what I smell like. And then sometimes I would I had a marketing job in, in a mall, and I also worked at a TV station as a nighttime receptionist.   Michael Hingson ** 07:58 Okay. Well, so you again, you did a lot of different things. And that's pretty unique. But it certainly had to broaden your horizons and a lot of different ways that I can appreciate that. But you graduated then and had your degree in journalism, and what did you do?   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 08:17 Um, hey, I moved to move to Tampa first. And I just looked for any kind of job I could get to keep myself going. And one of them was a receptionist at an employment agency. And so as people would come in to the employment agency, I would ask them if they knew anyone in TV because it's, it's, you know, it's always who you know, and all that sort of thing. And I talked to this one gentleman, and he told me all his sister worked at a TV station, which was amazing. And I'm so sure he gave me someone to contact by this time. I was in Miami. I was only in Tampa for a year. I sold magazines in Tampa, and then I moved to Miami. And that's when I became the receptionist. And they he led me to assist her who led me to a job at an independent station in Miami. I wrote on the back of a motorcycle I didn't have a car or in the back of a motorcycle to get there and it rained it poured. It was my summer. It's   Michael Hingson ** 09:35 Miami. Yeah. What made you move to Florida from Wisconsin?   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 09:40 My boyfriend boy who I eventually married. Oh, good. Okay. Now here are the usual the usual suspect.   Michael Hingson ** 09:50 Well, so you moved down there and so you got a job. Then through your sister and her contact   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 10:00 The gentleman's sister Yeah, I don't have a system to gentleman sister. Yeah, through her and I got to know who she was. And she had been in Miami for a long time. And my boss was, was pretty amazing. And I was a writer there as a writer at the station.   Michael Hingson ** 10:20 So what kinds of things did you write for? What did you write?   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 10:24 Um, I started out just writing voiceovers, you know, little voiceovers I used to have between shows, I   Michael Hingson ** 10:30 don't know shows. Yeah. Well, not commercials, not the commercials, but just   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 10:35 the little voiceovers, like telling you like you had an acute C and about the show that was coming up. Like Benson falls down the stairs. You know, whatever. And and so it was the little things like that.   Michael Hingson ** 10:52 And then again, the game say something like, can you believe that that Benson guy fell down those stairs? Like Benson we liked Benson. That was a fun show.   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 11:03 BENSON Yeah. I don't know how I just started that. It just popped into my head.   Michael Hingson ** 11:08 Well, so you wrote, and then what   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 11:15 we see there, your independent station. I was there for 13 years, and it turned into CBS. And I just said one place. And so I became that an associate producer and news and an assignment editor and news. And that was pretty cool. Because as associate producer, you write the news stories, I was just gonna ask. Yeah, you write the news stories. And I remember one of my most memorable news stories that I wrote was about a little boy, he was three years old, and he needed a liver. And in Florida, there's a rule against giving livers to certain people of certain ages, like, if you're under certain age, and over a certain age, while I was on the news desk that day, and the mayor or the governor was doing one of those wonderful luncheons that they do. And I called the father of this little boy. And I said, Listen, I'm going to send my photographer over to you get over there. And my photographer is going to shoot you and the governor asking to get your son a liver. And it happened. I could have lost my job, but it happened.   Michael Hingson ** 12:36 So you created the news.   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 12:39 Yes. Well, it helped because three days later, the little boy had a liver. So the Governor made it happen.   Michael Hingson ** 12:51 Well, that's cool. And then you took the the time and the interest in doing that. Because that certainly had to be, as you said, a little bit of a challenge and you could have lost your job over it.   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 13:03 Right. But as your title is unstoppable mindset. I don't ever let any of that train stop me like, what's more important my job or little boy's life?   Michael Hingson ** 13:15 Yeah. So did anybody chastise you for it? Or because of that or not? Okay. They Oh,   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 13:23 yeah. Yeah. turned out great. I don't even know if a lot of people knew that my cameraman and I did that. I mean, that we set it up, sort of, because, you know, no one ever said anything about it afterwards. So, but it worked for a while. And then the little boy died a couple months later, because his buddy Jack did it. But at least he has a chance.   Michael Hingson ** 13:48 Yeah. What year was that?   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 13:51 Ah, let's see. It was probably late 80s, early 90s.   Michael Hingson ** 14:00 Okay. So how long did you work at writing the news and being an associate producer and so on.   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 14:09 I was I was there for that in a news department for one year. And then they created a job for me. I was a press and public relations manager. And that went upstairs because the news was downstairs and I went upstairs. And so I was I suppose, spokesperson for the station. And I also produced the PSAs. So that was pretty cool. And in the meantime, I started on a whole bunch of boards because I dealt with a lot of nonprofits. So that's, that's what I did there. And eventually, you know, 13 years later and you're like, Well, what else can I do? And I started my own advertising and PR company. I left the station started my own advertising PR company. And then I thought of something because then with so many different so many different nonprofits, like six of them at once I was on the board. I wanted something for myself, and I wanted something that was a legacy for my family. So I wanted to make a purpose have a purpose.   Michael Hingson ** 15:23 Before we get there, I'm just curious. So you were there until after the World Trade Center terrorist attacks, because you were there? 13 years is that right?   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 15:33 Was I? Um, no. Okay. Because we're already to that. Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 15:41 you're gone by then. Because I was going to ask what, what you did or what was it like at the station and so on? Around September 11. But you were gone by then.   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 15:51 Yeah, I was gone by then. I I remember that day, I remember where I was, I remember. I had a friend in New York, and I called her to see if she was okay. And I just watched her the coverage and and I kept my daughter home that day, my daughter was nine. And I kept her home from school. Because, you know, you didn't know what was gonna happen?   Michael Hingson ** 16:19 Yeah. Yeah, there was no way to know. No. Well, you eventually started as you're saying something that became very personal to you a project that you've been doing for quite a while, and in of itself is an interesting story. So why don't you tell us a little bit about that?   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 16:39 Okay, um, I created cooking without looking at the first TV show that features people who are blind and visually impaired,   Michael Hingson ** 16:47 which we really call low vision today and appropriately. So. Because when you talk about visually impaired, where we should be compared to people who have eyesight, just like, if you said hearing impaired to a person who was partially deaf, they probably Dec you because hearing impaired is as they recognize a way of comparing to people who can hear rather than saying deaf and hard of hearing, right. So it's learning continuum. And so the whole concept of visually impaired is really unfortunate, for two reasons. One, visually, we don't look different, just because we're blind or partially, why do we deal with it in terms of impaired saying, well, you're impaired if you can't see fully? And so we're learning to say, as deaf people already have blind or low vision, but anyway. Alrighty. So you want it you started this this show?   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 17:47 Right? Right. Because TV was what I did, that was my tool. And if you want to change the way people look at people who are blind or, or, you know, low vision, you will have to show people, you know, and it's also a way to bridge between the sighted community, the low vision community, the blind community, just just to show what is done because we still have an old mindset. So I did my research, and I went on some blind listservs. And learned about blindness from a lot of people. I did not know a blind person, I do not have a relative who was a blind person. It was just something I saw that needed to be done.   Michael Hingson ** 18:42 And you of course, are not blind. No, I am not. So you did a lot of research, which is always a great thing to do, and a great way to start. So this When did all this start?   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 18:57 This started in 2001. Ironically, I'm talking to you and 2001. I was in my first meeting about the show, as the twin towers are being hit. That's what happened. And we actually took a break from the meeting and saw as the towers were being hit. Yeah. So your your story is much more compelling. But But I remember like, How can this happen? How, you know, like, we become desensitized to things like this, and it almost seemed like we were watching a movie. It didn't make any sense.   Michael Hingson ** 19:46 Yeah, it was very surreal to people because who would have thought somebody would fly our planes deliberately fly airplanes into the World Trade Center yet? That's the end of the Pentagon. And of course Shanksville, Pennsylvania, but that's what happened.   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 20:04 Yep, exactly. So.   Michael Hingson ** 20:06 So what was the first meeting about? Was it trying to sell it to a station or plan or program? What was the meeting? Like? What was it?   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 20:14 It was at Florida International University, the School of Hospitality, because that's where I met a man who was a blind chef. And I met him. And then he was a professor there. And he introduced me to all the people he worked with. And we were looking for anything like how can we work together? Sponsorships, whatever. Um, and that's, that's what we did. That's what we did it first. So So,   Michael Hingson ** 20:48 so when did the show actually start airing or when did you start producing it,   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 20:56 we started producing an airing it. We started producing it in September of 2005. And after that, it went on in September. And we had a live studio audience at PBS station in West Palm Beach. And we were on like a couple of seasons. And then after that, we hit the recession at 2009.   Michael Hingson ** 21:31 How's my typical like three and a half years to actually bring the show to fruition? Since you had your first meeting in 2001. And it took until 2005, for the show to actually come on,   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 21:44 there are so many moving parts. First, I found a man who I thought we should use as a host right. And then I had to start going out and selling the program. Because even my I was on the Board of Governors for the National Academy, TV Arts and Sciences. And even they couldn't understand having a show with blind people, because they thought blind people only only are taught, and that a lot of times I still find that out, but they couldn't understand it. So it was a lot of selling them apart just to sell the idea. Then I went to talk to the TV station. And then we had to find a sponsor, because we actually had to pay to get it produced on there. And so I produced it. And it was just a lot of explaining to people and making people understand and once they understood, you know, everybody really loved it and moved on from there.   Michael Hingson ** 22:58 So you obviously had a lot to go through at the same time you had your own advertising agency, you said right,   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 23:07 right, exactly. So a lot of times whatever costs, I had to pick it up from my advertising company. And because I was you know, like, there were like three of us there. And PR, I do did a lot of PR for people. And I always tried to look at the positive side of it, trying to help people with my PR, you can have negative PR or positive PR. And I always I always used it for the positive and as a matter of fact, even just helping people with it.   Michael Hingson ** 23:42 Do you believe the in the comment, there's no such thing really as bad PR that even bad PR is really good PR?   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 23:53 Well, I to a point, I won't say bad and good. Effective PR, which means that people at least know about you. And in some ways, because a lot of times they've done studies that people don't realize how they know about you or how they heard your name, but they just know you know, they know your name. And so So yeah, I just I believe that. Just getting your name out there. Sometimes people don't know how but they know of you.   Michael Hingson ** 24:36 And so there's no qualitative factor there. They just know who you are.   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 24:42 Right. Exactly. Exactly. So then we continually went to many food festivals and people were just amazed we were at Macy's. We went to the Boca Raton wine and food festival. We do presentations with our hosts, one of which was time Although a blind on one was he has, he isn't nearly blind, nearly total and the other man who, who was not all the way blind at all, but we just we just had a lot of fun going together driving down the road hitting these festivals and showing people what it was like.   Michael Hingson ** 25:27 So was this before the show actually started airing or while the show   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 25:32 afterwards because when we hit 2009, we, most people didn't have any money to sponsor anymore because of the recession. So we just we had to find other ways to get the word out. And so that's what we did, we went on the road or went to the festivals and showed people, we pretty much closed down Macy's because the whole store when they announced that we were going to be there, everyone wanted to see people who were blind, you know, cook and give tips. And, and that's the cool part about our show because it actually is a bridge between, you know, the sighted and non sighted communities. And and so we can understand one another, we don't deal in stereotypes or, you know, something from the 1950s. We know what we can do, and we can do anything we want because we have an unstoppable mindset.   Michael Hingson ** 26:32 So is the show still airing at that time? Or were you just doing the festivals?   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 26:37 No, the shows weren't airing but I had to keep, I had to keep it going. There was no way I was going to stop it. Because I had a purpose. And I felt like I had a commitment because so many people were backing it at least you know, supportive, even least just in their words. I had to keep it going. So I did we kept it going through. I started a podcast in 2018. Where we talk to people, our motto is changing the way we see blindness everyone there is either blind or low vision. And we also during the pandemic, we started doing it on zoom as a TV show, which we still do now. And we reached 61 countries.   Michael Hingson ** 27:33 Tell me if you want a little bit about maybe some of the unique recipes or some of the interesting experiences on the show. Love to hear some stories.   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 27:44 Okay. Well, you know, um, we had South African, it was a, it was a sort of organization like the lighthouse. And its Cape Town society for the blind, and we had them on there and they made South African food, which was like pretty cool. And then we had one gentleman when we were in Palm Beach, it was funny. We had a live studio audience and he was an elderly gentleman and he was he was nice man a little crusty. And he was showing us how to make it was like a poor it was called poor man's I forgot what it was. Anyway, he was put here to test the noodles, he actually put his hand in the boiling water. And this was the way he did it. Obviously I cut it out for the TV crowd. But when I was there, the people were yelling at me stick his hands on the floor. It's like he's 80 years old, you know, he knows this is how he does it but I won't put it in I'll you know I'll edit it out because I don't want little kids watching that. But um, let's see what other types of stories we we've had just like a lot of fun. We went to a school in Minnesota and we taught blind kids how to cook and we did our own little cooking without looking with them. And that was a lot of fun. We had a special script for them you know, it was just it's just every everything is full of stories. We also have podcasts where we speak to individuals who are blind visually impaired, we they talk about their life as a person who's blind or low vision sorry, caught myself and and and then at The end they present a recipe and all of our recipes that we present is the cooking without looking recipes of the day are submitted to us by blind or low vision people, and they've actually made them themselves. So we know that you know that they're good recipes. We don't have any sighted people present them. We just, you know, we just have a lot of fun together, we went to a bar, a year and a half ago, we went to an NFB convention, the Florida NFB and was a net, Alan and I in that now in our, our hosts, and we just had a great time. It's like we're family, we've been together now the 22 years, a full 22 years. So we just get a lot of laughs that way too, because we each have our own personality. Oh,   Michael Hingson ** 30:59 well, and that's, that's, that's what really makes a long running operation work when you have a family and people are able to work together and so on. So what happened at the NFB of Florida convention? What did you guys do?   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 31:16 Well, what we did was we put people on Facebook Live, and we had them tell their story. And then we took pictures with them, it's sort of like we were like, famous, quote, unquote. And we just, we just had a good time, we had people talk about themselves, and what they were doing at the NFB convention. And out of that, we got a sponsorship out of the Florida Division of Blind Services, and they appeared on one of our shows. So that was, that was a good time. It's nice to learn. I mean, every single person has a story that we can learn from, it doesn't matter who you are, where you are, where you are. Everyone has a story that we can all learn from. And that's it. That's what makes us unstoppable. You know, you know, my computer went down and and it was like, Okay, well, what's going on here? You know, what, what's happening with the universe, and my computer went down, because I couldn't do any of the shows or the podcasts. And those are really my fun. That's, that's the fun in my life. I don't bend to Disney World plenty of times.   Michael Hingson ** 32:37 There's a lot of that, then on cruises,   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 32:38 Ben to other countries. But this is my fun, because I feel like I'm doing something that matters.   Michael Hingson ** 32:47 So you, I remember in looking at your biography, you mentioned Fred Schroeder, who is the past president of the World Blind Union, tell me about meeting him and a little about that.   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 32:59 Well, that was wonderful. I actually met him when he was president of the NFB. And we spoke there. And when I met him, I was I was just, you know, he seemed like a really great person. But when he said all the nice things about us, you know, how he loved the show, I was honored, because here's a man who has been all over the place and who is blind, and told me that, you know, what we were doing helped. And honestly, when when you start something that has never existed, you're sort of sitting there all by yourself, going, you know, what, what am I doing? Why am I doing this? And, and he made me feel like, we were doing something that mattered?   Michael Hingson ** 33:59 Well, today, is the show airing on any TV stations or is it?   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 34:07 Well, that's what we're working on. We wanted to get the TV stations, we want to stream it. So been working on getting it either Netflix or the Food Network or, you know, something like that. I've been in contact with Rachael rays, PR people. And Stevie Wonder is PR person. She's very nice. So you know what, we're starting the rebirth. Round two, but we keep it going on Zoom. And with Zoom, we can reach people around the world, which is what we've been going.   Michael Hingson ** 34:47 Yeah. Which absolutely makes sense. Well, how are you being received by Rachael Ray is people Stevie Wonder and so on, and kind of what have you had to do to keep them interested and so on.   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 35:02 Well, you know, it's really just keeping on reminding people that we're there. Stevie Wonder's person, her PR, the PR person, you know, is Shelley. And she was very, very nice. And so I just keep up, you know, reminding her, Rachael Ray now has left her show, but she's starting something new. So I emailed them, which is very recent, and they're probably on vacation right now. And and people, you know, are actually very receptive. Well, we'll see what happens. But just like before, you just have to keep on knocking on the doors chiseling something out, you know, just keeping on trying. That's, that's all you can do.   Michael Hingson ** 35:47 Have you looked at any of the other Food Network people in the the other celebrity types and gotten any, anywhere with any of them? Or have you tried?   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 35:56 No, I really haven't. Because I'm, I like the philosophy of Rachael Ray, which is similar to what we do. It's you don't have to be a fancy chef or whatever. It's the home cooking. We've all learned from our parents, grandparents or whatever, how to cook, and survive and have a good time. And, and I liked the way she does it. So our philosophies are similar. In the past, the first, the first host that we had did reach out to one of the people, I don't like the idea of, of, you know, racing or doing things fast and cooking in the kitchen or having a contest and you know, getting angry at one another. I don't like that. I you know, I like just showing people as they are. Because I think that's how we see ourselves. We're not all we're not all celebrities, we're just people who are trying to get by and do the best we can.   Michael Hingson ** 37:07 I would say I think there are places for some kinds of competitions, but I hear what you're saying. I think a lot of the angry, sharp edge things are really a problem. And they don't, they don't really serve a useful purpose. And I've enjoyed a lot of the Food Network. But I like things that are really more fun than yeah, getting angry.   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 37:35 Right, right. And I and you can have so much fun in the kitchen. Think of it like, a lot of times, that's the way we get to know our grandparents are our parents is cooking with them in the kitchen. You know, like, I cooked with my daughter, my daughter cooked with me from the time she was little. And honestly, I think she's a better cook than me. She's more of a detail person where I'm like, You know what, this is my art. I'm just gonna throw this in. This sounds like it's gonna be good. Try this. Try that. So I'm a little more experimental. But that's the way you get to know your family, in a lot of instances. So I like that part.   Michael Hingson ** 38:16 Oh, I still think it would be fun to somehow involve Bobby Flay because he's such a fun guy. And yeah, he's an incredibly fun guy. He's an incredibly sophisticated guy. He's got an incredible grasp on food preparation, but I bet he would be a fun guy to somehow be involved with   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 38:37 that, well, you know what, firm your lips to God's ears. I'll give that a try. And you know, I'm living in a place of Ray Charles birthplace I live in Albany, Georgia. And, and so I was thinking about reaching out to their foundation to see how we could work together to get something done as well. There's a beautiful monument to Ray Charles is in the Ray Charles Plaza on the river in Albany. And it turns around, it's blueish. And it turns around, and it plays all of his songs in his voice. And is is is just really beautiful and inspiring, and, and a lot of funny things, a lot of the songs my mom used to sing.   Michael Hingson ** 39:28 Well, yeah, I think any place like that where you can get some funding would certainly be a valuable thing. But I, I think that an innovative visionary kind of guy, like a Bobby Flay might really take an interest in something like this, because it's unique and it's because it's different. And since that's just a thought, you know?   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 39:54 That's good. It's a seed I'll work on seeing how I can reach Bobby flaying. No problem.   Michael Hingson ** 40:02 So, how has the show changed over the years? Like, from the pandemic, to now and so on? Is it really still basically the same format? How has it evolved overall?   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 40:16 Well, um, it really evolved from the way we were doing it before. You know, during the pandemic, we started off with people from the United States, and it evolved into going to like seven countries, and having people from all around the world actually watch us. And so, as I wrote in the letter to, I contacted the CEO, both CEOs on ones left now of Netflix, like, Okay, we've planted the seeds all over the world for you. And, and there's an audience all over the world. And Netflix is, is one of the most watched shows by people who are blind, most watched streaming services of people who are blind, and all over the world. So they were, I had heard that that particular CEO was a very nice man. And I've always found a lot of people in TV are really nice, not, not the way we look at them. And TV shows they're actually like, real human.   Michael Hingson ** 41:28 So have you had a response from Netflix yet? What was that? Have you had a response from Netflix yet?   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 41:36 Um, no, no, we haven't. His name was Ted Saran dose, and he's the CEO over there. And so that's where I sent it. You know, we'll do Bobby Flay. But we're, it's just, you know, an ongoing process of planting seeds, planting seeds. To get it this far, has been pretty amazing. Because, you know, I'm sort of like the Wright brothers with the first airplane, no one can really visualize that, like, What the heck are you doing? And, and, and now we've gotten to a point where we can launch it in a bigger platform.   Michael Hingson ** 42:20 Have you had guests on the show from other countries? Or just the Yeah,   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 42:25 yeah. We have we've we've had seven countries. They're all blind people from other countries. It was, like I said, South Africa, Guyana.   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 42:43 Barbados, Barbadoes. Let's see where else where else where else trying to think of the ones off the top of my head. But those are just some of them. But   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 42:57 everyone can go see them. They're all on our cooking without looking YouTube channel right now. And that's what we're focusing on just getting the things done and and showing people but yeah, we've had lots of different Oh, Jamaica, we had to make it too. So that was pretty cool. So yeah, we've had all these countries, that's really the biggest change that we've had is, is going and highlighting people from other countries, other people who are blind, cooking their native recipes in other countries.   Michael Hingson ** 43:35 How many shows have you produced so far?   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 43:40 Wow. That's a good one. I think we were up to like 90 something. I'm not a numbers person. You know, I'm a writer. So um, but I'm pretty close to around 90 And then the podcasts as well. We just, you know, I've got another podcast to do tomorrow with a lady. So she's making peanut butter cookies. Yeah, only three ingredients. Peanut butter cookie. So she's going to talk about her life, and Tara coin. So that's what we do. So if you ever want to see or go to them, and enjoy them cooking without looking TV show on YouTube.   Michael Hingson ** 44:37 So how often do you produce a new show?   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 44:42 Um, once a once a month, and we're going to start up again since my computer and then the podcasts are like, several times a month like whoever comes out and wants to do a podcast. We produce their podcast several times. The month.   Michael Hingson ** 45:02 So, you've, you've had a number of interesting people on needless to say, What's your favorite show so far?   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 45:10 Oh my, well, that's hard. That's like asking her mother, a mother what her favorite child is, which one is your favorite child? It all depends on who was on there. We had a cute one. For Valentine's Day once, we had two blind couples on there. And we had a lot of fun with that. Um, that was, that was a cute one. And then I really liked the one from South Africa. That was, I was cool. Maybe it's like a little selfish because I love food from other countries. You can always see the similarities of of your own of the countries of your own. One of my favorite podcasts, we had a couple who was blind, and I actually they came to Miami and I walked him around Miami and the beaches and everything. And Mike Gravatt and his wife, Gianna, they're there just a hoot to talk to. Let's see what else they those are probably my favorites, that I can pop off the top of my head. But it's, it's nice to see that people get along and just enjoy themselves. And the blindness is really just a secondary factor. It's it's living and having fun and enjoying your life.   Michael Hingson ** 46:40 So when you do the shows, like on Zoom, and so on, you people are actually cooking during the shows. Oh, yeah,   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 46:47 yeah, we have a script, everything.   Michael Hingson ** 46:50 So how does all that work in terms of the fact that typically, if you've got to have a camera and everything so people can see it? How, how easy is it to set all that up? I mean, from your side, it's great. But if the other end where the people are actually doing the, the cooking and so on, how does that work? Oh,   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 47:08 it actually works really great. Um, I've only had edit like one or two of them just a tiny bit, that people put their cameras up either the cameras or their computers, and they are able to cook and we practice first, we have a rehearsal a couple of days before. And we look to see where their cameras set up a lot of times, we you know, they have a family member or something who sets the camera for them in a certain area. It's, and it goes really, really well because we we just do it ahead of time we show them you know, we take a look at see how their camera is set up or whether they're using their computer, and whatever works for them. But we've had lots of success that way. Not a big deal. People are always excited to be on the show the tips. We had one young man mica, he made like he has it down the perfect chicken breast because that's one of those things that can be really really difficult. And sort of dry, you can wear him as a shoe. And he he had a doubt and that became like, pretty popular. And he's a young man and he just took us through it. He was like, Okay, you do this, you do this, you do this. I'm very, very attentive, lots of attention to detail.   Michael Hingson ** 48:43 When people are cooking, there's, there's, there's the actual cooking part. And there's the preparation part. So do people move their cameras around? Or do you just have them in one spot? How does all that work?   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 48:56 No, um, it depends. It really depends on the recipe. We have one lady who has a special syrup, and she was making some food, very special syrup. Oftentimes, if there's like a lot of cutting or preparation or whatever, we have them prep their food ahead of time. And then maybe just for example, if you need a cup of carrots, chopped carrots, they chop their carrots ahead of time, just like any other TV show, they chop their carrots ahead of time, and then show us just one. But there's there's not a lot of moving around. Most of them don't move around, we haven't worked out so like depending on the recipe, we tell them how to position your camera, how to position your computer, and, you know, look this way to your right to your love, you know. So, um, it actually hasn't been harder. This is probably the first time I'm thinking about it when you ask me this, Michael.   Michael Hingson ** 49:57 The reason I ask is I'm just thinking Have me. One of my favorite recipes is a recipe that I will do on the grill outside. But the preparation is inside. It's a chicken recipe. It's called Chicken Diavolo. It's actually a recipe my wife got from food and wine. And it's really our favorite recipe uses chicken thighs. And the marinate that you put the chicken thighs in is wonderful.   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 50:26 Sounds good. And it's just, Michael.   Michael Hingson ** 50:29 And it's, it's, it's got a, it's, it's, well, it uses a fair amount of oil, but they're not really oily by the time you're done. But it's a wonderful recipe to do. But just the preparation or doing it and then putting it on the grill is in two different locations. And that's what really prompted me to ask the question, when I'm sure that we could figure out it would be fun to to do it. It's been a while since I've done chicken D. But   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 50:55 I would love to have you on that one that will be great. Because we don't have anything like that, I would have to see you do part of it, like part of it would be done ahead of time. Because that's really like a lot of TV shows the cooking, a lot of things are done partially ahead of time. And then do you have like some sort of a table alongside of you or?   Michael Hingson ** 51:22 Well, when I do the grilling, everything else is done. And then I take it out and there's there's a table on the grill. But it wouldn't be fun to to think about doing it. The preparation is really creating the marinade. Because then the chicken thighs go into the marinate and then they go on to the grill. So it would be it would be something to explore. And yeah, we'd love the idea would the idea would be that you create marinate, put the chicken in it, then let them marinate a while. And so that could be done inside and then just move the camera and everything outside. It might be fun to think about.   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 52:00 Well, you could you could just you could have, are there like lots of ingredients for the marinade.   Michael Hingson ** 52:08 Not too many.   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 52:10 But take those ingredients outside. You can have the chicken in the marinade already done, right?   Michael Hingson ** 52:16 Yeah, you can just take the ingredients outside that would go into the marinate and, and create a little bit of it. Yeah, that's another way to do it. Which also means when you do that, you get a second batch, which is also good. So that's fine.   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 52:29 Right? You can never have too much grilled chicken. That's fine. No.   Michael Hingson ** 52:33 And and if unlike anything else, if done, right? They come out pretty moist. You don't want to overcook them. It is chicken thighs so that the marinate does get absorbed a lot better into the thighs than it would into like chicken breasts and so on, which is why thighs are used. But it's a it's a great recipe.   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 52:52 Oh, that sounds good. Well, what's in it?   Michael Hingson ** 52:55 There's rosemary, there is oil. I'm trying to remember some of the the other spices are. Well, there's peppermint   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 53:02 rosemary.   Michael Hingson ** 53:03 Yeah, there's pepper. And I have to go back and find the recipe. It's been a while. My wife was ill last year and passed away in November. So frankly, I haven't made it for a while. So I'm going to have to do that. I've been lazy, but that's okay.   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 53:19 Well give you a reason to make it. I'm sorry to hear about your wife, Michael.   Michael Hingson ** 53:23 Well, it's okay. We, we we continue to move forward. And and she's around watching. So it's okay. So I will do it right. Otherwise, I'll be in trouble. So it's no problem. Well, so what are your future plans for the show? You are? I know you said you're restarting it and so on. So kind of what are the plans? What do you expect to see happen?   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 53:46 Well, I would like to get some sponsors. I would like to go to more events, the season in California, I'd like to go there, you know, bring my troops. So I'd like to be more on the ground with people. And I would like to find a resting place for us on a streaming service.   Michael Hingson ** 54:13 Well, I still think of Bobby Flay and Food Network as far as a place to go. I don't know Bobby, and then and all that, but I've watched him and just he's clearly an innovative visionary guy. And I would think if anybody would be intrigued it would be would be He. So something to think about.   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 54:34 Well, I don't think I just do so um, this this week, I'll get a note off the bobby off the research how to get a hold of him. And um, you know, Rachael Ray knows him and the thing with her is Rachel has a her mother has macular degeneration, so I thought there will be a special in with her as well. Have you? Go ahead? No, no go up.   Michael Hingson ** 55:03 Have you ever had the opportunity to interview Christine? Ha, who won the Mastership?   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 55:10 I did. And she's on our, our Facebook. I'm sorry, our Facebook, our YouTube channel. She's on her podcast. Oh, cool. Yeah. What did you want to know about Christine?   Michael Hingson ** 55:24 Well, no, I was just wondering if you had I mean, I've met Christine. But again, that might be a way to, to get some context, but I just was curious if you'd met her and had her on because she'd be a natural, that would be a good person to be on the show.   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 55:41 Yeah, she, she wanted to be on the podcast. So she was on the podcast, it's quite interesting with her. She, they thought she had they, they thought she had multiple sclerosis at first. And then it went into blindness. And, you know, some of the medications she was taking, wasn't working, weren't working. And but, um, you can always, as I said, go to our YouTube channel. And she's there   Michael Hingson ** 56:10 to tell us if people want to watch the show exactly. Where do they go? Do you have a web address that you can give? Or do you have a website they can go to and we start from   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 56:19 the website, the main place they can go is a Cooking Without Looking YouTube channel, go to YouTube, and then type in cooking without looking. We have a website, which is w w w . cooking without looking TV,  .wordpress.com. And if that's a lot for you to remember what it is for me. You can always just Google cooking without looking TV show on or bring it to our, to our web.   Michael Hingson ** 56:52 Great. Well, and I assume that if anyone wants to reach out to you, they can go to your website and and make contact with you there.   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 57:01 Yes, or, you know, we also have a Facebook page and cooking with the cooking without looking TV show Facebook page, and I can email me there.   Michael Hingson ** 57:13 And what is it called?   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 57:15 What was that?   Michael Hingson ** 57:16 What is the Facebook page called? Specifically?   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 57:18 The cooking without looking TV show. Okay, cool.   Michael Hingson ** 57:23 Well, I want to thank you for being on unstoppable mindset today. This has been fun. We've done some good cooking talk here. And a body is now getting hungry.   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 57:36 Well, Michael, thank you. I'm so grateful for you to invite me over and and talk to you. I'm really humbled by you asking me so thank you so much.   Michael Hingson ** 57:46 Well, it's been an honor. And I really appreciate it. And I hope you listening out there enjoyed this as well go check out cooking without looking in all sorts of places from YouTube, to Facebook and everywhere in between, and go to the website. Reach out to Ren'ee. And we, we will I'm sure be hearing more from her as the show progresses. And hopefully we've given her and you some things to think about. Blindness isn't the problem. It's our attitude, that is really the issue that we have to address. So really appreciate Ren'ee again, you being here. And again, for all of you listening, we'd love to get your feedback and your comments. We would appreciate you giving us a five star rating wherever you're listening to our podcast. And if you'd like to reach out to me feel free to do so at Michaelhi at accessiBe A C C E S S I B E.com. Or go to our website. www dot Michael hingson m i c h a e l h i n g s o n.com/podcast. And we'd love to have you rate us there and listen to all of the podcasts that are there. You can binge listen and spend a whole lot of time at it now. So we what we really appreciate you listening to us and all the wonderful comments that you've gotten. And again, Ren'ee, one last time, thank you very much for being here with us today.   Ren'ee Rentmeester ** 59:14 Thank you, Michael. Thank you.   Michael Hingson ** 59:21 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com. accessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

Enjoying our content and want to support us directly? Join our premium subscription for access to our podcasts, bonus content, merch discounts and more! Visit: www.psych2go.supercast.com Love may drive us wild, taking us on highs and lows. Without being taught the “how” on how to navigate love, we can inadvertently act out dysfunctional patterns in our relationships. Even the truest kind of love can turn toxic if we're not careful. Are you in a healthy relationship or an unhealthy relationship? This video is made possible by Betterhelp, an affordable online counseling platform. Use the link below to help support psych2go: http://betterhelp.com/Psych2Go http://betterhelp.com/Psych2Go Suggested Video(s): 7 Signs Someone Is Obsessed With You, Not Love https://youtu.be/6tCP4AB17JM Original article: https://psych2go.net/6-differences-between-healthy-and-unhealthy-love/ Writer: Chloe Avanasa Script Editor: Kelly Soong & Denise Ding Script Collaborator: Cobse - https://www.youtube.com/user/spriteOY VO: Amanda Silvera Animator: Alethea Van Holland YouTube Manager: Cindy Cheong Special thanks to Yumi, support her at her channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu88mvBbWHh7Q_QEaxlR3Iw/featured also feel free to connect with her at yumika@psych2go.net Founder: Tai Khuong References: Am I in a Healthy Relationship? Nemours Foundation. April 2008. Available at: www.uwec.edu/counsel/pubs/bhr.htm. Accessed on: February 12, 2013. Building Healthy Relationships. University of Wisconsin-Eua Claire Counseling Services. Available at:www.uwec.edu/Counsel/pubs/selfhelp/bhr.htm. Accessed on: February 12, 2013. Gottman's Relationship Tips 101. The Gottman Institute. Available at: www.gottman.com/49804/Self-Help-and-Tips.html. Accessed on: February 12, 2013. Healthy Relationships. The University Health Center, University of Georgia. Available at: www.uhs.uga.edu/CAPS/relationships.html. Accessed on: March 30, 2009. Fair Fighting: The Art of Managing Differences in Intimate Relationships. University of Florida Division of Student Affairs. Available at: www.counseling.ufl.edu/cwc/fair-fighting-in-intimate-relationships.aspx. Accessed on: February 12, 2013. Ten Tips for Healthy Relationships. K-State Counseling Services. Kansas State University. Available at: www.k-state.edu/counseling/topics/relationships/relatn.html. Accessed on: March 30, 2009. Wellness Tips, Fair Fighting Rules. Southwest Institute for Addictive Diseases. Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. Available at: www.ttuhsc.edu/centers/SWIAD/eap/wellness/fairfight.aspx. Accessed on: March 30, 2009. Have questions? Send us an email at yumika@psych2go.net

In This Episode Guest: Mike Boylan, Creator of Mike's Weather Page at spaghettimodels.com  www.windstormproducts.com Storm Chaser Safety Tips - Exit Strategies Lightning Round - Hurricane or Superstar Find SFF Gear and other weather geek products at helicity.co #weatherfools - We present the fools doing stupid things in weather situations Wx Resources - We share some of our favorite weather resources like books, websites, tools, and more Next Episode's Guest(s) Check out our Patreon page for exciting ways to support our podcast and interact with us more!  www.patreon.com/stormfrontfreaks Our Guest: Mike Boylan  Mike's Weather Page (spaghettimodels.com) was launched in 2004 by Mike Boylan. He graduated from the University of South Florida with a degree in marketing in 1996. His Facebook account has amassed over one million followers, making him a popular figure in the weather blogging realm.  Boylan is also known for his live coverage of Atlantic hurricanes as a storm chaser.  In 2023, the Florida Division of Emergency Management announced a partnership with Mike's Weather Page for the sponsorship of the No. 4 JD Motorsports car in a NASCAR Xfinity Series race. Don't wait to prepare your home for this tropical storm season.  Visit WindStormProducts.com for all your hurricane hardware and shutter supplies! For more storm chaser/spotter safety tips, visit the weather.gov ACES Weather Spotter Safety Program Get your new Storm Front Freaks Gear and other super cool weather geek products at Helicity.co #weatherfools Links: Greg - Cruisin' for a Bruisin' Greg - Missing the Fire Dina - Don't Keep Truckin' Wx Resources Links: Dina - NWS Weather and Hazards Data Viewer Mike - Mike's Weather Page Mike - GlocalMe Submit your questions or comments about this show to questions@stormfrontfreaks.com or on our social media accounts and we may read it on our next episode! X: @stromfrontfreak Facebook: @stormfrontfreaks Instagram: @stormfrontfreaks YouTube "RAW":  YouTube.com/stormfrontfreaks Next Episode…we have two up-and-coming weather blogging phenoms in teenagers Adeline Spears and Beckett Moore.  SUBSCRIBE and set your NOTIFICATIONS on our YouTube.com/stormfrontfreaks channel so you can get notified whenever we go LIVE on Thursday, 8/18/23 @ 9pmET/8pmCT.  Look for the audio podcast on your favorite podcast player that weekend. Credits Opening Music: Brett Epstein Closing Music: Gabe Cox Other Music: “Pecos Hank” Schyma from El Reno Blues

This week's guest is Andrew Sabolic, the new Executive Director at the Workers' Compensation Institute. Andrew shares his educational background, how his career path brought him into the workers' compensation realm, and reflects on his time (20 years!) with the Florida Division of Workers' Compensation. And there's more!Yvonne and Rafael enjoy chatting with Andrew, discovering a few little-known facts, and hearing about his plans for the WCI Conference now and in the future. Why "Get the Led Out?" Well, you'll have to listen all the way to the end of the episode to see what it means. Fans of a certain rock band from the 70s should get it. For more information about the upcoming WCI Conference in Orlando, FL August 19-23, visit their website https://www.wci360.com/¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp

Back in episode #19, Steve interviewed the then fairly new Florida Division of Emergency Management Director, Kevin Guthrie. Today we re-visit Director Guthrie who speaks directly to city and county management with the end goal of saving lives and recovering tens of millions of dollars through FDEM and FEMA.

Three people have been arrested after protesters fought over a Pride curriculum outside of a Glendale school board meeting. Florida Division of Emergency Management confirms the involvement in flying out migrants to Sacramento, California. We bring you the story of Operation Midnight Climax in San Francisco.

Congressman Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), who worked for Ron DeSantis under the Florida Division of Emergency Management, suggested that the governor should counteract Trump's pudding finger ad with one featuring Trump tweeting from the toilet. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/politicsdoneright/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/politicsdoneright/support

From hurricanes to pandemics to refugee crises, the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) has led the state's response to countless disasters. FDEM Director Kevin Guthrie joins SalterMitchell PR CEO + Founder April Salter to share stories from the emergency operations center, and discuss his career trajectory from local law enforcement to leading statewide emergency management operations.

GET MY FREE INSTANT POT COOKBOOK: https://www.chefaj.com/instapot-download ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ MY LATEST BESTSELLING BOOK: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1570674086?tag=onamzchefajsh-20&linkCode=ssc&creativeASIN=1570674086&asc_item-id=amzn1.ideas.1GNPDCAG4A86S ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Monica Aggarwal, MD, FACC Director of Integrative Cardiology and Prevention Division of Cardiology University of Florida Monica Aggarwal, MD, is a Clinical Associate Professor of medicine in the University of Florida Division of Cardiovascular Medicine. She received her medical degree from Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and subsequently went on to complete a residency in internal medicine at Tufts-New England Medical Center. She then completed a cardiology fellowship at the University of Maryland and later continued her training at the University of Arizona where she completed an integrative medicine fellowship. Dr. Aggarwal's own path to understanding the impact of nutrition in illness started soon after the birth of her third child, when she developed an advanced form of rheumatoid arthritis. She was placed on medications that gave her severe side effects. It was only through learning about the microbiome (gut), its impact on the immune system and the role of nutrition in affecting the gut, was she able to truly heal. Determined to change the face of medicine, Monica left private practice and returned to academics in order to pursue research on the role of diet and to create an integrative cardiology practice focused on nutrition and lifestyle. Serving as the Director of Integrative Cardiology and Prevention at the University of Florida, Dr. Aggarwal focuses on promoting food as the foundation of healing and for its medicinal value. In her clinic, she emphasizes plant based nutrition and often performs multiple mind-body techniques with her patients, including yoga and meditation. She is also the Director of Medical Education for Cardiology, where she directs education for medical residents and cardiology fellows, with a focus on prevention, nutrition and lifestyle. In the hospital, she has multiple initiatives including developing a 100% plant based menu for cardiac and vascular patients. Dr. Aggarwal gives talks around the community and the country. She was named a “Next Generation Innovator” by Cardiology Today. She is often featured in Veg News, Naked Magazine and has been featured in forksoverknives.com. She conducts research on nutrition education in medical institutions and on how a plant-based diet impacts cardiovascular disease. She has published in major medical journals such as Journal of American College of Cardiology and American Journal of Medicine. Board certified in cardiology, echocardiography and nuclear cardiology, she is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology (ACC), where she is a member of the nutrition council working on nutrition policies for the nation. Dr. Aggarwal specializes in preventative management of heart disease with lifestyle techniques in conjunction with medications. She is the author of the book “Body on Fire: How Inflammation Triggers Chronic Illness and the Tools We Have to Fight It,” which outlines prescriptions to help guide people to better health. She has instituted a new plant-based menu at the University of Florida/Shands Hospital which is receiving national attention along with new discharge education that empowers patients to heal their bodies with their lifestyles. She was recently named Florida's Cardiovascular Researcher of the year which provided her with a grant to conduct the important research needed on nutrition. You can get the book here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1570673926?ref=exp_chefaj_dp_vv_d Website: https://www.drmonicaaggarwal.com/ Facebook: drmonicaaggarwal Twitter: @drmaggarwal Instagram: drmonicaaggarwal

At the University of Florida Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition, the team constantly expand their knowledge to provide minimally invasive procedures that can save patients' lives. In this podcast, Bashar Qumseya MD, MPH, FASGE highlights the typical and atypical presentation of GERD, the sequala of untreated acid reflux and exciting recent advances to management of patients with chronic GERD.

At the University of Florida Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition, the team constantly expand their knowledge to provide minimally invasive procedures that can save patients' lives. In this podcast, Bashar Qumseya MD, MPH, FASGE highlights endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty, a non-surgical approach to management of obesity. He describes the increasing prevalence of obesity, talks about the sequala of untreated obesity and outlines recent advances to management of patients with obesity

Dr. Michelle Gumz is an associate professor at the University of Florida. Her research focuses on the kidney's circadian clock and its relationship to cardiovascular health. In this episode, Dr. Gumz details how the circadian clock provides a mechanism for predictive homeostasis that directly impacts cardiovascular and kidney function. She also explains why normal sleep patterns are critical to long-term health outcomes. Dr. Gumz has a long-time interest in the molecular control of renal function. The Gumz laboratory is investigating the role of the molecular circadian clock in the kidney with the long-term goal of determining how the clock in the kidney contributes to the control of blood pressure and overall cardiovascular health. Aldosterone is a mineralocorticoid hormone that regulates sodium balance and blood pressure. As a graduate student, Dr. Gumz was the first to identify the circadian clock gene Period 1 as an aldosterone target. She has subsequently shown that Period 1 regulates the transcription of alpha ENaC, the aldosterone-regulated and rate-limiting subunit of the epithelial sodium channel. New areas of study include cross-talk between the kidney clock and other tissue clocks and sex differences in the function of Period 1 and Bmal1, another critical core clock gene. Follow Dr. Michelle Gumz on Twitter University of Florida Division of Nephrology, Hypertension & Renal Transplantation Sign up for Erik's weekly newsletter - Adaptation Join the AIM7 Beta Community ABOUT THE BLUEPRINT PODCAST: The BluePrint Podcast is for busy professionals and Household CEOs who care deeply about their families, career, and health. Host Dr. Erik Korem distills cutting edge-science, leadership, and life skills into simple tactics optimized for your busy lifestyle and goals.   Dr. Korem interviews scientists, coaches, elite athletes, entrepreneurs, entertainers, and exceptional people to discuss science and practical skills you can implement to become the most healthy, resilient, and impactful version of yourself.   On a mission to equip people to pursue audacious goals, thrive in uncertainty, and live a healthy and fulfilled life, Dr. Erik Korem is a High Performance pioneer. He introduced sports science and athlete tracking technologies to collegiate and professional (NFL) football over a decade ago. He has worked with the National Football League, Power-5 NCAA programs, gold-medal Olympians, Nike, and the United States Department of Defense.   Erik is an expert in sleep and stress resilience. He is the Founder and CEO of AIM7, a health and fitness app that unlocks the power of wearables by providing you with daily personalized recommendations to enhance your mind, body, and recovery. SUPPORT & CONNECT   Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/erikkorem/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/ErikKorem LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/erik-korem-phd-19991734/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/erikkorem Website - https://www.erikkorem.com/ Newsletter - https://erikkoremhpcoach.activehosted.com/f/  ______________________________________________________________ QUOTES   “The key is using stress and adapting to it and improving. That's what high performance is to me, the ability to adapt rapidly so you can achieve your potential. There are five key pillars to creating the conditions for adaptability: sleep, exercise, mental resilience, nutrition, and community/relationships.” - Dr. Erik Korem   "Stress is your brain and body preparing you to do something effortful." Dr. Alex Auerbach “I maybe have a different concept on leadership. To me, leading is a verb. If you're leading, you're a leader. If you're swimming, you're a swimmer, if you're driving, you're a driver. If you're leading, you're by definition, a leader. I define leading as being looked to in a particular moment to decide or perform an action based on your unique gifts and abilities. So by that definition, everybody is a leader. All rank and role really describe is how many people are hoping you get it right when it's your turn to wear the weight.” - Clint Bruce "Attention is the currency of performance." - Dr. Peter Haberl “That's what I've discovered in the lives of brilliant, prolific, healthy creatives, is that they have networks of people they leverage in the course of their work. That they learn from, that they were challenged by, that they gave great insight and purview into their own life and work, in such a way that they were able to receive feedback that helped them get better at what they do.” - Todd Henry "Restful and fulfilling sleep enables you to grow, adapt, and thrive. It creates the conditions for adaptation, so you can pursue audacious goals and thrive in uncertainty." - Dr. Erik Korem "Most exercise programs fail, not because the reps and sets are poorly designed, but because the program doesn't adjust for how much stress your body can adapt to that day! That's why Dr. Chris Morris' research and practical application of fluid periodization is the key for unlocking your performance potential." - Dr. Erik KoremSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Crime Scene Investigator and Region 5 Director of the Florida Division for the International Association for Identification Rob Caceras joins the Queens this week to share his experiences dealing with crime scenes with mass casualties.  This episode contains adult language and content. ~~ Follow us on Instagram: @CrimeSceneQueens Email us at hello@crimescenequeens.com Check out the Crime Scene Queens' CSI Essentials ~~ Crime Scene Queens is brought to you by QCODE.  To advertise on the show, contact us! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Michelle Gumz is an associate professor at the University of Florida. Her research focuses on the kidney's circadian clock and its relationship to cardiovascular health. In this episode, Dr. Gumz details how many chronic health problems (e.g., diabetes, cardiovascular disease, etc.) facing modern society are likely related to our constant state of circadian disruption. She also discusses social jetlag, why we should keep our children on a consistent sleep routine, and the merit of switching to standard time. Follow Dr. Michelle Gumz on Twitter University of Florida Division of Nephrology, Hypertension & Renal Transplantation Sign up for Erik's weekly newsletter - Adaptation Join the AIM7 Beta Community _____________________________________________________________ ABOUT THE BLUEPRINT PODCAST: The BluePrint Podcast is for busy professionals and Household CEOs who care deeply about their families, career, and health. Host Dr. Erik Korem distills cutting edge-science, leadership, and life skills into simple tactics optimized for your busy lifestyle and goals.   Dr. Korem interviews scientists, coaches, elite athletes, entrepreneurs, entertainers, and exceptional people to discuss science and practical skills you can implement in your life to become the most healthy, resilient, and impactful version of yourself.   On a mission to equip people to pursue audacious goals, thrive in uncertainty, and live a healthy and fulfilled life, Dr. Erik Korem is a High Performance pioneer. He introduced sports science and athlete tracking technologies to collegiate and professional (NFL) football over a decade ago and has worked with the National Football League, Power-5 NCAA programs, gold-medal Olympians, Nike, and the United States Department of Defense.   Erik is an expert in sleep and stress resilience. He is the Founder and CEO of AIM7, a health and fitness app that unlocks the power of wearables by providing you with daily personalized recommendations to enhance your mind, body, and recovery. SUPPORT & CONNECT   Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/erikkorem/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/ErikKorem LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/erik-korem-phd-19991734/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/erikkorem Website - https://www.erikkorem.com/ Newsletter - https://erikkoremhpcoach.activehosted.com/f/  ______________________________________________________________ QUOTES   “The key is using stress and adapting to it and improving. That's what high performance is to me, the ability to adapt rapidly so you can achieve your potential. There are five key pillars to creating the conditions for adaptability: sleep, exercise, mental resilience, nutrition, and community/relationships.” - Dr. Erik Korem   "Stress is your brain and body preparing you to do something effortful." Dr. Alex Auerbach “I maybe have a different concept on leadership. To me, leading is a verb. If you're leading, you're a leader. If you're swimming, you're a swimmer, if you're driving, you're a driver. If you're leading, you're by definition, a leader. I define leading as being looked to in a particular moment to decide or perform an action based on your unique gifts and abilities. So by that definition, everybody is a leader. All rank and role really describe is how many people are hoping you get it right when it's your turn to wear the weight.” - Clint Bruce "Attention is the currency of performance." - Dr. Peter Haberl “That's what I've discovered in the lives of brilliant, prolific, healthy creatives, is that they have networks of people they leverage in the course of their work. That they learn from, that they were challenged by, that they gave great insight and purview into their own life and work, in such a way that they were able to receive feedback that helped them get better at what they do.” - Todd Henry "Restful and fulfilling sleep enables you to grow, adapt, and thrive. It creates the conditions for adaptation, so you can pursue audacious goals and thrive in uncertainty." - Dr. Erik Korem "Most exercise programs fail, not because the reps and sets are poorly designed, but because the program doesn't adjust for how much stress your body can adapt to that day! That's why Dr. Chris Morris' research and practical application of fluid periodization is the key for unlocking your performance potential." - Dr. Erik KoremSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey, y'all! Over the summer of 2022, the Florida chapter of Movement for a People's Party attempted to run the party's first ever political candidate. However, they were denied by the Florida Division of Elections. This kicked off a few months of legal nonsense and you bet we're here for it.Since neither Dusty or Oona have passed the bar, we are joined by attorney Christine Beam.

Tina Herzik, the Vice President of Operations for Service Source, and Brent McNeal, the Director of the Florida Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, join forces with Carol Pankow in the Manager Minute studio to chat about creative staffing solutions in the great State of Florida. Tina and Brent discuss how the Florida General agency and Service Source are partnering to meet staffing needs with a unique model. With a business relationship that spans over 22 years, the duo shares how their two organizations continue to serve as front runners of innovative staffing practices and transformational leadership.   Listen Here   Full Transcript {Music} Speaker1: Manager Minute brought to you by the VRTAC for Quality Management, Conversations powered by VR, one manager at a time, one minute at a time. Here is your host Carol Pankow.   Carol: Well, welcome to the manager minute. Joining me in the studio today is Tina Herzik, Service Source vice president of operations for the VR program in Florida, and Brent McNeal, director of the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. Florida. General, I am so happy to have you both with me in the studio today. So, Brent, how are things going in Florida?   Brent: Things are going well, Carol. Thank you. We're definitely happy to see the end of the hurricane season here in Florida and looking forward to going through the homestretch here into the holiday break.   Carol: Yeah, I've seen you've had a lot of weather. We had our own 13 inches of snow on Monday, so at least you don't have that. Holy cow. So, Tina, how about you?   Tina: Same thing. Just getting over trying to lose that word pandemic and getting back to normalcy. But I live in Vero Beach, so happy that last hurricane didn't take us down. But we're standing.   Carol: Strong. Yeah, absolutely. Know all the Florida folks. I really you know, our hearts go out to y'all with everything that happened in that Fort Myers area. That is something else. I don't know how you deal with that all the time. That kind of those terrific weather conditions that can really just devastate a whole area. So I know you're rebuilding and people are working strong. So, Brent, it was really fun meeting you live and in person at the CC VR Leadership Forum before the conference began, and we all heard a pretty sobering message about the state of the national VR program. And we've got to spend the money. Each agency is facing different challenges, but the factor that binds us all together has to do with finding ways to expend funds. So the VR program, much like the rest of business across the country, is in the midst of a staffing crisis and trying to seek solutions to meet customer needs. Now, I know Florida General has a model that's been in place for over 20 years as a result of a legislative change. Now, this model is not really conventional, and I think you're the only people in the country doing something quite like this. But you have worked out all the kinks and have really learned so many lessons. So we thought others could benefit from the work that you all have done. And there's really a unique partnership that really is withstanding the test of time. So let's dig in. So, Brent, why don't you tell us a little about yourself, your background, how you came to VR and a little bit about Florida General?   Brent: Sure. First of all, I'm happy to be here. I echo the statements that you've made, we certainly are in the same boat as other programs around the country. And so this is a way that folks could explore to spend some of those funds and to better provide services to their customers. So my background, I came to VR first in 2009. It was my first job out of law school, actually, and did not know anything about VR or what it was, but quickly became so interested and invested because of the good work that I saw that the division was doing and so really enjoyed getting to learn the program. I also represented our Florida Division of Blind Services, so got to do a lot of interesting work and Randolph Shepherd and in other areas with that unit. So that is how I came to VR. I worked with VR in a legal capacity for around eight years and then took this director's position back in February. So coming up on one year here shortly in terms of Florida General, we're housed within the Florida Department of Education, headquartered in beautiful Tallahassee, Florida. The states broken up into seven geographical areas, and each of those has an area director. Now, we haven't always been here in the Department of Education, and we'll talk a little bit about some of the history and where the division was previously. But yeah, we've been with the Department of Education for a number of years now and are a big component of Florida DOH.   Carol: So your background really positions you nicely for this job because you know, the regs really probably pretty inside and out as being the attorney for the agency for so long.   Brent: You know that part is certainly helpful and I tap into it regularly. I have to resist the urge to just be the lawyer. And we have a very capable and wonderful deputy general counsel that leads our VR legal team. So I defer to Nicole Saunders now on legal matters, but it is nice to have that background as well as those relationships that I was able to build as the attorney, including with folks like Tina.   Carol: Absolutely. So how many people do you serve and how many staff does Florida General have?   Brent: For the past several years, it has varied between around 45000 to 50000 individuals receiving services within a state fiscal year. We have 884 full time equivalent staff that are employees of the division of the state of Florida.   Carol: Wow. That is huge. Are you in the top five programs in the country or something? As far as size, I think.   Brent: I think we must be I know that we're one of the largest. And, you know, Florida is such a diverse state, too. We talk about from the tip of the panhandle, which is where I grew up over in Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties, all the way down to the Florida Keys. And, you know, those two ends of the state could not be more different in terms of, well, just geography, but also all of the economics, you name it, just really diverse and a lot of different challenges throughout the state for such a big state as Florida.   Carol: Yeah, tough for you to just like we're going to drive to all the offices today. That can't happen. So the model I alluded to, what is this model that Florida general is working under to meet your staffing needs?   Brent: For over 20 years now, Florida VR has been working with Service Source in a successful public private partnership, and that's really added service capacity in our state. And so I'm looking forward to telling everyone more about that today.   Carol: Very cool. So, Tina, I didn't mean to leave you out.. Why don't you tell our listeners about yourself and your background and how you kind of fit into this picture?   Tina: Oh, thank you, Carol, And thanks for inviting us here today. I have been in Florida most of my life here. As I said, I live in Vero Beach. I did live where you are from in Minnesota for five years. So I've enjoyed the Minnesota life as well. I started my career out as a teacher, so working with the youth has always been very close to my heart. I obtained my master's degree while working under this contract over the years and rehabilitation counseling, I have my CRC, my Certified Rehabilitation Counseling license. I was the second employee hired under this original contract with this partnership in 2001 as a vocational rehabilitation counselor. Believe it or not, I took this job under a newspaper advertisement. Does anybody know what that is anymore? So the director that hired me to start up was the startup director for the privatization project, Steve Palumbo. Steve had worked with the state of Florida VR system for many years. He started this privatization. He was a great mentor to me. I was very green, just like Brent talks about coming in. I didn't know that much at all about what I was getting myself into. I had no idea that 20 years later I'd be as excited as I am about what we do. And as he mentored me over the years, I started out as a VRC, so I was a vocational rehabilitation counselor for a few years and then I became a unit supervisor for one of our largest units, which was one of the first units in this partnership on the Treasure Coast. It serves four different counties, and I did that for about 11 years. And then when Steve retired in 2017, I became the director for the program and have held that position ever since. I've worked with Service Source for over 20 years and I've been very excited to be part of what I always say to people, kind of the trailblazer of this type of model. And it's been great because, as Brent said, we also work together very closely when he was the attorney for VR. So it's just been a great partnership.   Carol: So Brent, what happened back in the 1999 legislative session that led to your model for meeting staffing needs?   Brent: Well, I'll give the caveat that obviously I wasn't around at this time, but I've done some research and know anecdotally that there were some similar circumstances to what we're facing now. There are very high caseloads. We had a number of vacancies that were presenting challenges and consequently we had some underserved areas in Florida where folks were having a hard time receiving VR services. In response to that problem, the Florida legislature passed Senate Bill 230 and which directed VR and I'll quote, to enter into local public private partnerships to the extent that it is beneficial to increasing employment outcomes for persons with disabilities and ensuring their full involvement in the comprehensive workforce investment system. So at that time, Florida VR was broken into 24 regions. The division was housed in another state agency at that time and had not made the move to the Department of Education. So there were 24 regions in stark contrast to our seven areas now, and initially contracts were only awarded for three of those 24 regions. Service Source was awarded two of the three contracts that were initially awarded after procurement was conducted in 2000. And just a little bit more about Senate Bill 230. It did include a section on the legislative intent, which I thought might be interesting to listeners, and it basically states the legislature finds that individuals with disabilities experience the highest unemployment rate of any group in society as high as 75%, and that unemployment and poverty go hand in hand. The legislature also finds that persons who complete the vocational rehabilitation program are twice as likely to obtain and maintain employment, and the use of private providers is the readiest way to add service capacity for this population. I'll stop there.   Carol: That's really interesting. You know, we're still facing that issue today with people with disabilities being one of the largest groups that have issues with unemployment and living in poverty. And so the needle has not changed a ton, but you were able to increase capacity. So let me just clear this up. Did the legislature at the same time, did they like freeze your FTEs or you actually lost some FTEs, but you could then use this source to be able to make up the difference?   Brent: I don't know that there was a simultaneous move with respect to FTEs. I know that over the years that has occurred where they have been frozen or we have been permission to expand, but I don't know if that was occurring simultaneous to this effort in 1999. And Tina may be able to speak a little bit more about that because obviously there was some trepidation on the part of division employees to this fairly significant change.   Carol: Well, absolutely. They're thinking we're being eliminated. You're taking our jobs away. So, Tina, why don't we go to you? Because you were around back in 1999. What's your perspective on what happened back then?   Tina: Yeah, absolutely. I actually remember it like it was yesterday. As I said, when I came into the position, I remember, you know, you start your first day on the job with your little box of all your desk items and you're walking in. And state workers at the time, field staff looked very concerned. There was a lot of concern and it wasn't the welcoming that you might have expected on your first day of your new job, because I didn't know that at the time and didn't understand it. But as time went on, I understood that the communication wasn't very clear on why we were there and what we were doing there. But we were brought in. We were brought in to work alongside state employees. So at the time we were working in the same offices right next door and taking over some of the caseloads. And, you know, everybody's very particular about giving up their caseloads. But what I believe happened at that time is VRC caseloads, the vocational rehabilitation counselors were dealing with over 300 plus cases in certain units. There were counties that, as we were talking about, were completely underserved. As I said, I started out here on the Treasure Coast. There are four counties on the Treasure Coast, very large school districts that needed to be served. And we are about an hour and a half driving distance from the actual area office for the state. So this worked very well and it took a little bit of time. But when the employees started to feel the relief and some of the challenges they were having and they realized we weren't there to take their jobs, I feel like over time it just made things a lot easier when they saw the positive responses and that they still had their jobs and they were able to leave as they retired and there was no difference. In that particular office, those people, those state workers left over time through retirement. And then it became that the Treasure Coast was mainly the private provider inside the state offices. So definitely, as Brent said, it was a very unusual time and communication wasn't very forthright. Nobody really knew why. We knew we had jobs. We were coming in to help, but nobody understood it. But I believe over time those challenges kind of went away and the fear went away when we were helping and it was making a difference. And so that made a big difference. It got better.   Carol: So I'm sure the feds probably wanted to say one or two things about this arrangement. So what do either of you think, Brent, I'll go to you first from a state perspective, if you are able to answer this, what did you guys do to help alleviate federal concern about this arrangement? Because I keep thinking non delegables, you know, in my head.   Brent: Sure. Well, that's the big one. And so that is addressed contractually. And I think it's certainly explicit and clear in our current contractual arrangements, which we'll get into. But I would imagine that that had to be addressed right out of the gate because it would be the obvious challenge or something that we would have to deal with. And I think we have done so well. But I think to go back to the federal response, I do understand that RSA had some pretty significant concerns initially, and I speculate that that led to the decision to only enter the three small contracts initially rather than to try to do the whole state. And I understand they were only one year contracts with a possible renewal for two years. So a limited term and very limited geographically to start out. And I think that probably helped to address some of the concerns.   Carol: So, Tina, do you have any thoughts back then about the federal concern because you were there, you probably heard a little bit about that.   Tina: Sure. Basically what we found or what I saw was that RSA contracted agencies to come in and do quality assurance. We had many, many audits and quality assurance reviews regularly. And what I feel probably alleviated those concerns over time because I was part of them, my cases were pulled for audits and then when I became the supervisor, we were still doing many, many quality assurance desktop audits. And basically once we would get through these audits and they were positive and they could see that we were following processes, we were doing the same work that the state was doing, we were following everything that was laid out in the contract. The audits became less, the quality assurance coming around every few months were less and less. And I believe that just spoke to the kind of work that was happening over time. But there was definitely a lot of concern in the beginning and as Brent said. It started out with short term contracts and now we've gone into more of a three year with three year extensions. And of course, everything is still we're all being we should all be under compliance audits from time to time, but it's more regular now. It's not like it was in the past.   Carol: Gotcha. Okay. That helps clear that up. So, Brent, I know I said something about the non-delegables, so how do you address that to ensure that VR remains in control? Because I'm sure our listeners are thinking, all right, but how does that work exactly?   Brent: As I mentioned, we clearly set forth the definitions within the contract and sort of address that head on. And early on in the language of the contract, for example, in the purpose of the contract, under brief summary of the nature and purpose of the project, it states, the purpose of this contract is to perform delegable VR services to eligible persons with disabilities in Area two, Area three, Area six and seven. Essentially, we're establishing that right out of the gate we define what those terms mean within the definitions, of course, citing to the applicable regulations and laws. And then most importantly, every unit has an assigned position that is a state employee that we call a counselor analyst, and they have the final signing authority for all work in the unit. So that's really essentially how we address this the non-delegable issue. The Service Source unit supervisor reviews the work first and then it's ultimately reviewed and signed off on by the counselor analyst. And so Tina mentioned our Treasure Coast where we have two counselor analysts based just on the size of that unit and the population there. The counselor analyst reports to our area director in each area around the state and those four areas that have the private units. And so, of course, we always have to document customer choice and form choice and working with private or state staff. I think we do a good job of explaining during our intake process that the services will still be the same and that it should appear the same regardless of which selection a customer makes. As to whether they would prefer to work with our state staff or with Service Source staff.   Carol: So that speaks to the question then what steps did you take to integrate staff in the work? And Tina, I'm going to send that to you because you've been there since the very darn start of the whole thing.   Tina: Yes, we wanted this to look seamless, and in the beginning I wasn't part of those decisions, but I can see why we did this. And it worked. Basically, our Service Source staff are on the state system, so we have emails, we're included in all the state correspondence. If you were to pull up myself or Brent, we're both in the system, so are all of the staff, Our Service Source staff, we do take our Service Source trainings like you would do for any company that you work for. But then we also, our staff is part of the mandatory state trainings, including ethics and sexual harassment and all the beginning onboarding, because it's important that our staff understand when they're working inside of a state system. There might be a little bit of differences in how the state system may work to a private agency, so they're held accountable for the same things that the state employees are. The VR staff have some additions. What I had to do is we have a staff handbook for Service Source. I actually had them update the handbook over time to add some things that my staff that are working under this contract need to also abide by because they're under this contract. Our management for Service Source is part of all the bureau meetings. We sit on their task forces. It's been wonderful because over the years that's a big piece. The communication has gotten better and better. And what we found is that if we collaborated together and that we work together on strategic plans, brainstorming ideas for Florida, we work together so our management and our leadership sits with their leadership and we work as one. And really it's seamless. We don't go out into the community and say, we are Service Source, employees, we are VR. So when we're in the office, we get paid by Service Source, we work for our company. But when we are working under this contract, we are working as a VR employee.   Carol: I like that you said seamless. That was the word that popped into my mind because you're explaining this. I'm like, This seems really seamless and I'm sure that took time to get to that point.   Tina: It evolved. It evolved. But I feel like in all the years I've been here, we're at that place. We're at that place where it's the best I've ever seen it. And it's been a lot of collaboration that's brought us there, but definitely seamless at this point.   Carol: Excellent. So I know one thing that buzzes around in my mind because in Minnesota we're a unionized state, several different unions our staff fell under. So Brent, is Florida unionized?   Brent: Florida is a what's known as a Right To Work state. And that essentially means that a person can work in the state, whether they're in a union or not. They can't be compelled to join a union as a condition of keeping their job. I believe a little over half of the states are right to work states. You know, that doesn't present as much of a challenge for us here as it might in other areas.   Carol: Sure, no, thanks for clarifying that. So, Tina, I wanted to look at today how much territory does Service Source cover in Florida and how many employees are on the Service Source side of the house.   Tina: Yes. Brent alluded a little while ago to the fact that we are in four of their contracted seven areas that we covered. We are inside 16 state offices from Jacksonville to Key West we are predominantly in central part of Florida. And on the East Coast, we have 145 employees inside this contract. When we began to kind of give you how we've evolved, we started out with 45 and we only had two offices. So now I would say percentage wise, years ago, it's probably about 18% of what the state is doing. We're involved in, I would say somewhere between 18 and 20%, but we have offices mainly between Jacksonville and Key West.   Carol: Yeah, that helps to give a better picture of what that looks like. So what are some lessons that you've learned along the way? And Brent, I'm going to go to you first on that.   Brent: Sure. And, you know, Tina and I have talked about this as we prepared for this podcast. And I think we both agree that communication is really the key. And Tina alluded to that earlier, that the communication perhaps could have been better and stronger, more robust at the beginning of this process, because any time you have a significant change like this, we all know that there's going to be if there's a vacuum of information that's going to be filled and people are going to fear the worst and they're going to just come up with the sort of 'Parade of Horribles' to use an old legal term of what might go wrong. So I think it's just critically important and has been important to our relationship that we keep those lines of communication open. We need to make sure as the division that we ensure that our partners, that Service Source, receive the same messages and information that our state employees receive and really toward the greatest extent possible work to that seamlessness that we've talked about. And it's interesting that you all focused on that word because that has been sprinkled throughout. But also I think it just does go to that seamlessness that we look for where for all intents and purposes, the work we do is the same and the customer has the same quality experience no matter who their counselor is.   Carol: So how about you, Tina? Are there any other lessons learned that you want to talk about?   Tina: Yes, I totally agree with Brent. Communication has been the biggest key lesson learned over time. Change management would have been a good lesson 22 years ago. We could have used that topic right? How to help people get used to something different. But I guess something that comes to my mind, I think about many, many years ago we tried to do a staff leasing concept many years ago in one of the areas that we serve. We tried the idea of having a state supervisor, supervising Service Source staff in an underserved area, and it worked for a little bit, but I don't think it worked as well as our current model and what we're doing. So I think that was definitely a lesson learned that we should probably stick to what we're doing from the beginning here with this model, because when you're answering to or you're being supervised by somebody in your own company, it still was all the same concept. But I think it definitely worked better when we didn't do that staff leasing. Having the contract the way it is now, but hugely about communication all across the board. It helps with employee retention, it helps with training, it helps with us all following policy and doing things the way we're supposed to do to serve the customers.   Carol: So I'm sure everybody is wondering how you both are dealing with staffing shortages. I was thinking about that. Does staff move between like the two organizations and how do you deal with that? Tina, I'm going to ask you that first.   Tina: Sure. You know, Brent and I even newly working together, we discuss this ourselves, and I've talked about this with every previous director. We definitely discourage poaching. We do not look to take each other. So that's not the whole purpose of this contract. The purpose of this contract is that we're working together. However, we don't discourage it happens very infrequently that the employees go from one side or the other. But it does happen and it happens for good reasons sometimes, you know, some people have to move to another area of Florida and Service Source doesn't have an office there inside the state. So it would naturally make sense that they would stay within our system and they would go to a state unit and vice versa. And also for any kind of possible advancement. We do not have all of the positions that the state of Florida has. We have quite a few of the positions that they have under contract. But there may be an opportunity for one of our staff on both sides to have advancement if they come. So we do want to keep all of these great passionate people inside the system. So we're not looking to do that, but we don't encourage that. But that's the biggest thing, is making sure that we're working together and as a team rather than encouraging anything like that.   Carol: So is the pay similar then?   Tina: Yes, the pay is very similar. The only thing different you have to understand is that state benefits are less expensive. If you really kind of look at the bottom line, sometimes it may appear because we have to add on a little bit of money there to cover benefits and different things that a private company would be different than a state system. But when you really look at the actuality of them, Very similar. Very similar.   Carol: Gotcha. So, Brent, how about you? How are you dealing with just the overall staffing shortages?   Brent: Well, we're certainly thankful for our partnership with Service Source to provide the services that they do and the staff that they do. But bigger picture, I'm pleased to announce that we have put forward as part of the department's legislative budget request some pretty significant raises for our what we call our frontline staff, our counseling positions, our technicians and those folks who are working with the customers. It's frankly long overdue. And we, as many agencies around the country have experienced, have definitely had challenges with staffing. So we have gotten further along in this process than we have. I understand that before I came on board last year, the division was taking a run at this and getting their proposal into the legislative budget request, but it did not happen. So that has occurred this year. We're very excited about that. We have the department's support and we're cautiously optimistic that that will make its way through the legislature and this upcoming session and that we will have a great outcome there.   Carol: Good for you. That is exciting to hear. I'm sure colleagues across the country will be interested in how you pitch that to get into the budget. That's always part of the problem. Just getting it out of the agency.   Brent: Absolutely. And I will say a lot of blood, sweat and tears and a lot of hard work with staff here who really thought deeply and for a long time about the various ways that we could go about this. Yes, I'm proud of the folks here who have helped to make that happen. And as I said, cautiously optimistic. And we've tried to be as transparent as possible with folks around the state as well to let them know what we're doing and that we are we're trying to go to bat there and we're excited about the possibility and looking forward to a good result in the spring.   Carol: Excellent. Well, do keep me posted on that. So, Tina, I'm curious, are there other states that Service Source operates in? And then what kind of services can you provide?   Tina: Yes, we are a leading nonprofit disability resource organization. We have services and prime contract operations located in more than ten states and the District of Columbia. Service Source have five regional offices share a common mission to provide exceptional services to people with disabilities through a range of valued employment training, habilitation, housing and many, many other support services. We have regional offices that are in Florida, Virginia, Delaware, Utah and North Carolina. Our mission aligns with vocational rehabilitation mission. I mean, we are committed to building more inclusive communities.   Carol: Very cool. I had heard mentioned that maybe you guys even get into like being able to provide interpreter services and things like that.   Tina: Yes. Well, from this contract, having this contract for many, many years, you know, as I said, we sat on many bureau meetings and at one point Florida was in need of having a larger interpreter services scope throughout Florida. They already had interpreter services positions throughout Florida, but they were looking for a private organization or a contract. And we had experience in our Florida regional office working with individuals with deaf and hard of hearing. So we immediately jumped in and offered those services. And through that task we have a contract now where we have an interpreter services contract that is based out of our Clearwater, which is our regional office here in Florida. And we have positions throughout the state, again, just like our contract sitting inside state offices, serving right alongside the state interpreters, the state and staff interpreters. And it's been a wonderful program over the last few years.   Carol: Very cool. Yeah, Thanks for sharing that. I know some folks have struggled with the interpreter contracts. I've just heard that as of late across the country. As with anything else, you know, where people are struggling to get staffed. So looking back on all of this and knowing what you both know now, is there anything you would change about what has happened and how it may be happened? Brent, I'll go to you first.   Brent: Well, as I look on the historical record and the documents that I've been able to find about how all this occurred, I think hindsight being 2020, probably some of those initial contracts could have been drafted in a way that might not have raised so many red flags. Now, again, that is hindsight, because this was such a new and different concept. It may have been the case that regardless of how they were drafted, there would have been concerns. But, you know, I think some lessons can be learned from that as to how those have evolved. And again, there was some movement around this time when all this was occurring where VR was sort of moved from one agency to another, and it eventually landed with the Department of Education in 2002. And I think that provided some additional stability for the division, and we've been here ever since. So I think it was probably wise to start small and scale up from there and to focus on underserved areas. Those are, I think, some lessons that were properly implemented and that that would be a good way to get something like this off the ground.   Carol: Tina, how about you? Any thoughts on that? Anything you would change?   Tina: Yeah, I totally agree with Brent. The contracts started out very differently. At one point we had five contracts for this, this one contract. We had five different serving different areas of Florida. And I understand why it happened that way. Looking back now, though, probably with the idea that you can do amendments to contracts, I think if we were to do this again, just amending contracts and having one large contract, because now we do have over the last five years, the most recent contract is one large contract working as a team approach across the state. So all of our goals and deliverables are work together as in anything that you work with and a team approach always works better. I have consistency among managers working together. Everybody has final goals that we're all working for the same mission and concept, but they're working together and they're working as a team rather than working in separate areas of Florida with different guidelines and thought processes and salaries. It wasn't as consistent years ago. So I definitely think that was something that definitely will help all of us in the future when we look at something like this. But we have to, over time, continuously work on streamlining and efficiency based changes. They're necessary and we've done that over time. And I think because we've done that, it's led to the success of the program.   Carol: Well, the lessons that you all have learned and everything that you've gone through can definitely help another state because they don't have to go through the same path. They can start off kind of right where you're at really with learning from you all. So do you have any parting words of wisdom? If somebody is interested in this type of model? How about you, Brent?   Brent: Sure. I will just continue to say how well it's worked for Florida and how much we value the partnership. And I echo the sentiment that the state should all learn from one another and from one another's mistakes and challenges. And that's one of the great things about our collegial body that we share around the country with our colleague. You know, we're certainly willing to talk to folks to share documents, to let them know about how this is historically evolved. And I guess I would just say that it's one of the great benefits is that we're able to learn from one another and to complement each other. A private entity is able to be a little bit more nimble in many ways than a state agency that has layers of bureaucracy and sort of red tape. That's certainly a benefit that can occur with this kind of arrangement. It's something that we would certainly welcome any questions from other folks as to how they might do something like this in their state.   Carol: Excellent. So, Tina, how about you? Any parting words of wisdom?   Tina: You know, I would say just like Brent, it's a great partnership. We've had almost 22 years of experience working to support the state of Florida and their mission that has become our mission. It works successfully because we've cultivated an excellent working relationship with each other. The natural cooperation with our state counterparts has been an influential force in our success. Many years ago, one of the previous directors called it We now are VR one. We're no longer Service Source in State VR, we're VR one. I look to what we've just been talking about over the last year in the CSAVR, especially in the Spring Virtual Conference about transformational change and transformational leadership. You know, I wanted to raise my hand and go, that's like what we did 22 years ago. We were the transformational change that nobody really thought of back then. And so these are the types of ideas I hope that during my career now, I can see us replicate this relationship in other states so we can assist state VR agencies that are in need to help them achieve their goals and better serve their customers.   Carol: Very cool. I love that VR one. That's awesome. So I know you both had mentioned if somebody out there is interested in the idea and there's certainly welcome to contact you. So Brent, what's the best way for them to do that?   Brent: Sure. Number one, I have to get in a plug for our new website that has recently been redesigned. That's at w w w dot rehab works dot org. So that is the Florida general website. But to contact me directly, I'd be happy for folks to shoot me an email. And that is Brent dot McNeal at VR.fldoe.org.   Carol: Excellent. And Tina, how about you if somebody wanted to reach out and talk to you?   Tina: Sure. And I'll give you my contact first. That same thing with Brent. You can reach me on the state system at tina.Herzik@VR.fldoe.org or you can reach me on my service source, which is Tina dot herzik h e r z i k at service source all one word dot org. Please look up our website as well, ServiceSource.org. You'll get to hear and see all the other wonderful things we're doing throughout the country and you can see what's happening with other parts of our business. But we are very unique with this partnership. As far as what service source is doing for what we're talking about today. But that's also in the information when you look it up.     Carol: Excellent. Yeah, I really appreciate both being on. This is very cool to hear about what is. Happen and that it's sustained. It's really lasted the test of time, which is really interesting as well. And Brent, I hope you keep me posted on what's going on with those staff salaries later on. So I wish you both the best and happy holidays.   Tina: You, too. Thank you so much, Carol.   Brent: Thank you so much, Carol. And thanks, Tina, for agreeing to do this. It's been a great experience and happy to spread the word and hope that it's helpful for folks.   Tina: I'm glad we're working together, Brent, This is great, continuing our journey. That's right. Happy holidays, both of you.   Speaker1: Conversations powered by VR, one manager at a time, one minute at a time, brought to you by the VR TAC for Quality Management. Catch all of our podcast episodes by subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily Newsbrief for Wednesday, November 2nd 2022. Happy hump day everyone, I hope you all have been having an excellent week thus far… Before we get to the newsbrief: Fight Laugh Feast Magazine Our Fight Laugh Feast Magazine is a quarterly issue that packs a punch like a 21 year Balvenie, no ice. We don’t water down our scotch, why would we water down our theology? Order a yearly subscription for yourself and then send a couple yearly subscriptions to your friends who have been drinking luke-warm evangelical cool-aid. Every quarter we promise quality food for the soul, wine for the heart, and some Red Bull for turning over tables. Our magazine will include cultural commentary, a Psalm of the quarter, recipes for feasting, laughter sprinkled through out the glossy pages, and more. Sign up today, at fightlaughfeast.com. https://thepostmillennial.com/breaking-justice-roberts-blocks-house-committee-from-obtaining-trump-tax-returns?utm_campaign=64487 Justice Roberts blocks House committee from obtaining Trump tax returns Supreme Court Justice John Roberts has granted an administrative stay of a lower court order that prevents the House Ways and Means Committee from accessing Trump's tax returns. The stay is temporary and will last until the court considers a final decision. On Monday, the former president asked the Supreme Court to block the House Ways and Means Committee from accessing his tax returns after it requested six years' worth of Trump's returns as part of an investigation into IRS audit practices of presidents and vice presidents, reports ABC News. Trump accused the committee of seeking his taxes under dubious circumstances, with a petition to the Supreme Court reading "The Committee's purpose in requesting President Trump's tax returns has nothing to do with funding or staffing issues at the IRS and everything to do with releasing the President's tax information to the public." In August, a federal appeals court ruled that the committee would be handed the tax returns, having first sought the returns in 2019. NBC reports that Trump "recently failed to block the request on Thursday when the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals shot down his request to reconsider a unanimous opinion from one of its three-judge panels approving the committee's access to the documents." Trump says that the panel's attempts to get their hands on his returns are purely political. https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2022/11/01/voter-registration-has-been-a-disaster-democrats-have-lost-330000-voters-in-florida-n507245 'Voter registration has been a disaster': Democrats have lost 330,000 voters in Florida Democrats are not poised to do well in Florida next week. In fact, it looks like they may not do well in the state for some time. Since the 2020 election, Dems have lost more than 330,000 registered voters in the state while GOP registrations have surged. The Florida Division of Elections released its voter registration report for the November election, known as book closing, earlier this month. Taken with the reports from the general elections in 2020 and 2018, Republicans and no-party-affiliate voters show a steady increase in voter registration. But from 2020 to 2022, Democrats lost 331,810 voters… News 6 political analyst and UCF professor Dr. Jim Clark says the problem can be laid at the feet of the Florida Democratic Party. The result of this large shift in registrations is that the GOP now has a registration advantage in the state for the first time. As of last month, there were 5.3 million registered Republicans and just under 5 million Democrats in Florida, marking the first time in state history that the GOP will carry a voter advantage on Election Day. As bad as that news is, what’s even worse is who Democrats are losing. Republicans have picked up where Trump left off. More than half of their gains in registered voters can be attributed to the 58,000 new Hispanic voters who checked “Republican” on their forms. Democrats, though, are bleeding support from these communities. The party saw a net loss of more than 46,000 Hispanic voters. The reversal is made more stunning because Democrats entered the election cycle firmly aware of the trend and set out to address it, promising they would have dedicated staff and outreach focused on the disparate Hispanic communities that are scattered across the state… It is also worth noting that Republicans saw a slight but sizable uptick of Black registered voters in the past two years while Democrats lost more than 71,000, a quarter of which came from Miami-Dade. The result of all of this is that Republicans are in a position to win in Miami-Dade County for the first time in 20 years. The party has picked up 11,000 new voters in the county since 2020 while Democrats have lost nearly 58,000 voters over the same time span. On top of the registration advantage, the GOP also has a big money advantage. CNN notes that in 2020 Michael Bloomberg committed $100 million to help Biden win Florida. This year there are no outside benefactors coming to rescue the Democrats. Meanwhile, Gov. DeSantis has raised nearly $200 million. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) political operation reported raising $177.4 million through Sept. 9, breaking the gubernatorial fundraising record without adjusting for inflation, a new OpenSecrets analysis of state campaign finance filings found. His reelection campaign has raised over $31.4 million since January 2021, and Friends of Ron DeSantis, his state-level PAC that is not subject to contribution limits, raked in $146 million since January 2019. The bottom line is that even the Miami Herald doesn’t see much hope for Democrats this year. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/republicans%20predicted-huge-house-win-forecast Majority rules: Republicans predicted to have huge House win in new forecast The Republican Party is set to experience a big win in the House of Representatives come election night, gaining a double-digit edge in the lower chamber of Congress. The GOP needs to have a net gain of at least five seats in the House if it wishes to take the majority, but predictions released on Tuesday indicate that the party may have a 19-seat majority after election night, bringing its total to 236 seats. This estimate is based on if Republican candidates win half of the toss-up races that are in a dead heat, according to Fox News. The majority by the GOP could be bigger or smaller, depending on voter outcome for the party. In a best-case scenario for Republicans, the party would leave election night with 249 seats, while a best-case scenario for the Democratic Party would be for Republicans to have only 223 seats after the election, according to the outlet. The Republican Party's lead in the 2022 midterm House elections can possibly be attributed to its focus on inflation and crime, while Democrats have focused on abortion rights following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade earlier this year. An ABC/Ipsos poll conducted from Oct. 28-29 found that 26% of those surveyed ranked the economy as the most important issue, while 23% reported inflation was the most important. The poll surveyed 729 adults and had a margin of error of 3.9 percentage points. While Republicans are expected to take control of the House, the Senate remains up in the air, as the party only won in 50 of the 100 simulated outcomes of the midterm elections for the Senate, according to FiveThirtyEight. The GOP needs to have a net gain of at least one senator if it wishes to take control of the upper chamber of Congress. Accountable2You Is your smartphone a tool in the service of Christ, or a minefield of distractions and temptations? With soul-killing seductions just a few taps away, our families and churches must embrace biblical accountability on our digital devices. Accountable2You makes transparency easy on all your family's devices, by sharing app usage and detailed browsing history—including "Incognito" mode—with your spouse, parent, or chosen accountability partner. Accountable2You helps your family to proactively guard against temptation, so you can live with integrity for God's glory! Learn more and try it for free at Accountable2You.com/FLF https://breakingdefense.com/2022/10/as-army-begins-electrification-push-c5isr-office-aims-to-smooth-bumps-in-the-road/ As Army begins electrification push, C5ISR office aims to smooth bumps in the road As the Army seeks to be more energy efficient between fiscal 2023 and 2027, officials with the service’s C5ISR Center told Breaking Defense they’re working on a plan to make the transition, whether its to installation microgrids or the planned electrified vehicle fleet, smoother and smarter. The Army’s ambitious climate strategy, which it estimates will cost upwards of $6.8 billion over five years, follows three lines of efforts: installations, acquisition and logistics and training. According to the strategy’s implementation plan, released Oct. 5, $5.2 billion of that will go to the installation line of effort, wherein the service wants to field fully electric non-tactical vehicles and reduce greenhouse gasses. The Army also wants to operationalize 55 microgrids on its installations (20 microgrids by fiscal 2024, 15 more by FY26 and then 20 more in FY27) with a total cost of $1.6 billion. (The training portion is expected to cost far less.) The service is currently working on implementing the first set of those tactical microgrids, which will allow the service to “interconnect” power equipment in an “interoperable and smart way,” Marnie Bailey, power division chief at the Army’s C5ISR Center, told Breaking Defense in an interview this week. She added that the development of the tactical microgrid standard (TMS) has underpinned a lot of the research the Army has been doing in that area. TMS is an interoperability standard that allows devices to plug and play together, and that’s what the Army wants to do with its power systems, Mike Gonzalez, expeditionary power and environmental controls branch chief at the C5ISR Center, added. Over the next year, the Army wants to explore how to do active load management (things that consume power, like electronics) through the use of the TMS, which can monitor the loads and see how much power installations or bases are consuming on a regular basis, whether the facilities are stateside or in far-flung regions. According to the Army’s climate plan, the service plans to field an all-electric light-duty-non-tactical vehicle fleet by 2027 and is aiming for an all-electric non-tactical fleet overall by 2035. The Army wants to reap the benefits of the technologies and, at the same time, make sure the transition to these new concepts are seamless for soldiers. As part of that, the service is engaging in “soldier touchpoints” to get feedback on what is and isn’t working. Those soldier touchpoints are key to making sure the Army doesn’t spend years on stuff that’s not performing in real situations, Gonzalez said. As to how the Army sees in the opportunities space over the next fiscal years coming up, both Bailey and Gonzalez summed it up in three words: intentionality, flexibility and maximizing options. It also opens up opportunities for incorporating things like artificial intelligence in the future for things like controls, Bailey added, but the focus right now remains on implementing the interoperability standards into equipment. https://dailycaller.com/2022/11/01/fed-interest-to-pass-defense-budget/ The Government Is Set To Spend More On Debt Payments Than The Entire Defense Budget Interest on federal debt is set to skyrocket, potentially surpassing defense spending by as early as 2025, CNN reported Tuesday. The federal government made $475 billion in net interest payments in the fiscal year 2022 — which ended in September — up from $352 in fiscal year 2021, according to the Treasury Department. The number exceeds the $406 billion spent on transportation and veterans’ benefits, and is on track to eclipse the roughly $750 billion spent on defense this year between 2025 to 2026, according to CNN, citing financial analytics firm Moody’s Analytics. (‘Reckless’: Obama Economist Tears Apart Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness) “Regardless of who wins the midterms or in 2024, there are really difficult decisions that will have to be made,” Dan White, an economist at Moody’s Analytics, told CNN. “This is really going to handcuff them.” The Federal Reserve has historically kept interest rates low in a bid to encourage economic growth and the purchase of U.S. debt by foreign investors, CNN reported. This contributed to aggressive borrowing campaigns by both the Trump and Biden administrations, which boosted the nation’s debt past $31 trillion for the first time this year, that have “fast-forwarded us almost an entire generation” in terms of debt, White said. With inflation still above 8%, far above the Federal Reserve’s goal of 2%, it is unlikely that the Fed will slow its pace of interest rate hikes this week in a bid to put downward pressure on the economy and slow inflation, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. As interest rate hikes push economic activity down and the cost of interest up, the U.S. might soon be in a position where it struggles to make its interest payments, White told CNN. A recession, which economists consider increasingly likely, would make it even more difficult to make interest rate payments, since governments typically spend more on social programs during recessions, White told CNN. Now it’s time for my favorite topic… sports! https://www.si.com/xfl/2022/10/31/xfl-unveils-cities-teams-2023-season XFL Unveils Eight Cities, Teams for 2023 Season Hopefully, the third time’s the charm for the XFL. The newest edition of the spring football league formally announced cities, team names and logos for its new season Monday. The XFL failed to live past its first season in 2001 and the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered the 2020 season after only a few weeks, but 2023 will be a new year. The season is set to start Feb. 18, 2023, and games will be televised on ESPN, ESPN2, ABC and FX. ESPN’s Laura Rutledge showed off the new logos, names and cities for all eight of the XFL’s squads in the announcement video. Here are the eight franchises and coaches for the 2023 XFL season: Arlington (Texas) Renegades - Bob Stoops D.C. Defenders - Reggie Barlow Houston Roughnecks - Wade Phillips Orlando Guardians - Terrell Buckley San Antonio Brahmas - Hines Ward Seattle Sea Dragons - Jim Haslett St. Louis Battlehawks - Anthony Becht Vegas Vipers - Rod Woodson

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily Newsbrief for Wednesday, November 2nd 2022. Happy hump day everyone, I hope you all have been having an excellent week thus far… Before we get to the newsbrief: Fight Laugh Feast Magazine Our Fight Laugh Feast Magazine is a quarterly issue that packs a punch like a 21 year Balvenie, no ice. We don’t water down our scotch, why would we water down our theology? Order a yearly subscription for yourself and then send a couple yearly subscriptions to your friends who have been drinking luke-warm evangelical cool-aid. Every quarter we promise quality food for the soul, wine for the heart, and some Red Bull for turning over tables. Our magazine will include cultural commentary, a Psalm of the quarter, recipes for feasting, laughter sprinkled through out the glossy pages, and more. Sign up today, at fightlaughfeast.com. https://thepostmillennial.com/breaking-justice-roberts-blocks-house-committee-from-obtaining-trump-tax-returns?utm_campaign=64487 Justice Roberts blocks House committee from obtaining Trump tax returns Supreme Court Justice John Roberts has granted an administrative stay of a lower court order that prevents the House Ways and Means Committee from accessing Trump's tax returns. The stay is temporary and will last until the court considers a final decision. On Monday, the former president asked the Supreme Court to block the House Ways and Means Committee from accessing his tax returns after it requested six years' worth of Trump's returns as part of an investigation into IRS audit practices of presidents and vice presidents, reports ABC News. Trump accused the committee of seeking his taxes under dubious circumstances, with a petition to the Supreme Court reading "The Committee's purpose in requesting President Trump's tax returns has nothing to do with funding or staffing issues at the IRS and everything to do with releasing the President's tax information to the public." In August, a federal appeals court ruled that the committee would be handed the tax returns, having first sought the returns in 2019. NBC reports that Trump "recently failed to block the request on Thursday when the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals shot down his request to reconsider a unanimous opinion from one of its three-judge panels approving the committee's access to the documents." Trump says that the panel's attempts to get their hands on his returns are purely political. https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2022/11/01/voter-registration-has-been-a-disaster-democrats-have-lost-330000-voters-in-florida-n507245 'Voter registration has been a disaster': Democrats have lost 330,000 voters in Florida Democrats are not poised to do well in Florida next week. In fact, it looks like they may not do well in the state for some time. Since the 2020 election, Dems have lost more than 330,000 registered voters in the state while GOP registrations have surged. The Florida Division of Elections released its voter registration report for the November election, known as book closing, earlier this month. Taken with the reports from the general elections in 2020 and 2018, Republicans and no-party-affiliate voters show a steady increase in voter registration. But from 2020 to 2022, Democrats lost 331,810 voters… News 6 political analyst and UCF professor Dr. Jim Clark says the problem can be laid at the feet of the Florida Democratic Party. The result of this large shift in registrations is that the GOP now has a registration advantage in the state for the first time. As of last month, there were 5.3 million registered Republicans and just under 5 million Democrats in Florida, marking the first time in state history that the GOP will carry a voter advantage on Election Day. As bad as that news is, what’s even worse is who Democrats are losing. Republicans have picked up where Trump left off. More than half of their gains in registered voters can be attributed to the 58,000 new Hispanic voters who checked “Republican” on their forms. Democrats, though, are bleeding support from these communities. The party saw a net loss of more than 46,000 Hispanic voters. The reversal is made more stunning because Democrats entered the election cycle firmly aware of the trend and set out to address it, promising they would have dedicated staff and outreach focused on the disparate Hispanic communities that are scattered across the state… It is also worth noting that Republicans saw a slight but sizable uptick of Black registered voters in the past two years while Democrats lost more than 71,000, a quarter of which came from Miami-Dade. The result of all of this is that Republicans are in a position to win in Miami-Dade County for the first time in 20 years. The party has picked up 11,000 new voters in the county since 2020 while Democrats have lost nearly 58,000 voters over the same time span. On top of the registration advantage, the GOP also has a big money advantage. CNN notes that in 2020 Michael Bloomberg committed $100 million to help Biden win Florida. This year there are no outside benefactors coming to rescue the Democrats. Meanwhile, Gov. DeSantis has raised nearly $200 million. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) political operation reported raising $177.4 million through Sept. 9, breaking the gubernatorial fundraising record without adjusting for inflation, a new OpenSecrets analysis of state campaign finance filings found. His reelection campaign has raised over $31.4 million since January 2021, and Friends of Ron DeSantis, his state-level PAC that is not subject to contribution limits, raked in $146 million since January 2019. The bottom line is that even the Miami Herald doesn’t see much hope for Democrats this year. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/republicans%20predicted-huge-house-win-forecast Majority rules: Republicans predicted to have huge House win in new forecast The Republican Party is set to experience a big win in the House of Representatives come election night, gaining a double-digit edge in the lower chamber of Congress. The GOP needs to have a net gain of at least five seats in the House if it wishes to take the majority, but predictions released on Tuesday indicate that the party may have a 19-seat majority after election night, bringing its total to 236 seats. This estimate is based on if Republican candidates win half of the toss-up races that are in a dead heat, according to Fox News. The majority by the GOP could be bigger or smaller, depending on voter outcome for the party. In a best-case scenario for Republicans, the party would leave election night with 249 seats, while a best-case scenario for the Democratic Party would be for Republicans to have only 223 seats after the election, according to the outlet. The Republican Party's lead in the 2022 midterm House elections can possibly be attributed to its focus on inflation and crime, while Democrats have focused on abortion rights following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade earlier this year. An ABC/Ipsos poll conducted from Oct. 28-29 found that 26% of those surveyed ranked the economy as the most important issue, while 23% reported inflation was the most important. The poll surveyed 729 adults and had a margin of error of 3.9 percentage points. While Republicans are expected to take control of the House, the Senate remains up in the air, as the party only won in 50 of the 100 simulated outcomes of the midterm elections for the Senate, according to FiveThirtyEight. The GOP needs to have a net gain of at least one senator if it wishes to take control of the upper chamber of Congress. Accountable2You Is your smartphone a tool in the service of Christ, or a minefield of distractions and temptations? With soul-killing seductions just a few taps away, our families and churches must embrace biblical accountability on our digital devices. Accountable2You makes transparency easy on all your family's devices, by sharing app usage and detailed browsing history—including "Incognito" mode—with your spouse, parent, or chosen accountability partner. Accountable2You helps your family to proactively guard against temptation, so you can live with integrity for God's glory! Learn more and try it for free at Accountable2You.com/FLF https://breakingdefense.com/2022/10/as-army-begins-electrification-push-c5isr-office-aims-to-smooth-bumps-in-the-road/ As Army begins electrification push, C5ISR office aims to smooth bumps in the road As the Army seeks to be more energy efficient between fiscal 2023 and 2027, officials with the service’s C5ISR Center told Breaking Defense they’re working on a plan to make the transition, whether its to installation microgrids or the planned electrified vehicle fleet, smoother and smarter. The Army’s ambitious climate strategy, which it estimates will cost upwards of $6.8 billion over five years, follows three lines of efforts: installations, acquisition and logistics and training. According to the strategy’s implementation plan, released Oct. 5, $5.2 billion of that will go to the installation line of effort, wherein the service wants to field fully electric non-tactical vehicles and reduce greenhouse gasses. The Army also wants to operationalize 55 microgrids on its installations (20 microgrids by fiscal 2024, 15 more by FY26 and then 20 more in FY27) with a total cost of $1.6 billion. (The training portion is expected to cost far less.) The service is currently working on implementing the first set of those tactical microgrids, which will allow the service to “interconnect” power equipment in an “interoperable and smart way,” Marnie Bailey, power division chief at the Army’s C5ISR Center, told Breaking Defense in an interview this week. She added that the development of the tactical microgrid standard (TMS) has underpinned a lot of the research the Army has been doing in that area. TMS is an interoperability standard that allows devices to plug and play together, and that’s what the Army wants to do with its power systems, Mike Gonzalez, expeditionary power and environmental controls branch chief at the C5ISR Center, added. Over the next year, the Army wants to explore how to do active load management (things that consume power, like electronics) through the use of the TMS, which can monitor the loads and see how much power installations or bases are consuming on a regular basis, whether the facilities are stateside or in far-flung regions. According to the Army’s climate plan, the service plans to field an all-electric light-duty-non-tactical vehicle fleet by 2027 and is aiming for an all-electric non-tactical fleet overall by 2035. The Army wants to reap the benefits of the technologies and, at the same time, make sure the transition to these new concepts are seamless for soldiers. As part of that, the service is engaging in “soldier touchpoints” to get feedback on what is and isn’t working. Those soldier touchpoints are key to making sure the Army doesn’t spend years on stuff that’s not performing in real situations, Gonzalez said. As to how the Army sees in the opportunities space over the next fiscal years coming up, both Bailey and Gonzalez summed it up in three words: intentionality, flexibility and maximizing options. It also opens up opportunities for incorporating things like artificial intelligence in the future for things like controls, Bailey added, but the focus right now remains on implementing the interoperability standards into equipment. https://dailycaller.com/2022/11/01/fed-interest-to-pass-defense-budget/ The Government Is Set To Spend More On Debt Payments Than The Entire Defense Budget Interest on federal debt is set to skyrocket, potentially surpassing defense spending by as early as 2025, CNN reported Tuesday. The federal government made $475 billion in net interest payments in the fiscal year 2022 — which ended in September — up from $352 in fiscal year 2021, according to the Treasury Department. The number exceeds the $406 billion spent on transportation and veterans’ benefits, and is on track to eclipse the roughly $750 billion spent on defense this year between 2025 to 2026, according to CNN, citing financial analytics firm Moody’s Analytics. (‘Reckless’: Obama Economist Tears Apart Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness) “Regardless of who wins the midterms or in 2024, there are really difficult decisions that will have to be made,” Dan White, an economist at Moody’s Analytics, told CNN. “This is really going to handcuff them.” The Federal Reserve has historically kept interest rates low in a bid to encourage economic growth and the purchase of U.S. debt by foreign investors, CNN reported. This contributed to aggressive borrowing campaigns by both the Trump and Biden administrations, which boosted the nation’s debt past $31 trillion for the first time this year, that have “fast-forwarded us almost an entire generation” in terms of debt, White said. With inflation still above 8%, far above the Federal Reserve’s goal of 2%, it is unlikely that the Fed will slow its pace of interest rate hikes this week in a bid to put downward pressure on the economy and slow inflation, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. As interest rate hikes push economic activity down and the cost of interest up, the U.S. might soon be in a position where it struggles to make its interest payments, White told CNN. A recession, which economists consider increasingly likely, would make it even more difficult to make interest rate payments, since governments typically spend more on social programs during recessions, White told CNN. Now it’s time for my favorite topic… sports! https://www.si.com/xfl/2022/10/31/xfl-unveils-cities-teams-2023-season XFL Unveils Eight Cities, Teams for 2023 Season Hopefully, the third time’s the charm for the XFL. The newest edition of the spring football league formally announced cities, team names and logos for its new season Monday. The XFL failed to live past its first season in 2001 and the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered the 2020 season after only a few weeks, but 2023 will be a new year. The season is set to start Feb. 18, 2023, and games will be televised on ESPN, ESPN2, ABC and FX. ESPN’s Laura Rutledge showed off the new logos, names and cities for all eight of the XFL’s squads in the announcement video. Here are the eight franchises and coaches for the 2023 XFL season: Arlington (Texas) Renegades - Bob Stoops D.C. Defenders - Reggie Barlow Houston Roughnecks - Wade Phillips Orlando Guardians - Terrell Buckley San Antonio Brahmas - Hines Ward Seattle Sea Dragons - Jim Haslett St. Louis Battlehawks - Anthony Becht Vegas Vipers - Rod Woodson

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily Newsbrief for Wednesday, November 2nd 2022. Happy hump day everyone, I hope you all have been having an excellent week thus far… Before we get to the newsbrief: Fight Laugh Feast Magazine Our Fight Laugh Feast Magazine is a quarterly issue that packs a punch like a 21 year Balvenie, no ice. We don’t water down our scotch, why would we water down our theology? Order a yearly subscription for yourself and then send a couple yearly subscriptions to your friends who have been drinking luke-warm evangelical cool-aid. Every quarter we promise quality food for the soul, wine for the heart, and some Red Bull for turning over tables. Our magazine will include cultural commentary, a Psalm of the quarter, recipes for feasting, laughter sprinkled through out the glossy pages, and more. Sign up today, at fightlaughfeast.com. https://thepostmillennial.com/breaking-justice-roberts-blocks-house-committee-from-obtaining-trump-tax-returns?utm_campaign=64487 Justice Roberts blocks House committee from obtaining Trump tax returns Supreme Court Justice John Roberts has granted an administrative stay of a lower court order that prevents the House Ways and Means Committee from accessing Trump's tax returns. The stay is temporary and will last until the court considers a final decision. On Monday, the former president asked the Supreme Court to block the House Ways and Means Committee from accessing his tax returns after it requested six years' worth of Trump's returns as part of an investigation into IRS audit practices of presidents and vice presidents, reports ABC News. Trump accused the committee of seeking his taxes under dubious circumstances, with a petition to the Supreme Court reading "The Committee's purpose in requesting President Trump's tax returns has nothing to do with funding or staffing issues at the IRS and everything to do with releasing the President's tax information to the public." In August, a federal appeals court ruled that the committee would be handed the tax returns, having first sought the returns in 2019. NBC reports that Trump "recently failed to block the request on Thursday when the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals shot down his request to reconsider a unanimous opinion from one of its three-judge panels approving the committee's access to the documents." Trump says that the panel's attempts to get their hands on his returns are purely political. https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2022/11/01/voter-registration-has-been-a-disaster-democrats-have-lost-330000-voters-in-florida-n507245 'Voter registration has been a disaster': Democrats have lost 330,000 voters in Florida Democrats are not poised to do well in Florida next week. In fact, it looks like they may not do well in the state for some time. Since the 2020 election, Dems have lost more than 330,000 registered voters in the state while GOP registrations have surged. The Florida Division of Elections released its voter registration report for the November election, known as book closing, earlier this month. Taken with the reports from the general elections in 2020 and 2018, Republicans and no-party-affiliate voters show a steady increase in voter registration. But from 2020 to 2022, Democrats lost 331,810 voters… News 6 political analyst and UCF professor Dr. Jim Clark says the problem can be laid at the feet of the Florida Democratic Party. The result of this large shift in registrations is that the GOP now has a registration advantage in the state for the first time. As of last month, there were 5.3 million registered Republicans and just under 5 million Democrats in Florida, marking the first time in state history that the GOP will carry a voter advantage on Election Day. As bad as that news is, what’s even worse is who Democrats are losing. Republicans have picked up where Trump left off. More than half of their gains in registered voters can be attributed to the 58,000 new Hispanic voters who checked “Republican” on their forms. Democrats, though, are bleeding support from these communities. The party saw a net loss of more than 46,000 Hispanic voters. The reversal is made more stunning because Democrats entered the election cycle firmly aware of the trend and set out to address it, promising they would have dedicated staff and outreach focused on the disparate Hispanic communities that are scattered across the state… It is also worth noting that Republicans saw a slight but sizable uptick of Black registered voters in the past two years while Democrats lost more than 71,000, a quarter of which came from Miami-Dade. The result of all of this is that Republicans are in a position to win in Miami-Dade County for the first time in 20 years. The party has picked up 11,000 new voters in the county since 2020 while Democrats have lost nearly 58,000 voters over the same time span. On top of the registration advantage, the GOP also has a big money advantage. CNN notes that in 2020 Michael Bloomberg committed $100 million to help Biden win Florida. This year there are no outside benefactors coming to rescue the Democrats. Meanwhile, Gov. DeSantis has raised nearly $200 million. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) political operation reported raising $177.4 million through Sept. 9, breaking the gubernatorial fundraising record without adjusting for inflation, a new OpenSecrets analysis of state campaign finance filings found. His reelection campaign has raised over $31.4 million since January 2021, and Friends of Ron DeSantis, his state-level PAC that is not subject to contribution limits, raked in $146 million since January 2019. The bottom line is that even the Miami Herald doesn’t see much hope for Democrats this year. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/republicans%20predicted-huge-house-win-forecast Majority rules: Republicans predicted to have huge House win in new forecast The Republican Party is set to experience a big win in the House of Representatives come election night, gaining a double-digit edge in the lower chamber of Congress. The GOP needs to have a net gain of at least five seats in the House if it wishes to take the majority, but predictions released on Tuesday indicate that the party may have a 19-seat majority after election night, bringing its total to 236 seats. This estimate is based on if Republican candidates win half of the toss-up races that are in a dead heat, according to Fox News. The majority by the GOP could be bigger or smaller, depending on voter outcome for the party. In a best-case scenario for Republicans, the party would leave election night with 249 seats, while a best-case scenario for the Democratic Party would be for Republicans to have only 223 seats after the election, according to the outlet. The Republican Party's lead in the 2022 midterm House elections can possibly be attributed to its focus on inflation and crime, while Democrats have focused on abortion rights following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade earlier this year. An ABC/Ipsos poll conducted from Oct. 28-29 found that 26% of those surveyed ranked the economy as the most important issue, while 23% reported inflation was the most important. The poll surveyed 729 adults and had a margin of error of 3.9 percentage points. While Republicans are expected to take control of the House, the Senate remains up in the air, as the party only won in 50 of the 100 simulated outcomes of the midterm elections for the Senate, according to FiveThirtyEight. The GOP needs to have a net gain of at least one senator if it wishes to take control of the upper chamber of Congress. Accountable2You Is your smartphone a tool in the service of Christ, or a minefield of distractions and temptations? With soul-killing seductions just a few taps away, our families and churches must embrace biblical accountability on our digital devices. Accountable2You makes transparency easy on all your family's devices, by sharing app usage and detailed browsing history—including "Incognito" mode—with your spouse, parent, or chosen accountability partner. Accountable2You helps your family to proactively guard against temptation, so you can live with integrity for God's glory! Learn more and try it for free at Accountable2You.com/FLF https://breakingdefense.com/2022/10/as-army-begins-electrification-push-c5isr-office-aims-to-smooth-bumps-in-the-road/ As Army begins electrification push, C5ISR office aims to smooth bumps in the road As the Army seeks to be more energy efficient between fiscal 2023 and 2027, officials with the service’s C5ISR Center told Breaking Defense they’re working on a plan to make the transition, whether its to installation microgrids or the planned electrified vehicle fleet, smoother and smarter. The Army’s ambitious climate strategy, which it estimates will cost upwards of $6.8 billion over five years, follows three lines of efforts: installations, acquisition and logistics and training. According to the strategy’s implementation plan, released Oct. 5, $5.2 billion of that will go to the installation line of effort, wherein the service wants to field fully electric non-tactical vehicles and reduce greenhouse gasses. The Army also wants to operationalize 55 microgrids on its installations (20 microgrids by fiscal 2024, 15 more by FY26 and then 20 more in FY27) with a total cost of $1.6 billion. (The training portion is expected to cost far less.) The service is currently working on implementing the first set of those tactical microgrids, which will allow the service to “interconnect” power equipment in an “interoperable and smart way,” Marnie Bailey, power division chief at the Army’s C5ISR Center, told Breaking Defense in an interview this week. She added that the development of the tactical microgrid standard (TMS) has underpinned a lot of the research the Army has been doing in that area. TMS is an interoperability standard that allows devices to plug and play together, and that’s what the Army wants to do with its power systems, Mike Gonzalez, expeditionary power and environmental controls branch chief at the C5ISR Center, added. Over the next year, the Army wants to explore how to do active load management (things that consume power, like electronics) through the use of the TMS, which can monitor the loads and see how much power installations or bases are consuming on a regular basis, whether the facilities are stateside or in far-flung regions. According to the Army’s climate plan, the service plans to field an all-electric light-duty-non-tactical vehicle fleet by 2027 and is aiming for an all-electric non-tactical fleet overall by 2035. The Army wants to reap the benefits of the technologies and, at the same time, make sure the transition to these new concepts are seamless for soldiers. As part of that, the service is engaging in “soldier touchpoints” to get feedback on what is and isn’t working. Those soldier touchpoints are key to making sure the Army doesn’t spend years on stuff that’s not performing in real situations, Gonzalez said. As to how the Army sees in the opportunities space over the next fiscal years coming up, both Bailey and Gonzalez summed it up in three words: intentionality, flexibility and maximizing options. It also opens up opportunities for incorporating things like artificial intelligence in the future for things like controls, Bailey added, but the focus right now remains on implementing the interoperability standards into equipment. https://dailycaller.com/2022/11/01/fed-interest-to-pass-defense-budget/ The Government Is Set To Spend More On Debt Payments Than The Entire Defense Budget Interest on federal debt is set to skyrocket, potentially surpassing defense spending by as early as 2025, CNN reported Tuesday. The federal government made $475 billion in net interest payments in the fiscal year 2022 — which ended in September — up from $352 in fiscal year 2021, according to the Treasury Department. The number exceeds the $406 billion spent on transportation and veterans’ benefits, and is on track to eclipse the roughly $750 billion spent on defense this year between 2025 to 2026, according to CNN, citing financial analytics firm Moody’s Analytics. (‘Reckless’: Obama Economist Tears Apart Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness) “Regardless of who wins the midterms or in 2024, there are really difficult decisions that will have to be made,” Dan White, an economist at Moody’s Analytics, told CNN. “This is really going to handcuff them.” The Federal Reserve has historically kept interest rates low in a bid to encourage economic growth and the purchase of U.S. debt by foreign investors, CNN reported. This contributed to aggressive borrowing campaigns by both the Trump and Biden administrations, which boosted the nation’s debt past $31 trillion for the first time this year, that have “fast-forwarded us almost an entire generation” in terms of debt, White said. With inflation still above 8%, far above the Federal Reserve’s goal of 2%, it is unlikely that the Fed will slow its pace of interest rate hikes this week in a bid to put downward pressure on the economy and slow inflation, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. As interest rate hikes push economic activity down and the cost of interest up, the U.S. might soon be in a position where it struggles to make its interest payments, White told CNN. A recession, which economists consider increasingly likely, would make it even more difficult to make interest rate payments, since governments typically spend more on social programs during recessions, White told CNN. Now it’s time for my favorite topic… sports! https://www.si.com/xfl/2022/10/31/xfl-unveils-cities-teams-2023-season XFL Unveils Eight Cities, Teams for 2023 Season Hopefully, the third time’s the charm for the XFL. The newest edition of the spring football league formally announced cities, team names and logos for its new season Monday. The XFL failed to live past its first season in 2001 and the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered the 2020 season after only a few weeks, but 2023 will be a new year. The season is set to start Feb. 18, 2023, and games will be televised on ESPN, ESPN2, ABC and FX. ESPN’s Laura Rutledge showed off the new logos, names and cities for all eight of the XFL’s squads in the announcement video. Here are the eight franchises and coaches for the 2023 XFL season: Arlington (Texas) Renegades - Bob Stoops D.C. Defenders - Reggie Barlow Houston Roughnecks - Wade Phillips Orlando Guardians - Terrell Buckley San Antonio Brahmas - Hines Ward Seattle Sea Dragons - Jim Haslett St. Louis Battlehawks - Anthony Becht Vegas Vipers - Rod Woodson

City of Sanibel officials said Thursday evening they have confirmed at least two fatalities, while Smith said Friday there could be four.More than 500 individuals were rescued in Lee and Charlotte Counties, according to the Florida Division of Emergency Management, and search and rescue operations are continuing. There were 600-700 rescues in the county as of Saturday morning, the sheriff's office said.The U.S. Coast Guard and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue have been involved in search and rescue efforts, including in Sanibel and Captiva. Many rescues were made in waist-high water, public safety officials said Thursday.Use of direct-to-consumer DNA tests have exploded over the past decade, with an estimated 100 million people worldwide sharing their genetic information with companies like AncestryDNA, 23andMe, and FamilyTreeDNA. All that DNA has been a boon to law-enforcement agencies, who've discovered that “investigative genetic genealogy” is far more effective if searches aren't restricted to DNA left at a crime scene.By just uploading the genetic profile of a suspect to a genealogy website, where thousands of users have freely shared their DNA information to find out more about their ancestry, detectives are able to map out a criminal's entire family tree and zero in on their identity.

The Impact Of Inflammation On Chronic Illness And Heart Disease - Monica Aggarwal, MD Monica Aggarwal, MD• http://www.drmonicaaggarwal.com • Book - In Body on Fire #MonicaAggarway#Inflammation  #ChronicIllness Monica Aggarwal, M.D. is a medical doctor, professor and author of; Body on Fire: How Inflammation Triggers Chronic Illness and the Tools We Have to Fight It In Body on Fire is a (a newly updated revision of Finding Balance), where Drs. Monica Aggarwal along with Jyothi Rao help readers make an honest assessment of their energy, lifestyle, dietary habits, and mental state and provide a series of interventions for reclaiming health. In the book, they present in-depth explanations of the dangers of stressors on the body such as sedentary lifestyles, poor diet, and poor sleep habits. Specific plant-based foods that reduce harmful inflammation and nurture healthy digestive organisms are identified. Tools are provided to improve sleep habits, increase activity levels, and achieve adequate hydration. Techniques to increase the mind-body connection are discussed, the benefits of intermittent fasting are covered, and the importance of the microbiome and the impact of the gut on overall health is explored. Each chapter includes recommendations and action steps. This book is a prescription for restorative health and a roadmap to a stronger, healthier, more vital state of being. Dr Monica Aggarwal,is an adjunct Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine in the University of Florida Division of Cardiovascular Medicine. She received her medical degree from Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and subsequently went on to complete a residency in internal medicine at Tufts-New England Medical Center. She then completed a cardiology fellowship at the University of Maryland and later continued her training at the University of Arizona where she participated in an integrative medicine fellowship.Dr. Aggarwal's own path to understanding the impact of nutrition in illness started soon after the birth of her third child, when she developed an advanced form of rheumatoid arthritis. She was placed on medications that gave her severe side effects. It was only through learning about the microbiome (gut), its impact on the immune system and the role of nutrition in affecting the gut, was she able to truly heal. Determined to change the face of medicine, Monica left private practice and returned to academics in order to pursue research on the role of diet and to create an integrative cardiology practice focused on nutrition and lifestyle.Dr. Aggarwal served as the Director of Integrative Cardiology and Prevention at the University of Florida for 4 ½ years. There, she focused on promoting food as the foundation of healing and for its medicinal value. In her clinic, she emphasizes plant-based nutrition and often performs multiple mind-body techniques with her patients, including yoga and meditation. At University of Florida, she was also the Director of Medical Education for Cardiology, where she directed education for medical residents and cardiology fellows, with a focus on prevention, nutrition, and lifestyle. In the hospital, she has multiple initiatives including developing a 100% plant-based menu for cardiac and vascular patients.To Contact Dr. Monica Aggarwal, M.D. go to drmonicaaggarwal.com CLICK HERE - To Checkout Our MEMBERSHIP CLUB: http://www.realtruthtalks.com  • Social Media ChannelsFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/TRTAHConferenceInstagram : https://www.instagram.com/therealtruthabouthealth/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/RTAHealth Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-real-truth-about-health-conference/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheRealTruthAboutHealth    • Check out our Podcasts  Visit us on Apple Podcast and Itunes search:  The Real Truth About Health Free 17 Day Live Online Conference Podcast Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/23a037be-99dd-4099-b9e0-1cad50774b5a/real-truth-about-health-live-online-conference-podcastSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0RZbS2BafJIEzHYyThm83J Google:https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS8yM0ZqRWNTMg%3D%3DStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/real-truth-about-health-live-online-conference-podcastAudacy: https://go.audacy.com/partner-podcast-listen-real-truth-about-health-live-online-conference-podcastiHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-real-truth-about-health-li-85932821/ Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/us/show/2867272 Reason: https://reason.fm/podcast/real-truth-about-health-live-online-conference-podcast • Other Video ChannelsYoutube:https://www.youtube.com/c/TheRealTruthAboutHealthVimeo:https://vimeo.com/channels/1733189Rumble:  https://rumble.com/c/c-1111513 Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/TRTAHConference/videos/?ref=page_internal DailyMotion: https://www.dailymotion.com/TheRealTruthAboutHealth BitChute:  https://www.bitchute.com/channel/JQryXTPDOMih/ Disclaimer:Medical and Health information changes constantly. Therefore, the information provided in this podcast should not be considered current, complete, or exhaustive. Reliance on any information provided in this podcast is solely at your own risk. The Real Truth About Health does not recommend or endorse any specific tests, products, procedures, or opinions referenced in the following podcasts, nor does it exercise any authority or editorial control over that material. The Real Truth About Health provides a forum for discussion of public health issues. The views and opinions of our panelists do not necessarily reflect those of The Real Truth About Health and are provided by those panelists in their individual capacities. The Real Truth About Health has not reviewed or evaluated those statements or claims. 

The Salvation Army has been hard at work, serving those in Puerto Rica and beyond who have been impacted by Hurricane Fiona. And now, with the future of Ian uncertain, The Salvation Army's Florida, Georgia, ALM and Texas divisions are preparing for a large-scale coordination to be on the ground for people in need. The Florida Division has an incident management team and 27 canteens on standby. And with Georgia now possibly in Ian's path, neighboring divisions are ready to give a assistance where needed. In the wake of hurricane Fiona, so far, The Salvation Army has served over 8,000 individuals and over 3,000 families with prepared food, drinks, hygiene kits and emotional and spiritual support.   To support The Salvation Army's continued efforts, visit https://give.helpsalvationarmy.org or call 1-800-SAL-ARMY

Director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, Kevin Guthrie, has more than 30 years of experience in public safety and emergency management. In this episode, Kevin covers emergency management preparedness for local governments in tangible, practical, and actionable terms.

Hurricane Ian tore into western Cuba as a major hurricane, with nothing to stop it from intensifying into a catastrophic Category 4 storm before it crashes ashore in Florida, where officials ordered 2.5 million people to evacuate. Ian made landfall at 4.30am EDT Tuesday in Cuba's Pinar del Rio province, where officials set up 55 shelters, evacuated 50,000 people, rushed in emergency personnel and took steps to protect crops in the nation's main tobacco-growing region. The US National Hurricane Center said "significant wind and storm surge impacts" occurred Tuesday morning in western Cuba. Ian struck with sustained top winds of 205km/h. As much as 4.3m of storm surge was predicted along Cuba's coast.   Traffic builds along Interstate 4 in Tampa, Florida as Hurricane Ian approaches. Photo / Willie J. Allen Jr, Orlando Sentinel via AP Ian was forecast to strengthen even more over warm Gulf of Mexico waters, reaching top winds of 225km/h as it approaches Florida's southwest coast. Tropical storm-force winds were expected across the southern peninsula late Tuesday, reaching hurricane force Wednesday morning. "Right now we're focusing on west central Florida area as the main area for impact," hurricane specialist Andy Latto told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Shoppers at the Costco store in Altamonte Springs, Florida grab bottles of water from the last pallet in stock. Photo / Joe Burbank, Orlando Sentinel via AP With tropical storm-force winds extending 185km from Ian's centre, damage was expected across a wide area of Florida, regardless of where Ian makes landfall. The hurricane centre expanded its storm surge warning to the peninsula's Atlantic coast, and expanded its tropical storm warning from Boca Raton to Brunswick, Georgia — a distance of about 603km. Waves crash against a seawall as Hurricane Ian passes through George Town, Grand Cayman island. Photo / Kevin Morales, AP Gil Gonzalez boarded his windows with plywood Tuesday and had sandbags ready to protect his Tampa home from flooding. He and his wife had stocked up on bottled water and packed torches, battery packs for their cellphones and a camp stove with a large propane burner as they got ready to evacuate. "All the prized possessions, we've put them upstairs in a friend's house and nearby, and we've got the car loaded," Gonzalez said. He added: "I think we're ready." Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said an estimated 2.5 million people were under evacuation orders. He urged people to prepare for power outages and to get out of its way. "When you have five to 10 feet of storm surge, that is not something you want to be a part of," DeSantis said Tuesday. "And Mother Nature is a very fearsome adversary." Hurricane Ian grew stronger as it barreled toward Cuba. Photo / Nasa Worldview, Earth Observing System Data and Information System via AP The hurricane centre expanded its hurricane warning to include Bonita Beach north through Tampa Bay to the Anclote River. Fort Myers is in the hurricane zone, and Tampa and St Petersburg could get their first direct hit by a major hurricane since 1921. "People on the barrier islands who decide not to go, they do so at their own peril," Roger Desjarlais, county manager of Lee County, where Fort Myers is, said early Tuesday. "The best thing they can do is leave." The county issued mandatory evacuations for low-lying areas including Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel and Bonita Beach, where about 250,000 people live. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, left, speaks as he stands with Kevin Guthrie, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management. Photo / Chris O'Meara, AP As the storm's centre moved into the Gulf, scenes of destruction emerged in Cuba's world-famous tobacco belt. The owner of the premier Finca Robaina cigar producer posted photos on social media showing wood-and-thatch roofs smashed to the ground, greenhouses in rubble and wagons overturned. "It was apocalyptic, a real disaster," wrote Hirochi Robaina, grandson of the operation's founder. State media published photos showing broad floodwaters flowing through the town of San Juan y Martinez and more than 1 million Cubans were without power Tuesday morning, including all of the western provinces of Pinar del Rio and Artemisa. There were no reports of deaths. A resident uses plastic as protection from the rain in Batabano, Cuba. Photo / Ramon Espinosa, AP Ian's forward movement was expected to slow over the Gulf, enabling the hurricane to grow wider and stronger before it brings punishing wind and water to Florida's west coast. Forecasters said the surge of ocean water could reach 3m if it peaks at high tide. Rainfall could total 410mm with as much as 610mm in isolated areas. Coastal communities could be inundated. In Key West, the airport closed Tuesday as gusty rains from the storm added to a king tide to swamp the streets, prompting animal rescuers to delay venturing out until after Ian passes. In Orlando, Disney World closed four hotels as a precaution while holding off on any decision to shut down its theme parks. Busch Gardens in Tampa closed at least through Thursday. In Florida's northeastern corner, the US Navy said it planned to move ships and aircraft from its base outside Jacksonville. As Hurricane Ian approaches Florida, shopping carts are left abandoned next to empty shelves that stock bottled water at a supermarket. Photo / John Raoux, AP Playing it safe, Nasa was rolling its moon rocket from the launch pad to its Kennedy Space Center hangar, adding weeks of delay to the test flight. The airports in Tampa and St. Petersburg announced they'll close Tuesday afternoon. President Joe Biden also declared an emergency, authorising the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief and provide assistance to protect lives and property. FEMA has strategically positioned generators, millions of meals and millions of litres of water, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. News crews, tourists and residents take images as high waves from Hurricane Ian crash into the seawall at the Southernmost Point buoy. Photo / Rob O'Neal, The Key West Citizen via AP Damaging winds and flooding are expected across the entire peninsula as Ian moves north, reaching into Georgia, South Carolina and other parts of the southeastern US between Friday and Sunday, the hurricane centre said.  — Cristina Mesquita & Curt Anderson, APSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode features Dr. Victor Herrera, Chief Medical Officer at AdventHealth Orlando, and Dr. Neil Finkler, Chief Clinical Officer at AdventHealth Central Florida Division. Here, they discuss the article they've written together, “Five Lessons Learned During the COVID-19 Delta Surge” that focuses on forecasting, data, workforce constraints, the need for clinical leaders to engage with the community, healthcare disparities, and more.

In this episode meet Heather Servais M.S., CRC., PMP., CPM., PVE. Heather directs the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) NCRTM contract at New Editions Consulting, Inc. She joined New Editions in the fall of 2021. Prior to joining New Editions, she worked for the Florida Division of Vocational Rehabilitation where she served in multiple roles including Vocational Rehabilitation Consultant, Supervisor of the Field and Provider Relations Unit, and Assistant Bureau Chief of Field Services. As the Assistant Bureau Chief of Field Services, she led agency Employment Programs; Ticket to Work; Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Deafblind Services; Business Relations; and Learning and Development. She has also worked with a community rehabilitation provider as an Employment Specialist and as the Manager of Employment Services overseeing Employment Services, Vocational Evaluation, and contracts. Heather's expertise includes program development and implementation, project management, leadership development, and stakeholder engagement. Heather earned her Master's in Rehabilitation Counseling from West Virginia University. She is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC), Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Public Manager (CPM), and Professional Vocational Evaluator (PVE). NCRTM website: https://ncrtm.ed.gov/Default.aspx

It's an all new fully packed That Real Blind Tech Show lair, as Brian and Ed welcome in Virginia Jacko, CEO of the Miami Lighthouse and Jorge Hernandez, IT Manager for the Miami Lighthouse.   We kick things off catching up with Virginia since we last spoke with her mid-pandemic, and find out how things have been going at the Miami Lighthouse.   We then learn what Jorge does as the IT Manager on a day to day basis.   Next we  dive in to the headache of web overlays and where we are in fighting the battle against them.   The conversation then moves too distant learning, and the importance of teachers understanding basic accessibility and accessible instruction.     Here is the web accessibility Overlay fact sheet we discuss during the interview.   The Miami Lighthouse was heavily involved in reviewing the Presidential candidates websites during the 2020 election. We find out if politicians are following the Lighthouses's advice on the importance of making their website accessible as we approach the Mid-term elections.   Virginia then walks us through one outstanding example of a case where The Florida Division of Blind Services really excelled.   We then discuss the differences between working with younger and older visually impaired and blind individuals.   We discuss policy of government agencies, and the Lighthouse, and how important tackling the mental health side of blindness needs to be.   Virginia then explains to us some of the non-technical services that the Miami Lighthouse offers.   We find out how and who is eligible for services from the Miami Lighthouse.   There are several ways to keep up with the Miami Lighthouse. If you are eligible for services through them, you may want to check out their online shop. To check out all of the amazing services the Miami Lighthouse offers, please visit their website. To contact That Real Blind Tech Show, you can email us at ThatRealBlindTechShow@gmail.com, join our Facebook Group That Real Blind Tech Show, join us on the Twitter @BlindTechShow , or leave us an old school phone message at 929-367-1005.

This episode features Dr. Ademola Adewale, Emergency Medicine Physician at AdventHealth East Orlando, and President Elect of the Medical Staff at AdventHealth Hospital Central Florida Division. Here, he discusses identifying signs of burnout, his own experience with burnout, his focus on making providers whole, and more.

Emaniel Brifil found his way into The Salvation Army at a young age and has never looked back. In this interview with the Fight for Good team, Emaniel shares how he was introduced to the Army, found solace in the local corps, and discovered direction for his life. Today he spreads the love of God by leading the Florida Division's Young Adult Ministry. ... To read Emaniel's interview in The War Cry, visit: https://bit.ly/emanielbrifil

This episode features Dr. Victor Herrera, Chief Medical Officer at AdventHealth Orlando, and Dr. Neil Finkler, Chief Clinical Officer at AdventHealth Central Florida Division. Here, they discuss the article they've written together, “Five Lessons Learned During the COVID-19 Delta Surge” that focuses on forecasting, data, workforce constraints, the need for clinical leaders to engage with the community, healthcare disparities, and more.

Director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, Kevin Guthrie, has more than 30 years of experience in public safety and emergency management. In this episode, Kevin covers emergency management preparedness for local governments in tangible, practical and actionable terms.

 Mr. Craig Fugate is the former Director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, and former administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA - an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security, whose primary purpose is to coordinate the response to disasters that have occurred in the United States and that overwhelm the resources of local and state authorities.) Mr. Fugate is currently the Chief Emergency Management Officer of One Concern, (a Resilience-as-a-Service solutions company that brings disaster science together with machine learning for better decision making). Mr. Fugate is also senior advisor at BlueDot Strategies, where he assists a range of clients with emergency management implementation strategies and crisis communications. Mr. Fugate serves on the Board of Directors of PG&E Corp., one of the largest electric and natural gas utilities in the U.S., and on the staff at Indian River State College, serving as a strategic consultant in emergency management. Mr. Fugate has decades of experience at the local, state, and federal levels in disaster preparedness and management. He has also overseen preparation and response efforts for disasters such as wildfires and hurricanes, health crises, and national security threats. As Florida Director for the Emergency Management Division, Mr. Fugate oversaw the "Big 4 of '2004" (Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne) and as the Administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, he organized recovery efforts for a record of eighty-seven disasters in 2011. 

This conversation is with plant-based cardiologist Dr. Monica Aggarwal. She is an associate professor of medicine in the University of Florida Division of Cardiovascular Medicine and serves as the Director of Integrative Cardiology and Prevention. Dr. Aggarwal specializes in preventative management of heart disease with lifestyle techniques in conjunction with medications where she emphasises plant-based nutrition and utilizes other mind-body techniques like yoga and meditation. Her mission is to educate people on why the modern diet is a problem and how it creates chronic illness. She would like to give people practical tools on how to implement a new and improved diet and lifestyle! We cover: How she healed her rheumatoid arthritis Genetics vs environment Inflammation is the root of all disease The best diet for heart disease Why you should eliminate red meat How to improve heart failure  The importance of hope Breath practices she teaches her patients Advice for women in medicine Lessons from a triathlon Connect with Dr. Aggarwal:  Instagram: @drmonicaaggarwal | Facebook: @monicaaggarwalmd | Twitter: @drmaggarwal  Her personal website: https://www.drmonicaaggarwal.com Resources mentioned during this episode: Book: Body on FireJACC. 2019: My voiceShow sponsor: Warlockgolf.com use code PLANT15 at checkout for 15% off your order! Theme music by Tyler Gaudon and a special thank you to Wyatt Pavlik for the audio editing and processing! Connect with me on Instagram: @plant_fueled That's all for now! Be sure to subscribe and if you are enjoying the show, I would really appreciate it if you could leave a review on Apple Podcasts.  *Please appreciate that this information is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, always seek the opinion of a physician or qualified healthcare provider!*

Dr. Duane Davis, Chief Physician Executive for the Institutes of AdventHealth Central Florida Division, joined the podcast to discuss how COVID-19 will affect heart care in the future.

This episode features Dr. Neil Finkler, Chief Clinical Officer for the Central Florida Division of AdventHealth. Here, he discusses what he believes the real role of Chief Clinical Officer, the long-term impact of the pandemic, and more.

Rattlecast 104 features Roy Bentley and his new book, Hillbilly Guilt. Roy Glenn Bentley is an Appalachian-American poet and university creative writing professor. The lives of the poor in America are the primary focus of his work. He has been published in poetry journals as well as in four books of poetry and ten chapbooks. He currently resides in Pataskala, Ohio, in the USA. Roy Bentley's poems have appeared in Blackbird, Shenandoah, Rattle, The Southern Review, and Prairie Schooner--as well as many other notable journals and magazines. He is the recipient of a Creative Writing Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and fellowships from the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs and the Ohio Arts Council. Hillbilly Guilt is the winner of the Willow Run Poetry Book Award. Find the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Hillbilly-Guilt-Roy-Bentley/dp/0999491563/ As always, we'll also include live open lines for responses to our weekly prompt or any other poems you'd like to share. For details on how to participate, either via Skype or by phone, go to: https://www.rattle.com/rattlecast/ This Week's Prompt: A nonce form is one you make up yourself. Make up your own nonce form and write a poem using it. Be sure to include a short explanation of the rules. Next Week's Prompt: At the library. The Rattlecast livestreams on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, then becomes an audio podcast. Find it on iTunes, Spotify, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.

Ryan Gorman hosts an iHeartRadio nationwide special featuring Omar Neal, former Mayor of Tuskegee and nephew of Freddie Lee Tyson, a participant in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, and Michelle Hillman, Chief Campaign Development Officer for the Ad Council. They discuss the Ad Council's new Tuskegee Legacy Stories campaign. Also, the former director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, Jared Moskowitz, joins the show to discuss crisis preparedness and how the different levers of government work when disaster strikes. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ryan Gorman hosts an iHeartRadio nationwide special featuring Omar Neal, former Mayor of Tuskegee and nephew of Freddie Lee Tyson, a participant in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, and Michelle Hillman, Chief Campaign Development Officer for the Ad Council. They discuss the Ad Council's new Tuskegee Legacy Stories campaign. Also, the former director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, Jared Moskowitz, joins the show to discuss crisis preparedness and how the different levers of government work when disaster strikes.

Ryan Gorman hosts an iHeartRadio nationwide special featuring Omar Neal, former Mayor of Tuskegee and nephew of Freddie Lee Tyson, a participant in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, and Michelle Hillman, Chief Campaign Development Officer for the Ad Council. They discuss the Ad Council's new Tuskegee Legacy Stories campaign. Also, the former director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, Jared Moskowitz, joins the show to discuss crisis preparedness and how the different levers of government work when disaster strikes.

Director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, Kevin Guthrie, has more than 30 years of experience in public safety and emergency management. In this episode, Kevin covers emergency management preparedness for local governments in tangible, practical, and actionable terms.

For the last two years, Jared Moskowitz has led the Florida Division of Emergency Management through intense hurricane seasons and the COVID-19 pandemic. As he transitions out of his role as Director, he joins Sean Pittman to share lessons learned and what's ahead. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-sean-pittman-podcast/support

Author Patricia Engel joins Jacke to talk about her childhood in New Jersey, her artistic family, her lifelong love of stories and writing, her new novel Infinite Country, and "The Incredible and Sad Tale of Innocent Eréndira and Her Heartless Grandmother" by Gabriel García Márquez, a story she first read as a 14-year-old and which she returns to often. PATRICIA ENGEL is the author of Infinite Country, a Reese’s Book Club pick, Esquire Book Club pick, Indie Next pick, Amazon Best Book of the Month, and more. Her other books include The Veins of the Ocean, which won the Dayton Literary Peace Prize and was named a New York Times Editors’ Choice and a San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year; It’s Not Love, It’s Just Paris, which won the International Latino Book Award, and of Vida, a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Fiction Award and the Young Lions Fiction Award; winner of a Florida Book Award, International Latino Book Award and Independent Publisher Book Award, longlisted for the Story Prize and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and named a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection and a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. For Vida, Patricia was the first woman to be awarded Colombia’s national prize in literature, the 2017 Premio Biblioteca de Narrativa Colombiana. She has been awarded fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Hedgebrook, and Key West Literary Seminar among others, and is the recipient of an O. Henry Award. Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/shop. (We appreciate it!) Find out more at historyofliterature.com, jackewilson.com, or by following Jacke and Mike on Twitter at @thejackewilson and @literatureSC. Or send an email to jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com. New!!! Looking for an easy to way to buy Jacke a coffee? Now you can at paypal.me/jackewilson. Your generosity is much appreciated! The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Misti recently announced that she is the President and Publisher for the Florida Division of ImagineWe Publishers! Not only will she publish her books through IW but I will also help authors to publish and share their stories too. Jessica Cassick is the CEO of ImagineWe Publishing, and the special guest on this episode! For more episode information and notes, visit http://www.bludreamhealth.com --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

More plant-based resources at https://www.healthyhumanrevolution.com/ HEALTHY HUMAN REVOLUTION PODCAST - EPISODE 211 Monica Aggarwal, MD, is an associate professor of medicine in the University of Florida Division of Cardiovascular Medicine. Serving as the Director of Integrative Cardiology and Prevention at the University of Florida, Dr. Aggarwal focuses on promoting food as the foundation of healing and for its medicinal value. She is also the Director of Medical Education for Cardiology, where she directs education for medical residents and cardiology fellows, with a focus on prevention, nutrition, and lifestyle. In the hospital, she has multiple initiatives including developing a 100% plant-based menu for cardiac and vascular patients. Dr. Aggarwal has an amazing plant-based journey that ultimately led her to write Body on Fire (Link Below) where she discusses inflammation of the body, chronic illness, and the solutions to these issues. We hope you enjoyed listening! Body on Fire: https://www.amazon.com/Body-Fire-Inflammation-Triggers-Chronic/dp/1570673926 FIND DR. MONICA AGGARWAL

This episode features Jennifer Wandersleben, President & CEO of Acute Care Services for AdventHealth s Central Florida Division. Here, she discusses the big trends she s seeing in behavioral health, her big priorities heading into 2021, and more.

Gov. Ron DeSantis faces accusations of spinning and misrepresenting the truth during the COVID-19 crisis. That’s the gist of a new report in the Fort Lauderdale News and Sun-Sentinel, which concludes the Governor deceived Floridians about the real danger for political reasons … like talking about vaccines that are not available to divert your attention from the 19,000 fatalities and 1 million infections in the state. Also, on today’s Sunrise: — The Florida Division of Emergency Management will be working to distribute those vaccines — when they become available. Jared Moskowitz, who runs the agency, will discuss the pending vaccine. — A COVID-19 vaccine would be pretty handy right now because the casualty count is surging in Florida. The Department of Health reported 100 more fatalities Thursday and 10,870 newly confirmed cases. We haven’t seen those sorts of numbers since the peak days of July. — A federal appeals court hears the case of a woman who is suing to undo the once-secret plea deal that kept child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein out of federal prison. The Department of Justice says the lawsuit should be thrown out … but they apologized to Cheryl Wilde for the way prosecutors in Miami cut the deal without informing victims. — The court hearing was conducted by Zoom, which included a four-minute gap when one of the judges disappeared from the screen. She was (of course) from Florida. — And finally, a Florida Woman tried to get revenge on a romantic rival by posting her name, picture, address and phone number on a dating site — saying come on by for sex and meth — and a Florida man who finally knows he is NOT the son of William Shatner. It took him 36 years to find out.

This episode features Jennifer Wandersleben, President & CEO of Acute Care Services for AdventHealth’s Central Florida Division. Here, she discusses the big trends she’s seeing in behavioral health, her big priorities heading into 2021, and more.

Today’s topic is for small to mid size business owners on how you can get the most out of the relationship with your CPA. Andrew Gay, a CPA from Grimsely and Company, is our guest this week to walk you through what questions you should be asking your CPA, understanding cash flow projections, and how to tell whether your business has managed well through the COVID-19 pandemic.MORE ABOUT OUR GUEST:Andrew Gay, CPA, Grimsley & Company, CPA's, P.A. • www.grimsleycpa.comAndrew is responsible for the firm’s domestic and international individual and entity tax practices. Andrew specializes in helping clients with tax compliance and consulting issues. He has worked closely with a variety of business entity types and has assisted business owners with related tax matters. In addition to tax and business consulting, Andrew has extensive experience in campaign finance compliance reporting with the State of Florida Division of Elections. Andrew prides himself with helping change his clients financial picture for the better. Andrew is a Certified Public Accountant , has his Master’s in Business Administration and his bachelor’s degree from Florida State University. Current civic obligations include serving on the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants Council, Treasurer and Board Member of the Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce, Robert F. Munroe Board of Directors, and Leon County Housing Finance Authority Board of Directors. Andrew is married with two daughters and resides in Tallahassee, FL. Outside of the office, Andrew enjoys spending time with his family, hunting and the outdoors, traveling, and FSU Football.

Ira Pastor, ideaXme life sciences ambassador interviews Craig Fugate Chief Emergency Management Officer of One Concern and former administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The international context of this interview: In choosing our leaders it is becoming increasingly important to select people who can both anticipate and address and where possible avoid large scale disasters. Here, Craig Fugate discusses evaluating past disasters, planning for future events and reacting to the "unexpected" - "think big and move fast". Ira Pastor comments: The U.S. has sustained 279 weather and climate disasters since 1980 where overall damages/costs reached or exceeded $1 billion (including CPI adjustment to 2020). The total cost of these 279 events exceeds $1.825 trillion. Craig Fugate is the Chief Emergency Management Officer of One Concern, a "Resilience-as-a-Service" solutions company that brings disaster science together with machine learning for better disaster recovery decision making. Craig is the former Director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, and former administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security, whose primary purpose is to coordinate the response to disasters that has occurred in the United States and that overwhelms the resources of local and state authorities. Mr. Fugate has decades of experience at the local, state, and federal levels in disaster preparedness and management. He has also overseen preparation and response efforts for disasters such as wildfires and hurricanes, health crises, and national security threats. As Florida Director for the Emergency Management Division, he oversaw the "Big 4 of '2004" (Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne) and as the Administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, he organized recovery efforts for a record of eighty-seven disasters in 2011. On this ideaXme episode we will hear from Mr. Fugate about: -His background and how he went from a firefighter and emergency paramedic to the country's top emergency manager - An overview of FEMA - An overview of One Concern and novel Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning technologies for disaster recovery - His current work (and learnings from his H1N1 recovery experience) related to Covid-19 / pandemic recovery operations - An overview of his "thunderbolt exercises", where as FEMA administrator, he would declare a fake disasters to test U.S. emergency operations center preparedness -His "Waffle House Index" and "Starbucks Index" as informal metrics to determine the effect of a storm, or an earthquake, and the likely scale of assistance required for disaster recovery Credits: Ira Pastor, ideaXme ambassador interview. Visit ideaXme www.radioideaxme.com Follow ideaXme on Twitter:@ideaxm On Instagram:@ideaxme To discuss collaboration and/or partnerships please contact the founder of ideaXme: andrea@ideaxme.com Find ideaXme across the internet including on iTunes, SoundCloud, YouTube, Radio Public,TuneIn Radio,I Heart Radio, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts and more. ideaXme is a global podcast, creator series and mentor programme. Our mission: Move the human story forward!™ ideaXme Ltd.

Inclusion of individuals with disabilities in the workforce is essential paramount to ensure a diverse approach to conducting business and maintaining equality. In central Florida EmployU is a non-profit employment service empowering customer with the knowledge, connections, and confidence required to embark on a new sustainable career. They are partnered with The Florida Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, and the American Dream Employment Network. There company is structured as a one-stop-shop offering adult employment services, youth programs, employability trainings, paid work experience, and a variety of assessments. Our services enhance a customer's ability to successfully achieve independence by establishing a lifelong career. Keith Bourkney is the Executive Director at EmployU and he joined me this week to discuss the efforts of EmployU as they work to facilitate employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities in Central Florida. To learn more about EmployU visit https://employu.org/

This week, the Dan K Show watched a LOT of hockey. In that weekend, the Tampa Bay Juniors, led by head coach Garrett Strot, came out as one of the most dominant teams. This week, we talked to Coach Strot about that opening weekend, the Tampa Bay Juniors team philosophy, and what it's like coaching and recruiting in the Florida Division. For more information on the Tampa Bay Juniors, go to tampajr.com and don't forget to follow the Dan k show @The_DanKShow on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/dks-hockey/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/dks-hockey/support

This week on Tuesday Topics I am deeply honored to have as my guest, Carl McCoy. On May 16th Carl turned 93. I have known him since 1977 and he was the person, for better or for worse, who introduced me to both the Florida Council of the Blind and the American Council of the Blind. He has been a member of FCB longer than anyone else; served his time on the Board of the American Council of the Blind; has been Executive Director of the Florida Division of Blind Services but, more than all of there things, he has been a wise and compassionate friend.

This week the podcast welcomes Dr. Amanda Clark, Elections Specialist for the Supervisor of Elections in Palm Beach County, Florida. The conversation centers on the duties of county elections boards and how they are handling the voting process during a pandemic, including the increased demand for mail in voting. Links: VoteOhio - https://www.ohiosos.gov/elections/voters/ Northeast Ohio Voter Advocates - https://nova-ohio.org/ Cuyahoga County Board of Elections - https://boe.cuyahogacounty.gov/ Geauga County Board of Elections - https://boelections.geauga.oh.gov/ Lake County Board of Elections - https://www.lakecountyohio.gov/lakeelections Portage County Board of Elections - https://www.portagecounty-oh.gov/board-elections Summit County Board of Elections - https://www.summitcountyboe.gov/ Florida Division of Elections - https://dos.myflorida.com/elections/ Palm Beach Supervisor of Elections - https://www.pbcelections.org/ Vote.org - https://www.vote.org/

On today’s episode, we discuss Disney World park hours decreasing, Epcot's main entrance fountain is starting to shape up nicely and our review of staying at The Boardwalk last weekend. LinksDisney World Theme Park Hours will be Decreased Beginning September 8thThis change comes after the 3rd quarter earnings report last week, showing that the demand for Disney vacations in not as high as previously thoughtMagic Kingdom - 9am-6pmEPCOT - 11am-7pmHollywood Studios - 10am-7pmAnimal Kingdom - 9am-5pmEPCOT After 4 Passes can enter park at 2pm due to these shortened hoursEPCOTs main entrance pylons installedZach Ridley from Walt Disney Imagineering said, “I’m excited to share a first look at the pylons we installed last night as we continue to reimagine the EPCOT main entrance fountain, which has anchored this area since the park opened in 1982. Our design team took special interest in looking back to the original geometry for inspiration and infusing new features with a little bit of added magic to bridge the past, present and future of EPCOT . These majestic pylons also draw your eye upward toward the sky and perfectly frame views of the iconic Spaceship Earth attraction. I can’t wait to reveal the completed look for this fountain later this year!"Halloween Merchandise is starting to be released on shopDisney and the parks. https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2020/08/spooktacular-new-disney-parks-halloween-themed-merchandise-coming-to-disney-parks-and-shopdisney/Equity actors are coming back to work at Disney WorldKate Shindle, President of the Actor’s Equity Association, said, “We have been consistent that testing is an important part of ensuring a safe workplace for Equity performers, and today, I’m pleased to see that Disney World has agreed. With the news that Disney will make testing available for Equity performers and others in the park, I’m happy to announce that Equity’s executive committee has signed a memorandum of understanding with Disney for Equity performers to return.”Disney had announced earlier that they are setting a Covid testing site for free at the Maingate OfficeDisney made an official statement“We have offered the location to help with community testing. The Florida Division of Emergency Management will operate the location which is available to Cast Members and their immediate families as well as Florida residents. Any suggestion that this has been done as a result of any one union is unfounded. Our actions support all cast and our community at large.”Subscribe To The Show & Leave Us A ReviewApple Podcasts - Click HereStitcher - Click HereSpotify - Click HereGoogle Play - Click HereFollow Us on Social MediaCTM Facebook Group: @capthemagicTwitter: @thedisdudesInstagram: @capthemagicVisit Us OnlineSubscribe to our YouTube Channel!Capturethemagicpodcast.com – find the latest episodes!Capture The Magic Apparel – you can find a great Disney-inspired t-shirt collection!Join Club 32! Our private group with access to exclusive livestreams, podcasts, and MORE! Visit ctmvip.comTrip Tales Guests! - visit ctmtriptales.com!Our SponsorsZip A Dee Doo Dah Travel - visit travelwithzip.com to see how they can help you have the vacation of a lifetime!Expedition Roasters - visit expeditionroasters.com and use the promo code "CTM15" to save 15% off any order!Kingdom Strollers - visit kingdomstrollers.com to save up to 50% off theme park stroller rental prices

In this episode of The SavvyCast, we talk about the electoral college, how (and why) it started, how it works, and how some states are trying to turn their electoral votes into popular votes.   Jordan Jones joins The SavvyCast to discuss the electoral college, how it works, how it would be changed (if it ever does), and more.   Who is Jordan Jones?   Jordan Jones received his law degree from Florida State University in 2010 and is currently practicing law in the state of Florida. Jordan has worked for the Florida Supreme Court and the Florida Division of Elections, where his primary work was with voter fraud. He currently works in the Florida House of Representatives as a legal analyst for criminal, civil, and judicial bills. He also works alongside legislators as House Special Master.         What is the electoral college?   We start our conversation by getting an "electoral college 101" lesson from Jordan. He shares how the electoral college began, why it was started, and how it works. This is excellent material for young and old alike. Points addressed in this podcast. Why the electoral college is good despite many claims that it is “outdated” How our Founding Fathers framed elections and voting vs. What we do now How the electoral college has evolved over time What a “winner-takes-all” state is Faithless Electors How the map on election night is unofficial When we vote for the president, we are essentially making these votes for the electoral college How different states utilize their electoral college How some states are trying to use their electoral college to let the majority votes win Resources related to this podcast: You can follow Jordan on Twitter @fifthletterllc  You may contact him at william.jordan.jones@gmail.com.

Frandley Defilie teaches us about emergency preparedness in higher education and how it impacts student success. He shares great insights and advice for anyone working in higher education including faculty, student affairs personnel, and administrators. Resources from the Interview 1. FEMA Higher Education Program = https://training.fema.gov/hiedu/ 2. FEMA Campus Emergency Management Resources = https://training.fema.gov/hiedu/cemr.aspx 3. Florida Health Emergency Preparedness and Response = http://www.floridahealth.gov/PROGRAMS-AND-SERVICES/emergency-preparedness-and-response/index.html 4. Florida Division of Emergency Management = https://www.floridadisaster.org/dem/ 5. Clery Act Policy = https://clerycenter.org/policy-resources/ 6. Stafford Act = https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/1582133514823-be4368438bd042e3b60f5cec6b377d17/Stafford_June_2019_508.pdf Emergency Preparedness and Higher Education Print Resources 1. Campus Emergency Preparedness: Meeting ICS and NIMS Compliance = https://amzn.to/3e30sra 2. Action Guide for Emergency Management at Institutions of Higher Education = https://amzn.to/38ABRcf 3. Campus Crisis Management: A Comprehensive Guide to Planning, Prevention, Response, and Recovery = https://amzn.to/3f08OkI Crisis Leadership Print Resources 1. Crisis Leadership in Higher Education: Theory and Practice = https://amzn.to/2YZTRJL 2. Crisis Leadership: How to Lead in Times of Crisis, Threat, and Uncertainty = https://amzn.to/3e35Xq3 3. Leadership: In Turbulent Times = https://amzn.to/2Z28c8w 4. Crisis Leadership Now: A Real-World Guide to Preparing for Threats, Disaster, Sabotage, and Scandal = https://amzn.to/3e0tTdD 5. You're It: Crisis, Change, and How to Lead When It Matters Most = https://amzn.to/3ixi7uQ 6. Forged in Crisis: The Making of Five Courageous Leaders = https://amzn.to/2Z1se3h Release Date: July 20, 2020

Monica Aggarwal, MD, is an associate professor of medicine in the University of Florida Division of Cardiovascular Medicine. Serving as the Director of Integrative Cardiology and Prevention at the University of Florida, Dr. Aggarwal focuses on promoting food as the foundation of healing and for its medicinal value. She is also the Director of Medical Education for Cardiology, where she directs education for medical residents and cardiology fellows, with a focus on prevention, nutrition and lifestyle. In the hospital, she has multiple initiatives including developing a 100% plant based menu for cardiac and vascular patients.Dr. Aggarwal gives talks around the community and the country. She was named a “Next Generation Innovator” by Cardiology Today. She is often featured in Veg News, Naked Magazine and has been featured in forksoverknives.com. She conducts research on nutrition education in medical institutions and on how a plant based diet impacts cardiovascular disease.Board certified in cardiology, echocardiography and nuclear cardiology, she is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology (ACC), where she is a member of the nutrition council working on nutrition policies for the nation. Monica specializes in preventative management of heart disease with lifestyle techniques in conjunction with medications. She is the author of the book “Finding Balance: Empower Yourself with Tools to Combat Stress and Illness,” which outlines 10 prescriptions to help guide people to better health.

This episode features Daryl Tol, President and CEO of the Central Florida Division of AdventHealth. Here, he discusses the impact the pandemic has had on the central area of Florida, his top priorities going forward, and more. This podcast is brought to you by Becker's Healthcare in conjunction with Intuitive. Intuitive is a global technology leader in minimally invasive care and a pioneer of robotic-assisted surgery.

Peter Schorsch hunkers down with Jared Moskowitz, Florida Division of Emergency Management director, for the first time after trying for weeks to get him on the show. Moskowitz has been busy dealing with what has become perhaps the most severe state emergency in Florida’s history. Moskowitz formerly served in the Florida House of Representatives. He discusses the ongoing statewide stay-at-home order and when the state might reopen for business. Moskowitz discusses the state’s response to the virus and how it managed to be third in the nation for the number of tests administered. That work, he said, is why Florida managed to shirk estimates that it could reach virus levels rivaling hotspots on Italy and New York City. He also laments the pandemic, even if the state fared better than it could, for claiming the lives of hundreds of Floridians and disrupting the lives of most families. Moskowitz also discusses his hectic daily routine as he leads the state’s massive response to the virus. He’s been pulling 18-19 hour days and working into the wee hours of the morning on plans, preparations and conducting phone calls with other state officials. Moskowitz also discusses the great toilet paper conundrum. He also discusses the state’s challenges obtaining PPE and adequate testing supplies and looks back at passed policy that, in hindsight, could have been handled differently to prepare for a pandemic. But he cautions against Monday morning quarterbacking the pandemic. Moskowitz also promotes American manufacturing, particularly for medical supplies, which he’s currently having to acquire from foreign countries. Tune in for this can’t miss episode packed with insider insights to the state’s coronavirus response. Special Guest: Jared Moskowitz.

As we all cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, Montel is going to be talking to a number of leaders who are on the front lines. In today’s episode, Montel sits down with Jared Moskowitz, the Director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management about all things coronavirus and Florida. Director Moskowitz gives Montel an update on where Florida stands in terms of cases and an update on what the latest models are telling State officials. Director Moskowitz also tells Montel about the harrowing experience his team has had trying to find personal protective equipment (PPE) all over the world and what we can do to make sure we are manufacturing enough PPE right here in the United States so that we never find ourselves in this situation again. Support the show (https://www.youtube.com/letsbebluntwithmontel )

The Green Gables at Historic Riverview Village organization has set an April 2020 goal for raising $285,000, to be able to apply for a $500,000 matching grant from the State of Florida Division of Historical Resources. We'll talk with Marion Ambrose, the president of the nonprofit organization working diligently with other community leaders to manifest this reality. Green Gables is a 123-year-old Queen Anne home, situated on the Indian River under a majestic canopy that has its own eco-system. You can learn what Forgotten Enchantress is all about and how you can help make a difference in this piece of Americana. Learn more!  GreenGables.org and facebook.com/ForgottenEnchantressFilm/videos/1021153938242180 Forgotten Enchantress is a  professional documentary about the enchanting, true story of Green  Gables. It premieres at 6:00 PM on January 11, 2020 at the Oaks 10 theater in Melbourne, Florida, with a  champagne and hors d'oeuvres after party.  The film will be entered in film festivals around the globe and is expected to win awards.  Tickets:brownpapertickets.com  

After finishing our 3rd episode of this new show, we wanted to pause for a moment and sit down with Colonel Jewett to learn a bit more about him and his heart for this new ministry. Major Cameron Henderson of The Salvation Army's Florida Division joined Vern as they discussed his passion for preaching and what lead to this new podcast. To subscribe to the show, download the study guides and learn more, visit https://salvationarmysoundcast.org/holiness/  

Joshua Kellam began his service to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in February 2018. He is the President of the Florida Division of ESG Enterprises and is also a member of the Water Resource Advisory Coalition of the South Florida Water Management District. Joshua has a broad background in the areas of agriculture, governmental affairs, and management.

Joshua Kellam began his service to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in February 2018. He is the President of the Florida Division of ESG Enterprises and is also a member of the Water Resource Advisory Coalition of the South Florida Water Management District. Joshua has a broad background in the areas of agriculture, governmental affairs, and management.

The Colonials christen their home schedule with a Florida Division test against the Jr Blades. From Carolina Ice Palace in North Charleston, SC

The Colonials christen their home schedule with a Florida Division test against the Jr Blades. From Carolina Ice Palace in North Charleston, SC

This Week in Amateur Radio Edition #1070 Release Date: August 31, 2019 Here is a summary of the news trending this week. This weeks edition is anchored by Chris Perrine, KB2FAF,Will Rogers, K5WLR, Don Hulick, K2ATJ, and George W2XBS, and Jessica Bowen, KC2VWX. Produced and edited by George Bowen, W2XBS. Running Time: 1:18:03 Download here: http://bit.ly/TWIAR1070 Trending headlines in this weeks bulletin service: 1. Amateur Radio Resources Ready as Dorian Poised to Become a Major Hurricane 2. UN Headquarters 4U1UN Making Slow but Steady Progress in Returning to Air 3. Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) Station Registration Now Available 4. FCC Resolves LED Products Marketing Violations Investigation with Consent Decree 5. ARRL HF Band Planning Committee Reactivated to Address Spectrum Issues 6. YOTA 2019 Summer Camp in Bulgaria Spawns Sub-regional Camps 7. FCC petitioned to open up 45 to 50 MHz for DRM+ Broadcasting in the USA 8. 160 Years Since The Carrington Event 9. 144 to 146 MHz Removed from French Proposal for Additional Aeronautical Applications 10. Florida Division of Emergency Management Seeking Qualified Amateur Radio Volunteers 11. The Department of Defense message prompts listeners to take WWV/WWVH Surveys 12. Upcoming special event stations Plus these Special Features This Week: * Technology News and Commentary with Leo Laporte, W6TWT * Working Amateur Radio Satellites with Bruce Paige, KK5DO * Foundations of Amateur Radio with Onno Benschop VK6FLAB * Weekly Propagation Forecast from the ARRL * Amateur Radio History Headlines with Bill Continelli, W2XOY 8 * Classic RAIN: The 220 Megahertz Grab of the past * Tower Climbing and Antenna Safety with Greg Stoddard, KF9MP ----- Website: http://www.twiar.net Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/twiari/ Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/twiar RSS News: http://twiar.net/twiar.rss TuneIn: http://bit.ly/TuneIn-TWIAR Automated: http://twiar.net/TWIARHAM.mp3 (Static file, changed weekly) ----- Visit our website at www.twiar.net for program audio, and daily for the latest amateur radio and technology news. Air This Week in Amateur Radio on your repeater! Built-in ID breaks every 10 minutes. This Week in Amateur Radio is heard on the air on nets and repeaters as a bulletin service all across North America, and all around the world. on amateur radio repeater systems, the low bands, and more. This Week in Amateur Radio is portable too! You can find us among talk radios best on TuneIn.com, or via iTunes and Google Play. We are hosted by various podcast aggregates like Spotify and Stitcher too. Visit our site for details. You can also stream the program to your favorite digital device by visiting our web site www.twiar.net. This Week in Amateur Radio is produced by Community Video Associates in upstate New York, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. If you would like to volunteer with us as a news anchor or special segment producer please get in touch with us via our Facebook group. Search for us under This Week in Amateur Radio.

Ryan, Morgan, and Felix talk to the Director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management Jared Moskowitz​ about hurricane preparedness in advance of Dorian's potential arrival.

The Key West Greyhound Track was once billed as the Tiniest Track in America, this oval was located amid auto graveyards and cheap trailer parks in the poorest section of America’s most southeastern town. [this was actually on Stock Island] It was the literally the last stop on the road for young pups or aging greyhounds and the gullible tourists who bet them. About 100 people showed up to wager each night, maybe 200 on dime-a-beer Fridays. There were ample opportunities to cheat, and stories abound of switching the numbers on the dogs or sandpapering their paws. A guy we’ll call Tony, who worked at a kennel there, remembered it as “wide open, with excessive drinking, drugs and loose women, all with no police presence whatsoever.” So it came as no surprise who could be found there: Hunter Thompson. In 1992, the health department shut the track down due to a mysterious creek that had sprung up in the parking lot. It smelled suspiciously like dog pee. All vestiges of the place have since vanished, buried under the gentrification of the Conch Republic. Between Oct. 31, 1990 and Feb. 21, 1991, four trainers abandoned their kennels; many of the 171 abandoned dogs were grossly underweight at the time of discovery. In mid-February, a state inspector discovered that 51 greyhounds had been removed from the premises in violation of a racing judge’s order. The bodies of 15 of those dogs were dumped in the Cudjoe Key landfill before the state could determine how they were killed.  Owner Louis Stanley Berenson, also known as Buddy, was ordered to close the Key West (Fla.) Dog Track in March 1991 when a sewage system backed up and created a public health danger. According to Joy Mayne, a trainer who had dogs there, the sewer overflowed into the parking lot and created a puddle of liquefied feces 13 feet in length and 3 feet in width. In an emergency hearing before Van Jones, the director of the Florida Division of Parimutuel Wagering, others testifed that the greyhounds boarded there were emaciated, dehydrated and suffering from flea and tick infestation. Berenson agreed not to operate in Florida again. The long-closed Key West racetrack was demolished to make way for Meridian West Apartments, a nine-building, 102-unit gated community for low-income residents. Meridian West was completed in 2005. And it was today,  January, 31 1953: The new dog track on Stock Island, which was built in six weeks, drew an opening-night crowd estimated at 4,000. That's what happened Today in Key West History. You can find us at http://43Keys.com.  

Young Singers of the Palm Beaches is Palm Beach County's award winning community-based children's choir. We are an inclusive, multi-cultural arts education organization based centrally in West Palm Beach at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts. Our enrollment is comprised of singers in grades 2-12 from all parts of Palm Beach County's diverse racial, ethnic, geographic, and socio-economic communities. Beth Clark, Young Singers of the Palm Beaches CEO Mrs. Clark moved to South Florida in 1995 with Dan, her husband of 41 years, and daughter Lauren. In 2005 she came to the Young Singers of the Palm Beaches as the Office Assistant and in 2007 became Executive Director. Under her leadership, Young Singers of the Palm Beaches has grown from around 100 singers to 350, has toured nationally, and is an annual performer on the main stage of the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts. Mrs. Clark is a State of Florida Division of Cultural Affairs panelist for music grants, and serves as a Palm Beach County grant panelist. Mrs. Clark is the recipient of the 2010 Cultural Council of the Palm Beaches Muse Award for Cultural Leader of the Year. www.yspb.org/

In this episode, I speak with award-winning author Vanessa Blakeslee about her new book, a collection of short stories, titled ‘Perfect Conditions.’ In this conversation, we discuss the writing process, producing art in a time of accelerating crisis and unrelenting change, and the “dark night of the soul” many individuals inevitably go through when the reality of our collective predicament is recognized on the individual level. In ‘Perfect Conditions,’ Blakeslee’s characters “often struggle to find control in unrelenting circumstances, in places which are often anything but welcoming.”☨ In this time of accelerating ecological, political, and spiritual crisis, how do we cope with the reality our species has forged on this planet? In the face of collapse on multiple fronts, what role does art play in our ability to grapple with the implications of these trends? Vanessa and I discuss the themes of her most recent book through the lens of this shared understanding, in particular how fiction (and art more generally) can allow us to contemplate and understand the nature of the situation unfolding before us in real time. We also discuss the personal journey individuals must take when the reality of our collective predicament is recognized on the personal level, described as the “dark night of the soul” within the context of this conversation, and how this journey forces us to reconfigure our individual identity and to focus our passions towards new life goals, priorities, and projects. Vanessa Blakeslee is the author of the debut novel, ‘Juventud’ (Curbside Splendor, 2015), hailed by Publisher's Weekly as a "tale of self-discovery and intense first love." Her story collection, ‘Train Shots’ (Burrow Press) won the 2014 IPPY Gold Medal in Short Fiction. The book was also long-listed for the 2014 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award and has been optioned for a feature film by writer/director Hannah Beth King. Vanessa's writing has appeared in The Southern Review, Green Mountains Review, The Paris Review Daily,The Globe and Mail, and Kenyon Review Online, among many others. Finalist for the 2014 Sherwood Anderson Foundation Fiction Award, she has also been awarded grants and residencies from Yaddo, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, The Banff Centre, Ledig House, the Ragdale Foundation, and in 2013 received the Individual Artist Fellowship in Literature from the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs. ✧  ☨ Source: http://bit.ly/2L6sAPO ✧ Source: http://bit.ly/2Nbh9E0 Episode Notes: - Learn more purchase Vanessa’s book ‘Perfect Conditions’ at the Curbside Splendor website: http://bit.ly/2L6sAPO - Learn more about Vanessa and her work at her website: http://www.vanessablakeslee.com - Follow Vanessa on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VanessaBlakesleeAuthor - Follow Vanessa on Twitter: https://twitter.com/vmblakeslee - Vanessa is a regular on the The Drunken Odyssey - “A Podcast About The Writing Life.” Learn more and listen here: https://thedrunkenodyssey.com - The song featured in the episode is “Again” by Dorris Day. - Podcast website: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com - Support the podcast: PATREON: www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness ONE-TIME DONATION: www.ko-fi.com/lastborninthewilderness - Follow and listen: SOUNDCLOUD: www.soundcloud.com/lastborninthewilderness ITUNES: www.goo.gl/Fvy4ca GOOGLE PLAY: https://goo.gl/wYgMQc STITCHER: https://goo.gl/eeUBfS - Social Media: FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/lastborninthewildernesspodcast TWITTER: www.twitter.com/lastbornpodcast INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/patterns.of.behavior

In this episode, Lisa Miller and I discuss regulators, regulations and how the insurance ecosystem can interrelate effectively with regulators. Lisa provides some advice on when (often) and how (engage and discuss) to work with regulators. Her advice is similar to what Trent Cooksley advised on how to pitch to investors...DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Make it easy for them to buy into your idea (rates, forms, products etc). Yes, regulators are human, and yes, they do like coffee. HOW TO CONNECT WITH LISA MILLER:LinkedInHome Page MENTIONED IN THE PODCAST:Florida Office of Insurance RegulationAssignment of Benefits (Wes Todd & I discussed this for an entire podcast recently)FHCF - Florida Hurricane Catastrophe FundBryan Koon - Director of Florida Division of Emergency Management BOOKS:A Regulator’s Introduction to the Insurance Industry

Linda Yon, a veteran of the Florida Division of Workers' Compensation and one of the leaders in developing the IAIABC's Electronic Data Interchange Program, shares her insights on the EDI Program and where it's heading in the future.

In this podcast we’ll chat with Marie Prentice, a Senior Archaeologist for the Florida Bureau of Archaeological Research based in Tallahassee. We’ll talk to Marie about the role the Bureau of Archaeological Research plays within the Florida Division of Historical Resources, what happens to artifacts after they are excavated, and how the state collection is used by museums and researchers. We’ll also discuss some misconceptions people have about artifact collections held in public trust, and some of the really cool museums you can visit to see some of Florida’s unique archaeological material from the state collection. The podcast will end with an episode of "Unearthing Florida" with Dr. Judy Bense. http://dos.myflorida.com/historical/archaeology/