Podcasts about Hong Kong

We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2022: For years Tsang Tsou-choi daubed his eccentric demands around Hong Kong, and the authorities raced to cover them up. But as the city's protest movements bloomed, his words mysteriously reappeared Written and read by Louisa Lim. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Nick is joined by Mirror man David Yates to discuss the latest from around the racing world. They lead with the unusual and emotionally charged case of retired champion Sprinter Sacre and the GoFundMe page that had been set up to finance his veterinary care. Also today, a positive bulletin on the Leopardstown going conditions from Peter Roe, while owner Neil Sands looks forward to another DRF with Dublin Chase title holder Solness. Plus, Sam Thomas on why Steel Ally may not be a certain starter in the Scilly Isles Chase at Sandown this weekend, JETS Manager Rachel Jones on training day to build jockeys' media profiles, and JA McGrath with the latest from Hong Kong.

S&P futures are up +0.3% and pointing to another higher open today. Asian equities were mostly higher on Wednesday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng surged +2.6% to a four-year high, supported by a broad tech rally. South Korea's Kospi and Taiwan both saw strong gains, with rotation into emerging market assets bolstering sentiment. Gains in Mainland China and Japan were more modest. European markets are trading lower, with the French CAC lagging with a (1.1%) decline driven by weakness in luxury goods. Companies Mentioned: SpaceX, OpenAI, NVIDIA, SK Hynix

The Transformation Ground Control podcast covers a number of topics important to digital and business transformation. This episode covers the following topics and interviews:   Rimini Street Wins Multiple Industry Awards, Q&A (Darian Chwialkowski, Third Stage Consulting) How AI Is Affecting the World of ERP (Tanya Gonzalez-Infor, Paul Farrell-ECI, Evgenya Kontorovich-Priority Software, Gareth Guest-Sage, Craig Sullivan-Oracle NetSuite, Christian Tabasa-TEC) Microsoft D365, Is it Worth it?   We also cover a number of other relevant topics related to digital and business transformation throughout the show.  

SHOW SCHEDULE 1-26-261808 GREAT HALL BANK OF ENGLAND Bill Roggio and Husain Haqqani discuss global turmoil and confrontation, examining U.S. policy failures in Afghanistan. The conversation addresses the ongoing consequences of American withdrawal and the resurgence of threats in the region, highlighting how strategic missteps continue to destabilize the area and embolden adversaries. Bill Roggio and Husain Haqqani examine how Africa remains unprotected from jihadists and plunderers. The discussion explores the continent's vulnerability to extremist expansion and resource exploitation, with weak governance and insufficient international attention allowing terrorist networks and predatory actors to operate with increasing impunity across multiple nations. Ernesto Araujo and Alejandro Pena Esclusa analyze Venezuela's posture of public defiance while remaining privately obedient to the Trump administration. The segment explores the contradictions in Caracas's diplomatic stance, suggesting the regime's theatrical resistance masks behind-the-scenes accommodations driven by economic pressure and political survival calculations. Ernesto Araujo and Alejandro Pena Esclusa report on a spontaneous Rio rally supporting the Bolsonaro family. The demonstration reflects continued popular backing for the former Brazilian president despite legal challenges, indicating that conservative movements in Latin America retain significant grassroots energy and organizational capacity. Malcolm Hoenlein and Thaddeus McCotter discuss Iran's ongoing executions and mass murders. The segment details the regime's brutal crackdown on dissent, highlighting the systematic use of capital punishment against protesters and minorities as Tehran intensifies domestic repression amid international isolation and internal unrest. Malcolm Hoenlein and Thaddeus McCotter examine Saudi Arabia's internal disagreements over a potential air campaign against Iran. The conversation explores Riyadh's strategic calculations, balancing regional security concerns against the risks of direct military confrontation with Tehran and the complexities of American alliance dynamics. Mark Simon and Gordon Chang address Hong Kong's persecution of democracy advocates through show trials. The discussion highlights Beijing's systematic dismantling of civil liberties, using the judicial system to silence opposition figures and signal that resistance to Communist Party authority will face severe consequences. Brandon Weichert and Gordon Chang analyze the PRC using ground-based nodes to influence states. The segment examines China's expanding infrastructure of political and economic pressure points, demonstrating how Beijing leverages physical assets to project power and shape foreign government policies. John Hardie reports that Russia continues targeting heat and light infrastructure in Kyiv, while Ukraine retaliates by striking Russian infrastructure. The segment examines the escalating war of attrition against civilian utilities as both sides seek to undermine morale and economic capacity through systematic attacks on essential services. Jack Burnham reveals that Chinese academics have been granted easy access to Energy Departmentsupercomputing resources used in nuclear weapon simulations. The discussion highlights alarming security lapses allowing potential adversaries to benefit from sensitive American technology with direct military applications and strategic implications. Cleo Paskal and Bill Roggio examine the PRC threat to Oceania from Guam's perspective. The segment details China's aggressive influence peddling and buying throughout the Pacific islands, as Beijing systematically works to undermine American strategic positioning and cultivate dependent relationships across the region. Cleo Paskal and Bill Roggio discuss the UK's giveaway of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, highlighting China's influence over the Mauritian government. The transfer raises concerns about Beijing potentially gaining strategic access to a critical Indian Ocean location near vital shipping lanes and military installations. Ahmad Sharawi reports that Al Sharaa continues attacking minorities in Syria, with Kurds being driven back while the U.S. stands aside. The Druze community also faces assault as the new regime consolidates power through ethnic persecution despite initial promises of inclusive governance. Janatyn Sayeh describes Iran's mass murders amid a broken economy with no communications or internet access. The segment portrays a regime in crisis, resorting to extreme violence against its population while infrastructure collapse and international isolation accelerate the government's deteriorating grip on power. David Daoud examines how Hezbollah reigns over villages in Lebanon. The segment details the organization's methods of social control, combining armed intimidation with provision of services to maintain dominance over Shia communities and enforce loyalty to the movement's political and military agenda. David Daoud explores what Hezbollah will manage if Tehran fails. The discussion considers the organization's future autonomy and survival prospects should its Iranian patron collapse, examining whether the group can sustain itself independently or faces inevitable decline without external support.

Our Head of Asian Gaming & Lodging and Hong Kong/India Real Estate Research Praveen Choudhary discusses the first synchronized growth cycle for Hong Kong's major real estate segments in almost a decade.Read more insights from Morgan Stanley.----- Transcript -----Welcome to Thoughts on the Market. I'm Praveen Choudhary, Morgan Stanley's Head of Asian Gaming & Lodging and Hong Kong/India Real Estate Research. Today – a look at a market that global investors often watch but may not fully appreciate: Hong Kong real estate. It's Tuesday, January 27th, at 2pm in Hong Kong.Why should investors in New York, London, or Singapore care about trends in Hong Kong property? That's easy to answer. Because Hong Kong remains one of the world's most globally sensitive real estate markets. When [the] cycle turns here, it often reflects – and sometimes predicts – broader shift in liquidity, capital flows, and macro sentiment across Asia. And right now, for the first time since 2018, all three major Hong Kong property segments – residential prices, office rents in the Central district of Hong Kong, and retail sales – are set to grow together. That synchronized upturn hasn't happened in almost a decade. What's driving this shift? Residential real estate is the engine of this turnaround. Prices have finally bottomed after a 30 percent decline since 2018, and 2026 is shaping out to be a strong year. We actually expect home prices to grow more than 10 percent in 2026, after going up by 5 percent in 2025. And we think that it will grow further in 2027. There are three factors that give us confidence on this out-of-consensus call. The first one is policy. Back in February 2024, Hong Kong scrapped all extra stamp duty that had made it tougher for mainland Chinese or foreign buyers to enter the market. Stamp duty is basically a tax you pay when buying property, or even selling property; and it has been a key way for [the] government to control demand and raise revenue. With those extra charges gone, buying and selling real estate in Hong Kong, especially for mainlanders, is a lot more straightforward and penalty-free. In fact, post the removal of the stamp duty, [the] percentage of units that has been sold to mainlanders have gone to 50 percent of total; earlier it used to be 10-20 percent. Why is it non-consensus? That is because consensus believes that Hong Kong property price can't go up when China residential outlook is negative. In mid-2025, consensus thought that the recovery was simply a cyclical response to a sharp drop in the Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rate, or HIBOR.But we believe the drivers are supply/demand mismatch, positive carry as rental go up but rates go down, and Hong Kong as a place for global monetary interconnection between China and the world that's still thriving. Second, demand fundamentals are strengthening. Hong Kong's population turned positive again, rising to 7.5 million in the first half of 2025. During COVID we had a population decline. Now, talent attraction scheme is driving around 140,000 visa approvals in 2025, which is double what it used to be pre-COVID level. New household formation is tracking above the long‑term average, and mainland buyers are now a powerful force. The third factor is affordability. So, after years of declines, the housing prices have come to a point where affordability is back to a long‑term average. In fact, the income versus the price is now back to 2011 level. You combine this with lower mortgage rates as the Fed cut moves through, and you have pent‑up demand finally returning. And don't forget the wealth effect: Hang Seng Index climbed almost 30 percent in 2025. That kind of equity rebound historically spills over into property buying. As the recovery in residential real estate picks up speed, we're also seeing a fresh wave of optimism and actions across Hong Kong office and retail markets. So big picture: Hong Kong property market isn't just stabilizing. It's turning. A 10 percent or more residential price rebound, a Central office market finding its footing, and an improved retail environment – all in the same year – marks the clearest green lights this market has seen since 2018.Thanks for listening. If you enjoy the show, please leave us a review wherever you listen and share Thoughts on the Market with a friend or colleague today.

Peter Wilken is an award-winning brand strategist, celebrated author, and the creator of The Lighthouse Brand Strategy Academy. With over three decades of experience, Peter has run agencies for three of the world's top creative networks, including Ogilvy and Leo Burnett, and served as Head of BBDO Asia Pacific. He has worked with some of the world's top creative and strategic minds on brands including Coca-Cola, Shell, McDonald's, PepsiCo, Unilever, BMW, Shangri-La, and many more. As the co-founder of The Brand Company, one of the world's first specialist brand consulting firms, Peter pioneered innovative approaches to brand strategy, including the widely recognized Brand Centred Management™ 4Ds process.A winner of the prestigious Cannes Gold Lion - considered the Oscars of the Advertising world - Peter is renowned for his creative excellence and strategic insight. His book Dim Sum Strategy is hailed as a must-read for serious brand professionals. Known as a constructive disruptor and ‘Father of Brand DNA,' Peter's work has impacted thousands of professionals globally, redefining how brand-builders connect with their audiences and how organisations centre their business around their brand. Today, he consults with a small cadre of clients through his private consulting firm, Dolphin Brand Strategy, and speaks on Creative Strategic Thinking and Brand-Building. His CBO Masterclass represents the culmination of a storied career, offering invaluable insights drawn from his depth of experience at the forefront of advertising and brand-building, with a focus on practical implementation in the real world. Originally hailing from Edinburgh, Scotland, he has lived in nine countries, including the UK, USA, the Solomon Islands, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Malaysia, and now calls Vancouver, B.C., home. He is married to Regina, and they have three adult boys.Master Brand Strategy, build a thriving brand-centered business, and earn CBO certification. Click this link: https://www.peterwilken.com/brand-strategy-masterclass Click here to access the Complete Dim Sum Strategy Audio Book for FREE: https://www.peterwilken.com/dimsum-strategy-free-audibook Connect with Peter Wilken:Website: https://www.peterwilken.com/ Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/63psdkyx5wVlsK0H7GO0WE TurnKey Podcast Productions Important Links:Guest to Gold Video Series: www.TurnkeyPodcast.com/gold The Ultimate Podcast Launch Formula- www.TurnkeyPodcast.com/UPLFplusFREE workshop on how to "Be A Great Guest."Free E-Book 5 Ways to Make Money Podcasting at www.Turnkeypodcast.com/gift Ready to earn 6-figures with your podcast? See if you've got what it takes at TurnkeyPodcast.com/quizSales Training for Podcasters: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sales-training-for-podcasters/id1540644376Nice Guys on Business: http://www.niceguysonbusiness.com/subscribe/The Turnkey Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/turnkey-podcast/id1485077152

This week we step back into the fighting arena with Jean-Claude Van Damme and the film that gave him his big break with Bloodsport. Journey with us as we discuss this wild tournament filled with so many unique fighters while also talking about Cannon Films. Is this an underrated action movie gem or is it to schlocky for its own good? So pour some rye, do the splits while overlooking Hong Kong, and get ready for the Kumite! Kumite! Kumite! Cheers!

Diane and Sean discuss the Chinese Die-Hard action movie, Skyscraper. Episode music is, "Reflections" by Steve Jablonsky, from the OST.-  Our theme song is by Brushy One String-  Artwork by Marlaine LePage-  Why Do We Own This DVD?  Merch available at Teepublic-  Follow the show on social media:-  BlueSky: WhyDoWeOwnThisDVD-  IG: @whydoweownthisdvd- Tumblr: WhyDoWeOwnThisDVD-  Follow Sean's Plants on IG: @lookitmahplants- Watch Sean be bad at video games on TwitchSupport the show

Greenland babble sinks and then boosts markets. Natural Gas prices skyrocket. Small Caps continue to lead markets. Guest Jeremy Kasler- Founder of CASKX – yes – we are talking about Whiskey!  NEW! DOWNLOAD THIS EPISODE’S AI GENERATED SHOW NOTES (Guest Segment) Jeremy Kasler is an entrepreneur and alternative?asset innovator with more than 25 years of experience in specialty finance, alternative investments, and corporate strategy. He is best known as the Founder and CEO of CaskX, a global whiskey, cask investment platform he launched in 2019 to merge his passion for whiskey with his background in building pioneering investment ventures. Kasler founded CaskX in 2019, officially launching operations in early 2020 during the COVID?19 pandemic. Despite global shutdowns, he built momentum by developing an innovative model that allows investors to purchase portfolios of barreled whiskey, which appreciate in value as they mature. CaskX: Manages 30,000+ casks valued at over $50 million Serves 700+ investors worldwide Employs over 30 professionals Operates in Beverly Hills, Louisville, Sydney, Hong Kong, London, Toronto, and Des Moines Learn More at http://www.ibkr.com/funds Follow @andrewhorowitz Looking for style diversification? More information on the TDI Managed Growth Strategy – https://thedisciplinedinvestor.com/blog/tdi-strategy/ Stocks mentioned in this episode: (@NG), (INTC), (QQQ), (SPY), (IWM), (DELL)

In this powerful episode, Tick Boot Camp Podcast interviews Dr. Karolina Praskeviciute (“Dr. Pras”), a multilingual, European-trained medical doctor who has lived in Lithuania, Hong Kong, London, and the United States, traveled to 89 countries, and now uses her global experience to understand chronic illness from a unique vantage point. Dr. Pras shares her deeply personal story of lifelong unexplained symptoms, childhood mold exposure, a bull's-eye rash at age 15, and a medical system unequipped to recognize chronic tick-borne illness. After a devastating case of early COVID-19 in February 2020, her immune system collapsed, triggering full-blown Lyme disease, Babesia, Bartonella, tick-borne relapsing fever, MCAS, and Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS). This conversation bridges both sides of medicine—Western and functional—and explores how chronic illness forced Dr. Pras to reevaluate everything she learned as a third-generation physician. She now brings a rare, dual perspective as both clinician and patient. Key Topics Covered ➤ Growing up in Lithuania: culture, safety, freedom & early mold exposure She describes an independent childhood surrounded by nature—but also living in a poorly insulated home with significant hidden mold that triggered early allergies, stomach pain, nosebleeds, and metallic taste. ➤ Medical school awakening: Why Western medicine failed her symptoms Despite coming from a family of doctors, she noticed early on that conventional medicine couldn't explain many of her symptoms—and she witnessed firsthand how chronic illness is minimized, dismissed, or mislabeled. ➤ The first tick bite at 15 & the bull's-eye rash ignored by doctors Despite developing textbook erythema migrans, pediatricians refused treatment. Her mother initiated a short doxycycline course on her own—far too short to prevent chronic Lyme. ➤ Traveling the world & accumulating exposures After living and working across continents, she now believes different strains, microbes, and environmental factors layered into the perfect storm. ➤ Long COVID as the breaking point Like many chronically ill patients, COVID destabilized everything: massive immune dysregulation nonstop inflammation MCAS flares worsening neurological symptoms Lyme and Babesia fully activating ➤ Mold + Lyme + Long COVID = The Perfect Storm Her CIRS diagnosis revealed why she never recovered even after leaving mold exposure—and why immune dysfunction made Lyme treatment far more complex. ➤ Her diagnostic breakthrough with IGeneX After repeated false-negative Western blots, specialty testing finally uncovered: Lyme Babesia Bartonella Tick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF) Immune activation on FISH testing ➤ Treatment: Herbs, LymeStop, detox, keto, and functional medicine Her current regimen includes: Houttuynia (major reduction in joint pain within 1 week) Cryptolepis (powerful antimicrobial requiring slow titration) Custom herbal protocols (single-herb tinctures) HBOT INUSpheresis Light sauna Gentle lymphatic drainage Vagus nerve support Journaling & limbic system retraining Strict ketogenic diet after a 7-day fast dramatically reduced inflammation She also discusses the risks of Botox, fillers, tattoos, and skincare toxins for chronically ill patients. ➤ Nervous system healing as the foundation of recovery She explains why vagus nerve work and limbic retraining may fail if patients are still in toxin exposure (like mold or endotoxins)—a vital distinction rarely discussed. ➤ Becoming a doctor who understands chronic illness from both sides This episode explores: medical defensiveness gaslighting vs unhealthy doctor-patient dynamics why patients must be empowered, not dismissed why doctors also need compassion and realistic expectations how her future clinical practice will integrate empathy, functional medicine, and lived experience Top Quotes From Dr. Pras “I dismissed my own symptoms because I was trained to believe nothing was wrong unless labs proved it.” “Mold was the silent force that weakened my system long before Lyme took over.” “Healing is not linear. Some days it feels like I'm starting over, but I always come back stronger.” “Doctors have tools—but without a healthy doctor-patient relationship, those tools don't work.” “I can help others now because I know when to push and when to pull back. Lived experience matters.” Where to Find Dr. Karolina Pras Instagram: @drkaromd Email: drkaro@healthkonsultant.com (“consultant” spelled with a K)

We're back with our first proper episode of 2026, and this one has it all! Felix debriefs on his trip to Hong Kong, where he got a sneak peek of Van Cleef & Arpels' impressive Poetry of Time exhibition, followed by a chat about the latest and greatest watch releases from LVMH Watch Week. Then it's time for our chat with the charming Robin Tallendier, co-founder of Atelier Wen, from when Felix caught up with him at Dubai Watch Week. VC&A poetry of Time in Hong Kong (1:06) Former VC&A CEO Nicolas Bos on OT (1:47) LVMH Watch Week latest releases (5:40) Robin Tallendier Interview (17:00) Atelier Wen Atelier Wen on Instagram   Show Notes: https://www.otpodcast.com.au/show-notes OT: Discord - https://discord.com/invite/X3Vvc9z7aV How to follow us: https://www.instagram.com/ot.podcast https://www.facebook.com/otpodcastau https://instagram.com/andygreenlive https://instagram.com/fkscholz Send us an email: otthepodcast@gmail.com If you liked our podcast, please remember to like/share and subscribe.

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Gopher Tells All: Fred Grandy's Love Boat Stories and More!"Fred Grandy—known to millions as Gopher—takes John Cato on a rich, and at times hysterical behind-the-scenes look at The Love Boat. He recounts his unexpected casting, early skepticism from executives (except Gavin MacLeod and Aaron Spelling), unforgettable adventures filming on cruise ships in China and Turkey and his near death burning mishap while shooting The Love Boat. From writing episodes for The Love Boat and working with legends like Don Ameche, Ethel Merman, and Ricardo Montalban, to hilarious pranks involving Leslie Nielsen's fart buzzer and a monkey brains story in Hong Kong, Fred shares it all. He also reflects on his friendship with the cast, the rise of the cruise industry because of The Love Boat, his son, Charlie's Hollywood writing career, and his emotional path from actor to Congressman. Thanks a bunch Fred!That's Classic! Merchandise: http://tee.pub/lic/2R57OwHl2tESubscribe for free to That's Classic YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBtpVKzLW389x6_nIVHpQcA?sub_confirmation=1Facebook: facebook.com/thatsclassictvHosted by John Cato, actor, voiceover artist, and moderator for over 20 years for the television and movie industry. John's background brings a unique insight and passion to the podcast.

In the second of their two-part roundtable, Seth Carpenter and Morgan Stanley's top economists break down the forces influencing growth across different regions.Read more insights from Morgan Stanley.----- Transcript -----Seth Carpenter: Welcome to Thoughts on the Market. I'm Seth Carpenter, Morgan Stanley's Global Chief Economist and Head of Macro Research. And yesterday I sat down with my colleagues, Michael Gapen, our Chief U.S. Economist, Chetan Ahya, our Chief Asia Economist, and Jen Eisenschmidt, our Chief Europe Economist. And we spent a lot of time talking about monetary policy around the world. Today, let's go back to them, talk about the real side of the economy. It's Friday, January 23rd at 10am in New York. Jens Eisenschmidt: And 4pm in Frankfurt. Chetan Ahya: And 9pm in Hong Kong. Seth Carpenter: Michael, let me start with you, back on the U.S. And when I think about the U.S. economy, we have to start by talking about the U.S. consumer. Walk us through what investors need to understand about consumer spending in the U.S. What's driving it, what's going to hold it up, and where are the risks? Michael Gapen: I think the primary thing to remember here is that the upper income consumer drives about 40 percent or more of total spending. So, there can be higher inflation that eats into real labor market income growth. There can be inflation dispersion, which hits lower income households more than upper income households. We can have tariffs that get applied to goods and lower- and middle-income households buy goods more than upper income households. But when asset markets continue to appreciate, when home prices hold on to their prior gains, sometimes that doesn't matter in the aggregate statistics because that upper income household keeps spending.I do think that's a lot of what happened in 2025. So, there is a K-shaped economy. I think one of the main risks about the U.S. is that its expansion is narrowly driven. We think that will broaden out in 2026. If we're right, that inflation comes down and we're past, kind of, the peak effect of tariffs, then we think that lower- and middle-income household can have a little more residual spending power. And you might get the consumer operating on two fronts, rather than one. Seth Carpenter: Another part of domestic spending that gets a lot of attention is business investment spending, CapEx spending. First would you agree with that statement that CapEx spending last year was characterized by AI CapEx spending? Second, should we feel confident that that underlying sort of momentum in CapEx spending should continue for this year? And then third, what's it going to take for there to be a broadening out, maybe like what you said about consumers, but a broadening out of investment spending so that it's not just the AI story that's driving CapEx. Michael Gapen: I do agree that the primary, almost exclusive story in 2025 for business spending was AI. So, when you look at residential and non-residential spending, unrelated to AI, that I think did feel the effects of policy uncertainty in a changing environment. what keeps kind of sustainability around business spending? Obviously, it's a multi-year investment story around AI. There's a level versus growth rate argument here where you can have a heck of a lot of CapEx spending. May not always show up in GDP because some of it is intermediate goods, some of it is imported. But that doesn't diminish, I think, the quality of the overall story. What gets business spending to broaden out, I do think is related to whether consumer spending broadens out. Most business spending kind of follows demand with a lag. So, AI is a different story, but there's a cyclical component to business spending. There could be a housing related component, if mortgage rates come down and stimulate at least a little more turnover in the housing market. So, if the recovery does broaden out, we see greater real income growth in low- and middle-income households. The labor market stabilizes. Maybe mortgage rates come down a little bit, then I think you could get carry through momentum to non-AI related business spending. That would look more like a cyclical upswing for the economy. May be a heavy lift, but that's what I think it would take to get there. Seth Carpenter: So, Jens, let me come to you. We talked yesterday about the ECB possibly easing more on disinflation. But when I think of disinflation, I think of a weak economy. And that's maybe not really the case. So, I guess the first question to you would you characterize euro area economic growth as strong, or a little bit more complicated? Jens Eisenschmidt: A little bit more complicated. And that's always the right answer for an economist – I think it depends. Well, it is strong in some quarters. And these quarters will change from where it has been in the past.So concretely, we think the German economy has most potential to catch up and actually accelerate, and that's due to fiscal stimulus mainly. While we have other quarters, the French and the Italian one, which will be below potential and so weak – each of them for their own reason. And then we have the Spanish economy, which performs exceptionally and is really strong, but it's only a small part of the euro area economy. If we had everything together, I think the outlook is an economy that's accelerating mildly and only towards the end of our projection horizon, which is [20]27. So, in say two years, hits growth rates that are above potential. Here we are really talking about quarterly increments above 0.3. So, we are currently between 0.1 and 0.2. So, you sort of get the picture of a mildly accelerating economy that goes from 0.15 to 0.035 say in the span of two years. Seth Carpenter: One of the key narratives in markets is about fiscal policy in Germany, potentially driving growth. I know in equity markets it's been a key investing theme. So how excited should people be about the possibility of fiscal policy in Germany driving a resilient European economy? Jens Eisenschmidt: Pretty excited, I would say, in a sense that the positioning of the German government for its economy is actually exceptional in terms of the amount of fiscal space that exists and that has been made available. It's just that, of course, the connection of that sort of abstract excitement that we economists have to what actually happens in markets is sometimes a little bit loose; in the sense that equity [markets would like to see everything coming online tomorrow, and that's going to be a more drawn-out process. So, to my point before, it will take some time. We do have implementation lags. We do have lags in say, for instance, on defense procurement. There is maybe not as much capacity in the economy to deliver into everything. But the direction of travel is clear and up. So, from that perspective, I have no doubts that the future is better for the German economy over the medium term for all the reasons mentioned, but it won't be immediate. And we have just seen in recent headlines, Germany is the most trade exposed European economy. If we get more friction in global trade, that's not great. So, you could even have short term, more negative news on GDP than positive ones. Seth Carpenter: Chetan, I'm going to turn to you. Yesterday when we talked about Asia, we focused on Japan. But, of course, when it comes to the real side of the economy, the big mover in Asia is China.So, let's talk a little bit about how you see China evolving. What the key themes are for China. Last year in particular, we talked a lot about the deflationary cycle in China and how it was protracted. It wasn't going away. That policy was not sufficient to drive a huge surge in demand to push things away. Are we in the same place for China in 2026? What kind of growth should we expect and what sort of policy reactions should we be expecting from China? Chetan Ahya: Well, I think the macro backdrop for China we think will still be challenging in 2026. But at the same time, we expect the micro positives to continue. Now on the macro backdrop, when I say it's going to remain challenging because the number one issue that we are focused on from a macro perspective in China is deflation. Now we do expect some easing of deflationary pressures, but [the] economy will still stay in deflation in 2026. And on the micro front what we've seen is that China is emerging from a situation where it is making inroads into advanced manufacturing, and that's enabling it to increase market share in global goods exports. And it's also one of the reasons why when you see the numbers coming out from China on exports, they seem to be outperforming. Even just the latest month number as we saw, China's exports were surprising on the upside relative to market expectations. And that's the micro story – that you'll see China continuing to gain market share in global goods export. And that supports the corporate micro positive story. Seth Carpenter: We know collectively that export is a key part of China's economy. The productive capacity, as you point out, important for China. When you think about exports from China, the currency has to come in. And recently the renminbi has been appreciating. Lots of questions from clients here or there. How important is the renminbi in reflating or rebalancing the China economy? Can you walk us through a little bit some of these considerations about the role that the currency is playing now and over the next few quarters for China and its economic outlook. Chetan Ahya: Yeah, that's right, Seth. Actually, I've been getting a number of clients calling me and asking whether PBOC is going to allow a significant appreciation in RNB. We've seen it appreciate quite a lot in the last few days. And then whether this will mean China's economy will rebalance faster towards consumption. Look, on the first point, we don't think PBOC will allow a significant currency appreciation because, as I just mentioned earlier, the deflation problem is still there. It's not gone. While we see reduced deflationary pressures, as long as the economy is in deflation, it'll be very difficult for PBOC to allow significant currency appreciation. And what we are also watching on RMB is to see what is happening to the trade weighted RMB. The RMB basket, if you were to call it. That interestingly has been in a stable range since 2016, and we don't think that changes. We've learned from Japan's experience in the nineties that if you have deflation problem, you shouldn't be taking up currency appreciation. And we think PBOC pretty much follows that rule book. On the rebalancing part, look, I think when you have deflation and if currency appreciation is going to add to deflation pressures, that will mean corporate sector revenue suffers. They will actually be cutting wage growth and therefore that has a negative impact on consumption. And so, in our view, instead of helping rebalancing currency appreciation with China's current macro backdrop, we'll actually be making rebalancing more difficult. Seth Carpenter: And of course, we're used to China being a key driver of the economy, not just in Asia, but around the world. But if we think about then broadening out from China, what should we be expecting in terms of growth for the other economies in Asia? Chetan Ahya: For the other economies in the region, I think the most important driver will be what happens to exports more broadly. In 2025, Asia did benefit from better tech exports, but because of tariffs and also what was happening in the U.S. in terms of its own domestic demand, we'd seen that there was significant weakness in non-tech exports. So, from an outlook perspective in 2026, we think that that non-tech export story turns around and that will help the recovery in the region to broaden out from it just being tech exports to non-tech exports, to improvement in CapEx, job growth and consumption. So, I think that the whole region is going to see the benefit from this turnaround. But particularly the non-China part of the region will be seeing a meaningful improvement in their export growth, real GDP growth and normal GDP growth in 2026. Seth Carpenter: I'm getting ready to wrap things up. But before I do, I'm going to ask each of the three of you, one last rapid-fire question. Michael, I'm going to start with you. AI is on everyone's lips. If we were to see a rapid adoption of AI technology across all the economies. What would it mean for the Fed? Michael Gapen: Well, I think that would mean a substantial uptick in productivity growth. Maybe closer to 3 percent like we saw in the tech boom in the nineties. So faster real growth. But probably still disinflation. You can argue the Fed could even lower rates in that environment. It may take them a while to figure it out [be]cause they'd be balancing incoming data that shows a lot of strong growth. But probably further evidence that inflation's coming down. So, if it's supply side driven, then I think you could still probably get some rate cuts out of the Fed to normalize policy as inflation comes down. But I'd be thinking those cuts could even come much later. Seth Carpenter: Okay, Jens to you, a lot of discussion in the news about possible additional tariffs from the U.S. on Europe in some of the negotiations. Suppose some of the announcements, 10 percent tariffs rising to 25 percent tariffs later. Suppose those were actually put in place. What does that mean for European growth? Jens Eisenschmidt: So, I would say 10 percent additional tariffs, we have a framework for that. Pointing to drag on GDP growth somewhere between 30 and 60 basis points. So roughly half of what we think 2026 will bring in growth. Now, for sure the answer is additional tariffs are not great for growth. Big question mark here is though whether we get any retaliation from the European side, which we think this time around if we get additional tariffs from the U.S. side is more likely. And that would just increase the downside risk for Europe here from that additional round of trade or tariff uncertainty. Seth Carpenter: Chetan, I'm going to end up with you. When we think about China, when we think about policy, what do you think it would take for there to be a fundamental shift in policy out of Beijing to get a real full blown, demand driven fiscal stimulus? Or is that just not in the cards whatsoever? Chetan Ahya: Well, in our base case, we don't think that's likely to happen in our forecast horizon. But if we do get a big social stability challenge emerging in China, then we could get that big pivot from [a] policy response perspective, where policy makers move towards consumption. And our recommendation there is to boost social welfare spending, particularly targeted towards migrant workers, which could be taken up if you get that social stability risk event materializing. Seth Carpenter: Mike, Chetan, Jens, thank you so much for joining today. And for the listener, thank you for joining us. If you enjoy this show, please leave us a review wherever you listen and share Thoughts on the Market with a friend or a colleague today.

In 2020, Jimmy Lai, a prominent pro-democracy voice in Hong Kong, was imprisoned by the Chinese government under the national security law. Following years of prolonged solitary confinement, in late 2025, he was convicted and is now awaiting sentencing. Jimmy Lai's daughter, Claire Lai, joined Martha to share her father's story. She explains how dire his situation is due to worsening health concerns. She also describes how his faith carries him through the day-to-day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transforming schools through ethical, large-scale Al integration and collaborative learning. About Jamie Toner Jamie is an education technology and innovation leader with experience across K-12 and Higher Education in the UK, Middle East, Southeast Asia, and East Asia. As Director of Technology and Innovation at Singapore American School, he leads digital transformation, AI integration, and the development of forward-looking learning ecosystems.  Previously Founding Director of Digital Learning and Information Services at Harrow International School Shenzhen, Jamie has driven major projects in digital strategy and information services. Named on the recent CILIP 125 List of future leaders and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, he researches and presents internationally on digital leadership and knowledge sharing. He is currently in the final stages of his PhD at the University of Sheffield on how legitimacy and epistemic authority are unevenly constructed and sustained within international schools. Jamie Toner on Social Media LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-toner-611b2478/  About Claire Simms Claire is an experienced international educator and digital learning leader with over 25 years in schools across Hong Kong, Malaysia, Switzerland, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Singapore. She is currently Assistant Principal - Innovation and Technology at St. Joseph's Institution International School where she leads initiatives that enhance teaching and learning through technology. Since joining SJI International in 2016, Claire has held key leadership roles including Head of IPC and Head of Grade, helping to shape both curriculum and digital strategy. A Google Trainer, Coach, Innovator, and GEG Leader, Apple Learning Coach, and Seesaw Educator Lead, she regularly presents across the APAC region on digital learning and leadership. Claire holds a PGCE in Primary Education from the University of Sunderland and is currently completing her National Professional Qualification in Senior Leadership (NPQSL). Claire Simms on Social Media LinkedIn: https://sg.linkedin.com/in/claire-simms-13679643  Resources https://www.sas.edu.sg/  https://www.sji-international.com.sg/  John Mikton on Social Media LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmikton/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jmikton Web: beyonddigital.org Dan Taylor on social media: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/appsevents  Twitter: https://twitter.com/appdkt  Web: www.appsevents.com Listen on: iTunes / Podbean / Stitcher / Spotify / YouTube Workspace Audit by AppsEDU Find and Fix Security Gaps in Your Google Workspace at https://workspaceaudit.com/  Get a complete, automated overview of your security posture. Our read-only scanner identifies misconfigurations and provides actionable steps to harden your environment. We also help you STAY secure. With our automated monitoring functionality you schedule daily, weekly or monthly scans, allowing you to fix issues before they become a problem. Get started for free with no obligation, your first scan is on us! https://workspaceaudit.com/ 

President Trump has said that a possible deal covering the future of Greenland will achieve "everything" he wants - after rowing back on threats to seize the island by force or levy further tariffs on European allies who oppose his desire to own it. Mr Trump announced he had agreed what he called the "framework of a future deal" after talks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, but gave few details. Also: several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt, say they'll join President Trump's Board of Peace. Three activists who organised an annual Tiananmen Square vigil in Hong Kong, before it was banned, have gone on trial. We visit a car factory in Slovakia, a country which makes the highest number of cars per capita in the world. And researchers say they've found the world's oldest known cave painting on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight. Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment.Get in touch: globalpodcast@bbc.co.uk

Our Global Chief Economist Seth Carpenter joins our chief regional economists to discuss the outlook for interest rates in the U.S., Japan and Europe.Read more insights from Morgan Stanley.----- Transcript -----Seth Carpenter: Welcome to Thoughts on the Market. I'm Seth Carpenter, Morgan Stanley's Global Chief Economist and Head of Macro Research. And today we're kicking off our quarterly economic roundtable for the year. We're going to try to think about everything that matters in economics around the world. And today we're going to focus a little bit more on central banking. And when we get to tomorrow, we'll focus on the nuts and bolts of the real side of the economy. I'm joined by our chief regional economists. Michael Gapen: Hi, Seth. I'm Mike Gapen, Chief U.S. Economist at Morgan Stanley. Chetan Ahya: I'm Chetan Ahya, Chief Asia economist. Jens Eisenschmidt: And I'm Jens Eisenschmidt, Chief Europe economist. Seth Carpenter: It's Thursday, January 22nd at 10 am in New York. Jens Eisenschmidt: And 4 pm in Frankfurt. Chetan Ahya: And 9 pm in Hong Kong. Seth Carpenter: So, Mike Gapen, let me start with you as we head into 2026, what are we thinking about? Are we going into a more stable expansion? Is this just a different phase with the same amount of volatility? What do you think is going to be happening in the U.S. as a baseline outlook? And then if we're going to be wrong, which direction would we be wrong? Michael Gapen: Yeah, Seth, we took the view that we would have more policy certainty. Recent weeks have maybe suggested we're incorrect on that front. But I still believe that when it comes to deregulation, immigration policy and fiscal policy, we have much more clarity there than we did a year ago. So, I think it's another year of modest growth, above trend growth. We're forecasting something around 2.4 percent for 2026. That's about where we finished 2025. I think what's key for markets and the outlook overall will be whether inflation comes down. Firms are still passing through tariffs to the consumer. We think that'll happen at least through the end of the first quarter. It's our view that after that, inflation pressures will start to diminish. If that's the case, then we think the Fed can execute one or two more rate cuts. But we have those coming [in] the second half of the year. So, it looks like growth is strong enough. The labor market has stabilized enough for the Fed to wait and see, to look around, see the effects of their prior rate cuts, and then push policy closer to neutral if inflation comes down. Seth Carpenter: And if we go back to last year to 2025, I will give you the credit first. Morgan Stanley did not shift its forecast for recession in the U.S. the way some of our main competitors did. On the other hand, and this is where I maybe tweak you just a little bit. We underestimated how much growth there would be in the United States. CapEx spending from AI firms was strong. Consumer spending, especially from the top half of the income distribution in the U.S. was strong. Growth overall for the year was over 2 percent, close to 2.5 percent. So, if that's what we just came off of, why isn't it the case that we'd see even stronger growth? Maybe even a re-acceleration of growth in 2026? Michael Gapen: Well, some of that, say, improvement vis-à-vis our forecast, the outperformance. Some of that I think comes mechanically from trade and inventory variability. So, . I'm not sure that that says a lot about an improving trend rate of growth. Where there was other outperformance was, as you noted, from the consumer. Now our models, and I don't mean to get too technical here, but our model suggests that consumption is overshooting its fundamentals. Which I think makes it harder for the economy to accelerate further. And then AI; it's harder for AI spending to say get incrementally stronger than where it is. So, we're getting a little extra boost from fiscal. We've got that coming through. And I just think what it is, is more of the same rather than further acceleration from here. Seth Carpenter: Do you think there's a chance that the Fed in fact does not cut rates like you have in your forecast? Michael Gapen: Yes, I do think... Where we could be wrong is we've made assumptions around the One Big Beautiful Bill and what it will contribute to the economy. But as you know, there's a lot of variability around those estimates. If the bill is more catalytic to animal spirits and business spending than we've assumed, you could get, say, a demand driven animal spirits upside to the economy, which may mean inflation doesn't decelerate all that much. But I do think that that's, say, the main upside risk that we're considering. Markets have been gradually taking out probabilities of Fed cuts as growth has come in stronger. So far, the inflation data has been positive in terms of signaling about disinflation, but I would say the jury's still out on how much that continues. Seth Carpenter: Chetan, When I think about Japan, we know that it's been the developed market central bank that's been going in the opposite direction. They've been hiking when other central banks have been cutting. We got some news recently that probably put some risk into our baseline outlook that we published in our year ahead view about both growth and inflation in Japan. And with it what the Bank of Japan is going to do in terms of its normalization. Can you just walk us through a little bit about our outlook for Japan? Because right now I think that the yen, Japanese rates, they're all part of the ongoing market narrative around the world. Chetan Ahya: Yeah, Seth. So, look, I mean, on a big picture basis, we are constructive on the Japan macro-outlook. We think normal GDP growth remains strong. We are expecting to see the transition for the consumers from them seeing, you know, supply side inflation. Keeping their real wage growth low to a dynamic where we transition to real wage growth accelerating. That supports real consumption growth, and we move away from that supply side driven inflation to demand side driven inflation. So broadly we are constructive, but I think in the backdrop, what we are seeing on currency depreciation is making things a bit more challenging for the BOJ. While we are expecting that demand side pressure to build up and drive inflation, in the trailing data, it is still pretty much currency depreciation and supply side factors like food inflation driving inflation. And so, BOJ has been hesitant. So, while we had the expectation that BOJ will hike in January of 2027, we do see the risk that they may have to take up rate hike earlier to manage the currency not getting out of hand and adding on to the inflation pressures. Seth Carpenter Would I be right in saying that up until now, the yen has swung pretty widely in both directions. But the weakening of the yen until now hasn't been really the key driver of the Bank of Japan's policy reaction. It's been growth picking up, inflation picking up, wanting to get out of negative interest rates first, wanting to get away from the zero lower bounds. Second, the weaker yen in some sense could have actually been seen as a positive up until now because Japan did go through 25 years of essentially stagnant nominal growth. Is this actually that much of a fundamental change in the Bank of Japan's thinking – needing to react to the weakness of the yen? Chetan Ahya: Broadly what you're saying is right, Seth, but there is also a threshold of where the currency can be. And beyond a point, it begins to hurt the households in form of imported inflation pressures. And remember that inflation has been somewhat high, even if it is driven by currency depreciation and supply side factors for some time. And so, BOJ has to be watchful of potential lift in inflation expectations for the households. And at the same time, they are also watching the underlying inflation impact of this currency depreciation – because what we have seen is that over period workers have been demanding for higher wages. And that is also influenced by what happens to headline inflation, which is driven by currency depreciation. So, I would say that, yes, it's been true up until now. But, when currency reaches these very high levels of range, you are going to see BOJ having to act. Seth Carpenter: Jens, let's shift then to Europe. The ECB had been on a cutting cycle. They came to the end of that. President Lagarde said that she thought the disinflationary process had ended. In your year ahead forecast and a bunch of your writing recently, you've said maybe not so fast. There could still be some more disinflationary, at least risk, in the pipeline for Europe. Can you talk a little bit about what's going on in terms of European inflation and what it could mean for the European Central Bank? Because clearly that's going to be first order important for markets.Jens Eisenschmidt: I think that is right. I think we have a crucial inflation print ahead of us that comes out on the 4th of February. So, early February we get some signal, whether our anticipated fall of headline inflation here below the ECB's target is actually materializing. We think the chances for this are pretty good. There's a mix why this is happening. One is energy. Energy disinflation and base effects. But the other thing is services inflation resets always at the beginning of the year. January and February are the crucial month here. We had significant services upward pressure on prices the last years. And so just from base effects, we think we will see less of that. Another picture or another element of that picture is that wage disinflation is proceeding nicely. We have notably a significant weakness in the export-oriented manufacturing sector in Germany, which is a key sector of setting wages for the country. The country is around 30 percent of the euro area GDP. And here we had seen significant wage gains over the last year. So, the disinflationary trend coming from lower wage gains from this country, that will be very important. And an important signal to watch. Again, that's something we don't know. I think soon we have to watch simply monthly prints here. But a significant print for the first quarter comes out in May, and all of that together makes us believe that the ECB will be in a position to see enough data or have seen enough data that confirms the thesis of inflation staying below target for some time to come. So that they can cut in June and September to a terminal rate of 1.5 percent. Seth Carpenter: That is, I would say, out of consensus relative where the market is. When you talk to investors, whether they're in Europe or around the world, what's the big pushback that you get from them when you are explaining your view on how the ECB is going to act? Jens Eisenschmidt: There are two essential pushbacks. So, one is on substance. So, 'No, actually wages will not come down, and the economy will actually start overheating soon because of the big fiscal stimulus.' That, in a nutshell is the pushback on substance. I would say here, as you would say before, not so fast. Because the fiscal stimulus is only in one country. It's 30 percent. But only 30 percent of the euro area.Plus, there is another pushback, which is on the reaction function of the ECB. Here we tend to agree. So far, we have heard from policy makers that they feel rather comfortable with the 2 percent rate level that they're at. But we think that discussion will change. The moment you are below target in an actual inflation print; the burden of proof is the opposite. Now you have to prove: Is the economy really on a track that inflation will get back up to target without further monetary stimulus? We believe that will be the key debate. And again, happy to, sort of, concede that there is for now not a lot of signaling out of the ECB that further rate cuts are coming. But we believe the first inflation print of the year will change that debate significantly. Seth Carpenter: Alright, so that makes a lot of sense. However, looking at the clock, we are probably out of time for today. So, for now, Michael, Chetan, Jens, thank you so much for joining today. And to the listener, thanks for listening. And be sure to tune in tomorrow for part two of our conversation. And I have to say, if you enjoy this show, please leave us a review wherever you listen and share Thoughts on the Market with a friend or a colleague today.

Jim talks with Ben Goertzel about his worldview. They discuss Ben's morning experience of consciousness crystallizing from ambient awareness, his identification as a panpsychic, the concept of pattern being more fundamental than stuff, Charles Peirce's ontology of first/second/third, the idea of uryphysics as a broader notion of physics beyond metaphysics, parapsychology and psi phenomena including remote viewing and Project Stargate, reincarnation-like phenomena and cases from India, experimental design in parapsychology research, the legitimation of both AGI and psi research, the consciousness explosion occurring alongside AI/ASI development, Jeffrey Martin's work on fundamental well-being and persistent nonsymbolic experience, the immense design space of possible minds, human cognitive limitations like seven plus or minus two short-term memory, the single-threaded nature of human consciousness versus potential multi-threaded ASI, scenarios for beneficial superintelligence and options for humans to remain in human form or upload, the question of how long human existence would remain interesting post-singularity, psychedelics as tools for accessing different states of consciousness and insights into mind construction, the absence of shamanic institutions in modern culture, experiences with DMT and heroic doses, holding multiple contradictory perspectives simultaneously, Walt Whitman's notion of containing multitudes, Ben's intuitive sense that consciousness and the basic ground of being are fundamentally joyful and compassionate, arguments for why superintelligence will likely be good based on efficiency of mutually trusting agents, and much more. Episode Transcript The Consciousness Explosion, by Ben Goertzel JRS EP 217 Ben Goertzel on a New Framework for AGI JRS EP 211 Ben Goertzel on Generative AI vs. AGI JRS Currents 072: Ben Goertzel on Viable Paths to True AGI Evidence for Psi: Thirteen Empirical Research Reports, ed. Damien Broderick & Ben Goertzel Dr. Ben Goertzel is a cross-disciplinary scientist, entrepreneur and author.  Born in Brazil to American parents, in 2020 after a long stretch living in Hong Kong he relocated his primary base of operations to a rural island near Seattle. He leads the SingularityNET Foundation, the OpenCog Foundation, and the AGI Society which runs the annual Artificial General Intelligence conference. Dr. Goertzel's research work encompasses multiple areas including artificial general intelligence, natural language processing, cognitive science, machine learning, computational finance, bioinformatics, virtual worlds, gaming, parapsychology, theoretical physics and more.

Podcast: Carlsbad: People, Purpose and Impact Host: Bret Schanzenbach, President & CEO, Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce Guest: Dr. Gene Ma, President & CEO, Tri-City Medical CenterIn this episode, Bret welcomes Dr. Gene Ma, a long-time emergency physician and now President & CEO of Tri-City Medical Center, for a candid and hopeful conversation about the future of healthcare in North County San Diego.Dr. Ma traces his journey from a globally mobile childhood (Hawaii, Burma, Japan, Hong Kong) to growing up in Arcadia, then on to UC Irvine, UCSF, Stanford, and UCSD, where he trained in emergency medicine. He shares what it's really like behind the scenes in the ER, the importance of humility in medicine, and what 27 years on the front lines taught him about people, teams, and community.Listeners will hear how Dr. Ma:Discovered his passion for community-based medicine at Tri-CityServed as Chief of Staff and later Chief Medical OfficerLed and helped grow a democratic emergency medicine group and an occupational health businessWas honored 10 times as one of San Diego's Top Doctors in Emergency MedicineThe conversation dives into the financial and regulatory pressures facing hospitals today, including:How DRG-based payments and long COVID hospital stays pushed hospitals to the brinkThe impact of underfunded Medicare and growing staffing costsThe staggering costs of new construction and seismic compliance, with per-bed costs in the millionsCalifornia's 2030 (and 2033) seismic standards, and what they actually requireFrom there, Dr. Ma shares the transformational plan for Tri-City:Tri-City is entering a long-term lease and operating agreement with Sharp HealthCareThe hospital will become Sharp Tri-City, pending voter approval in JuneThe agreement brings the scale, resources, and experience of San Diego's largest not-for-profit health system to North CountyThe board's decision, he explains, reflects a commitment to put community before titles and secure a sustainable future for the districtDr. Ma paints an inspiring vision that includes:Reopening Labor & Delivery at Tri-City in partnership with Sharp Mary BirchReturning and expanding NICU and high-risk maternal-fetal medicine services to North CountyDeveloping a comprehensive cancer center on the Tri-City campus so patients can receive radiation and chemotherapy locallyA revitalized, state-of-the-art flagship medical center that drives both better health outcomes and economic growth along the Highway 78 corridorBret and Dr. Ma also discuss the upcoming public vote, clarify that no new taxes are being requested, and encourage district residents to vote YES to allow Sharp to manage and invest in the hospital.The episode closes on a personal and heartwarming note, as Dr. Ma talks about his five daughters, their life paths across California and New York, and what it's like to transition from sideline sports dad to a new season of life.If you care about the future of local healthcare, economic vitality, and quality of life in Carlsbad and North County San Diego, this episode of “Carlsbad: People, Purpose and Impact” is a must-listen.Key Topics:Dr. Gene Ma's global upbringing and medical training27 years in emergency medicine and leadership at Tri-CityFinancial and regulatory realities of running a hospitalCOVID's impact on hospital operations and financesCalifornia seismic standards and hospital infrastructureThe long-term partnership between Tri-City and Sharp HealthCareReopening Labor & Delivery and bringing high-risk maternity care back to North CountyPlans for a comprehensive cancer center on the Tri-City campusThe importance of the upcoming community voteDr. Ma's family and life in North CountyCall to Action: Be sure to follow “Carlsbad: People, Purpose and Impact” and share this episode with friends, colleagues, and neighbors who want to understand what's at stake for healthcare in our community.Quotes (for Reels / Audiograms)“The moment you think you know everything in medicine is the moment you become dangerous. You have to be humble—or medicine will humble you.”“People think hospitals made money during COVID. The truth is, it was devastating. Patients stayed for weeks or months while we were paid for just a few days of care.”“If the 2030 seismic standards were enforced today, more than half the hospitals in California would have to close. That's how expensive this is.”“There's no realistic path for Tri-City to reopen labor and delivery on its own—but with Sharp, not only can we reopen, we can expand and bring high-risk maternity care back to North County.”“One day, people won't be able to imagine a North County without Sharp Tri-City—they'll just assume world-class care has always been here.” Did this episode have a special impact on you? Share how it impacted youCarlsbad Podcast Social Links:LinkedInInstagramFacebookXYouTubeSponsor: This show is sponsored and produced by DifMix Productions. To learn more about starting your own podcast, visit www.DifMix.com/podcasting

Today's blockchain and crypto news Bitcoin is up slightly at $88,599   Ethereum is up slightly at $2,936 And Binance Coin is up slightly at $876   Bloomberg says Trump family fortune increased by $1.4B thanks to crypto Winklevoss Twins donate ZEC to support Zcash Hong Kong plans first batch of stablecoins Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laurent Lequeu explores a global economy increasingly defined by geopolitical chaos and a transition toward stagflation. He argues that the primary threat to the American empire originates from internal political division rather than external adversaries. To hedge against the reckless behavior of authoritarian governments and the inevitable decline of fiat currencies, Lequeu advocates for the ownership of physical precious metals, which lack counterparty risk. The discussion also highlights a significant global shift as China and Russia consolidate their resource and manufacturing alliance, potentially moving the world’s financial epicenter from New York to Hong Kong by 2032. Investors should seek geographical diversification and tangible assets in anticipation of a fracturing Western order. Watch on BitChute / Brighteon / Rumble / Substack / YouTube *Support Geopolitics & Empire! Become a Member https://geopoliticsandempire.substack.com Donate https://geopoliticsandempire.com/donations Consult https://geopoliticsandempire.com/consultation **Listen Ad-Free for $4.99 a Month or $49.99 a Year! Apple Subscriptions https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/geopolitics-empire/id1003465597 Supercast https://geopoliticsandempire.supercast.com ***Visit Our Affiliates & Sponsors! Above Phone https://abovephone.com/?above=geopolitics American Gold Exchange https://www.amergold.com/geopolitics easyDNS (15% off with GEOPOLITICS) https://easydns.com Escape The Technocracy (15% off with GEOPOLITICS) https://escapethetechnocracy.com/geopolitics Outbound Mexico https://outboundmx.com PassVult https://passvult.com Sociatates Civis https://societates-civis.com StartMail https://www.startmail.com/partner/?ref=ngu4nzr Wise Wolf Gold https://www.wolfpack.gold/?ref=geopolitics Websites The Macro Butler https://themacrobutler.com Substack https://themacrobutler.substack.com LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurent-lequeu- X https://x.com/TheMacroButler Telegram https://t.me/TheMacroButlerSubstack About Laurent Lequeu Laurent Lequeu is an independent financial consultant and writer of The Macro Butler, which aims to deliver concise yet comprehensive macroeconomic insights that impact global and regional markets, analyzing key indicators and trends to provide actionable and timely investment recommendations to all kind of investors. *Podcast intro music used with permission is from the song “The Queens Jig” by the fantastic “Musicke & Mirth” from their album “Music for Two Lyra Viols”: http://musicke-mirth.de/en/recordings.html (available on iTunes or Amazon)

Nick goes night fishing in South Florida with fashion entrepreneur and prominent racehorse owner Andrew Rosen, seeing Miami like never before under the guidance of skipper Russell Kleppinger. Nick welcomes James Willoughby back to the podcast to cast a critical eye over the outcome of the World's Best Racehorse Rankings, while - in the company of Jane Mangan - the show looks back at yesterday's ceremony and forward to the best of this week's jump racing. JA McGrath has the latest from Hong Kong, Sebastian Hutch has news of the Inglis Classic Sale, and British Racing School CEO Andrew Braithwaite drops in to tell us about the new Rider Development Pathway.

The Transformation Ground Control podcast covers a number of topics important to digital and business transformation. This episode covers the following topics and interviews:   Accenture's Acquisition of Faculty, Q&A (Darian Chwialkowski, Third Stage Consulting) How Mid-Market ERP Systems Are at a Crossroads (Jose Gomez, IT leader at Stephen Gould and founder of EpiUsers.help & Kerrie Jordan, Epicor) Are SAP's Days As Market Leader Over? We also cover a number of other relevant topics related to digital and business transformation throughout the show.  

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991) was chosen by Patreon supporter Gareth, and it represents a very deliberate shift in tone and approach from the original 1990 film. Following the massive commercial success of the first movie, New Line Cinema moved quickly to produce a sequel that would appeal more directly to younger audiences. This resulted in a noticeably lighter, more comedic production, with strict limitations placed on violence and darker elements after parental groups raised concerns about the original film's intensity. Director Michael Pressman replaced Steve Barron, and the creative mandate was clear: brighter visuals, broader humor, and a more Saturday-morning-cartoon-friendly feel.The production once again relied on Jim Henson's Creature Shop to bring the Turtles to life, though the suits were redesigned to allow for improved mobility and clearer facial expressions. Filming took place primarily in North Carolina, with large soundstage work used to accommodate more elaborate set pieces and controlled environments. The movie also leaned heavily into merchandising synergy, closely aligning its release with toy lines, tie-in products, and promotional partnerships. While critically divisive upon release, The Secret of the Ooze was a significant box-office success and stands as a textbook example of early-90s franchise filmmaking — where commercial considerations, brand management, and audience accessibility increasingly shaped creative decisions.If you enjoy the show and would like to support us, we have a Patreon ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.Referral links also help out the show if you were going to sign up:⁠⁠⁠NordVPN⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠NordPass⁠⁠⁠Trailer Guy Plot SummaryHeroes in a half-shell… are back — and this time, things are about to get oozy.The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles return with bigger laughs, louder villains, and a mysterious new substance that could change everything. As old enemies resurface and new threats rise, the Turtles must band together, sharpen their skills, and fight to protect the city they call home.*Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze* — powered up, totally radical, and ready to kick shell.Fun FactsTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II was released at the peak of TMNT mania, when the franchise dominated cartoons, toys, comics, and fast-food promotions worldwide.The film introduced new Turtle allies and villains that were created specifically to expand the movie universe rather than directly adapt comic storylines.Vanilla Ice's song “Ninja Rap” was written exclusively for the movie and became a pop-culture time capsule of early-90s hip-hop crossover marketing.The movie was one of the highest-grossing independent films of 1991, despite receiving mixed critical reviews.Many of the film's stunt performers were professional martial artists, including members of the Hong Kong stunt community.The Turtles' signature weapons appear far less frequently than fans expected, becoming a frequent talking point among viewers.The Secret of the Ooze was heavily promoted through pizza-brand tie-ins, reinforcing the Turtles' long-standing connection to pizza culture.Over time, the film has become a nostalgia favorite for fans who grew up during the early 1990s TMNT boom, often remembered as the “most quotable” entry in the original trilogy.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thevhsstrikesback@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/vhsstrikesback⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Coming at you LIVE from Benny Frank's! Where we are joined by Food Network's ‘Chopped' Champion Chef Enrique where he gives us some incite to being a chef, his speciality menu at Benny Frank's and the perks of being Chef Enrique. Plus Voo hits us with 21 questions where things get a little spicy. Follow us on social media @AaronScenesAfterParty

Last time we spoke about the climax of the battle of Lake Khasan. In August, the Lake Khasan region became a tense theater of combat as Soviet and Japanese forces clashed around Changkufeng and Hill 52. The Soviets pushed a multi-front offensive, bolstered by artillery, tanks, and air power, yet the Japanese defenders held firm, aided by engineers, machine guns, and heavy guns. By the ninth and tenth, a stubborn Japanese resilience kept Hill 52 and Changkufeng in Japanese hands, though the price was steep and the field was littered with the costs of battle. Diplomatically, both sides aimed to confine the fighting and avoid a larger war. Negotiations trudged on, culminating in a tentative cease-fire draft for August eleventh: a halt to hostilities, positions to be held as of midnight on the tenth, and the creation of a border-demarcation commission. Moscow pressed for a neutral umpire; Tokyo resisted, accepting a Japanese participant but rejecting a neutral referee. The cease-fire was imperfect, with miscommunications and differing interpretations persisting.    #185 Operation Hainan Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. After what seemed like a lifetime over in the northern border between the USSR and Japan, today we are returning to the Second Sino-Japanese War. Now I thought it might be a bit jarring to dive into it, so let me do a brief summary of where we are at, in the year of 1939. As the calendar turned to 1939, the Second Sino-Japanese War, which had erupted in July 1937 with the Marco Polo Bridge Incident and escalated into full-scale conflict, had evolved into a protracted quagmire for the Empire of Japan. What began as a swift campaign to subjugate the Republic of China under Chiang Kai-shek had, by the close of 1938, transformed into a war of attrition. Japanese forces, under the command of generals like Shunroku Hata and Yasuji Okamura, had achieved stunning territorial gains: the fall of Shanghai in November 1937 after a brutal three-month battle that cost over 200,000 Chinese lives; the infamous capture of Nanjing in December 1937, marked by the Nanjing Massacre where an estimated 300,000 civilians and disarmed soldiers were killed in a six-week orgy of violence; and the sequential occupations of Xuzhou in May 1938, Wuhan in October 1938, and Guangzhou that same month.  These victories secured Japan's control over China's eastern seaboard, major riverine arteries like the Yangtze, and key industrial centers, effectively stripping the Nationalists of much of their economic base. Yet, despite these advances, China refused to capitulate. Chiang's government had retreated inland to the mountainous stronghold of Chongqing in Sichuan province, where it regrouped amid the fog-laden gorges, drawing on the vast human reserves of China's interior and the resilient spirit of its people. By late 1938, Japanese casualties had mounted to approximately 50,000 killed and 200,000 wounded annually, straining the Imperial Japanese Army's resources and exposing the vulnerabilities of overextended supply lines deep into hostile territory. In Tokyo, the corridors of the Imperial General Headquarters and the Army Ministry buzzed with urgent deliberations during the winter of 1938-1939. The initial doctrine of "quick victory" through decisive battles, epitomized by the massive offensives of 1937 and 1938, had proven illusory. Japan's military planners, influenced by the Kwantung Army's experiences in Manchuria and the ongoing stalemate, recognized that China's sheer size, with its 4 million square miles and over 400 million inhabitants, rendered total conquest unfeasible without unacceptable costs. Intelligence reports highlighted the persistence of Chinese guerrilla warfare, particularly in the north where Communist forces under Mao Zedong's Eighth Route Army conducted hit-and-run operations from bases in Shanxi and Shaanxi, sabotaging railways and ambushing convoys. The Japanese response included brutal pacification campaigns, such as the early iterations of what would later formalize as the "Three Alls Policy" (kill all, burn all, loot all), aimed at devastating rural economies and isolating resistance pockets. But these measures only fueled further defiance. By early 1939, a strategic pivot was formalized: away from direct annihilation of Chinese armies toward a policy of economic strangulation. This "blockade and interdiction" approach sought to sever China's lifelines to external aid, choking off the flow of weapons, fuel, and materiel that sustained the Nationalist war effort. As one Japanese staff officer noted in internal memos, the goal was to "starve the dragon in its lair," acknowledging the limits of Japanese manpower, total forces in China numbered around 1 million by 1939, against China's inexhaustible reserves. Central to this new strategy were the three primary overland supply corridors that had emerged as China's backdoors to the world, compensating for the Japanese naval blockade that had sealed off most coastal ports since late 1937. The first and most iconic was the Burma Road, a 717-mile engineering marvel hastily constructed between 1937 and 1938 by over 200,000 Chinese and Burmese laborers under the direction of engineers like Chih-Ping Chen. Stretching from the railhead at Lashio in British Burma (modern Myanmar) through treacherous mountain passes and dense jungles to Kunming in Yunnan province, the road navigated elevations up to 7,000 feet with hundreds of hairpin turns and precarious bridges. By early 1939, it was operational, albeit plagued by monsoonal mudslides, banditry, and mechanical breakdowns of the imported trucks, many Ford and Chevrolet models supplied via British Rangoon. Despite these challenges, it funneled an increasing volume of aid: in 1939 alone, estimates suggest up to 10,000 tons per month of munitions, gasoline, and aircraft parts from Allied sources, including early Lend-Lease precursors from the United States. The road's completion in 1938 had been a direct response to the loss of southern ports, and its vulnerability to aerial interdiction made it a prime target in Japanese planning documents. The second lifeline was the Indochina route, centered on the French-built Yunnan-Vietnam Railway (also known as the Hanoi-Kunming Railway), a 465-mile narrow-gauge line completed in 1910 that linked the port of Haiphong in French Indochina to Kunming via Hanoi and Lao Cai. This colonial artery, supplemented by parallel roads and river transport along the Red River, became China's most efficient supply conduit in 1938-1939, exploiting France's uneasy neutrality. French authorities, under Governor-General Pierre Pasquier and later Georges Catroux, turned a blind eye to transshipments, allowing an average of 15,000 to 20,000 tons monthly in early 1939, far surpassing the Burma Road's initial capacity. Cargoes included Soviet arms rerouted via Vladivostok and American oil, with French complicity driven by anti-Japanese sentiment and profitable tolls. However, Japanese reconnaissance flights from bases in Guangdong noted the vulnerability of bridges and rail yards, leading to initial bombing raids by mid-1939. Diplomatic pressure mounted, with Tokyo issuing protests to Paris, foreshadowing the 1940 closure under Vichy France after the fall of France in Europe. The route's proximity to the South China Sea made it a focal point for Japanese naval strategists, who viewed it as a "leak in the blockade." The third corridor, often overlooked but critical, was the Northwest Highway through Soviet Central Asia and Xinjiang province. This overland network, upgraded between 1937 and 1941 with Soviet assistance, connected the Turkestan-Siberian Railway at Almaty (then Alma-Ata) to Lanzhou in Gansu via Urumqi, utilizing a mix of trucks, camel caravans, and rudimentary roads across the Gobi Desert and Tian Shan mountains. Under the Sino-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact of August 1937 and subsequent aid agreements, Moscow supplied China with over 900 aircraft, 82 tanks, 1,300 artillery pieces, and vast quantities of ammunition and fuel between 1937 and 1941—much of it traversing this route. In 1938-1939, volumes peaked, with Soviet pilots and advisors even establishing air bases in Lanzhou. The highway's construction involved tens of thousands of Chinese laborers, facing harsh winters and logistical hurdles, but it delivered up to 2,000 tons monthly, including entire fighter squadrons like the Polikarpov I-16. Japanese intelligence, aware of this "Red lifeline," planned disruptions but were constrained by the ongoing Nomonhan Incident on the Manchurian-Soviet border in 1939, which diverted resources and highlighted the risks of provoking Moscow. These routes collectively sustained China's resistance, prompting Japan's high command to prioritize their severance. In March 1939, the South China Area Army was established under General Rikichi Andō (later succeeded by Field Marshal Hisaichi Terauchi), headquartered in Guangzhou, with explicit orders to disrupt southern communications. Aerial campaigns intensified, with Mitsubishi G3M "Nell" bombers from Wuhan and Guangzhou targeting Kunming's airfields and the Red River bridges, while diplomatic maneuvers pressured colonial powers: Britain faced demands during the June 1939 Tientsin Crisis to close the Burma Road, and France received ultimatums that culminated in the 1940 occupation of northern Indochina. Yet, direct assaults on Yunnan or Guangxi were deemed too arduous due to rugged terrain and disease risks. Instead, planners eyed peripheral objectives to encircle these arteries. This strategic calculus set the stage for the invasion of Hainan Island, a 13,000-square-mile landmass off Guangdong's southern coast, rich in iron and copper but strategically priceless for its position astride the Indochina route and proximity to Hong Kong. By February 1939, Japanese admirals like Nobutake Kondō of the 5th Fleet advocated seizure to establish air and naval bases, plugging blockade gaps and enabling raids on Haiphong and Kunming, a prelude to broader southern expansion that would echo into the Pacific War. Now after the fall campaign around Canton in autumn 1938, the Japanese 21st Army found itself embedded in a relentless effort to sever the enemy's lifelines. Its primary objective shifted from mere battlefield engagements to tightening the choke points of enemy supply, especially along the Canton–Hankou railway. Recognizing that war materiel continued to flow into the enemy's hands, the Imperial General Headquarters ordered the 21st Army to strike at every other supply route, one by one, until the arteries of logistics were stifled. The 21st Army undertook a series of decisive occupations to disrupt transport and provisioning from multiple directions. To sustain these difficult campaigns, Imperial General Headquarters reinforced the south China command, enabling greater operational depth and endurance. The 21st Army benefited from a series of reinforcements during 1939, which allowed a reorganization of assignments and missions: In late January, the Iida Detachment was reorganized into the Formosa Mixed Brigade and took part in the invasion of Hainan Island.  Hainan, just 15 miles across the Qiongzhou Strait from the mainland, represented a critical "loophole": it lay astride the Gulf of Tonkin, enabling smuggling of arms and materiel from Haiphong to Kunming, and offered potential airfields for bombing raids deep into Yunnan. Japanese interest in Hainan dated to the 1920s, driven by the Taiwan Governor-General's Office, which eyed the island's tropical resources (rubber, iron, copper) and naval potential at ports like Sanya (Samah). Prewar surveys by Japanese firms, such as those documented in Ide Kiwata's Minami Shina no Sangyō to Keizai (1939), highlighted mineral wealth and strategic harbors. The fall of Guangzhou in October 1938 provided the perfect launchpad, but direct invasion was delayed until early 1939 amid debates between the IJA (favoring mainland advances) and IJN (prioritizing naval encirclement). The operation would also heavily align with broader "southward advance" (Nanshin-ron) doctrine foreshadowing invasions of French Indochina (1940) and the Pacific War. On the Chinese side, Hainan was lightly defended as part of Guangdong's "peace preservation" under General Yu Hanmou. Two security regiments, six guard battalions, and a self-defense corps, totaling around 7,000–10,000 poorly equipped troops guarded the island, supplemented by roughly 300 Communist guerrillas under Feng Baiju, who operated independently in the interior. The indigenous Li (Hlai) people in the mountainous south, alienated by Nationalist taxes, provided uneven support but later allied with Communists. The Imperial General Headquarters ordered the 21st Army, in cooperation with the Navy, to occupy and hold strategic points on the island near Haikou-Shih. The 21st Army commander assigned the Formosa Mixed Brigade to carry out this mission. Planning began in late 1938 under the IJN's Fifth Fleet, with IJA support from the 21st Army. The objective: secure northern and southern landing sites to bisect the island, establish air/naval bases, and exploit resources. Vice Admiral Nobutake Kondō, commanding the fleet, emphasized surprise and air superiority. The invasion began under the cover of darkness on February 9, 1939, when Kondō's convoy entered Tsinghai Bay on the northern shore of Hainan and anchored at midnight. Japanese troops swiftly disembarked, encountering minimal initial resistance from the surprised Chinese defenders, and secured a beachhead in the northern zone. At 0300 hours on 10 February, the Formosa Mixed Brigade, operating in close cooperation with naval units, executed a surprise landing at the northeastern point of Tengmai Bay in north Hainan. By 04:30, the right flank reached the main road leading to Fengyingshih, while the left flank reached a position two kilometers south of Tienwei. By 07:00, the right flank unit had overcome light enemy resistance near Yehli and occupied Chiungshan. At that moment there were approximately 1,000 elements of the enemy's 5th Infantry Brigade (militia) at Chiungshan; about half of these troops were destroyed, and the remainder fled into the hills south of Tengmai in a state of disarray. Around 08:30 that same day, the left flank unit advanced to the vicinity of Shuchang and seized Hsiuying Heights. By 12:00, it occupied Haikou, the island's northern port city and administrative center, beginning around noon. Army and navy forces coordinated to mop up remaining pockets of resistance in the northern areas, overwhelming the scattered Chinese security units through superior firepower and organization. No large-scale battles are recorded in primary accounts; instead, the engagements were characterized by rapid advances and localized skirmishes, as the Chinese forces, lacking heavy artillery or air support, could not mount a sustained defense. By the end of the day, Japanese control over the north was consolidating, with Haikou falling under their occupation.Also on 10 February, the Brigade pushed forward to seize Cingang. Wenchang would be taken on the 22nd, followed by Chinglan Port on the 23rd. On February 11, the operation expanded southward when land combat units amphibiously assaulted Samah (now Sanya) at the island's southern tip. This landing allowed them to quickly seize key positions, including the port of Yulin (Yulinkang) and the town of Yai-Hsien (Yaxian, now part of Sanya). With these southern footholds secured, Japanese forces fanned out to subjugate the rest of the island, capturing inland areas and infrastructure with little organized opposition. Meanwhile, the landing party of the South China Navy Expeditionary Force, which had joined with the Army to secure Haikou, began landing on the island's southern shore at dawn on 14 February. They operated under the protection of naval and air units. By the same morning, the landing force had advanced to Sa-Riya and, by 12:00 hours, had captured Yulin Port. Chinese casualties were significant in the brief fighting; from January to May 1939, reports indicate the 11th security regiment alone suffered 8 officers and 162 soldiers killed, 3 officers and 16 wounded, and 5 officers and 68 missing, though figures for other units are unclear. Japanese losses were not publicly detailed but appear to have been light.  When crisis pressed upon them, Nationalist forces withdrew from coastal Haikou, shepherding the last civilians toward the sheltering embrace of the Wuzhi mountain range that bands the central spine of Hainan. From that high ground they sought to endure the storm, praying that the rugged hills might shield their families from the reach of war. Yet the Li country's mountains did not deliver a sanctuary free of conflict. Later in August of 1943, an uprising erupted among the Li,Wang Guoxing, a figure of local authority and stubborn resolve. His rebellion was swiftly crushed; in reprisal, the Nationalists executed a seizure of vengeance that extended far beyond the moment of defeat, claiming seven thousand members of Wang Guoxing's kin in his village. The episode was grim testimony to the brutal calculus of war, where retaliation and fear indelibly etched the landscape of family histories. Against this backdrop, the Communists under Feng Baiju and the native Li communities forged a vigorous guerrilla war against the occupiers. The struggle was not confined to partisan skirmishes alone; it unfolded as a broader contest of survival and resistance. The Japanese response was relentless and punitive, and it fell upon Li communities in western Hainan with particular ferocity, Sanya and Danzhou bore the brunt of violence, as did the many foreign laborers conscripted into service by the occupying power. The toll of these reprisals was stark: among hundreds of thousands of slave laborers pressed into service, tens of thousands perished. Of the 100,000 laborers drawn from Hong Kong, only about 20,000 survived the war's trials, a haunting reminder of the human cost embedded in the occupation. Strategically, the island of Hainan took on a new if coercive purpose. Portions of the island were designated as a naval administrative district, with the Hainan Guard District Headquarters established at Samah, signaling its role as a forward air base and as an operational flank for broader anti-Chiang Kai-shek efforts. In parallel, the island's rich iron and copper resources were exploited to sustain the war economy of the occupiers. The control of certain areas on Hainan provided a base of operations for incursions into Guangdong and French Indochina, while the airbases that dotted the island enabled long-range air raids that threaded routes from French Indochina and Burma into the heart of China. The island thus assumed a grim dual character: a frontier fortress for the occupiers and a ground for the prolonged suffering of its inhabitants. Hainan then served as a launchpad for later incursions into Guangdong and Indochina. Meanwhile after Wuhan's collapse, the Nationalist government's frontline strength remained formidable, even as attrition gnawed at its edges. By the winter of 1938–1939, the front line had swelled to 261 divisions of infantry and cavalry, complemented by 50 independent brigades. Yet the political and military fissures within the Kuomintang suggested fragility beneath the apparent depth of manpower. The most conspicuous rupture came with Wang Jingwei's defection, the vice president and chairman of the National Political Council, who fled to Hanoi on December 18, 1938, leading a procession of more than ten other KMT officials, including Chen Gongbo, Zhou Fohai, Chu Minqi, and Zeng Zhongming. In the harsh arithmetic of war, defections could not erase the country's common resolve to resist Japanese aggression, and the anti-Japanese national united front still served as a powerful instrument, rallying the Chinese populace to "face the national crisis together." Amid this political drama, Japan's strategy moved into a phase that sought to convert battlefield endurance into political consolidation. As early as January 11, 1938, Tokyo had convened an Imperial Conference and issued a framework for handling the China Incident that would shape the theater for years. The "Outline of Army Operations Guidance" and "Continental Order No. 241" designated the occupied territories as strategic assets to be held with minimal expansion beyond essential needs. The instruction mapped an operational zone that compressed action to a corridor between Anqing, Xinyang, Yuezhou, and Nanchang, while the broader line of occupation east of a line tracing West Sunit, Baotou, and the major river basins would be treated as pacified space. This was a doctrine of attrition, patience, and selective pressure—enough to hold ground, deny resources to the Chinese, and await a more opportune political rupture. Yet even as Japan sought political attrition, the war's tactical center of gravity drifted toward consolidation around Wuhan and the pathways that fed the Yangtze. In October 1938, after reducing Wuhan to a fortressed crescent of contested ground, the Japanese General Headquarters acknowledged the imperative to adapt to a protracted war. The new calculus prioritized political strategy alongside military operations: "We should attach importance to the offensive of political strategy, cultivate and strengthen the new regime, and make the National Government decline, which will be effective." If the National Government trembled under coercive pressure, it risked collapse, and if not immediately, then gradually through a staged series of operations. In practice, this meant reinforcing a centralized center while allowing peripheral fronts to be leveraged against Chongqing's grip on the war's moral economy. In the immediate post-Wuhan period, Japan divided its responsibilities and aimed at a standoff that would enable future offensives. The 11th Army Group, stationed in the Wuhan theater, became the spearhead of field attacks on China's interior, occupying a strategic triangle that included Hunan, Jiangxi, and Guangxi, and protecting the rear of southwest China's line of defense. The central objective was not merely to seize territory, but to deny Chinese forces the capacity to maneuver along the critical rail and river corridors that fed the Nanjing–Jiujiang line and the Zhejiang–Jiangxi Railway. Central to this plan was Wuhan's security and the ability to constrain Jiujiang's access to the Yangtze, preserving a corridor for air power and logistics. The pre-war arrangement in early 1939 was a tableau of layered defenses and multiple war zones, designed to anticipate and blunt Japanese maneuver. By February 1939, the Ninth War Zone under Xue Yue stood in a tense standoff with the Japanese 11th Army along the Jiangxi and Hubei front south of the Yangtze. The Ninth War Zone's order of battle, Luo Zhuoying's 19th Army Group defending the northern Nanchang front, Wang Lingji's 30th Army Group near Wuning, Fan Songfu's 8th and 73rd Armies along Henglu, Tang Enbo's 31st Army Group guarding southern Hubei and northern Hunan, and Lu Han's 1st Army Group in reserve near Changsha and Liuyang, was a carefully calibrated attempt to absorb, delay, and disrupt any Xiushui major Japanese thrust toward Nanchang, a city whose strategic significance stretched beyond its own bounds. In the spring of 1939, Nanchang was the one city in southern China that Tokyo could not leave in Chinese hands. It was not simply another provincial capital; it was the beating heart of whatever remained of China's war effort south of the Yangtze, and the Japanese knew it. High above the Gan River, on the flat plains west of Poyang Lake, lay three of the finest airfields China had ever built: Qingyunpu, Daxiaochang, and Xiangtang. Constructed only a few years earlier with Soviet engineers and American loans, they were long, hard-surfaced, and ringed with hangars and fuel dumps. Here the Chinese Air Force had pulled back after the fall of Wuhan, and here the red-starred fighters and bombers of the Soviet volunteer groups still flew. From Nanchang's runways a determined pilot could reach Japanese-held Wuhan in twenty minutes, Guangzhou in less than an hour, and even strike the docks at Hong Kong if he pushed his range. Every week Japanese reconnaissance planes returned with photographs of fresh craters patched, new aircraft parked wing-to-wing, and Soviet pilots sunning themselves beside their I-16s. As long as those fields remained Chinese, Japan could never claim the sky. The city was more than airfields. It sat exactly where the Zhejiang–Jiangxi Railway met the line running north to Jiujiang and the Yangtze, a knot that tied together three provinces. Barges crowded Poyang Lake's western shore, unloading crates of Soviet ammunition and aviation fuel that had come up the river from the Indochina railway. Warehouses along the tracks bulged with shells and rice. To the Japanese staff officers plotting in Wuhan and Guangzhou, Nanchang looked less like a city and more like a loaded spring: if Chiang Kai-shek ever found the strength for a counteroffensive to retake the middle Yangtze, this would be the place from which it would leap. And so, in the cold March of 1939, the Imperial General Headquarters marked Nanchang in red on every map and gave General Okamura the order he had been waiting for: take it, whatever the cost. Capturing the city would do three things at once. It would blind the Chinese Air Force in the south by seizing or destroying the only bases from which it could still seriously operate. It would tear a hole in the last east–west rail line still feeding Free China. And it would shove the Nationalist armies another two hundred kilometers farther into the interior, buying Japan precious time to digest its earlier conquests and tighten the blockade. Above all, Nanchang was the final piece in a great aerial ring Japan was closing around southern China. Hainan had fallen in February, giving the navy its southern airfields. Wuhan and Guangzhou already belonged to the army. Once Nanchang was taken, Japanese aircraft would sit on a continuous arc of bases from the tropical beaches of the South China Sea to the banks of the Yangtze, and nothing (neither the Burma Road convoys nor the French railway from Hanoi) would move without their permission. Chiang Kai-shek's decision to strike first in the Nanchang region in March 1939 reflected both urgency and a desire to seize initiative before Japanese modernization of the battlefield could fully consolidate. On March 8, Chiang directed Xue Yue to prepare a preemptive attack intended to seize the offensive by March 15, focusing the Ninth War Zone's efforts on preventing a river-crossing assault and pinning Japanese forces in place. The plan called for a sequence of coordinated actions: the 19th Army Group to hold the northern front of Nanchang; the Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Border Advance Army (the 8th and 73rd Armies) to strike the enemy's left flank from Wuning toward De'an and Ruichang; the 30th and 27th Army Groups to consolidate near Wuning; and the 1st Army Group to push toward Xiushui and Sandu, opening routes for subsequent operations. Yet even as Xue Yue pressed for action, the weather of logistics and training reminded observers that no victory could be taken for granted. By March 9–10, Xue Yue warned Chiang that troops were not adequately trained, supplies were scarce, and preparations were insufficient, requesting a postponement to March 24. Chiang's reply was resolute: the attack must commence no later than the 24th, for the aim was preemption and the desire to tether the enemy's forces before they could consolidate. When the moment of decision arrived, the Chinese army began to tense, and the Japanese, no strangers to rapid shifts in tempo—moved to exploit any hesitation or fog of mobilization. The Ninth War Zone's response crystallized into a defensive posture as the Japanese pressed forward, marking a transition from preemption to standoff as both sides tested the limits of resilience. The Japanese plan for what would become known as Operation Ren, aimed at severing the Zhejiang–Jiangxi Railway, breaking the enemy's line of communication, and isolating Nanchang, reflected a calculated synthesis of air power, armored mobility, and canalized ground offensives. On February 6, 1939, the Central China Expeditionary Army issued a set of precise directives: capture Nanchang to cut the Zhejiang–Jiangxi Railway and disrupt the southern reach of Anhui and Zhejiang provinces; seize Nanchang along the Nanchang–Xunyi axis to split enemy lines and "crush" Chinese resistance south of that zone; secure rear lines immediately after the city's fall; coordinate with naval air support to threaten Chinese logistics and airfields beyond the rear lines. The plan anticipated contingencies by pre-positioning heavy artillery and tanks in formations that could strike with speed and depth, a tactical evolution from previous frontal assaults. Okamura Yasuji, commander of the 11th Army, undertook a comprehensive program of reconnaissance, refining the assault plan with a renewed emphasis on speed and surprise. Aerial reconnaissance underlined the terrain, fortifications, and the disposition of Chinese forces, informing the selection of the Xiushui River crossing and the route of the main axis of attack. Okamura's decision to reorganize artillery and armor into concentrated tank groups, flanked by air support and advanced by long-range maneuver, marked a departure from the earlier method of distributing heavy weapons along the infantry front. Sumita Laishiro commanded the 6th Field Heavy Artillery Brigade, with more than 300 artillery pieces, while Hirokichi Ishii directed a force of 135 tanks and armored vehicles. This blended arms approach promised a breakthrough that would outpace the Chinese defenders and open routes for the main force. By mid-February 1939, Japanese preparations had taken on a high tempo. The 101st and 106th Divisions, along with attached artillery, assembled south of De'an, while tank contingents gathered north of De'an. The 6th Division began moving toward Ruoxi and Wuning, the Inoue Detachment took aim at the waterways of Poyang Lake, and the 16th and 9th Divisions conducted feints on the Han River's left bank. The orchestration of these movements—feints, riverine actions, and armored flanking, was designed to reduce the Chinese capacity to concentrate forces around Nanchang and to force the defenders into a less secure posture along the Nanchang–Jiujiang axis. Japan's southward strategy reframed the war: no longer a sprint to reduce Chinese forces in open fields, but a patient siege of lifelines, railways, and airbases. Hainan's seizure, the control of Nanchang's airfields, and the disruption of the Zhejiang–Jiangxi Railway exemplified a shift from large-scale battles to coercive pressure that sought to cripple Nationalist mobilization and erode Chongqing's capacity to sustain resistance. For China, the spring of 1939 underscored resilience amid mounting attrition. Chiang Kai-shek's insistence on offensive means to seize the initiative demonstrated strategic audacity, even as shortages and uneven training slowed tempo. The Ninth War Zone's defense, bolstered by makeshift airpower from Soviet and Allied lendings, kept open critical corridors and delayed Japan's consolidation. The war's human cost—massive casualties, forced labor, and the Li uprising on Hainan—illuminates the brutality that fueled both sides' resolve. In retrospect, the period around Canton, Wuhan, and Nanchang crystallizes a grim truth: the Sino-Japanese war was less a single crescendo of battles than a protracted contest of endurance, logistics, and political stamina. The early 1940s would widen these fault lines, but the groundwork laid in 1939, competition over supply routes, air control, and strategic rail nodes, would shape the war's pace and, ultimately, its outcome. The conflict's memory lies not only in the clashes' flash but in the stubborn persistence of a nation fighting to outlast a formidable adversary. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The Japanese invasion of Hainan and proceeding operations to stop logistical leaks into Nationalist China, showcased the complexity and scale of the growing Second Sino-Japanese War. It would not merely be a war of territorial conquest, Japan would have to strangle the colossus using every means necessary.  

This week Seth Paridon and Jon Parshall take a step to the east and look at the Battle of Hong Kong and the subsequent third Battle of Changsha.  In the late 1930's, Great Britain felt that defending the city of Hong Kong and it's environs was not worth the waste of manpower and materiel.Yet, by 1941, they had changed their tune, albeit half-heartedly.  Hong Kong's survival, not to the British, but to the Chinese, was invaluable, so the crown invested both men and machine to the defense.  The fight that followed had an expected ending, but the time in between saw some of the most fierce fighting thus far during the young war.British, Indian and especially, the Canadians, fought tooth and nail to hold the area, eventually falling to the Japanese wave.  On the mainland, the Japanese sought to create an opportunity to capture the vital city of Changsha, something that had thus far, eluded them.  In the battle that follows, the Japanese not only fail in their quest, but nearly lose an entire Army to Chinese Nationalist forces in the only major Allied victory against the Japanese in the first few months of the war.

Nick - in South Florida ahead of the Pegasus World Cup - is joined by award winning Racing Post writer Jonathan Harding, who reports from the UK ahead of Cheltenham Trials Day. We hear from a confident Jimmy Mangan about the chances of Spillane's Tower in this weekend's Cotswold Chase, while French agent Bertrand le Metayer details the long road back to the racecourse for Cleeve Hurdle entry Theleme, plus Dan Barber looks at trainers in form through the Timeform lens. In Florida, Nick catches up at some length with colourful and charismatic owner Michael Iavarone, whose quest to finally have a winner on Pegasus Day sees him with eleven runners on the card. Meanwhile, Ellerslie Park Executive GM Craig Baker has news of this weekend's big fixture in New Zealand, the Karaka Millions, while James McDonald pays his own tribute to the retiring Via Sistina, and offers justification for the decision to race Romantic Warrior exclusively in Hong Kong this year.

Hong Kong & China Launch Gold Clearing System The gold and silver prices continue to rally, and as that's happening ,the East continues to make preparations to take control of the markets. The latest development is a new gold clearing system set up by Hong Kong and China, which Vince goes through in this morning's show, as well as the rest of today's precious metals developments. So to stay up-to-date on the latest gold and silver news, click to watch this video now! - To get access to Vince's research in 'Goldfix Premium' go to: https://vblgoldfix.substack.com/ - Get access to Arcadia's Daily Gold and Silver updates here: https://goldandsilverdaily.substack.com/ - Join our free email list to be notified when a new video comes out: click here: https://arcadiaeconomics.com/email-signup/ - Follow Arcadia Economics on twitter at: https://x.com/ArcadiaEconomic - To get your copy of 'The Big Silver Short' (paperback or audio) go to: https://arcadiaeconomics.com/thebigsilvershort/ - #silver #silverprice #gold And remember to get outside and have some fun every once in a while!:) (URL0VD)Subscribe to Arcadia Economics on Soundwise

In "Serving Aces" Alexandra Stevenson and Hugues Laverdiere talk diamonds and fashion including winners and losers.  Donna Vekic' diamond company gave each woman in the main draw a diamond bracelet.  Venus Williams was up 4-0 in the third - but somehow collapsed in technique and serve - and lost.  The Open had a record breaking crowd of 73,000 on the first day, with many of the fans rushing to see Alex Eala the young Filipino, who has become a breakout star on the WTA Tour with the amount of fans anxious to see her play.  From Hong Kong to Melbourne they are driven by Ella's tenacity.  She has given her country a lot to cheer.  The Aussies brought out Federer and Agassi to play Rafter and Hewitt in a pre first round doubles exhibition.  The retired Ash Barty came out to relieve a rather winded Agassi.Djokovic Alcaraz easily through as were Pegula, Gauff, Swiatek, Andrea.  Wimbledon champion Vondrousova had to withdraw because of a shoulder injury and Felix Auger Aliassime retired to cramping.  Ball is in Ougi's court talks about why the first round is so important and difficult to get through - as Alexandra attests to her play early in her career.  Podcast quote goes to Mark Twain and Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza, the Indiana University quarterback. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hong Kong was the final stop on our month-long journey through Asia, following our cruise from Hobart to Singapore. For Scott, it was a return after nearly 20 years. For Melissa, it was a first visit. What we both discovered was a city that felt surprisingly familiar, efficient, and easy to navigate. In this episode, we explore Hong Kong through its world-class public transportation system, share our memorable food experiences, reflect on cultural familiarity, and balance the intensity of the city with a day at Disney. Some links are affiliate links. See our disclosure. Help Support the Podcast by Buying us a Coffee ☕️ In this episode, you'll discover: Why Hong Kong felt far more familiar than expected—despite major political changes How Hong Kong's public transportation compares to London's Underground Riding the MTR, the iconic Star Ferry, and the historic “ding ding” trams Why the tram ride to Victoria Peak is a must-do (especially at night) Navigating the city easily using the Octopus card vs. tap-to-pay A memorable first-night meal at a Michelin-star Cantonese restaurant—and why it felt universal A reminder that shrimp really does show up in everything in Asia Experiencing Hong Kong Disneyland as a cultural contrast to the city Why character meet-and-greets were busier than ride lines at the park How locals approach Disney differently, especially when it comes to photos and costumes Where they stayed and why location matters in a fast-moving city A Sunshine Travelers advisory on staying at the Conrad Hong Kong How many days you really need in Hong Kong—and when to add an extra day Real-world travel hiccups and why patience is an essential packing item Why Hong Kong turned out to be the perfect place to end a long journey Resources & Links You can buy Disneyland Hong Kong Tickets here, and then you download the Disneyland Hong Kong app, load your ticket, and then make a park reservation for the day you want to visit. Keep your electronic park ticket handy, though, because you'll need it to scan into the park Hear our Full Recap of Disneyland Hong Kong Here: Episode 149 - Disneyland Hong Kong: Everything You Need to Know Before You Go: Our Experience Want curated travel deals every week? Subscribe to Travel Deal Insiders — the best travel deals sent straight to your inbox. Get Our Ultimate Packing Guide for Traveling Smart and Packing Light + Access to Exclusive Weekly Content here. Don't waste your precious vacation time with Jet Lag, get Flykitt and watch Jet Lag disappear! Protect your privacy, boost your security, and keep your browsing data safe with Express VPN. Plus, get 3 months free with a yearly plan. Follow Sunshine Travelers Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube Read more about this and other travel destinations on our BLOG Follow our travels on TikTok @sunshinetravelerspodcast Follow us on X @sunshinetrvlrs Connect with us on LinkedIn @sunshinetravelerspodcast Get travel tips and follow our travels on Instagram: @sunshinetravelerspodcast Follow us on Facebook @sunshinetravelerspodcast Connect with us on Threads @sunshinetravelerspodcast Connect with us on Threads See our travel videos on YouTube @sunshinetravelerspodcast Save our travel ideas on Pinterest @sunshinetravelerspodcast Music: This Acoustic Happy Music by Dmitrii Kolesnikov from Pixabay

Send us a texthttps://www.bookclues.comCare about wildlife conservation, China-Africa politics, religious freedom, and character-driven storytelling with real stakes, this conversation is for you. An interview with author David Pinault on his real world fiction bookEarth Dragon RunA Spiritual EntertainmentIgnatius PressA quiet librarian gets pushed out, grabs a stuffed monkey, and walks straight into the underbelly of our global moment. We dive into Earth Dragon Run, a propulsive novel that uses one endangered creature—the pangolin—to map the hidden circuitry of animal trafficking, cyber scams, and state-backed extraction across Africa and Asia. What starts as a quirky quest becomes a moral investigation: How do you keep your soul when markets price everything and protect nothing?We follow Danny Quirk, a 70-year-old with more books than friends, and Minnie Meixing, a Hong Kong student-turned-refugee who channels her courage into wildlife rescue near the China border and later in South Africa. Their paths illuminate hard truths: demand for pangolin scales in traditional medicine, snares that silently kill in the bush, and mines where “cost optimization” erases worker safety and scars the land. Along the way we unpack Cardinal Zen's witness, the Vatican's uneasy deal with Beijing, and why younger Chinese volunteers abroad quietly defy cruelty even as the Party tightens its grip.The conversation moves from San Francisco's Chinatown to Hong Kong marches, from snare sweeps near Kruger to casino-linked cyber scam hubs in Cambodia. We meet characters inspired by real encounters—Afrikaner farmers, Zimbabwean migrants, mixed patrol teams—whose cooperation in the bush cuts through propaganda. We also set Catholic tradition beside Jain nonviolence to ask what genuine compassion demands now: not slogans, but practices that shield the vulnerable. And yes, we talk Latin, old prayers, and the armor of God—because spiritual formation isn't nostalgia; it's training for a world that fights back.Find out more about Professor Pinault other books  https://ignatius.com/authors/david-pinault/

Fresh worries about Federal Reserve independence highlight how immutable economic laws can limit policy extremes. Nicholas Fawcett, Senior Economist at the BlackRock Investment Institute, explains the implications for markets.General disclosure: This material is intended for information purposes only, and does not constitute investment advice, a recommendation or an offer or solicitation to purchase or sell any securities, funds or strategies to any person in any jurisdiction in which an offer, solicitation, purchase or sale would be unlawful under the securities laws of such jurisdiction. The opinions expressed are as of the date of publication and are subject to change without notice. Reliance upon information in this material is at the sole discretion of the reader. Investing involves risks. BlackRock does and may seek to do business with companies covered in this podcast. As a result, readers should be aware that the firm may have a conflict of interest that could affect the objectivity of this podcast.In the U.S. and Canada, this material is intended for public distribution.In the UK and Non-European Economic Area (EEA) countries: this is Issued by BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered office: 12 Throgmorton Avenue, London, EC2N 2DL. Tel:+ 44 (0)20 7743 3000. Registered in England and Wales No. 02020394. For your protection telephone calls are usually recorded. Please refer to the Financial Conduct Authority website for a list of authorised activities conducted by BlackRock.In the European Economic Area (EEA): this is Issued by BlackRock (Netherlands) B.V. is authorised and regulated by the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets. Registered office Amstelplein 1, 1096 HA, Amsterdam, Tel: 020 – 549 5200, Tel: 31-20- 549-5200. Trade Register No. 17068311 For your protection telephone calls are usually recorded.For Investors in Switzerland: This document is marketing material.In South Africa: Please be advised that BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited is an authorised Financial Services provider with the South African Financial Services Board, FSP No. 43288.In Singapore, this is issued by BlackRock (Singapore) Limited (Co. registration no. 200010143N). This advertisement or publication has not been reviewed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. In Hong Kong, this material is issued by BlackRock Asset Management North Asia Limited and has not been reviewed by the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong. In Australia, issued by BlackRock Investment Management (Australia) Limited ABN 13 006 165 975, AFSL 230 523 (BIMAL). This material provides general information only and does not take into account your individual objectives, financial situation, needs or circumstances. Before making any investment decision, you should assess whether the material is appropriate for you and obtain financial advice tailored to you having regard to your individual objectives, financial situation, needs and circumstances. Refer to BIMAL's Financial Services Guide on its website for more information. This material is not a financial product recommendation or an offer or solicitation with respect to the purchase or sale of any financial product in any jurisdictionIn Latin America: this material is for educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice nor an offer or solicitation to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any shares of any Fund (nor shall any such shares be offered or sold to any person) in any jurisdiction in which an offer, solicitation, purchase or sale would be unlawful under the securities law of that jurisdiction. If any funds are mentioned or inferred to in this material, it is possible that some or all of the funds may not have been registered with the securities regulator of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Uruguay or any other securities regulator in any Latin American country and thus might not be publicly offered within any such country. The securities regulators of such countries have not confirmed the accuracy of any information contained herein. The provision of investment management and investment advisory services is a regulated activity in Mexico thus is subject to strict rules. For more information on the Investment Advisory Services offered by BlackRock Mexico please refer to the Investment Services Guide available at www.blackrock.com/mx©2026 BlackRock, Inc. All Rights Reserved. BLACKROCK is a registered trademark of BlackRock, Inc. All other trademarks are those of their respective owners.BII0126-5135643

in this episode, Jared sits down with Alexander Brose, President & CEO of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Canada, to trace his remarkable journey learning Chinese and how it shaped his life and career in unexpected ways.From his early years living in South Korea with his family, to choosing Mandarin over Cantonese at an international school in Hong Kong, Alex shares how Chinese gradually became part of his identity. He continued studying the language through high school and later majored in Asian Studies at Cornell University. A pivotal summer in Harbin with the CET immersion program further deepened both his language skills and cultural connection to China.Alex's path led him to build cross-cultural musical collaborations between China and the U.S., eventually becoming the founding Executive Director of the Tianjin Juilliard School. He reflects on how speaking Chinese created unique professional opportunities, opened doors to deep cultural understanding, and enabled him to be at the forefront of classical music education in China.Throughout the episode, Alex offers thoughtful reflections on the value of immersion, the challenges of maintaining language confidence, and the power of music as a bridge between cultures.Links from the episode:Alexander Brose | Royal Conservatory of Music (Canada)Mandarin Companion Graded ReadersCET Academic ProgramsFrom Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China | IMDB 

The Steve Gruber Show | Threats at Home and Abroad | Guest Host: Scot Bertram --- 19:04 – Gerard Scimeca, attorney and chairman of Consumer Action for a Strong Economy (CASE), a nonprofit free-market consumer advocacy group he co-founded. Scimeca explains why ICE enforcement is more than a political talking point and how it directly impacts everyday consumers. He breaks down the economic and public safety consequences often overlooked in the debate. Follow @CASE_forAmerica. 28:00 – Isabella Redjai, podcast producer with the Manhattan Institute and a first-generation Iranian-American. Redjai provides the latest updates on Iran and the rapidly evolving situation in the region. She offers insight shaped by both policy analysis and personal perspective. 47:10 – John J. Miller, Director of the Dow Journalism Program at Hillsdale College and author of Reading Around: Journalism on Authors, Artists, and Ideas. Miller discusses how your local post office may also be an art museum. He explores the surprising cultural and historical value hidden in plain sight. 57:20 – Mark L. Clifford, President of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation. Clifford examines the case of Jimmy Lai and what it reveals about the erosion of democracy and rule of law in Hong Kong. He explains why Lai's imprisonment matters far beyond China's borders. 1:06:15 – Anthony Forlini, Macomb County Clerk, business owner, husband, and father. Forlini, a candidate for Secretary of State, sounds the alarm on potential massive voter record issues statewide. He explains why election integrity and accurate voter rolls are critical to public trust. 1:25:13 – Kendall Qualls, Project 21 Ambassador and founder of the nonprofit TakeCharge. Qualls reflects on the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and what his message means today. He discusses unity, shared values, and the enduring promise of America for all. 1:35:14 – Bruce de Torres, Director of Communications for the American Small Business League. De Torres breaks down how New York City's socialist policies aimed at the ultra-rich could end up hurting small, family-owned businesses instead. He explains why mom-and-pop shops often pay the real price. --- Visit Steve's website: https://stevegruber.com TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@stevegrubershow Truth: https://truthsocial.com/@stevegrubershow Gettr: https://gettr.com/user/stevegruber Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stevegrubershow Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevegrubershow/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Stevegrubershow Rumble: https://rumble.com/user/TheSteveGruberShow

AI slop as usual. Enjoy! In this wide-ranging episode, the Two Jacks dissect Australia's improved bushfire response amid the Victorian fires, the newly announced royal commission under Justice Virginia Bell, Kevin Rudd's resignation as US Ambassador, escalating unrest in Iran and Venezuela, Ukrainian paramilitary intrigue, US political and economic turbulence, and a detailed cricket analysis covering the Australian summer and England's ongoing struggles.0:00–0:27IntroductionOpening banter and Hong Kong theme music0:27–8:00Australian BushfiresDiscussion of recent Victorian fires around Alexandra and Longwood; praise for improved evacuation technology, CFA coordination, and community heroism since Black Saturday8:00–11:09Kevin Rudd's ResignationAnalysis of Rudd's departure as US Ambassador, his public spat with Elon Musk, and new role as Asia Society President11:09–20:50Royal Commission AnnouncementDeep dive into Virginia Bell's appointment, scope of the inquiry (governance failures, anti-Semitism, extremism), government delays, and potential security secrecy measures20:50–31:00Australian Political LandscapePolling analysis, Labor vs. LNP, One Nation's resurgence, upcoming South Australian election, and protest voting dynamics31:00–36:00US Economic & Political TurmoilVIX volatility, Jerome Powell's position, interest rate debates, and Trump administration's policy impacts36:00–45:00Iran Protests & Regional UnrestEconomic collapse (Rial devaluation), spreading regional protests, regime fragility, Western hesitation on intervention, and BRICS dynamics44:00–50:00Venezuela CrisisMaduro's grip on power, US sanctions, paramilitary threats, opposition struggles, and regional destabilization50:00–56:00US Domestic IssuesMinnesota shooting incident, police conduct debates, First Amendment tensions, and body-camera footage controversies56:00–1:00:00Ukraine Conflict UpdateDenis Kapustin's alleged drone strike death, neo-Nazi paramilitary links, GUR intelligence operations, and misinformation battles1:00:00–1:09:00European & UK PoliticsStarmer's Labour struggles, potential leadership challenges, Macron's position in France, and broader European political shifts1:09:00–1:22:00Cricket AnalysisAustralian summer review, BBL performances, emerging talent (multicultural pipeline), England's coaching chaos, disciplinary issues, and 2027 Ashes preview1:22:00–EndWrap-Up & Listener EngagementFinal thoughts and call for listener feedbackKey Topics CoveredAustralian Bushfires: Improved CFA response, evacuation technology, community resilience in Alexandra and LongwoodRoyal Commission: Justice Virginia Bell's appointment, scope including anti-Semitism and governance failures, procedural secrecyKevin Rudd: Resignation as US Ambassador, Musk feud, Asia Society appointmentIran: Economic devastation, hyperinflation, regional protest spread, US/Western response optionsVenezuela: Ongoing instability, Maduro's regime, sanctions impactUkraine: Denis Kapustin saga, paramilitary operations, GUR intelligence successesCricket: Australian talent depth, multicultural recruitment, England's discipline and coaching woes, 2027 Ashes outlookBRICS: Economic bloc now exceeding US+EU GDP, geopolitical implications

Welcome to another episode of Death Don't Do Fiction, the AIPT Movies podcast! The podcast about the enduring legacy of our favorite movies! It's January, so that means it's time for our “Uncannuary” series! Where we cover movies that feature superheroes or vigilantes, either adapted from comics or created specifically for the big screen! In this week's episode, Alex, Tim, and returning guest Matt Naughton discuss the 1998 action-horror hybrid that kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Blade!The iconic Blood Rave! Intense late 90s vibes, including an influential and memorable techno soundtrack! Hong Kong-style action! Dramatic sunglass catching! Abundant black trench coats! Questionable blood tasting! Whimsical vampire souls! A sunrise execution! A melting body! Flirtatious sunscreen application! Vampire profiling! Good but somewhat-dated special effects! A surprisingly committed DJ! Dangerous autonomous trains! Late 90s computer graphics! reckless refueling! Solid horror moments, including a jump scare that saves someone from an awkward conversation! One of the only movies directed by Stephen Norrington before his early retirement! A cast that includes a bullied Donal Logue, Kris Kristofferson, Udo Kier, N'Bushe Wright, Traci Lords, AVP's Sanaa Lathan, Stephen Dorff as a slimy Vampire Supremacist, and of course, Wesley Snipes at his edgiest - delivering catchy one-liners while posing for countless aura-farming shots in a role he was born to play!In addition, Matt Naughton reminds everyone how great John Woo's Face/Off is, while Alex fully gives in to his love of James Cameron and gushes about Avatar: Fire and Ash!As an added bonus, Alex shares that he was in a Holidanger movie himself, 2013's You Better Watch Out!, which can be found on YouTube here!You can find Death Don't Do Fiction on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. As always, if you enjoy the podcast, be sure to leave us a positive rating, subscribe to the show, and tell your friends!The Death Don't Do Fiction podcast brings you the latest in movie news, reviews, and more! Hosted by supposed “industry vets,” Alex Harris and Tim Gardiner, the show gives you a peek behind the scenes from two filmmakers with oddly nonexistent filmographies. You can find Alex on Twitter, Bluesky, or Letterboxd @actionharris. This episode's guest, Matt Naughton, can be found on Instagram @mnaughty85. Tim can't be found on social media because he doesn't exist. If you have any questions or suggestions for the Death Don't Do Fiction crew, they can be reached at aiptmoviespod@gmail.com, or you can find them on Twitter or Instagram @aiptmoviespod.Theme song is “We Got it Goin On” by Cobra Man.

"When Cinematic Animals Attack" month continues, and things are getting... weird. This week, Marcus and Luke leave the killer bees and sharks behind to head to 1990s Hong Kong for a movie that defies every law of physics and logic: Lam Ngai Kai's The Cat (1992).If you know the director from his cult masterpiece Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky, you know exactly what kind of practical effects madness you're in for. Is The Cat a misunderstood masterpiece of world horror, or is it just too "out there" for its own good? Follow us @ReviewedtodeathMusic:“I'm a Stupid Cat” by bishopvids I'm a Stupid Cat!All additional music provided by Groove Witness - ⁠www.groovewitness.usFollow Viggy @viggyparrhamptonPreorder her new book A Veritable Household Pet - https://a.co/d/9toWLW7Create your ⁠podcast⁠ today! #madeonzencasterRead our companion written reviews - imgur.com/user/trojaSpaceBandit

En esta ocasión hablamos del viaje de Leo a China y Japón y de las principales diferencias entre estos dos países. Nos contó anécdotas del viaje, como las costumbres al comer en China y los famosos eructos, lo mejor de Tokyo y su culto a Dragon Ball. Además, debatimos sobre las diferencias de belleza entre Oriente y Occidente y cómo en Latinoamérica aún no tenemos ciertas tecnologías.MERU, la billetera digital global que te permite manejar tu dinero sin fronteras.Usa el código EDN. Descárgala aquí https://getmeru.com/referrals/?referralCode=EDN y mira lo fácil que es enviar dinero a LATAM y usar tu IBAN desde la app.Si quieres ver más contenido de Escuela de Nada, suscríbete a Patreon donde por $6 al mes tendrás acceso a un episodio exclusivo cada viernes. También podrás elegir el tópico principal de un episodio al mes en nuestro Tema de Oro y además tendrás acceso a los primeros 200 episodios del podcast. https://www.patreon.com/escueladenadaEscúchanos en Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/4xOM98A8Es30eGevw6tYwe?si=QwORHX8BTMyzKxJOa9_oZQ&dl_branch=1Síguenos en nuestras redes sociales:ESCUELA DE NADA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/escueladenada/Twitter: https://twitter.com/escueladenadaTik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@escueladenadaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/escueladenada0:00 Intro1:52 El 2025 se cerraron muchos ciclos6:14 Chris casi pierde su vuelo el día de la caída de Maduro8:30 Nacho está en la etapa hakuna matata de su vida9:58 El viaje de Leo a China y Japón13:10 ¿Hay muchos extranjeros en Japón?16:15 La burocracia para entrar a China18:00 ¿Cómo es el vuelo a Japón?20:05 ¿A qué huelen Japón y China?21:00 La principal diferencia entre China y Japón24:59 ¿Cómo es posible que no tengamos esta tecnología en occidente?26:20 ¿Cómo es la comida en China y Japón?28:25 ¿Hay mendigos en China?29:13 El edificio de 7 pisos de puros repuesticos de teléfonos en Shanghái31:44 ¿Cómo se consigue un buen hotel en Tokyo?34:50 ¿Cómo es recibir el año nuevo en Tokyo?37:58 En China no puedes usar ninguna red social occidental39:37 ¿Cómo es un día turístico en Japón?45:20 ¿Comeríamos comida venezolana en Japón?47:30 No se puede fumar en la calle en Tokyo48:54 Los templos asiáticos son impresionantes51:45 El culto a Dragon Ball en Tokyo53:18 Los precios en Japón vs China54:08 Leo fue a Disney en Shanghái57:05 La moda de Japón vs China58:10 La razón por la que Hong Kong es tan diferente al resto de China1:02:58 El turismo de la miseria es rarísimo1:05:10 Leo fue a un café de conejos que olía a m*erda1:05:30 Hay lugares en China que parecen abandonados1:06:57 En China no le tienen ningún asco a eructar en público1:10:38 Outro

“La Chine ne copie plus. Elle impose sa vision.”Pendant des années, l'Occident a regardé la Chine comme un atelier du monde. Une usine géante, capable de produire vite et pas cher, mais incapable d'innover.Cette époque est révolue.Pour le comprendre, nous sommes allés sur place.Stéphane Bohbot est au cœur de cette bascule depuis 13 ans.Avec Innov8, il est l'intermédiaire "invisible" entre les marques chinoises et le retail français. DJI, Huawei, robots aspirateurs, tondeuses connectées… une grande partie des produits technologiques de marques chinoise qui est vendue chez Fnac, Darty ou Boulanger passe par lui.Et le marché est conséquent. Les chiffres parlent d'eux-mêmes, avec 200 millions d'euros de chiffre d'affaires en 2023 et 320 millions en 2025.Mais derrière cette croissance, il y a un système.Un pays capable de mobiliser des milliards pour devenir un acteur mondial.Une volonté politique de soutenir l'innovation et la recherche.Mais aussi un État autoritaire, une surveillance massive et un capitalisme sous contrôle politique permanent.Comprendre la réussite chinoise ne signifie pas l'idéaliser.Cela implique aussi d'en regarder les risques.Dans cet épisode enregistré à Hong Kong, lors du tournage de notre documentaire "Comment la Chine est-elle devenue imbattable ?" Stéphane Bohbot explique pourquoi la Chine a pris l'avantage et ce que l'Occident refuse encore de voir.Il nous partage :Les 4 grands piliers de la réussite des géants chinoisPourquoi la recherche et la supply chain sont devenues des armes stratégiquesComment il sélectionne ses partenaires parmi des milliers de marques chinoisesPourquoi les contrats d'exclusivité n'existent jamais et pourquoi c'est un avantage compétitifLe véritable impact du ban américain sur HuaweiUn épisode crucial pour comprendre ce qui se joue entre l'Europe et la Chine.Enregistré de l'intérieur, au cœur du réacteur.Vous pouvez contacter Stéphane sur Linkedin.TIMELINE:00:00:00 : La Chine ne copie plus, elle impose sa vision00:17:26 : L'intermédiaire invisible qui fait tourner le retail00:26:01 : Combien coûte vraiment un smartphone ?00:32:10 : Transfert de technologie ou copie ?00:45:05 : Les 4 clés du succès chinois01:01:41 : La France doit choisir ses combats pour rivaliser01:11:18 : Le fantasme du robot universel01:20:25 : Le désert européen du hardware01:28:17 : Le rythme chinois 996 : 9h-21h, 6 jours par semaine01:37:30 : Comment choisir un partenaire chinois parmi des milliers01:48:23 : La révolution du drone : de gadget à outil professionnel01:56:15 : L'exclusivité qui n'existe pas02:04:51 : Comment maîtriser ses ventes quand on n'est pas retailer ?02:13:05 : Pourquoi se cantonner à la France ?02:19:25 : L'impact du ban américain sur HuaweiLes anciens épisodes de GDIY mentionnés : #505 - Mingpo Cai - Cathay Capital - De la chine profonde aux sommets du capital-investissement#501 - Delphine Horvilleur - Rabbin, Écrivaine - Dialoguer quand tout nous diviseNous avons parlé de :La tour DJI à ShenzhenLes États-Unis interdisent officiellement HuaweiLes recommandations de lecture :L'entraide: L'autre loi de la jungle, de Pablo ServigneVous souhaitez sponsoriser Génération Do It Yourself ou nous proposer un partenariat ?Contactez mon label Orso Media via ce formulaire.Hébergé par Audiomeans. Visitez audiomeans.fr/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

In this episode of Domino Theory, hosts Christian Whiton and Mark Simon delve into the ongoing trial of Jimmy Lai, a pro-democracy figure in Hong Kong, who has been imprisoned under China's national security law. They discuss the implications of Lai's conviction, the potential for his release, and the broader context of China's tightening grip on Hong Kong. Mark shares insights from his long-standing experience in the region, emphasizing the absurdity of the charges against Lai and the potential consequences for China if they do not handle the situation delicately. The conversation also touches on the geopolitical landscape, including the role of the U.S. and other nations in addressing human rights issues in Hong Kong and the implications for international relations with China.As the discussion progresses, the hosts shift focus to the recent actions of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and his dealings with China, critiquing his approach and the potential fallout for Canada. They explore the changing dynamics in Canada, the impact of immigration, and the future of Canadian foreign policy in relation to the U.S. and China. The episode concludes with reflections on the current political climate in the U.S. and the implications for the upcoming elections, particularly regarding Trump's influence and the potential for shifts in party dynamics.

Dive into the wonders of the lunar eclipse! ASTROMAN breaks down the 2026 total "Blood Moon" in Asia, offering tips for skywatchers and the science behind the shadow.   "ASTROMAN: the Dark Sky Guardian" is a podcast channel that aims to explore popular science in multiple disciplines and research on interdisciplinary approaches, such as sustainability, dark-sky protection, astrophotography, space exploration, astronomy innovation, inclusive science communication, and STEAM Education by integrating science and arts.   Exodus CL Sit, also known as the ASTROMAN, is a transmedia astronomy educator, popular science author, STEAM educator, and science communicator in Hong Kong. He is recently the National Astronomy Education Coordinator (Chair of Hong Kong, China) of the International Astronomical Union and President of Starrix. He was also an International Committee Member of the Dark Sky International, regularly organizing public lectures at the Hong Kong Space Museum and the Hong Kong Science Museum. He was also the author of a popular science book "Decoding the Starry Night: A Guide to Stargazing and Astrophotography".   We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs.  Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too!  Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations.  Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!) ------------------------------------ The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.

For more of my latest content, subscribe to my YouTube channel, Dark Asia with Megan and join our awesome community. Your support means everything, and I can't wait to share more Asian cases with you! On Other Platforms: • TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@darkasiawithmegan • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darkasiawithmegan • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/darkasiameganlee Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

(TRIGGER WARNING: Sexual Assault, Child Murder, Racism, Bodily Fluids, Cannibalism and a Contagious Virus. Please skip this episode and this movie if any of those subjects are a deal breaker for you) In this episode Jef, Josh and Brian are put to the test with another Top Dawg Patreon Pick! This time around the poison chosen for the guys is 1996's "Ebola Syndrome". This flick is filled with one of the worst villains in cinema history, doing some of the most fucked up crimes in cinema history. This dastardly man Kai San is portrayed by the one and only Anthony Wong. No person is safe in Hong Kong or Africa when this guy is doing his dirty work. Jef, Josh and Brian had a hard time with this one but being the podcast professionals that they are, they toughed it out and brought you the episode that lies before you. So strap in, because this is gonna be a rough ride. Maybe wear a mask for this episode, the FM3 are afraid just talking about this horrible man's shenanigans will infect you wonderful listeners. Enjoy? 

Brent Johnson of Santiago Capital discusses what he believes to be the decline of the U.S. republic and rise of the American Empire. He explains his “Dollar Milkshake Theory” and how essentially Washington is the cleanest shirt in the dirty laundry. Pax Americana will continue its rampage and what it is doing with stablecoins is going to even further its reach. Watch on BitChute / Brighteon / Rumble / Substack / YouTube *Support Geopolitics & Empire! Become a Member https://geopoliticsandempire.substack.com Donate https://geopoliticsandempire.com/donations Consult https://geopoliticsandempire.com/consultation **Listen Ad-Free for $4.99 a Month or $49.99 a Year! Apple Subscriptions https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/geopolitics-empire/id1003465597 Supercast https://geopoliticsandempire.supercast.com ***Visit Our Affiliates & Sponsors! Above Phone https://abovephone.com/?above=geopolitics American Gold Exchange https://www.amergold.com/geopolitics easyDNS (15% off with GEOPOLITICS) https://easydns.com Escape The Technocracy (15% off with GEOPOLITICS) https://escapethetechnocracy.com/geopolitics Outbound Mexico https://outboundmx.com PassVult https://passvult.com Sociatates Civis https://societates-civis.com StartMail https://www.startmail.com/partner/?ref=ngu4nzr Wise Wolf Gold https://www.wolfpack.gold/?ref=geopolitics Websites Santiago Capital https://santiagocapital.com Substack https://research.santiagocapital.com YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@MilkshakesPod X https://x.com/SantiagoAuFund About Brent Johnson Brent Johnson brings twenty-five years of experience in the financial markets to his position as CEO of Santiago Capital. He enjoyed more than nine years as a Managing Director at BakerAvenue, a $2.5 Billion Asset Manager and Wealth Management firm, with offices in San Francisco, Dallas and New York.  During his time there he was the lead advisor for several of the firms largest clients. Prior to joining BakerAvenue, Brent spent nine years at Credit Suisse in their private client group. He got his start as part of the training program at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ) in New York prior to moving to San Francisco. He joined Credit Suisse in the fall of 2000 when the bank purchased DLJ. Earlier in his career, Brent was a financial auditor for Philip Morris Management Company in New York City where he performed audits at the company's headquarters as well as subsidiaries in Germany, Hong Kong, and Richmond, Virginia. In addition to his role at Santiago Capital, he is also a member of the Advisory Board for Monetary Metals, a platform that allows investors to earn a yield on gold, paid in gold, by leasing and lending to qualified precious metals businesses in the industry. Brent regularly gives interviews and speaks at conferences regarding precious metals, currencies & macroeconomic trends. He is well known as the originator of the “Dollar Milkshake Theory” and his views have been quoted in numerous print, online and television outlets. He lives in San Juan, Puerto Rico with his wife Mary and son Moses. *Podcast intro music used with permission is from the song “The Queens Jig” by the fantastic “Musicke & Mirth” from their album “Music for Two Lyra Viols”: http://musicke-mirth.de/en/recordings.html (available on iTunes or Amazon)

Rob Lam-Burns has bartended all over the world: Thailand, Hong Kong, Maison Premiere and now LenLen, a new Thai spot in the Flatiron district. He joins Greg and Sother to talk about his philosophy behind putting new and unexpected flavors in front of people, the divisive magic of Durian, “the king of fruits” and of course, professional skateboarding.PLUS, chili and cinnamon rolls? A culinary sensation from the great state of Nebraska gets its time in the limelight, and Greg and Sother discuss how refreshing it is that there are still some things in life yet to be explored.Follow Rob at @rob.hlssFollow LenLen at @lenlen.nycLINKSBecome a Regular: patreon.com/SpeakeasyRegularsRead JJ's article on Chili & Cinnamon Rolls: flatwaterfreepress.org/chili-and-cinnamon-rolls-warm-welcoming-and-a-little-unexpected-just-like-nebraska/For resources on dealing with ICE agents in your community visit nouswithoutyou.la/ and @thenycallianceThe Speakeasy is now on YouTube! Tune in to “see” what we're talking about at youtube.com/@Speakeasy.PodcastCheck out Quiote Imports at quioteimports.com and use promo code “Speakeasy” to get free shipping at checkout.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, we hear from retired Washington D.C. police sergeant and pastor Dale Sutherland, who shares how his faith carried him through dangerous undercover work, false accusations, and ultimately inspired him to launch a ministry that brings hope to families in crisis. Later in the episode, we’ll hear from Haley Scully, who has spent nearly fifteen years with Hope for the Heart, equipping people to offer compassionate care within their communities. Through her own journey of navigating disappointment and renewal, she’s gained a deep understanding of the struggles others face—and a passion to restore their confidence and hope. Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling Jesus Always Jesus Listens Past interview: Clarissa and Fiona Moll Upcoming interview: Chris Blair Dale Sutherland Ephesians 2:10 2 Corinthians 1:9 Boost Others www.boostothers.org www.theundercoverpastor.com Haley Scully Hope for the Heart www.hopefortheheart.org The Care and Counsel Handbook Interview Quotes: “I’ve been shot at, robbed, and threatened a lot of times. But by God’s grace, I’m here.” - Dale Sutherland “[Being a police officer] was intense, yes, but the great thing is knowing Jesus the Lord went with me on all those calls. When I got ready to do an undercover, I prayed and asked the Lord for help. I really think any success I’ve received or been blessed with has truly been a result of the Lord’s work and answering all those prayers.” - Dale Sutherland “The Lord helped me a tremendous amount so that I could do my job but not let my own worries or feelings about what might happen or what has happened—almost like an on and off switch.” - Dale Sutherland “That time of trying to understand the goodness of God and His calling, in spite of some of the biggest disappointment and hurt in my life, that was certainly a time that I didn’t feel uncertain of Him, but I was feeling afraid and definitely stretched. I had to search through His Word with Him and really dig in to believe that He is good in spite of those disappointments.” - Haley Scully “When we allow God to use the gifts that He’s given us and we allow Him to shape that, it takes off all the pressure. That’s when the burden is light, when the yoke is on the Lord. I just get to help lead people to His Word.”- Haley Scully “Whether we are in a village in Africa or we’re in a high rise in Hong Kong, it does not matter where we are, the struggles of the human heart are the same.” - Haley Scully “We know that people are carrying quite a load as they try to care for others, and we want to help them be the most prepared to do that so they can still have joy in their calling and that they truly can trust in God to be the One to manage these things and be a vessel of help and hope.” - Haley Scully ________________________ Enjoy watching these additional videos from Jesus Calling YouTube channel! Audio Episodes: https://bit.ly/3zvjbK7 Bonus Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3vfLlGw Jesus Listens: Stories of Prayer: https://bit.ly/3Sd0a6C Peace for Everyday Life: https://bit.ly/3zzwFoj Peace in Uncertain Times: https://bit.ly/3cHfB6u What’s Good? https://bit.ly/3vc2cKj Enneagram: https://bit.ly/3hzRCCY ________________________ Connect with Jesus Calling Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Website TikTok Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Why being kind is the best investment.Can kindness be a company's competitive advantage? Bonnie Hayden Cheng says yes — and she's got a business metric to prove it: return on kindness.Cheng is a professor of management at City University of Hong Kong who researches how workplace behaviors affect interpersonal dynamics and well-being. In her book, The Return on Kindness, she explores how organizations that foster a culture of kindness see a measurable ROK — one marked by a more committed, more productive, and less expensive workforce. “Organizations that have this kind of culture around acts of civic virtue, helping, or showing support for people, those end up having employees that want to stay, are less likely to call in sick, are more committed, their performance goes up,” she says. “There's also benefits for the company in terms of higher productivity and efficiency, and even lower costs.”In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Cheng and host Matt Abrahams explore how to build cultures of kindness — from Cheng's RISE framework for kind leadership to why candor and compassion go hand-in-hand. Whether you're leading a team or simply trying to show up better for your colleagues, Cheng offers a compelling case for measuring what really matters: the return on kindness.Episode Reference Links:Bonnie Hayden ChengBonnie's Book:  The Return on KindnessEp.93 All the Feels: The Personal and Professional Power of Emotional Awareness Ep.132 Lean Into Failure: How to Make Mistakes That WorkConnect:Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart PremiumEmail Questions & Feedback >>> hello@fastersmarter.ioEpisode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart WebsiteNewsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.ioThink Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTubeMatt Abrahams >>> LinkedInChapters:(00:00) - Introduction (00:50) - What Is Kind Leadership? (02:52) - The RISE Framework (05:27) - Everyone Can Be a Leader (06:46) - Kindness vs. Niceness (09:15) - Kindness and Candor (10:47) - Communicating Kindness (12:46) - The Power of Tone and Pause (15:03) - Building a Culture of Kindness (17:15) - Protecting Kindness in Organizations (18:33) - The Final Three Questions (21:14) - Conclusion