Rhetorical device, literary technique, or situation in which there is an incongruity between the literal and the implied meaning
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H.W. Brands describes how, in early 1941, Roosevelt introduced the Lend-Lease Act (HR 1776), a bill that ironically shared its name with the year of American independence but intended to "marry America's future to Britain's future." Because Britain was running out of cash, Roosevelt argued that the U.S. should lend or lease weaponry to ensure they didn't go down for lack of funds. He was aided by a sentimental shift in American public opinion, driven by Edward R. Murrow's broadcasts which portrayed the "stubborn British" as heroic underdogs fighting for democracy. Simultaneously, a covert information war was being waged by William Stephenson, the director of British propaganda in America, who worked with William "Wild Bill" Donovan to manipulate U.S. opinion with the administration's blessing. While Roosevelt publicly complained about German propaganda, his own administration used unacknowledged stories and rumors to move Americans toward war. Lindbergh called out this hypocrisy, arguing that aiding Churchill—an "unreconstructed" imperialist—was not a defense of democracy but a defense of British rule in places like India. Roosevelt even utilized a forged map, allegedly showing a German plan to reorganize Latin America and replace the Bible with Mein Kampf, to stir fear. Lindbergh's diary reveals his deep intuition that every step away from neutrality was a calculated move toward war, regardless of the president's stated desire for peace. (5)1941
Dr. Milica McDowell wants you to move and move well. Dr. Milica is a Doctor of Physical Therapy, entrepreneur, educator, and USA Today national bestselling author who has spent more than two decades helping people move better, feel better, and live healthier lives. Dr. McDowell specializes in helping people build strength, mobility, resilience, and longevity and has worked with everyone from individuals recovering from injury and chronic pain to high performers seeking to optimize their health, performance and quality of life. Dr. McDowell holds degrees in Exercise Physiology, Health Promotion, Physical Therapy, and a Doctorate in Physical Therapy. She has served as a university faculty member, delivered more than 300 professional lectures across the country, developed medical education programs used worldwide, and founded multiple companies in healthcare, fitness, and sports performance. In 2023 she was recognized as one of the Top 50 Women in Healthcare. And because that is not enough, she is currently getting her MBA at USC. Her book, Walk: Rediscover the most natural way to boost your heath and longevity; one step at a time co-authored with renowned gait expert Dr. Courtney Conley, has quickly become a USA Today national bestseller and shines a bright light on one of the most powerful, and overlooked tools for improving health: walking. Ironically, in the UK the title is a bit different; Walk; Your Life Depends on It. Direct. I like it. Dr. Milica is as cool as they come and has a clear and singular goal of helping everyone live their best lives. When you think of doctors that you want to work with because of the way the care they give, the way they engage, their bedside manner and how they lead by example; you're thinking of Dr. Milica McDowell. 0:00 – “Introducing Milicia McDowell & Her Journey” 3:05 – Early Influences & Finding Her Passion 8:20 – Building a Career Around Health & Performance 14:10 – Lessons Learned From Working With Athletes 20:00 – Movement, Longevity & Staying Active for Life 26:15 – Common Mistakes People Make With Their Health 32:05 – The Mindset Behind Sustainable Success 38:10 – Overcoming Challenges & Adapting Through Change 44:20 – Coaching, Education & Empowering Others 50:15 – Advice for Improving Health at Any Age 56:30 – What's Next & Future Goals 1:02:10 – Final Reflections & Closing Thoughts
Abigail Spencer and Matt Lanter have their own claims to fame. She's been in Grey's Anatomy, Suits and currently co-stars in Best Medicine. Matt was the voice of Anakin Skywalker in Clone Wars, Beverly Hills 90210 and more. Together, they were in one of my favorite TV shows, which didn't last long enough. Ironically it was called Timeless. I caught up with both of them at the Indiana Comic Convention and talked about how it needs to come back. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The BPO Industry Isn't Dying. But It May Need to Reinvent Itself Faster Than Anyone Expected. Yuma AI CEO Guillaume Luccisano argues that customer experience providers must evolve from labor arbitrage specialists into AI orchestrators and systems integrators—or risk becoming irrelevant. For years, critics of the business process outsourcing industry have predicted its demise. First it was robotic process automation. Then conversational AI. Then Generative AI. Yet the industry survived every previous wave of disruption because technology changed the way work was delivered rather than eliminating the need for the service itself. In episode 420 of the CX Files, Guillaume talks to Mark Hillary about these changes and how BPOs may need to adapt. https://www.linkedin.com/in/guillaumeluccisano/ https://yuma.ai/ -------------- Summary: Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the impact of AI on the BPO industry, featuring Guillaume Luccisano, CEO of Yuma AI. Luccisano argues that traditional BPO models are outdated, emphasizing AI's potential to automate 100% of customer service within 2-3 years. He highlights Yuma AI's success in deploying AI agents since 2023, achieving automation rates up to 89%. Luccisano predicts a significant shift in the job market due to AI, suggesting BPOs must evolve into systems integrators to survive. He also notes the cost efficiency of AI, with interactions costing under $1 compared to $4-$8 for human agents. ---- The BPO Industry Isn't Dying. But It May Need to Reinvent Itself Faster Than Anyone Expected. Yuma AI CEO Guillaume Luccisano argues that customer experience providers must evolve from labor arbitrage specialists into AI orchestrators and systems integrators—or risk becoming irrelevant. For years, critics of the business process outsourcing industry have predicted its demise. First it was robotic process automation. Then conversational AI. Then Generative AI. Yet the industry survived every previous wave of disruption because technology changed the way work was delivered rather than eliminating the need for the service itself. But according to Guillaume Luccisano, founder and CEO of Yuma AI, this time may be different. Speaking on Episode 420 of the CX Files podcast, Luccisano argued that the traditional BPO model—selling customer service through large pools of human agents—is facing a challenge unlike anything it has encountered before. His view is stark: AI is no longer just helping agents do their jobs better. It is increasingly capable of doing the job itself. And if that trend continues, the industry will need to redefine its purpose. The End of the "Cost Per Interaction" Era Luccisano's company specializes in AI-powered customer service automation for retail and e-commerce brands. He claims some clients are already automating the vast majority of customer interactions. What has changed, he argues, is that AI is no longer limited to answering questions from a knowledge base. Modern AI agents can access customer records, understand context, follow workflows, execute transactions, and complete tasks. In other words, they are moving beyond information retrieval and into operational execution. This matters because the traditional BPO business model has largely been built around charging for human effort—whether measured in agents, hours, seats, or interactions. If AI can handle increasing volumes of customer contacts at a fraction of the cost, then the economics begin to shift dramatically. A contact that once required several dollars of human labor may eventually be resolved for a few cents in computing costs. Even if those figures are debated, the direction of travel is becoming difficult to ignore. The Problem Isn't Technology. It's Incentives. One of Luccisano's most interesting observations is that many outsourcing providers are already talking extensively about AI. The question is whether they are deploying AI to genuinely transform operations or merely adding enough AI to satisfy customer demand while protecting existing revenue streams. That creates an uncomfortable tension. A provider whose business depends on thousands of agents has little incentive to aggressively deploy technology that could reduce the number of agents required. As Luccisano noted, many providers find themselves caught between serving today's business model and preparing for tomorrow's. The challenge is not technical. It is organizational. And perhaps even existential. Why Investors Are Nervous The sharp decline in the share prices of several publicly traded CX providers has fuelled speculation about the sector's future. Luccisano believes investors are not simply reacting to hype. They are attempting to price in a future where customer service becomes significantly more automated, more efficient, and therefore less dependent on large labor-intensive operations. Whether investors have overreacted remains open to debate. But the market is clearly asking a difficult question: What happens to a company built around managing tens of thousands of customer service agents when customers increasingly expect AI-driven efficiency? The answer remains uncertain. But it is a question every provider now has to confront. The Hidden Complexity Most Critics Ignore To his credit, Luccisano does not dismiss the value that BPOs create today. Customer interactions are only one piece of a much larger operational puzzle. Large CX providers manage compliance requirements, regulatory obligations, security controls, multilingual operations, workforce management, governance frameworks, quality assurance, and complex integrations across dozens of markets. Replacing an individual customer service interaction with AI is one thing. Replacing the entire operational framework surrounding customer service is something else entirely. This is where many simplistic predictions about the "death of BPO" fall apart. The institutional knowledge accumulated by major outsourcing firms still has value. The question is whether that value can be repackaged. From Outsourcer to Systems Integrator Perhaps the most important idea from the conversation was Luccisano's belief that the future role of the BPO may look less like a labor provider and more like a systems integrator. Rather than selling headcount, providers could sell expertise. Rather than managing agents, they could manage AI agents. Rather than staffing operations, they could design, orchestrate, govern, optimize, and continuously improve AI-enabled customer experience ecosystems. This is a subtle but profound shift. It moves the provider higher up the value chain. The emphasis shifts from execution to orchestration. From labor to outcomes. From workforce management to intelligent systems management. Ironically, this would bring some BPOs closer to the role that companies like IBM, Accenture, and other major technology integrators evolved into years ago. A Difficult Transition The challenge, of course, is that transformation is easier to describe than to execute. Reinventing a startup is one thing. Reinventing a global organization employing hundreds of thousands of people is another. Many of today's largest CX providers are highly successful businesses with established customer relationships and predictable revenue streams. That success can become a barrier to change. The dilemma is obvious. How aggressively should a company invest in technologies that could cannibalize its own business? History suggests that incumbents often struggle with precisely this problem. The Bigger Question Perhaps the most controversial part of Luccisano's argument extends beyond outsourcing entirely. He believes AI is creating a broader economic transformation that will affect many knowledge-based professions, not just customer service. Software engineering, consulting, administration, legal services, and customer experience are all beginning to feel the effects. If he is right, then the debate is no longer about whether AI will change customer service. The debate is about how quickly institutions can adapt to a world where intelligence itself becomes abundant and inexpensive. The Future May Belong to the Adaptable The most important takeaway from this discussion is not that BPOs are doomed. In fact, Luccisano repeatedly acknowledged that some providers will survive and potentially thrive. But survival may depend on abandoning the assumption that customer service is primarily a labor business. The providers that succeed could be those that become trusted advisors, AI operators, governance experts, and systems integrators. The providers that fail may be those that continue selling people when customers increasingly want outcomes. The outsourcing industry has reinvented itself before. The question now is whether it can do so again—at the speed AI demands.
Paul repeats the word beware three times here. It is as thoughhe is sounding a spiritual alarm. He is saying, “Watch out! Be careful! Payattention!” He uses such strong language because false teaching isdangerous. Paulis warning the Philippians about a group of false teachers known as theJudaizers. These men seemed to follow the Apostle Paul everywhere he went,spreading their false doctrine. They said, “Jesus is good, but you must alsokeep the Law of Moses. You must be circumcised. You must become Jewish beforeyou can really be saved.” In other words, they were teaching Jesus plussomething. But the true gospel is never Jesus plus anything. The true gospel isJesus alone. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Thechurch council at Jerusalem in Acts 15 settled that question for the earlychurch. But some people refused to listen and continued teaching these things.So Paul describes them with three vivid pictures. First, he calls them “dogs”.When you hear that word, you might think of your beloved family pet. But thatis not the picture here. In Bible times, dogs were wild scavengers that roamedthe streets. They fed on garbage, carried disease, and could be dangerous. Theyoften traveled in packs. Ironically,the Jews often called the Gentiles dogs. But Paul turns that insult around andsays that these false teachers are the real dogs. They kept snapping at theheels of the Apostle Paul as he went about sharing the good news that Christalone saves. They followed him from city to city, barking their false doctrinesand causing confusion among new believers. My friend, false teaching isdangerous because it often sounds very close to the truth. A counterfeit maylook real, but it is still counterfeit. A glass of water may appear pure, butone ounce of poison destroys the whole thing. That is why we must know God'sWord. Second,Paul calls these false teachers “evil workers”. These men appeared to bevery religious. They were busy, sincere, and devoted. But Paul says their workswere actually evil. They were evil workers because they were trusting in humaneffort rather than God's grace alone. They were teaching people to depend onwhat they could do instead of what Christ had already done for them. Titus 3:5says, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to Hismercy He saves us.” Good works do not produce salvation; good works are theresult of salvation. There is a big difference. The only thing that can save usis the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. Third,Paul calls these Judaizers “the mutilation.” This is actually a play onwords. The Judaizers insisted that circumcision was necessary for salvation.Paul is saying that when a God-given symbol is turned into a requirement forsalvation, it loses its spiritual meaning and becomes nothing more than aphysical act. The true circumcision is not outward; it is inward. Romans2:28-29 tells us that true circumcision is a matter of the heart, performed bythe Spirit of God. God has always been interested in the heart. Religionfocuses on outward appearance; God focuses on inward reality.Today,we need discernment. The only way we can have that discernment is by being inGod's Word and filling our hearts and minds with His truth. When we handle thetruth regularly, we immediately recognize false teaching when it appears. Let me encourage you to test everything by Scripture. Know your Bible.Stay close to Jesus. Guard your heart. Never allow anything to take the placeof the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. Let'spray. Father, thank You for the simple and glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.Give us discernment in these days when so many voices compete for ourattention. Help us recognize false teaching and stand firmly on the truth ofYour Word. May our confidence rest in Jesusalone. We pray this in His precious name. Amen.
Ep 56 - Ryan Kralik performs a Remote Viewing Session and discusses Emergence of Consciousness, Alien Minds, UFOs, and more.Welcome to The Paranormal Rundown!For this episode, Ryan Kralik joins us once again to discuss more paranormal concepts through the lens of his Information-First framework of consciousness and reality. This episode also features a real-world remote viewing session, where Ryan attempts to describe a target selected by the hosts—with some unexpectedly interesting results. Not only is Ryan now a published author, but he is also now the managing editor of Aperture Magazine! And no, not the one about photography...This is also our very first video episode, so be sure to let us know what you think of the new format!This marks Ryan's third appearance on the show. Ironically, the second appearance may have been one of the best conversations we've ever recorded... except for one small problem: somebody forgot to hit the record button. But not to worry, Avalon has been punishing the guilty party mercilessly ever since.Ryan's take was a bit different. He suggested that perhaps the Substrate itself had intervened, feeling that his performance that evening was sub-par because he was extremely tired. Personally, I never noticed any lack of energy, and the Gang of Nerds unanimously agreed that it was a fantastic discussion. But apparently the Substrate disagreed...If you ever wanted to see what Remote Viewing was really like, this episode is for you. Ryan asked that we pick a simple target, put some pictures in an envelope, and he would do his best. Of course I ignored all those instructions, and made it overly complex! But the results are really interesting, I think the complexity actually gave us the opportunity to flesh out how this process really works. Additionally, we discuss alien minds and how we would communicate with them, which naturally led into a brief discussion on AI. We also talk about Emergent Consciousness, UFOs being similar to meditation pods, and the Visions of Prophets, all viewed within the context of an Information-First view of Consciousness and Reality. Enjoy!Be sure to check out Ryan's book, It From Us: An Information-First Framework and the Purpose of Consciousness at https://a.co/d/03NOCbPhYou can find Ryan's contact information, articles, and latest blog posts at https://www.itfromus.com/You can also join his Substack at https://ryankralik.substack.com/Aperture Magazine: https://www.irva.org/apertureWe have one more episode planned for this season, another wonderful discussion with the lively Sylvia Shults, then we break for the summer. While you are waiting, why don't you send us your thoughts on the video format, the guests we have had in Season 3, or any other unrelated rabbit holes you would like to go down, at feedback@paranormalrundown.comThe Paranormal Rundown is a partnership between the hosts David Griffith, Father Michael Birdsong, Randy Cantrell, and Vic Hermanson.Be sure to check out our partner podcasts:You can find Vic at Trailer Trash Terrors, https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/vic-hermansonYou can find Father Birdsong at https://www.becomingahouseofprayer.com, as well as hear his podcast Ending the Curse at:https://open.spotify.com/s
After a successful primary night, GOP winner & official candidate, ZACH LAHN, talks to SIMON in his first major interview since his win. Ironically, the one question surrounding LAHN isn't about policy or issue; it's about where he lives. SIMON asks him all about it and more!
Peter Barg has spent his life building creativity in high-pressure environments. Beginning as a messenger in New York City during the final era of physical film editing, he learned every aspect of post-production before advancing into advertising production with McCann Erickson, where he worked on major campaigns for brands including Coca-Cola, AT&T, L'Oréal, and Miller Brewing. By his mid-twenties, he was producing national campaigns and later moved to St. Louis and Hollywood, where he led animation productions and eventually founded a pioneering virtual animation studio years before remote collaboration became commonplace. Throughout his career, Peter became known for solving complex creative problems, building systems, and bringing people together to produce exceptional work. Ironically, those same instincts initially made improvisation difficult. Introduced to improv through a client, Peter struggled with the uncertainty of the form but gradually discovered its deeper lessons in listening, trust, and collaboration—skills he later recognized would have made him an even stronger producer. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Peter immersed himself in online improv training with leading teachers from around the world and found a global creative community. In response, he founded Improv Dim Sum, an online workshop series that connected improvisers across cities and countries while making high-quality training accessible and affordable. The project grew into a thriving nonprofit organization dedicated to education and community building. Peter also served as President of Compass Improv in St. Louis, helping preserve the city's vital place in improv history through its connection to Compass Players, Viola Spolin, Paul Sills, and the roots of both Second City and iO Theater. Today, Peter continues to produce workshops, coach performers, and connect improvisers with outstanding teachers. Whether in advertising, animation, or improvisation, his work has always centered on the same mission: creating environments where trust, creativity, and meaningful human connection can flourish.
Going in search of Australian Big Ones with either ‘Rock', ‘Rockin'' or ‘Rocker' proved to be a tough one. I've only come up with seven. We'll hear tracks from some of the big names in the early days of Rock ‘n' Roll in Australia; Johnny O'Keefe & The Dee Jays, Johnny Rebb & His Rebels, and Col Joye & The Joy Boys. Ironically, once we move into the mid-60s and beyond there is no shortage of candidates! Enjoy the next 20 minutes of early Australian Rock ‘n' Roll.
Send us Fan MailEven as the Holocaust was ongoing, some Jews dreamed of and sought revenge for Nazi attacks on them. Ironically, the Nazis themselves believed in a particularly antisemitic myth of Jewish vengeance and many Germans after the war feared widespread retaliation by Holocaust survivors. Indeed, there were some attempts to carry out revenge attacks on Nazis after the war.In this episode, I talked with Laura Jockusch about what revenge meant in all these contexts and more, including in the popular imagination with media like Inglourious Basterds and The Hunters. Laura Jockusch is the Albert Abramson Associate Professor of Holocaust Studies at Brandeis University.Jockusch, Laura. Jewish Revenge and the Holocaust: History, Memory, and Imagination (2026)Follow on Twitter @holocaustpod.Email the podcast at holocausthistorypod@gmail.comThe Holocaust History Podcast homepage is hereYou can find a complete reading list with books by our guests and also their suggestions here.
**Thank you for supporting this ministry, we lovingly refer to as "The Little Green Pasture." Click here: PayPal: http://paypal.me/JoanStahl**Please prayerfully consider becoming a ministry partner:Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/joaniestahl**Contact Email: jsfieldnotes@gmail.com**Subscribe to us on Rumble: https://rumble.com/user/JoanieStahlsFieldNotesAre you exhausted from trying to keep up with the "perfect" Christian molded routine? In this message, we unpack how modern Christianity has overly structurized our faith, leaving many believers trapped in an exhausting cycle of secret guilt and shame.We slam on the gas pedal, rushing through Bible reading frantically, and rattling off rapid-fire prayers just to feel a temporary sigh of relief just to keep up. We've accidentally equated breakneck speed with true devotion. There lives within a feeling of always letting God down.But what about when life hits hard? For those battling chronic illness or burnout, this rigid structure creates an entirely different dimension of suffering. It also sets everyone up for failure. Through Christian maturity, we discover this is NOT how Jesus wants us to live. Ironically, the very rituals we use to get closer to God can become walls that distance us from Him.God doesn't want you to sprint; He wants you to exhale. Even in the darkest circumstances imaginable, Anne Frank found a profound deep connection to the Creator.She beautifully wrote: "The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely, or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature and God."It is time to unstructure your faith. Step outside, slow down, and let the Lord minister to you through His awesome creation. Let Him speak to you. Allow Him to fill you with new breath, peaceful quiet, and genuine joy that gives you wings like an eagle."I looked up in the sky and trusted in God.” ― Anne Frank
In this episode, I'm talking about a relationship trap that doesn't get discussed nearly enough: the difference between choosing someone because you genuinely want them - and - choosing someone because they seem less likely to hurt you. And while most people would never say that out loud, their dating choices often tell the REAL story. Plus, does someone's attractiveness make them less or more likely to cheat? Hmmm... LISTEN NOW. Then, check out my book "Don't Be DESPERATE: Get Over Your Breakup with CLARITY & DIGNITY" on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3R2EHiz Get personalized help: breakupBOOST.com YouTube & TikTok @breakupBOOST Check out Trina's breakup & dating merch: blockandshop.com
Trump's executive order purporting to establish a regulation regime for artificial intelligence actually serves the aim of a government partnership with the AI industry to advance the police state. Ironically, it is AI company Anthropic that calls for a moratorium on development of the technology until its threats are assessed. Pope Leo XIV's encyclical, "Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence," raises critical points but still echoes the illusion that this technology, now threatening to develop its own powers of "recursive self-improvement," can be effectively regulated. There are encouraging signs of worker pushback against replacement by AI, and an emerging anarchist critique of the technology. Of course the Trump regime is targeting critics for repression as "anti-tech extremists." In Episode 331 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg again calls for total abolition of AI, citing unacceptable threats to humanity on ecological, epistemological and eschatological grounds. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/countervortex Production by Chris Rywalt We ask listeners to donate just $1 per weekly podcast via Patreon -- or $2 for our new special offer! We now have 60 subscribers. If you appreciate our work, please become Number 61!
There are three forms of pride that often go unchallenged: self- importance, self-pity, and self-sufficiency. Striving for importance can be rationalized as being underappreciated. Self-pity can be rationalized as being taken advantage of, and self-sufficiency can be rationalized as taking the best care of yourself. Ironically, these excuses for pride are the same ones the Devil uses to turn us against God. Tune in as we learn about the subtlety of pride and how to fight against it.***Welcome, we are so glad you have joined us for our church online! If you are new here, we would love to connect with you. HARVEST VALLEY CHURCH is a church that believes in Jesus, a church that loves God and people. If you have made a decision to follow Jesus or want to learn more about Him, email us at connect@harvestvalley.org, and we will reach out to you about your decision to follow Jesus.To support the ministry of Harvest Valley Church and invest in the lives of others through giving, click here.For more information about Harvest Valley Church visit https://www.harvestvalley.org Church Office: (925)484-2482#harvestvalleychurch #loveourcity #Pleasantonca #eastbaychurches #Sunday #harvestvalleychurchpleasanton #purposeinlifeSupport the show
In the Name of the Messiah Acts 3 by William Klock So what happens after Pentecost? In the church's calendar we spend the first half of the year walking through the life of Jesus—maybe we think of that as the “gospel story”—and that closes with Pentecost. And in the second half of the year we focus on the life of the church as it lives out Pentecost. But the way the lectionary does that tends to present the life of the church in the abstract. That's not necessarily bad. But the book of Acts gives us an opportunity to see it in real life, in history. And Acts is important because it makes sure we understand that the life of the church isn't some application of abstract theological principles. Acts shows us the life of the church as very much the continuation of the story of Jesus, of that gospel narrative. It doesn't end with the Ascension. It doesn't end with Pentecost. Pentecost simply begins a new chapter. As Luke said at the beginning, in the gospel he wrote he laid out what Jesus began to do and to teach. In Acts we see Jesus continuing to do and to teach, but now it's through his church, through his people. So last week we saw this amazing move of the Spirit. That's how I think we mostly think of it: a move of the Spirit. But if we've been following the story through Easter and the ascension it ought to be clear that Pentecost is, first and foremost, a move of Jesus the Messiah. Having taken his heavenly throne to reign as king until he has put all his enemies under his feet, Jesus has sent the Spirit to enact, to make real the truth of his reign through the church. The spirit enables the apostles, the rest of the disciples, enables us to put off the old, lie-based, rebellious way of being human and to put on the new humanity brought by Jesus' resurrection from the dead. The Spirit makes us the working model of God's new creation in the midst of the old. The Spirit, living within us, make us God's new temple: full of his presence, his wisdom, his gospel. And as we fulfil his original command to are fruitful and multiply, we grow and spread that temple until God's glory fills the earth. So Pentecost doesn't stand alone. It's not just a stage in our personal spiritual growth. It's not even for our own benefit. It's to carry the reign of Jesus as Lord to the world. So, again, what happens after Pentecost? Look at Acts, Chapter 3. [Page 1082 in the pew Bibles.] Luke tells us, “Peter and John were going up to the temple at three o'clock in the afternoon, the time for prayer.” I think it's worth a pause there. Peter and John and the rest of the church had become the new temple. The very thing that was missing from old, bricks-and-mortar temple, the presence of God, had come to dwell in them. But they still went to the old bricks-and-mortar temple. It highlights the fact that they didn't think of Jesus, the Spirit, the new covenant, being the new Israel as being some kind of new religion. This new thing was simply how to be a faithful Jew in light of God's promises to Israel being fulfilled in Jesus. And so these first Christians continued to observe torah, they worshipped with their fellow Jews in the synagogues, and they went with their fellow Jews to pray in the temple. They didn't leave Judaism for something called Christianity. But here's the thing: You and I don't do any of those things. We don't live according to torah, we're not circumcised, we don't observe the Jewish feasts, we don't go the temple—we can't, because God judged and destroyed it long ago—but we are part of that same family of Jesus people, that same new Israel, that same church. Because the new Israel isn't about torah, or circumcision, or diet, or Sabbath, or biological descent from Abraham. It's about faith in, allegiance to Jesus, Israel's Messiah, and his kingdom, and the law of love written in our hearts by his Spirit. What marks us out is our baptism into Jesus and the law of the Spirit that overflows from within us. Now, Luke goes on: “There was a man being carried in who had been lame from his mother's womb. People used to bring him every day to the temple gate called “Beautiful”, so that he could ask for alms from those entering the temple. When he saw Peter and John going into the temple, he asked them to give him some money. So every day, probably for many years, this man's friends would carry him to the gate of the main temple court and leave him there to beg. He was a fixture of the temple. Few people probably “knew” him, but everyone was familiar with him. Peter and John weren't from Jerusalem, but they'd probably seen the man when they visited the temple. Maybe they'd given him money before. But this time they have no money. They'd left their jobs as fisherman in Galilee. The church in Jerusalem has been surviving by living as family, pooling their resources. Luke goes on: “Peter, with John, looked hard at him. ‘Look at us,' he said. The man stared at them, expecting to get something from them. ‘I haven't got any silver or gold,' Peter said, ‘but I'll give you what I have got. In the name of the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, get up and walk!' He grabbed the man by his right hand and lifted him up. At once his feet and ankles became strong, and he leaped to his feet and began to walk. He went in with them into the temple, walking and jumping up and down and praising God. All the people saw him walking and praising God, and they recognised him as the man who had been sitting begging for alms by the Beautiful Gate of the temple. They were filled with amazement and astonishment at what had happened to him.” He got more than he bargained for and what Peter and John give this man is right in keeping with what we read at the end of Chapter 2. Money had ceased to have any importance for the disciples. Something far better had come along. Money is one of those things you need to get along in the old age where things are scarce and people are greedy. The kingdom of God is about his new creation generosity and abundance. This is why they lived like a family and shared what God gave with each other. It was a practical way to live out new creation in way that confronted the scarcity and greed of the old age. They knew there was something more important, a new power, a new kind of life—something far more important than silver and gold and so they gave it to this man. The man didn't even ask to be healed. He'd probably given up on that idea years and years ago. But Peter gave this man new creation in the name of Jesus. Maybe this is why Peter insisted that the man look at them. Picture Peter looking hard into the lame man's eyes and the lame man staring back. Maybe Peter had seen Jesus do that: looking intently into the eyes of hurting people, seeing desperation, seeing hopelessness in some and faith in others. Making a connection. Sharing the compassion of God for the victims of the corrupt principalities and powers of the present age. It seems like Peter saw something there. Maybe hope. Maybe faith. Maybe the man knew who Peter was. Maybe he'd heard about what happened at Pentecost. Peter saw something. And he didn't just tell the man to get up and walk. That's what Jesus would have done and Peter wasn't Jesus. Peter had no power of his own to do anything. Instead, Peter made it clear where the power lies: “In the name of the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, get up and walk.” The name is as good as the person. Peter and John were acting as Jesus' representatives and in that capacity—so long as they were faithful to Jesus' will, his desire, his agenda, his rule and kingdom—they could act with power and authority and faith on his behalf—in his name. And so can we. Sometimes we forget that. On the one hand, we pray and we add something like “through Jesus our Lord” or “in the name of Jesus” at the end of our prayers without even thinking about what it means or, on the other hand, we use Jesus' name as if it were a talisman to give our prayers legitimacy or as if just mentioning the name of Jesus will bring our will into reality. I once prayed and when I was done, a guy came up to me afterward and said, “You didn't say ‘in Jesus' name' so your prayer won't come true.” No. Brothers and Sisters, saying a prayer isn't like making a wish and adding Jesus' name doesn't validate our prayers. Whether we mention him or not, every true Christian prayer is offered to the Father through the mediation of Jesus the son. It is through him that we have access to God. And God answers our prayer not because we add a name, but because our whole prayer is a cry for his new creation to become reality, for it to be on earth as it is heaven. Too often our prayers are veiled appeals to our old idols, appeals to the principalities and powers, appeals still subject to the fears and anxieties of the present evil age, outgrowths of the flesh rather than the Spirit. And to those prayers, God answers “No”. Brothers and Sisters, to pray in Jesus' name is to submit ourselves to the goodness and faithfulness of God; it is to pray with faithfulness and single-hearted loyalty to him as Lord, and to ask not for our will to be done, but his; to ask not for the fulfilment of our vision of the good, but his; to ask not for our kingdom to be made real, but his kingdom. It is to understand that heaven is the storehouse of the goodness of God's kingdom, like the turkey in the refrigerator and the presents stored up under Mom and Dad's bed, all to be brought out when Christmas comes. God's kingdom will come in all its fulness when the church, when we have made God's gospel known throughout the earth and when the knowledge of his glory covers creation as the sea. Prayer is to ask God to give us glimpse of that final day when the presents are under the tree, ready to be opened, and the turkey is on the table and the great feast is ready. Prayer is, to quote Karl Barth, “the beginning of an uprising against the disorder the world.” It is to ask in hope for God's justice, God's righteousness, God's goodness, God's faithfulness, God's future to be known—even if only in a small way—right here and right now. And that's what Peter did. And suddenly the man was jumping and dancing his way into the temple full of heaven on earth. And everyone noticed. Verse 11: “All the people ran together in astonishment towards Peter and John and the man was clinging to them. They were in the part of the temple known as ‘Solomon's Porch'. Peter saw them all and began to speak. ‘Men of Israel,' he said, ‘why are you amazed at this? Why are you staring at us as though it was our own power or piety that made this man walk? “The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob—the God of our fathers”—he has glorified his servant Jesus, the one you handed over and denied in the presence of Pilate, although he had decided to let him go.'” Let's pause there. When Peter says “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob—the God of our fathers” he's taking a line from Exodus 3. This is how the God of Israel introduced himself to Moses at the burning bush before sending him back to Egypt to demand that Pharoah let the Israelites go. Jesus had just done this in his dispute with the Sadducees and now Peter does the same and his point is to highlight that just as with Moses and the Exodus from Egypt, the God of Israel is at work here and not just as work, but at work to bring his promises to Israel to pass. Peter's announcing that it's happening again. In Jesus and the Spirit; in Good Friday and Easter and Ascension and Pentecost, the God of Israel was acting once again to deliver his people from bondage, to lead them in a new exodus, to renew his covenant. We'll see this throughout Acts. Confronted by Jesus and his mighty deeds, those early believers would go back to Exodus. That was when God fulfilled his promises to deliver his people. That was when they sacrificed the Passover lambs. That was when he led them through the sea and gave them his law. That was when he led them into the promised land and gave them an inheritance. And when those first Christians saw Jesus and the Spirit at work it was like Moses at the burning bush seeing something amazing that he couldn't explain, and with that scene in mind, we ought to be expecting that God is still keeping his promises and is doing something extraordinary again. Peter goes on: “You denied the holy one, the just one, and requested instead to have a murderer given to you; and so you killed the Prince of Life. But God raised him from the dead, and we are witnesses to the fact. And it is his name, working through faith in his name, that has given strength to this man, whom you see and know. It is faith which comes through him that has given him this new complete wholeness in front of all of you.” So Peter starts explaining Jesus by pulling images from the Jewish scriptures. We might miss it because we don't know the Bible as well as we should; the people there that day definitely would not have. First, Peter calls Jesus the servant of God. Second, he stresses the innocence of Jesus. He wasn't deserving of death, but the people of Jerusalem handed him over to Pilate. Even Pilate, Peter says, knew Jesus was innocent. But they demanded Pilate release Barabbas and that Jesus be crucified. These images together draw on Isaiah's prophecy, especially Isaiah 53, the passage about the suffering servant, an innocent, who would one day, go to the slaughter like a lamb for the sins of the people. When Peter calls him the holy one, this too brings up images of the suffering servant and of the spotless lamb. If the people want to understand what's happened to the lame man, how he's been healed, Peter is saying that they need to think about the Exodus and they need to be thinking about Isaiah's suffering servant and understand that Jesus is standing at the centre of both of these images from Israel's story and God's promises. And this is why he calls Jesus the “Prince of Life”. The archegos, not just prince, but also the author, the origin, the source of life. Jesus is the sovereign one, the Lord, who brings life. It fits with John's image of the word, who was in the beginning and through whom, as God spoke him out, was the source of everything. Through him all things were created and now, through the word, God speaks life into the world again. He came into the midst of corruption and sickness and death and has brought life. And wherever he goes be brings life and in that life he announces his lordship, his sovereignty, his kingdom. Wherever he brings life he announces his victory over sin and death, over the present evil age. Wherever he brings life, he announces the hope of God's promises fulfilled and a world set to rights: no more death, no more sorrow, no more tears. Ironically, his own people rejected and killed him, but God raised him from the dead to prove that Jesus is the life of the world and because of that we know, we have confidence that his life will continue to go out into the world. Peter does here what he did at Pentecost. God did something mighty and amazing, and Peter—steeped in scripture and full of the Spirit—explains what's going on in light of the story of Israel and her God and, most importantly, showing how what's now happening is the fulfilment of what God had promised to his people. That's the biggest thing here. This is no faith healer, doing theatrics and putting the spotlight on himself. Peter has absolutely no interest in that. He makes it clear: this is all about Jesus. The prophets had said that the world would be set to rights when the knowledge of the glory of God has covered it as the sea. Not the knowledge of Peter. Not the knowledge of celebrity apostles. The knowledge of the glory of God. And so Peter's Spirit-filled purpose is to proclaim the glory of God—to make sure everyone knows not just that God is mighty and powerful, but that God is above all faithful to his promises and worthy of our trust, worthy of our allegiance, worthy of our faith. And that's the next thing. After announcing how this is healing is evidence of God's faithfulness, Peter issues a call to faith. Look at verse 17: “Now, Brothers,” Peter continued, “I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did. But this is how God has fulfilled what he promised through the mouth of all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. So now repent, and turn back, so that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshment may come from the presence of the Lord, and so that he will send you Jesus, the one he chose and appointed to be his Messiah. He must be received in heaven, you see, until the time which God spoke about through the mouth of the holy prophets from ancient days, the time when God will restore all things. Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me, one from among your own brothers; whatever he says to you, you must pay attention to him. And everyone who does not listen to that prophet will be cut off from the people.' All the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors, spoke about these days too. You are the children of the prophets, the children of the covenant which God established with your ancestors when he said to Abraham, ‘In your seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.' When God raised up his servant he sent him to you first, to bless you by turning each of you away from your wicked deeds.” Over and over Peter stresses that what the people are seeing is the fulfilment of God's promises going all the way back to Abraham: His promise to renew fallen Israel, his promise to reach out to the nations with this glory through this renewed people. Peter points forward to this hope of creation set to rights that we see from this point on throughout Acts and the New Testament, said in various ways. God will “sum up all things in the Messiah,” as we heard Paul say in Ephesians 1:10. Through the Messiah he will “reconcile all things to himself, making peace by his blood, shed on the cross” (Colossians 1:20). He will make “new heavens and new earth, in which justice will dwell” (Revelation 21:1). He will overcome every power which destroys and corrupts his good creation, so that eventually God will be “all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:28). The whole creation will be “set free from its slavery to decay, to share the liberty of the glory of God's children” (Romans 8:21). Brothers and Sisters, it began at the cross and the empty tomb, the ascension was a sign it was all true, and Pentecost show us that we're not only a part of how these promises will be fulfilled, but we can watch as heaven invades earth with the glory of God. We don't have to wait for some distant day to see God revealed. We see his glory at work each day: in ourselves as his word and Spirt renew us and in the world as we live and proclaim the good news about Jesus and see faith born in others and their hearts and minds renewed by Jesus and the Spirit. We see God's glory revealed as the weight of sin and guilt is lifted. Notice that's part of Peter's message. It's not just a call to repent. It's also assurance of forgiveness. God, through the blood of Jesus, was ready to forgive even the rejection, the hardness of heart, the rebellion of Israel when they crucified Jesus. That's the whole point of all of this: God's great final restoration of all things is for us, for sinners, for rebels, for God-haters, right here and right now. The gospel brings God's future into the present, because God longs to show his mercy and his grace to sinners. As God longs for his good world that we've corrupted with our sin to be set to rights, even more he longs to set us to rights that we might once again be the stewards, the priests of his temple that he created us to be. God will, as Peter says echoing Isaiah 43:25, God will blot out the sins of those who repent. And if his grace was big enough and Jesus' blood strong enough to blot out the sins of those who crucified him, and his Spirit powerful enough to renew their hearts and to fill them with love, Brothers and Sisters, the blood of Jesus and the renewing power of his Spirit is enough to bring God's new creation to us. Repent and believe in the name of Jesus. Be forgiven. Be made whole. Be made new. Be refreshed. Be God's future here and now. Be made a witness to your family, to your friends, to everyone around you of the saving power of Jesus the Messiah. Let's pray: O God, the strength of all who put their trust in you: Mercifully accept our prayers; and because in our weakness we can do nothing good without you, give us the help of your grace, that in keeping your commandments we may please you both in will and deed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
"Send me a text message and let me know what you think of the First-Time Leaders Accelerated℠ Podcast."There are three types of KPIs. Two measure results and one shapes your team and culture. KPIs help prevent blind spots. Ironically, the most important of these KPIs, are the ones most organizations miss.If you need assistance assessing and accelerating the transformation and transition of first-time leaders, Click Meet Me or visit tdspi.com.Support the showTimothy Dean SmithFirst-Time Leader Accelerator | Coach | Podcast Hostwww.tdspi.comtds@tdspi.com(607) 221-6191Thank you for listening to the First-Time Leaders Accelerated℠ Podcast.
While on a brief visit to see two of our grandsons and a side trip to Arkansas, I had the chance to watch a few exceptional college softball and baseball games along with a very tense Game 7 NBA Western Conference final. It’s time to enjoy the next couple of weeks as the window is quickly closing on the seasons for these three sports. This year’s NBA Finals began Wednesday night. The surprising San Antonio Spurs and streaking New York Knicks began their best-of-seven title series. New York came into Game 1 with an 11-game playoff winning streak. The Knicks left the Spurs’ home arena Wednesday night with a 12-game playoff winning streak. The Women’s College World Series softball best-of three finale also got underway Wednesday night in Oklahoma City. Last weekend, Texas Tech’s never-say-die Red Raiders had to fight back from the brink of elimination twice to defeat #1 seed Alabama just to reach the finals. They will now get a chance to do that once again on Thursday night and, perhaps, on Friday night. That’s because Texas Tech lost to intrastate rival Texas 7-3 in the opening game of the best of three final series. Texas is the defending national champion. On the men’s side of college bats and balls, this week marks the Super Regional round for the NCAA college baseball season. Eight winners from this weekend’s best-of-three weekend series will advance into the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska next week. There were a number of surprising winners and losers during last week’s opening round. New York’s Amazin’ Knicks have now won 12 straight playoff games! San Antonio Spurs 7’4” center Victor Wembanyama is ending his third NBA season. Much like Hall-of-Famer Shaquille O’Neal (who, by the way, played his high school basketball in San Antonio), Wemby just led his team into the NBA Finals. He is now being hailed as the top big man in the NBA. The 5-time NBA champion Spurs are much more than just a one-man show. They utilize their bench as well as any NBA team and play solid defense for the entire 48-minute game. The New York Knicks are seeking their first NBA title since 1973. To say that New York sports fans are hungry for a title is a huge understatement. “The City that Never Sleeps” is in the midst of a rather lengthy championship drought. Eli Manning’s New York Giants football last won a Super Bowl title in 2011. Baseball’s New York Yankees haven’t won the World Series since 2009. The crosstown rival New York Mets haven’t claimed a baseball title since 1986. Broadway Joe Namath was the quarterback for football’s New York Jets in their only Super Bowl victory in 1969. NBA’s New York Knicks came into the playoffs as the #3 Eastern Conference seed behind Detroit and Boston. After losing two of its first three playoff games to Atlanta in Round 1, the Knicks won the final three games to advance. They would sweep #5 seed Philadelphia and #4 Cleveland in eight straight wins to claim the NBA Eastern Conference title. San Antonio is playing in the NBA Finals for the first time since June, 2014. The path to the championship round has been increasingly difficult for the Spurs. San Antonio (the #2 seed in the Western Conference) needed just five games to dispatch the Portland Trailblazers in five games. It then took six games for San Antonio to subdue the Minnesota Timberwolves. Last weekend, the Spurs required a full seven games to win a tense Game 7 battle against the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder. Wednesday night’s Game 1 in San Antonio was won by the New York Knicks 105-95 in a game which was much closer than the final score reflected. The veteran Knicks scored the last 11 points to end the game. New York stepped-up in the final quarter to score 29 points as the younger Spurs tallied only 19 over the last 12 minutes. New York’s Villanova connection featured guards Jalen Brunson (30 points) and Josh Hart (an incredible 15 rebounds) leading a fourth quarter rally to give the Knicks their 12th consecutive playoff victory. As a result, San Antonio lost its home court advantage after that Game 1 loss. ABC will televise Game #2 at 7:30PM Friday night from San Antonio. The series moves to New York’s Madison Square Garden for Games 3 and 4 on Monday and Wednesday next week. Make sure to stick around for the post-game coverage on ESPN. The award-winning “Inside the NBA” show features NBA legends Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal breaking down the action along with host Ernie Johnson. You never know what’s going to happen. Meanwhile, in Oklahoma City… The Women’s College World Series best-of-three finals began Wednesday night. Defending national champion Texas (52-12) defeated Texas Tech 7-3 in Game 1. The Red Raiders fell to 61-9 and are on the verge of elimination once again. They have become quite familiar with this position over the past several days in Oklahoma City. The #11 seeded Red Raiders rallied for two runs in the top of the ninth inning on Sunday to vanquish #8 national seed UCLA 8-7. On Monday, Texas Tech had to defeat #1 seed Alabama twice to earn a spot in the championship finals. The Red Raiders won the opener 5-4 over Bama by scoring a run in the bottom of the 7th inning. They also grabbed the second game 2-0 on a two-hit pitching gem by two-time college player-of-the-year NiJari Canady to earn a spot in the finals. The second seeded Texas Longhorns didn’t have an easy road into the Women’s College World Series finals, either. They had to defeat #7 Tennessee Volunteers twice on Monday to advance. Texas won the opener 5-2 and then shut-out Tennessee 4-0 later in the afternoon to advance to the championship round. The Longhorns and Red Raiders competed for the Women’s College World Series championship last year as well. Texas Tech is trying to avenge last year’s loss to Texas in the best-of-three title series. Game 2 will be played Thursday at 7PM on ESPN. A deciding Game 3, if necessary, will be played Friday night at 7PM on ESPN. What happened to the top seeds in the men’s college baseball tournament? UCLA had been ranked #1 in college baseball all season long. The Bruins were 51-6 heading into the opening round of the NCAA college baseball playoffs. They faced #4 regional seed St. Mary’s (35-25) in their opening playoff game at home last Friday. The Gaels scored a run in the top of the ninth inning to shock UCLA 3-2. On Saturday, UCLA had to score three times in the bottom of the ninth to take a 6-5 win and stay alive against 30-26 Virginia Tech. St. Mary’s and UCLA were matched again on Sunday. This time, the Gaels scored a run in the bottom of the 10th inning to end UCLA’s season with a 6-5 win. Ironically, St. Mary’s was eliminated on Sunday 5-2 by the Cal-Poly Mustangs of San Luis Obispo. Go figure. It wasn’t any better for #2 national seed Georgia Tech The 50-10 Yellow Jackets were playing at home in Atlanta and trying to advance into the Super Regional round for the first time in 20 years. Georgia Tech would have hosted a Super Regional this weekend – if only they had won their own opening round regional. The Oklahoma Sooners rallied in consecutive games to dispatch the heavily favored hometown Yellow Jackets to advance into this weekend’s Super Regional to be played in…Kansas? Kansas has rarely been known for its baseball prowess. This year’s baseball Jayhawks are now 45-16 after winning its opening round of games. KU will host Oklahoma Saturday in the Lawrence, Kansas Super Regional. The Jayhawks have made it into only one College World Series (1993) in the school’s long history. Kansas plays baseball in relatively small Hoglund Ballpark. This stadium features just 2,500 permanent seats. The school recently took down the left field wall and installed a chain link fence. That allows about 1,000 additional fans to stand or sit in their own lawn chairs in “The Backyard” to watch Kansas baseball games. Expect ticket prices in Lawrence, Kansas to be sky high for this weekend’s Super Regional. Did you pick the Trojans to make it into the Super Regionals? Last weekend, there were the Trojans from the University of Southern California, the Troy Trojans of the Sun Belt Conference, and the Little Rock Trojans from the Ohio Valley Conference. Incredibly, all three of these Trojans baseball teams will be part of the 16 squads competing in the second round “Super Regional” college playoff games this weekend. At least one Trojans team is guaranteed a spot in Omaha at the College World Series next week. The 36-30 Troy Trojans will host the Little Rock Trojans (39-26) at 4PM Friday on ESPNU. Troy shocked #5 national seed Florida 10-2 in the final game of the Gainesville Regional last week. Little Rock won the Hattiesburg Regional after #9 seed Southern Miss was sent packing after two consecutive losses. The USC Trojans (47-16) will travel across the country to play at the University of North Carolina (48-11-1) on Friday at 2PM CDT on ESPN2. Here are all eight Super Regional match-ups (first game starting times are CDT) Friday’s Opening Games: Morgantown – Cal Poly (39-22) at #16 seed West Virginia (43-15) at 11AM on ESPN2 Chapel Hill – USC (47-16) at #5 North Carolina (48-11-1) at 2PM on ESPN2 Troy – Little Rock (39-26) at Troy (36-30) at 4PM on ESPNU Auburn – Ole Miss (39-21) at #4 Auburn (42-20) at 7PM on ESPN2 Saturday’s Opening Games: Athens – #14 seed Mississippi State (43-17) at #3 Georgia (49-12) at 10AM on ESPN Lawrence – Oklahoma (36-22) at #15 Kansas (45-16) at 1PM on ESPN Austin – #11 Oregon (43-16) at #6 Texas (43-13) at 7PM on ESPN Tuscaloosa – St. John’s (36-24) at #7 Alabama (40-19) at 8PM on ESPN2 The post Enjoy A Week filled with Terrific Games! appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.
Haven't ever been on a job and someone that was not qualified based on credentials constantly moved up the corporate ladder while more qualified candidates and individuals were left behind? This is called failing forward and usually these individuals will hire failures like themselves in order to insulate themselves from criticism and backlash but other credentials and more qualified individuals. Ironically, this also happens in relationships when a person may not seek someone that would be in their fear group or that will keep them accountable and challenge them. Therefore, they become very selective about their partner and may look for more incompetencies in the individual than attributes, sounds rather counterintuitive, but the goal is to not be shown up by someone else. In these relationships, loyalty outweighs competency and love. We discuss some of the issues pertaining to why some people choose this route in life and the sense of entitlement they believe that they have from not trying, but to criticize others as justification for them remaining dormant in their efforts.
The traditional image of leadership is built around the hero. When problems emerge, the leader steps in. If uncertainty appears, the leader provides answers. Finally, as pressure increases, the leader shields the team. According to leadership coach Daria Rudnik, that model is becoming increasingly ineffective. In a world shaped by constant disruption, Facilitative Leadership is replacing heroic leadership as the capability organizations need most. About Daria Rudnik Daria Rudnik helps overloaded leaders build self-sufficient teams in an AI-driven world. Through her proprietary CLICK Framework, she works with fast-growing technology and finance organizations to improve team ownership, decision-making, knowledge sharing, and adaptability. Daria is the author of CLICKING (International Impact Book Awards – Leadership Category), co-author of The AI Revolution, and founder of Aidra.ai, an AI coaching platform designed to scale leadership development.
In this week's episode, I take a look at the movies and streaming shows I watched in Spring 2026, and rate them from least to most favorite. This coupon code will get you 25% off the ebooks in the Dragontiarna series at my Payhip store: DRAGONJUNE The coupon code is valid through June 15, 2026. So if you need a new ebook this summer, we've got you covered! TRANSCRIPT 00:00:00 Introduction and Writing Updates Hello, everyone. Welcome to Episode 305 of The Pulp Writer Show. My name is Jonathan Moeller. Today is May 29th, 2026 and today we'll be discussing my Spring Movie Review Roundup for 2026, where I discuss the movies and streaming shows I watched over the last few months. We will also have Coupon of the Week and a progress update on my current writing, publishing, and audiobook projects. So let's start off with Coupon of the Week. This week's coupon code will get you 25% off the ebooks in the Dragontiarna series at my Payhip store. That coupon code is DRAGONJUNE. And as always, you get the coupon code and the links in the show notes for this episode. This coupon code will be valid through June the 15th, 2026. So if you need a new ebook for this summer, we have got you covered. Now let's move on to my current writing, publishing, and audiobook projects. As I mentioned last week, Dragon-Mage is out and you can get it at Amazon and Kindle Unlimited and it's doing well, so thank you for that. My next main project is Blade of Thieves and as of this recording, I am on chapter 11 of 25, though that'll probably expand in the final draft, which puts me at 56,000 words in. So I'm almost halfway through. I think probably it's going to be the length of Blade of Wraiths or a little longer, but we'll see. I'm hoping to have it out towards the end of June, but depending on how June goes, that might slip till July. Hopefully we can avoid that. I'm also 5,000 words into Cloak of Frost and that will be my main project once Blade of Thieves is done. I'm hoping to have Cloak of Frost out towards the end of July, but depending on how June goes, it might slip to August. For audiobook projects, Blade of Wraiths is still processing at ACX, though I believe as of right now, you can get it at Google Play, Kobo, Spotify, and my own Payhip store. The other stores should be available within a few weeks. As of right now, I don't actually have any current audiobooks in production, though we have some scheduled for the future. Once Blade of Thieves is finally done, Brad Wills will record that for us. Hollis McCarthy is scheduled to record Cloak of Worlds in June, if all goes well. Leanne Woodward will be recording Dragon-Mage sometime in July, if all goes well. So that is where I'm at with my current writing, publishing, and audiobook projects. Hopefully we'll have new things for you to read and listen to before much longer. 00:02:32 Main Topic: Spring 2026 Movie Review Roundup Now without any further ado, let's move on to our main topic, my Spring 2026 Movie Review Roundup. It's time for the Spring 2026 Movie Review Roundup, where I review the movies and streaming shows I watched over the last few months. As always, they're listed from least favorite to most favorite. The grades are wholly subjective and based on nothing more than my own opinions and thoughts. With that disclaimer out of the way, let's go to the movies. First up is Kicking and Screaming, which came out in 2005. This is a family comedy with Will Ferrell and Robert Duvall. Pharrell plays Phil Weston, a mild mannered vitamin store owner and Duvall plays his father, Buck Weston, owner of a successful chain of sports equipment stores. Buck is one of those hyper competitive guys who has to win at everything and Phil has always rolled with it. But when Phil's son is a benchwarmer on the youth soccer team that Buck coaches, Phil's had enough and starts coaching a rival team to get his son into the game and to defeat his father. Along the way, of course, he descends into Will Ferrell style comedic lunacy, but the PG version since this is a PG movie. Mike Ditka was also hilarious as Phil's sidekick and assistant coach. It seemed like an '80s family movie. It was a sort of movie where you could have taken the entire family to the theater in 2005 and everyone would have been at least moderately entertained. Overall Grade: C Next up is the animated Lord of the Rings, which came out in 1978. As I mentioned, this was the animated version of Lord of the Rings from 1978. Extremely ambitious, but I think it's fair to say this landed in ambitious failure territory, but they tried the best they could given the constraints of the technology at the time and the actual available budget. They tried to pack the entirety of the Fellowship of the Ring and the first half of The Two Towers into about two hours and 20 minutes. I'm sorry to say it just didn't work. Like Dune, the Lord of the Rings is one of those books that requires like 10 hours of very expensive filmmaking to pull off properly. That said, I think it is fair to say that this stumbled so that the Peter Jackson live action trilogy could run. Adapting a book (especially a big book) into a movie is a challenge and I don't think this quite got there. Too much was cut out and if you hadn't read the book, you would probably have no idea what was happening or just been confused the entire time. Additionally, the movie relied heavily on rotoscoping and it didn't always quite work. Like the rotoscope Nazgul looked creepy and unsettling, so that worked for them. However, the rotoscoped orcs just looked bad. You know how in live theater stagehands will dress all in black? The orcs kind of looked like that, albeit they're wearing yellow ponchos over their black stagehand outfits, almost like the stagehands were expecting inclement weather backstage. That said, the vocal performances and the music were very good. So an ambitious and admirable failure. As I said, I think the filmmaker's vision exceeded the grasp of their budget and the available technology of the 1970s. Overall Grade: C Next up is Airplane!, which came out in 1980. It was interesting to watch this as a cultural artifact. It had the leisurely pace of an '80s movie, with far more absurdist humor. It was a parody of various airplane disaster movies from the 1970s. It's also interesting that this is remembered as a Leslie Nielsen movie nowadays, though Leslie Nielsen 's character is only a supporting character. For all that he's known for his absurdist humor these days from later movies, Nielsen plays his character stone cold dead straight, which makes him all the funnier, amazingly enough. Some of the jokes in this movie have aged very badly, but it's still worth watching as an interesting and amusing cultural artifact, given how it influenced the entire genre of comedy movies afterwards. There's also the obligatory three seconds of nudity that can get cut on cable TV broadcast. Overall Grade: B- Next up is the Thomas Crown Affair, which came out in 1999. This is an interesting remake of a movie from the 1960s. Pierce Brosnan plays Thomas Crown, a billionaire who has grown bored with his life, so he orchestrates the theft of a priceless Monet painting from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The heist goes off flawlessly and the museum's insurance company sends out investigator Catherine Banning (played by Renee Russo) to retrieve the painting and avoid a hundred million dollar insurance payout. Banning immediately intuits that Crown is the thief and sets about to find the painting. This investigation is complicated by the fact that Crown and Banning immediately develop a strong attraction and start an affair. It was interesting to watch since neither Crown nor Banning are particularly sympathetic characters. In 2026, the phrase "bored New York billionaire" has much more sinister connotations than it did in 1999 and Banning breaks all kinds of laws and sleeping with her target is not a particularly bright idea. That said, the opening heist was interesting and Crown's final gambit to return the painting was extremely clever and enjoyable to watch. So overall, I like the movie, but there's still way too much nudity. Cable broadcasts are probably like 10 minutes shorter than the actual runtime from cutting it all out. Overall Grade: B- Next up is Whiskey Galore, which came out in 2017 and this is a remake of the original Whiskey Galore from 1949. Honestly, this is exactly the same movie from 1949 that I watched in the Movie Review Roundup for Summer 2025, just updated with modern filmmaking techniques. If the movie makers in the '40s could have done it this way, they would have. Though I would recommend watching the 1949 one first and then the one from 2017. Overall Grade: B Next up is Super Mario Galaxy, which came out in 2026. And I have to admit, it felt a little strange to be the oldest person at the theater watching Super Mario Galaxy, but I've been playing Mario games since before any of these kids were born, so I think I had a right to be there. Anyway, I would say this movie is about 75% as good as the first one. It was a little overpacked and the plot wasn't quite as tight, but it's still fun to watch. The animation was excellent and I enjoyed all the callbacks to the various Mario games and since I haven't actually played all the Mario games (as a reminder, I played no console games of any kind between 1998 and 2019), I'm sure there were quite a few I missed. The plot is that Bowser Jr is coming to rescue his father, Bowser, who's been held captive since the end of the last movie. To power his doomsday weapon, Junior kidnaps Princess Rosalina and Princess Peach goes to rescue her while Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi stay to protect the Mushroom Kingdom. Their separate subplots will end up crossing when Bowser Jr. invades the Mushroom Kingdom to get Bowser. Glen Powell was an excellent choice to voice Fox McCloud. I'd say if you could imagine a movie that the audience would enjoy and the critics would hate, you'd end up with Super Mario Galaxy. Since that appears to be what happened to the tune of $970 million, it appears that metaphor was accurate. Also, to be less glib, "movies you can take your kids to" do serve a valuable social function (in my opinion). Overall Grade: B Next up is the Rise and Fall of Reggie Dinkins, which came out in 2026. This was a comedy with a fun premise. Reggie Dinkins (played by Tracy Morgan) was an elite NFL player who got bounced out of the league for placing bets on himself. Years later, he teams up with an indie filmmaker named Arthur Tobin (played by Daniel Radcliffe), to make a documentary to rehabilitate his image. However, Tobin has his own issues. He has an Oscar, but after the Oscar, he got hired to direct a Marvel movie and cracked under the pressure. He and Reggie have to go on a journey to recover their reputations. I thought this was a pretty funny sitcom. Tracy Morgan is a comedic natural, but Daniel Radcliffe turned out to be an excellent comedic actor as well. He was great in that Weird Al biopic a few years ago and he's very funny in this. Craig Robinson was also great as Jerry Basmati, Reggie's sleazy nemesis. Overall Grade: B+ Next up is The Mandalorian and Grogu, which came out in 2026. I enjoyed this. It was like three pretty good episodes of The Mandalorian show put together. The end result was an adventure movie that kind of reminded me of the best of 1980s fantasy and sci-fi movies with a lot of creature work and a lot of action scenes. For an extended stretch of the movie, Grogu takes over as the primary protagonist, and given that Grogu is a very expensive puppet, that's an impressive feat. The plot picks up from the end of The Mandalorian show. The Mandalorian and his adopted son Grogu are now working for the New Republic, helping to hunt down Imperial warlords. Mando gets assigned to hunt down in a mysterious Imperial warlord named Commander Coin, but the only people who have information on Coin's location are the Twins, a pair of Hutt crime lords and relatives of Jabba the Hutt from Return of the Jedi. The Twins are willing to give up Coin's location if Mando does a job for them, but as Han Solo could have warned Mando, working for the Hutts is not a good idea. I was surprised that the reviews for this movie were as mixed as they were, but I suspect that's a combination of three social factors: Number one, cumulative ill will towards Disney as a corporation, which has done numerous sketchy things in the 2020s. I think something similar happened with Microsoft and Starfield. Number two, the lingering bad aftertaste of the sequel trilogy and number three, the tendency of the hardcore Star Wars fandom to chronically overthink things. Overall Grade: B+ Next up is the animated Hobbit, which came out in 1977. Peter Jackson's Hobbit Trilogy from the 2010 famously stretched The Hobbit across three movies, which really didn't work and added a bunch of epic battle scenes, which was totally off for what was essentially a children's book. The animated 1977 version of The Hobbit, by contrast, went in a different direction, neatly adapting it down to 70 minutes or so, presumably because animation is very expensive. At the time, this got mixed reviews, but looking back nearly 50 years later, I think we can appreciate it more because of the sheer amount of work that goes into hand-drawn animation. Like computer-based animation is unquestionably a lot of work as well, but hand-drawn animation is on something of a higher level in terms of difficulty, in my opinion. That said, I think this adaptation did a better job of compressing the story down than the animated Lord of the Rings movie I mentioned earlier in this episode. There's also a lot of 1970s style folk singing-like a LOT. I suspect J.R.R. Tolkien would have hated every single adaptation ever made of any of his works (with perhaps the exception of the audiobooks), but he would have approved of the number of songs and poetry in this. Though it was amusing that the high elves in this movie sing in a '70s folk music style. It would be humorous if in the Silmarillion, Earnedil the Mariner had finally crossed the Sundering Seas to reach Valinor and appeal the aid of the Valar against Morgoth and his hordes, only to hear '70 style folk music echoing across the shining hills of the Undying Lands. Anyway, it's definitely worth watching this if you like The Hobbit or old style animation. Overall Grade: A- Next up is House of David Season 2, which came out in 2026. I wrestled with what grade to give this because it used a lot of AI for the big battle scene in episode one and as long time readers and listeners know, I do not generally approve of LLM generated slop. Ironically, I think episode one, the big battle sequence with all the AI, was definitely the weakest point of the entire second season. Everything else was better. That said, all the character drama and interactions and acting were really good, which amusingly shows that while LLM stuff can generate blurry scenes of mounted soldiers charging at night, the real human emotion comes from, well, real human emotion. Anyway, this picks right up from the end of Season 1, right after David kills Goliath, which means it takes place during most of the events with the third quarter of the book of 1 Samuel from the Bible. David becomes one of the chief commanders of King Saul, but David is secretly the anointed king of Israel. Saul's deteriorating mental state becomes threatening to David while Saul's children scheme for position (with the exception of Jonathan, who has accepted that God has chosen David as the next king of Israel) and the Philistines prepare for war against Israel. It is interesting how the show alternates between leaning into the Grimdark aspects of life in the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age and avoiding them. Like, constant warfare was a fact of life for a Mesopotamian king around 1000 BC. But the show also shows David as having passionate romantic love for Saul's daughter Michal and in the Bible, David ended up with at least eight wives that we know about (there were likely others) and an unnamed number of concubines. So late Bronze Age/early Iron Age monarchs were not likely to have been in the grips of fervent romantic love. Though based on the Psalms he wrote, David seems to have been a man who definitely was in touch with his emotions and quite possibly he would have passionately loved multiple women at the same time. Anyway, I enjoyed the show. While I am not an expert, I probably have a higher than average level of Old Testament knowledge. So when the show expanded on something from 1 Samuel (such as the role of Doeg, the murderous Edomite shepherd), I could see where they were coming from. Or the subplot where Jonathan falls in love with an Israelite woman since in the Bible, David took care of Jonathan's son, Mephibosheth, logically, Jonathan had a wife at some point. Related to that as Saul continues his descent, in a moment of rage in 1 Samuel, he calls Jonathan "the son of a perverse and rebellious woman" and the show has a subplot explaining how Saul came to see Queen Ahinoam as a "perverse and rebellious woman". So I enjoyed this and will definitely watch Season 3 when it comes along. That said, the opening battle with the AI generated battle scenes is still definitely the weakest part of the series, though. Overall Grade: A- Next up is Maul: Shadow Lord, which came out in 2026. And in my opinion, this was pretty good. I think he could call the plot Sith Noir. Maul, desiring vengeance against the Emperor for all the pain he has endured, has decided to rebuild his criminal syndicate (previously destroyed in the Clone Wars) and use it to bring down the Empire. Meanwhile, Captain Lawson, a detective on a minor world, is trying to rebuild his relationship with his teenage son and keep his career afloat. This becomes tricky when a pair of fugitive Jedi fleeing from the Inquisitors turn up on their world. But in the younger of the two Jedi, Maul sees a potential apprentice for himself, one he could corrupt to the dark side. The animation has improved by quantum leaps and bounds since the days of the Clone War show. The lighting and the shadows are excellent. Maul looks spooky and a little uncanny. The lightsaber fights are quick and fluid. No spoilers, but the final episode is absolutely excellent. I also think one of the best things about the Star Wars animation shows is how Maul's character has evolved from simply the cool swordsmen at the end of The Phantom Menace to a sympathetic yet still evil warrior-philosopher, a tragic figure whose every effort always contains the seeds of its own downfall. Overall Grade: A Next up is Emma, which came out in 2020. This is an excellent adaptation of the Jane Austen's novel. Good performances, good cinematography, and it captures the essence of the novel quite well and it's probably a must for Austen fans to see. I don't really have anything negative to say about it, say that it has the three seconds of unnecessary nudity that can be cut in cable broadcasts. Ironically, and quite amusingly, that three seconds of nudity is quite literally the only thing this movie has in common with Airplane!. Overall Grade: A Next up is No Packers, No Life, which came out in 2025. This was a fun documentary about a group of Japanese Green Bay Packers fans. Obviously, there are fairly large cultural and linguistic divides between the United States and Japan, so American football is not hugely popular in Japan. However, the Green Bay Packers are the only community owned team in the NFL to this day and so they're quite a bit more sympathetic than one that's owned by a faceless billionaire. Anyway, an American businessman goes to Japan and stumbles across a Japanese man wearing a Packers jersey at a bar. From there, he learns of a small club called the Japanese Packers Cheering Team that gathered to watch Packers games. This businessman in question happened to be from Wisconsin, so he befriended the Japanese Packers Cheering Team and invited them to Green Bay for a game. The invitation snowballed and so the entire club and their families arrived to watch the game. Sports fandom really isn't one of my interests, so it's always interesting to look at it from the outside. That said, this was an enjoyable documentary about cross-cultural communication at its best. Overall Grade: A Let's close out this episode with my favorite thing I saw in spring 2026, which was Project Hail Mary, which came out in 2026. This is another "science man solves space problem that saves the day with math and science", type science fiction adventure like The Martian, though some new twists on the formula. Dr. Ryland Grace wakes up alone on a spaceship with all the other crew dead and no memory of how he got there. Gradually, he partially remembers and works out that he is part of Project Hail Mary, a last ditch effort to stop Earth's sun from dimming due to an extremophile organism called the Astrophage. Only one other star in Earth's stellar neighborhood was showing no signs of Astrophage infection, so Grace's ship was sent there on a suicide mission to try and recover some means of defeating the Astrophage. While there, he encounters an alien ship with a sole survivor and he slowly works out how to communicate with the alien, who he dubs Rocky. It turns out Rocky's people sent him there on a mission to solve the Astrophage problem as well and together Grace and Rocky try to work out how to save their respective home worlds. Quite enjoyable and worth seeing. At the time I typed this in March of 2026, it was the highest-grossing movie of 2026 and I think it deserved that, though it did eventually get overtaken by Super Mario Galaxy. Overall Grade: A I suppose that was an eclectic range of movies, wasn't it? Interestingly, I actually saw three of them in theaters: Project Hail Mary, Super Mario Galaxy, and The Mandalorian and Grogu, so I went to the theater three times in three months. I think that's the most I've been to the movie theater in a single year in the entirety of the 2020s. So that is it for this week. Thank you for listening to The Pulp Writer Show. I hope you found the show interesting. A reminder that you can listen to all the back episodes at https://thepulpwritershow.com. If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review on your podcasting platform of choice. Stay safe and stay healthy and we'll see you all next week.
We are now recording an audio version of written posts that we will upload to Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, which you can listen to by clicking the button the play button above.As the Strait of Hormuz (SoH) Crisis completes its third month and on-again/off-again peace talks drag on, we are starting to see the outlines of various structural themes emerging, and, as importantly, some that are not. Thematically we see the following:* Power Surge! Our Power Surge! super-cycle theme has not only not been knocked off track by the SoH Crisis, but has likely been enhanced based on “the four Ds” of pragmatic energy policy orientation we discuss below. Recently completed 1Q 2026 earnings season shows the AI (artificial intelligence) and broader digital transformation theme is as strong as ever.* Geopolitical Super Vol. Geopolitical Super Vol remains our commodity macro framework, in particular for crude oil prices. Since Russia-Ukraine and through SoH-to-date, we have resisted crude oil super-cycle framings while also, importantly, rejecting perma bear doom-and-gloom. The unforgiving math of global oil demand being forced down to circa 95 million b/d of supply from around 105 million b/d pre-crisis suggests recession is the most likely clearing mechanism rather than a structural increase in long-dated oil prices in the event a significant disruption to flows persists. To be clear, we do see scope for a modest increase in long-end oil on the order of $10/bbl to account for both cost inflation and an increased geopolitical risk premium.* Molecules to markets. In our view, getting molecules to markets is the more pressing strategic imperative for countries than simply trying to find the molecules in the first place. In traditional energy, this puts a premium on well-positioned midstream and downstream assets. In the upstream business, there is always an opportunity to find acreage that is well positioned on the future cost curve. Having a midstream or downstream solution (e.g., LNG) may be an increasing success factor for larger E&P (exploration and production) companies.* New business models > pure-play (for larger companies). The era of extreme pure-play specialization we think will fade, or at least will no longer be the dominant ask of investors. Business model evolution is likely to continue to separate leaders from laggards. Examples we find intriguing include pressure pumpers and midstream companies diversifying into behind-the-meter (BTM) power, US shale gas producers expanding into midstream and potentially LNG, refiners that have grown midstream capabilities, midstream companies that have grown export opportunities, and the expanded commercial trading opportunities that larger companies have pursued. The list is growing.* Brownfield > greenfield (usually). The advantage of doing more from existing assets is something both countries and companies have in common. Brownfield almost always beats greenfield on profitability and speed-to-market, though a best-in-class greenfield project like Guyana oil is the type of exception that exists to the general rule.From an energy policy perspective, the Strait of Hormuz Crisis reveals what we are now calling the four Ds of country-level energy policy aspiration:* Do as much Domestic production as possible;* Diversify energy sources and technologies;* Do more from existing assets; and* embrace Digital transformation and AI.Subscribe to Super-Spiked to receive all content via email. Also available on https://veriten.com.The Four Ds of Pragmatic Energy PolicyThe four Ds are the pragmatic policy implication of country leaders recognizing energy's natural hierarchy of needs (Exhibit 1). On the right side of Exhibit 1, we rank (higher on list is better) resource rich countries and resource challenged areas in terms of federal policy orientation that recognizes energy's natural hierarchy of needs and implementation of the four Ds relative to a given country's strengths and weaknesses.Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates among resource rich regions and China among resource challenged areas we see as having favorable federal energy policy orientations. Laggards are not surprising: Western Europe, California, Canada, and Australia. What KSA, UAE, and China have in common are national leadership that emphasizes the ideas of “all of the above,” maximum (or optimal) output of what you can control, and unapologetic “their own country first” mentalities.Super-Spiked subscribers know we have a very favorable view of Canada's oil and gas potential and the leading companies in the province of Alberta. We had an unfavorable view of the federal energy policies pursued by the prior Trudeau regime, with the jury out on the current Carney administration. On the latter, we appreciate that the rhetoric has improved off a low starting point. The proof will be in the policy implementation pudding.No country should aspire to follow the path of California or Western Europe and their “climate first” ideology (dishonorable mention goes to many states in the US northeast). Sadly, poor energy policy choices made in those areas are going to mean that less fortunate consumers and businesses in developing Asia suffer from being outbid for needed energy like LNG, jet fuel, and diesel during times of stress, as we last saw in the early days of Russia-Ukraine. It has been some time since we have done a deep dive on Australia; our sense would be that it is in the Canada category of having substantial oil and gas resources that the world would massively benefit from, but is being held back by ill-advised climate-first ideology by its national leaders.Exhibit 1: A Hierarchy of Energy Needs & Country Policy Objectives and OrientationSource: Veriten.Doing More From Existing AssetsIn previous issues of Super-Spiked, we have discussed three of the Ds: do as much domestic production as possible, diversify energy sources and technology, and embrace digital transformation and AI. Therefore, in this post we will expand on the “do more from existing assets” theme.* A major advantage the developed world has over China, India, and other developing areas is a large installed base of assets and infrastructure. Prematurely retiring old power plants in the name of “energy transition” and “The Climate Crisis” is the type of 2020-2023 mistake that has hurt competitiveness and affordability in the United States and Western Europe. In power generation, we are intrigued with trying to answer the question of how much new generation from legacy sources (e.g., natural gas, BTM, and traditional nuclear) is needed versus how much new generation technology is needed (e.g., fuel cells, enhanced geothermal, advanced nuclear) versus how much can existing grid utilization be improved via flexible loads and various grid enhancing technologies. How much more can we get from existing is important to how much we need from the other two options.* In crude oil markets, we do not believe there is the urgency to figure out “what's next” from a resource perspective as there was in the 2004-2014 super-cycle. To be clear, this comment is intended at the macro level; individual companies are almost always in need of figuring out what's next. Exploration and capital spending is likely to grow but we do not believe the kind of re-rating that happened during China/BRICs is warranted now. Rather we are most intrigued with what companies are doing to extend asset life (i.e., resource to production ratio) via a combination of technology application, business development, and midstream/downstream investment that can ensure molecules get moved to markets and turned into usable end products. Ironically, the Middle East looks like a compelling upstream opportunity for western oil and gas firms, given improved fiscal terms in certain areas. We have long held a favorable view of Canada (our concerns about its federal energy policies notwithstanding) and Alaska. Recent developments in many Latin American countries warrant a fresh look at the region for western players.* The largest areas that seem ripe to “do more from existing” include US shale oil, US shale gas, Middle East oil, Canada's oil sands, Venezuela oil, and developed market power grids.Growth and opportunityThe five areas of energy where we are most confident in growth include:* US and global power generation* Midstream and downstream infrastructure for crude oil and various metals and minerals* Grid enhancing technologies* US and global natural gas* Renewables and storageThe long-term opportunity to grow nuclear power is going to prove to be compelling for many countries, justifying the required patience in terms of time to development. Nuclear is the ultimate baseload, domestic, clean energy source.We remain open-minded about emerging and new energy technologies. We are seeing current growth in fuel cells and optimism about enhanced geothermal on the power generation side of the business. The SoH Crisis will accelerate adoption of electric vehicles and LNG trucks in particular in oil importing countries for diversification and affordability reasons.The success of new business models should diminish investor and activist demand for pure-playsThere is a misperception that investors prefer pure-plays or that investors only want more dividends and stock buybacks. Investors prefer companies that generate superior profitability with differentiated growth. Both are needed to sustainably outperform: profitability AND growth.The challenge in mature, cyclical sectors is that corporate over-enthusiasm for growth usually erodes profitability to the point where investors demand a disavowal of growth in favor of profitability and returning capital to shareholders. To be sure, if structural demand growth for a given commodity is something like 1%-2% per year, the expected growth rates for the largest companies within that sector is unlikely to be any more than +/- 1%-2% of the broader demand trajectory.As businesses mature and growth slows, the demand by investors to focus on sub-parts of the business often increases in order to enhance the combination of per share growth and profitability for a particular business segment. The post-2014 oil super-cycle bust and growth in U.S. shale turbocharged the demand for pure-plays, especially within the traditional oil & gas value chains. Certain pure-play shale oil producers, midstream companies, and refiners in fact performed exceptionally well.Power is clearly in a super-cycle and traditional oil and gas is operating with a Geopolitical Super Vol macro backdrop (a dramatic improvement from the post super-cycle bust phase of 2015-2020) and business opportunities abounding in the different product lines and geographies.SoH Crisis FAQQuestion 1: Has an oil super-cycle begun?Answer: No. Our core view remains Geopolitical Super Vol, not super-cycle.Q2: Have the odds of “peak oil demand” increased?A: No, we don't think so. However, we are concerned that if the Strait remains significantly disrupted that the painful adjustment down in global oil demand could mean that we spend a good part of the remainder of this decade recovering back to pre-crisis demand levels as incremental supply is brought online. In our view, the timing of a more permanent peak in oil demand is unknowable so long as the other seven billion people on Earth continue to use only a fraction of the energy The Lucky 1 Billion of Us take for granted.Q3: Isn't AI and the resulting power demand growth forecasts a bubble waiting to pop?A: No or, perhaps more accurately, not at this time. The fact that numerous stock markets like the U.S. (S&P 500), Japan (NIKKEI), and South Korea (KOSPI) are at or near all-time highs may indeed reflect complacency with the risk of global recession due to the ongoing SoH Crisis. We would differentiate stock market complacency with an AI bubble. We see it in the areas where we spend a lot of time: digital transformation and the application of AI is a game changer for numerous businesses. The stock market may well experience a major correction if the world tips into recession. Whatever short-term setback that might mean for near-term power generation we think would be akin to the Great Financial Crisis hit to oil demand in the middle of the China/BRICs super-cycle of 2004-2014, i.e., it was temporary.Q4: Don't investors prefer “pure-plays” over diversified companies? A: That view is missing our point. Investors prefer companies with competitive profitability and differentiated growth opportunities. The demand for “pure-plays” typically is the result of a mature sector experiencing a structural downcycle and investors being disappointed on both profitability and growth. And for sure, some companies should remain as pure-plays. The larger a company's market capitalization and overall size, the less we think a pure-play business model makes sense, be it basin or geography or asset type or business line. For small-caps and new technologies, the pure-play business model is often logical.Q5: So E&Ps will merge with refiners?A: No, we aren't expecting that type of integration or diversification. A future “integrated E&P” likely means some combination of midstream and commercial exposure as opposed to a historical upstream-refining mix, as an example.⚡️On A Personal Note: Work Hard. Golf Hard.It's been a great three-week stretch of Spring golf ramp-up. 8 rounds in 5 days in and around Troon, Scotland the first week of May and then our NJ club's flagship member-member Governor's Trophy tournament over Memorial Day weekend featuring 45 holes of match play over 2 days. Day 2 of Governor's featured a good Scottish cold snap of low 50s weather and a light drizzle. Glad my rain pants got more work in and happy to be in sunny Houston as I finish writing this.At Governor's you can always see the short-game comfort from the returning Florida crowd versus those that stayed north over what is typically a 4-5 month winter hiatus. I failed to take advantage of part-time Houston residency this past winter and my partner and I didn't win our flight for the first time since 2021. Five 3 puts—FIVE!!!—from yours truly in Round 2 and two more missed make-able putts in Round 3 were seven half-point giveaways we did not overcome. Based on my accounting, my partner cost us only 2 points versus my 3.5, so the disappointing performance is on me. I'll need a stricter winter routine next year.I will say the Scotland golf intensity helped stamina at Governor's. The intensity and deliberate pace of hole-by-hole match play is usually mentally and physically draining. I didn't feel that this year. For future reference: I need to play 36 more often! It forces an easier swing. It improves mental resilience. Seems better than a cold plunge.Does a high level of golf intensity make you a better energy equity analyst, advisor, or board member? For sure it does. There is no question about this. Are we advising our companies to settle for mediocrity? That an 8% return on capital is good enough? That sector average TSR is fine? Of course not.Work Hard. Golf Hard.A Lot of Great Golf In Scotland: Western Gailes Near The Top Of My ListSource: Super-Spiked selfie.The Calm Before The Governor's Trophy StormSource: Super-Spiked.⚖️ DisclaimerI certify that these are my personal, strongly held views at the time of this post. My views are my own and not attributable to any affiliation, past or present. This is not an investment newsletter and there is no financial advice explicitly or implicitly provided here. My views can and will change in the future as warranted by updated analyses and developments. Some of my comments are made in jest for entertainment purposes; I sincerely mean no offense to anyone that takes issue.Subscribe to Super-Spiked to receive all content via email. Also available on https://veriten.com. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit arjunmurti.substack.com
You are probably wondering, what the heck is a Slurmph? Dustin is. He's a Slurmph. And he'll let you know, in case you forgot. It's time to meet Dustin and Edmundo, best friends forever! EDITOR'S NOTES: A couple of additional tech notes here. Ironically, although we all touted the great qualities of the alternate FX-heavy patron-exclusive renders at the end of this episode, there didn't end up being many moments worth adding sound effects to in this one. Additionally, due to some audio issues, this episode took a lot longer to edit than normal and I really wanted to get it out the door. So this time around, there is no alternate FX version. My apologies! If it's any consolation, since we just finished recording it, I can promise you that the next episode has a lot more effects. Also, due to the normal biological needs of the human body, Alex had stepped away from the table right before we closed out, and thus wasn't present when we were introducing ourselves. In case you were not aware, Henry is played by Alex. Thanks, Alex! Drop us a line! You can follow us (sporadically) on Facebook, and we'd love to see you on our Discord Channel too. And let us know your thoughts by leaving a review on iTunes or any other podcast aggregate sites. For even more info and options, check out our main website or our low-bandwidth alternative feed site. Links of Note: Official Campaign Wiki at Goblin's Notebook Rifts RPG 1st Edition, Digital Rifts RPG Ultimate Edition, Digital Rifts Ultimate Edition, Hardcover A Cloak of Blades, by Isaac Sher Bastard Quest Podcast Credits: GM: Kyle Players: NPC, Just Jacob, Alex, Sean Music: Opening is "8-Bit bass & lead" by Furbyguy, Closing is "Caravana" by Phillip Gross Sound Effects: Unless specified otherwise, all of our sound effects are either self-made, acquired under a Creative Commons Zero license, or sourced by attribution from Tabletop Audio Episode Length (We support chapters!): 1:50:44 Glitter Boys, Rifts, the Megaverse, and all other such topics are the property of Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books. Please buy all their stuff and help keep them in print and making more games! You can order directly at palladiumbooks.com, and their entire catalog is available digitally at Drive-Thru RPG as well. We release all of our public episodes simultaneously on: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuc8KbdMqx8ajWfm2OUTs7A Audio RSS: https://breakfastpuppies.com/feed/glitterbois Want to help us pay for hosting? We have a few options: Drop us a one-time donation or a recurring membership at our Ko-Fi page Follow this link to our Pinecast Tip Jar We've got a merch store if you're looking for some sweet Glitterbois swag. Check out our affiliate store and buy some of the various products we endorse. Support The Glitterbois by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/the-glitterbois Send us your feedback online: https://pinecast.com/feedback/the-glitterbois/6bbf6242-26fd-4124-915d-9941cd95a847 This podcast is powered by Pinecast. Try Pinecast for free, forever, no credit card required. If you decide to upgrade, use coupon code r-66e5ee for 40% off for 4 months, and support The Glitterbois.
What if the secret to success isn't working harder?In this episode of Inventive Journey, Devin Miller sits down with entrepreneur and business coach Liam Naden to discuss the extraordinary journey that completely changed Liam's understanding of success, fulfillment, and entrepreneurship.After building multiple successful businesses and achieving financial success, Liam found himself overwhelmed by stress, burnout, and unhappiness. Despite having the dream home, money, freedom, and business success he always wanted, something still felt deeply wrong. Eventually, everything collapsed. Liam lost his businesses, marriage, home, and financial security, forcing him to rebuild his life from scratch.But what happened next surprised him.Instead of rebuilding through hustle, rigid goals, and nonstop pressure, Liam began operating differently. He stopped trying to force outcomes and focused instead on intuition, simplicity, flexibility, and taking one step at a time. Unexpected opportunities started appearing naturally, eventually leading him to rebuild financially and create a location-independent lifestyle traveling and sailing throughout Europe.In this powerful conversation, Liam shares:Why hustle culture often creates burnout instead of fulfillmentThe hidden dangers of ignoring intuition in business decisionsHow lowering expenses can increase entrepreneurial freedomWhy external success does not automatically create happinessHow he rebuilt after losing everythingThe difference between forcing outcomes and allowing opportunities to emergeWhy overthinking can damage decision-makingHow entrepreneurs can reduce stress while improving performanceLiam also discusses the importance of simplifying life and business, challenging the modern obsession with endless productivity and constant growth. His story offers a refreshing perspective for entrepreneurs who feel trapped by pressure, burnout, or the belief that success must always come through struggle.One of the most memorable parts of the episode is Liam's realization that what he truly wanted was not money itself, but the feeling he believed success would create. Ironically, he only found that feeling after letting go of the exhausting systems and expectations he once believed were required.Whether you're building a startup, recovering from setbacks, or reevaluating your entrepreneurial goals, this episode offers practical wisdom and a thought-provoking alternative to traditional business advice.If you've ever wondered whether there's a healthier way to succeed in business without sacrificing your peace of mind, this conversation is worth listening to.To chat about this one-on-one, grab a free consult at strategymeeting.com
5/27/26 - AM I SUPPOSED TO FULFILL MY DREAMS OR ARE MY DREAMS SUPPOSED TO FULFILL MEEPISODE 1790RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO:
YOU - The Master Entrepreneur - A Guide to True Greatness with Stan Hustad
A reflective essay on the danger, drama, and cultural memory surrounding the Indianapolis 500 A Childhood Memory That Was Real Your memory is not exaggerated at all. The Indianapolis 500 really was considered extraordinarily dangerous for much of its history, and part of the fascination — especially from the 1930s through the 1970s — was precisely that mixture of speed, courage, patriotism, spectacle, and risk. For many Americans, especially in Indiana and throughout the Midwest, "The 500" was almost a sacred ritual of late May and Memorial Day weekend. Families gathered around radios and later televisions. Drivers became folk heroes. Yet underneath the celebration was a very real awareness that somebody might not come home alive. The Danger Was Very Real In the early decades of the Indy 500, fatalities were tragically common. The cars were primitive compared to modern standards. Drivers sat in open cockpits with little protection. Fuel tanks could rupture. Fires were frequent. Helmets and safety systems were minimal. The speeds were astonishing for the technology of the time. Drivers were viewed almost like test pilots or gladiators. Newspapers often described them as fearless men willing to risk everything for glory and victory. Over the history of the race, dozens of drivers, mechanics, and others connected to the event lost their lives either during the race itself, in practice sessions, or during qualifying. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway earned a reputation as both legendary and unforgiving. The Famous Driver Many People Remember One of the most famous tragedies involved Bill Vukovich, one of the greatest drivers in Indianapolis history. Vukovich was killed during the 1955 Indianapolis 500 while leading the race. His death shocked the racing world because many believed he was virtually unbeatable at the Speedway. For fans of that generation, Vukovich's death became symbolic of the terrible cost of speed. Other legendary names connected with the dangerous years of Indy racing included Jimmy Bryan, Swede Savage, Tony Bettenhausen, Eddie Sachs, and Dave MacDonald. The 1964 crash involving Eddie Sachs and Dave MacDonald was especially horrifying and helped force major changes in racing safety. Part of the Appeal Was the Risk Modern audiences sometimes forget how much danger shaped the mythology of automobile racing. People did not generally watch hoping someone would die. But the awareness that disaster could happen at any moment created enormous drama. Drivers were admired because they knowingly faced danger. The tension between triumph and tragedy became part of the emotional power of the event. That same atmosphere surrounded early aviation, boxing, mountain climbing, and many frontier-style pursuits. America admired daring. Decoration Day and Memorial Day Your recollection of "Decoration Day" is historically important. Before Memorial Day became more commercialized, it carried a deeper spirit of remembrance, sacrifice, courage, and national identity. The Indianapolis 500 became closely linked with that atmosphere. In many ways, the drivers themselves symbolized a particular American ideal: boldness, innovation, toughness, and the willingness to risk everything. For boys growing up in Indiana, hearing the roar of the engines and the dramatic radio broadcasts made the race feel larger than life. Safety Changed the Sport Modern IndyCar racing is dramatically safer than it once was. Improvements include energy-absorbing walls, fire-resistant suits, advanced helmets, enclosed survival cells, safer fuel systems, and highly trained emergency medical teams. Fatalities are now far rarer than in earlier generations, although racing still involves real danger. Ironically, some longtime fans believe that as safety improved, part of the old mystique disappeared. The sport became more technical and less mythic. A Story Worth Sharing Your memory touches something bigger than racing itself. The Indianapolis 500 represented a period in American culture when courage and danger were publicly intertwined. Heroes were often people who accepted enormous personal risk in pursuit of excellence. The deaths were not celebrated, but the willingness to face danger was deeply respected. For many young people growing up in Indiana and across America, the Indianapolis 500 became part sport, part mythology, and part national memory — a dramatic yearly reminder of speed, ambition, courage, and the unpredictable nature of life itself. "Back home again in Indiana…" became more than a song. For generations, it was part of the emotional soundtrack of courage, memory, and American storytelling.
STREAMING THE MAKING OF THE JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW, HOLIDAY 5-25-2026.1623 PERSIA.On Memorial Day 2026, the United States and Iran find themselves in a strategic quagmire as they play down hopes for an imminent breakthrough to end their conflict. While diplomats have reportedly settled the "easy" 99% of the issues, the core conflict that led to the war remains unresolved. This pattern follows a historical diplomatic tendency where the fundamental cause of a war is deferred, leaving the "one issue that brought us here" untouched.Iran currently holds the primary leverage in negotiations due to its demonstrated control over the Strait of Hormuz. By closing this vital waterway, Iran has inflicted intense pressure on the global economy, causing U.S. petrol prices to soar and President Trump's approval ratings to plummet. Consequently, the U.S. appears poised to accept a deal that leaves Iran in a stronger position than it was before the war began. The emerging agreement would see Iran reopen the Strait without a toll in exchange for phased sanctions relief and the unfreezing of billions of dollars in assets. However, the critical issue of Iran's nuclear program—specifically its refusal to concede the right to enrich or reprocess uranium—is being pushed into future negotiations.This situation has drawn fierce criticism from hawkish legislators and the Israeli government. Senator Ted Cruz labeled the deal a "disastrous mistake" that leaves Iran capable of developing nuclear weapons while maintaining effective control over the Strait. Senator Roger Wicker added that the deal is "not worth the paper it is written on," arguing that the U.S. should instead finish the destruction of Iran's conventional military. However, military experts note that reopening the Strait by force would likely require ground troops and heavy American casualties.For Israel, the outcome is particularly grim. Prime Minister Netanyahu originally sold the war as a path to regime change; instead, the conflict is ending with the Iranian regime more confident, hardline, and financially replenished. Observers note that Iran has achieved a strategic victory deeper than any military achievement by surviving the "best punch" from the U.S. and Israel while proving it can hold the world's energy supply hostage.The sources draw a parallel between this stalemate and the Korean War, suggesting the region may face a long-term, unresolved "DMZ" state that lasts for decades. Ironically, the source points out that the Iranian nuclear program originated with the Eisenhower administration's "Atoms for Peace" program, which provided the first reactor used for training.Looking forward, the Strait of Hormuz will be the lasting legacy of the Trump administration, representing a loss of American authority in the region. While there are discussions about building pipelines to bypass the Persian Gulf, Iran is expected to use that time to rebuild its military and proxy networks. Despite the geopolitical tension, markets find some encouragement in the lack of active war fighting, as the global economy pivots toward a rebuilding phase centered on Artificial Intelligence. Nevertheless, the fundamental quagmire remains: a nuclear-capable Iran effectively controlling the exit from the Persian Gulf.
Hiranya Peiris is playing a starring role in a movie that promises to tell perhaps the greatest story of all time. However, it's a movie with a difference – there's no director and no script. The Legacy Survey of Space and Time is one of the most ambitious projects in the world of astronomy, with a mission to create a decade-long time-lapse movie of the visible universe, to answer fundamental questions about its origin, evolution and, ultimately, its fate.Hiranya is Professor of Astrophysics 1909, the prestigious Chair at the Institute of Astronomy at Cambridge University. Over her career she's been one of the pioneers of a revolution in astronomy, bridging fundamental physics with the observational data coming back from space, to establish the first evidence-based standard model for the origin, evolution and fate of the universe. The endeavour has transformed the field from the ‘wild west' of physics to the modern era of precision cosmology.Ironically, it was another movie, of sorts, Carl Sagan's documentary series ‘Cosmos', that first sparked Hiranya's interest in the universe as a young girl. Always keen to inspire women to follow in her footsteps and choose careers in science, if this interview were a live show she'd have reserved the front row for schoolgirls.
In this episode, we sit down with Ohio Women's Basketball assistant coach Abby Garnett, a former Ohio Bobcat standout whose basketball journey has always been rooted in family, resilience, and an unwavering passion for the game.Some people grow up around the game.Others are raised by it.For Ohio Women's Basketball assistant coach Abby Garnett, basketball has always been woven into the fabric of her life.Growing up in Golden, Colorado, Abby was surrounded by competition, discipline, and a deep love for the sport. As the daughter of former NBA player Bill Garnett and a former collegiate point guard, basketball wasn't simply an activity—it was a family tradition. Countless hours competing with her siblings in the driveway helped shape the competitive mindset that would eventually carry her to the Division I level and beyond.But Abby's story isn't simply about basketball success.It's about resilience.It's about finding purpose through adversity.And it's about discovering that sometimes life's biggest setbacks become the foundation for your greatest opportunities.After choosing Ohio University and beginning her collegiate career, Abby faced one of the toughest challenges any athlete can experience when a significant injury altered the course of her journey. Forced to watch from the sidelines instead of competing on the court, she learned lessons that statistics could never teach. She learned patience. She learned leadership. She learned how to support teammates through difficult moments and how to focus on the things she could control when circumstances felt uncertain.Those experiences would eventually shape the coach she is today.Ironically, coaching wasn't always the plan.After her playing career ended, Abby stepped away from basketball and entered the corporate world. But sometimes the game has a way of bringing people back home.When Ohio head coach Bob Boldon called with an opportunity to join the Bobcats staff, the answer came naturally. The program that had invested in her development now offered her a chance to help guide the next generation of student-athletes.Today, Abby is building her own legacy at Ohio while helping young women navigate many of the same challenges she once faced herself.Throughout this conversation, Abby shares stories about growing up in a basketball family, learning from her father, overcoming injury, finding her identity beyond the game, transitioning from player to coach, and helping student-athletes grow both on and off the court. She also opens up about the unique experience of coaching her younger sister, Ellie Garnett, and why relationships, accountability, and communication remain at the center of everything she does.This episode isn't just about basketball.It's about family.It's about perseverance.It's about staying committed to the process even when things don't go according to plan.And it's about discovering purpose through every chapter of the journey.Whether you're a coach, player, parent, or fan of women's basketball, Abby Garnett's story is packed with lessons that extend far beyond the hardwood.Drop a
Thank you for joining us for our 2nd Cabral HouseCall of the weekend! I'm looking forward to sharing with you some of our community's questions that have come in over the past few weeks… Emily: Hi Dr Cabral, you are just such an amazing soul! Keep doing gods great work! I'm writing in to ask about my personal situation, I am 34, I had a throat cancer back in 2019, underwent radiation and surgery. Since then I had 2 babies, and came down with autoimmune symptoms this last year 2025. Since then I dove into healing myself, finished a gut program, did "big 5" labs, just did a 3 month mold detox. I am a year out and my food sensitivities are gone, brain fog gone, gut healed. But what is remaining is rosacea still, and I just did a teeth cleaning and we are still seeing inflamed gums. I am working with a practitioner and we know I have some viruses to tackle next and boost my immune system. At this point is there anything more you would add, to help me get rid of remaining rosecea? Ashley: Hi Dr. Cabral! I installed the hydrogen water device you recommended in my home last summer. My family loves it, however whenever I personally drink the water I get SEVERELY constipated. I have run 4 tests now over the last 6 months and every time I reintroduce the water (even at a low pH and titrating up as advised by your team) the constipation returns. Ironically the very first week I tried the water I was having 3-4 BMs a day before the constipation trend began. Do you have any ideas what could be going on? I'm an IHP-L2 and have consulted your team and the support groups, but everyone seems perplexed... hence my outreach to you directly on this one. Note I did the CBO protocol 2x last yr for recurring gut infections before uncovering I have mold toxicity & am now on this protocol. Brett: Hi Dr. Cabral—I'm seeking guidance on refractory hypercoagulability. I've had 77 DVTs and 33 pulmonary emboli, and was diagnosed with antiphospholipid syndrome two years ago. Despite therapeutic anticoagulation with daily Arixtra (fondaparinux), I continue to develop thrombotic events. Are there evidence-informed adjunct strategies (e.g., anti-inflammatory protocols, micronutrient optimization, endothelial support, or additional labs) that may help reduce clot recurrence alongside standard care? I remain under physician management but am exploring complementary approaches to improve outcomes. Thank you. Kay: Dear Dr. Cabral- Thank you so much for the work you are doing and all your super informative podcasts. I took the Minerals & Metals test end of 2024 which showed high mercury and aluminum so in November of 2025 I had all 4 of my mercury amalgams removed by a biological dentist who is SMART certified. After removal, I did my Heavy Metal Detox for 8 weeks. I then retested at the beginning of April and just received my test results and was dismayed to see Mercury levels exactly the same and the aluminum slightly higher, even. Several other minerals were off balance as well. My question to you is how long would it take to detox from amalgam removals and should I do another heavy metal detox? Or did I retest too early? Appreciate your help, Kay Kay: Hi Dr Cabral, Recently I had conventional bloodwork labs done and repeated (Mar 31st, April 3rd) testing high in magnesium levels (2.4 mg/dL and 2.5 mg/dL, respectively) and experienced symptoms of palpitations at night. My functional medicine Dr told me to stop taking any supplements/nutritional beverages containing Mg (i.e. CALM Mg powder) which I did. Even more of a surprise was when I received my recent Minerals & Metals test back, done around the same time as my blood tests, showing that I had an elevated Ca/Mg ratio (7.9) indicating relative Mg deficiency and elevated Na/Mg ratio (5.3) also indicating a relative Mg deficiency. How could both of these labs be true? Could stress play a factor? I recently moved and am caring for parents, 1 who has been Dx'd w/cancer. Thank you for tuning into this weekend's Cabral HouseCalls and be sure to check back tomorrow for our Mindset & Motivation Monday show to get your week started off right! - - - Show Notes and Resources: StephenCabral.com/3761 - - - Get a FREE Copy of Dr. Cabral's Book: The Rain Barrel Effect - - - Join the Community & Get Your Questions Answered: CabralSupportGroup.com - - - Dr. Cabral's Most Popular At-Home Lab Tests: > Complete Minerals & Metals Test (Test for mineral imbalances & heavy metal toxicity) - - - > Complete Candida, Metabolic & Vitamins Test (Test for 75 biomarkers including yeast & bacterial gut overgrowth, as well as vitamin levels) - - - > Complete Stress, Mood & Metabolism Test (Discover your complete thyroid, adrenal, hormone, vitamin D & insulin levels) - - - > Complete Food Sensitivity Test (Find out your hidden food sensitivities) - - - > Complete Omega-3 & Inflammation Test (Discover your levels of inflammation related to your omega-6 to omega-3 levels) - - - Get Your Question Answered On An Upcoming HouseCall: StephenCabral.com/askcabral - - - Would You Take 30 Seconds To Rate & Review The Cabral Concept? 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Carl Panzram was a force of pure destruction—two decades of murder, arson, and brutality, all capped off with a chilling memoir where he made one thing clear: he never felt a shred of remorse.EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources and full transcript): https://weirddarkness.com/CarlPanzramFEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: He was described as a man “too evil to live”. We'll look at the brutal life of crime of Carl Panzram, a man some said was the personification of rage. (Too Evil to Live) *** Did a Nikola Tesla experiment cause the Tunguska Blast? (Tesla's Death Ray) *** Bizarre happenings were centered around the Eddy home. The house was reported to be infested with supernatural beings of such numbers that had never been reported before, or since. The events were so powerful and strange, people came from all over the world to witness them. (People From Other Worlds) *** A woman's newfound ability to astral project has her coming face-to-face with someone she never expected to see. (Astral Projection and Mom's Message) *** The Mountain Meadows Massacre has been hailed by historians as "the most hideous example of the human cost exacted by religious fanaticism in American history until 9/11." Ironically, it too occurred on September 11th – in 1857. (The Mountain Meadows Massacre) *** If you spend the night amongst the dead in a graveyard, don't be surprised if something supernatural happens to you. (I Spent The Night In a Graveyard) *** An old man regrets not obeying his wife's dying wish. (The Stubborn Piano) *** Over 200 lobotomies were performed at the Ridges Asylum – without anesthesia or an operating room. Is it any wonder why it's now considered to be haunted? (The Ridges Asylum) *** A Vietnam veteran has his first paranormal investigation in a Nevada town with a population of more dead souls than alive. (Marine Protectors) *** In a quiet Virginia cemetery is a peculiar tomb that has mystified visitors for nearly two hundred years. Who is buried there? No one seems to know. (The Grave of the Female Stranger) *** Demons hitchhiking, reports of a mysterious entity, strange suicides…CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding00:00:59.848 = Show Open00:04:02.608 = Carl Panzram: Too Evil to Live00:10:43.630 = Tesla's Death Ray ***00:19:43.660 = People From Other Worlds00:37:29.686 = Astral Projection and Mom's Message ***00:42:45.987 = Mountain Meadows00:50:16.392 = Walking Sam01:00:41.858 = I Spent The Night in a Graveyard ***01:08:01.164 = The Stubborn Piano01:11:34.864 = Ridges Asylum01:23:14.400 = Marine Protectors ***01:26:23.184 = Grave of the Female Stranger01:31:07.800 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakLISTEN ON PODCAST APPS: Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.com/wdapps*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*SOURCES and RESOURCES:“Carl Panzram: Too Evil to Live” by Orin Grey: http://ow.ly/KxrA30mP1GM“Tesla's Death Ray”: https://tinyurl.com/v7scbe7“People From Other Worlds” by Troy Taylor: https://tinyurl.com/u6snqa3“Astral Projection and Mom's Message” by CuriousDee: https://tinyurl.com/rkwkbd3“The Mountain Meadows Massacre”: https://tinyurl.com/sdgbvsv“Walking Sam” by Brent Swancer: https://tinyurl.com/rkbd29c“I Spent a Night In a Graveyard” by Michael McKean: (link no longer available)“The Stubborn Piano” by J. Mason Brewer: (link no longer available)“The Ridges Asylum” by Shannon E. Brown: (link no longer available)“Marine Protectors” by Weirdo family member Pam Ennis, submitted at WeirdDarkness.com“The Grave of the Female Stranger” by Orrin Grey: http://ow.ly/NkQS30mMhhZ(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.Originally aired: October 24, 2021
Lai Ching-te's tenure as the head of the Democratic Progressive Party authorities of China's Taiwan region has been marked by a series of missteps and failures that have not only strained cross-Strait relations but also undermined the island's development prospects.Contrary to his shameless claim in a speech on Wednesday marking the two-year anniversary of his tenure that he has maintained the status quo of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, the DPP authorities have stubbornly adhered to a "Taiwan independence" stance, peddled separatist fallacies and obstructed cross-Strait exchanges.That speech was a response, if not a desperate "don't desert me" plea, to US President Donald Trump's Friday interview, in which the US leader stated, "We're not looking to have somebody say, 'Let's go independent because the United States is backing us'." This remark dealt a heavy blow to Lai.In his speech — yet another litany of lies and deceit — Lai openly groveled to Washington, begging for an opportunity to tell the US leader that he wishes to continue purchasing US weapons, which he misleadingly labeled as essential to peace. Ironically, he tried to assure his audience that the island's future would not be determined by external forces just moments after trying to solicit US support.In an attempt to conceal his secessionist nature, Lai peddled a so-called "Taiwan subject mentality" in his speech, openly seeking to sever the island from the Chinese motherland.This "soft independence" is hidden and pernicious, no less harming than the DPP authorities' overt political separatist sloganeering.Evidently anxious over the US leader's remarks, Lai posted a so-called "five-point speech" on Facebook on Sunday, in which he called black white, barefacedly claiming that his authorities are the protectors of regional peace. Yet to his horror, that "carefully worded" message failed to elicit the hoped for response from Washington — explaining why Lai doubled down on his efforts to appeal to the US not to give up on him.If Lai truly intends to show the world that he is not a secessionist and that he is committed to peace and stability, he should simply pledge his support for the 1992 Consensus and stop fawning over the US.The true color of his secessionist feather is laid bare by the extraordinary lengths he has gone to in an attempt to conceal his separatist nature — and his fear of losing US support for his political agenda.The predicament Taiwan faces today stems from the DPP authorities' long-standing practice of placing ideological manipulation above reality, staking the island's security on the will of the US, and tying the future of Taiwan people to the dangerous path of seeking "Taiwan independence" through reliance on external forces. Once Washington shows even signs of shifting priorities, that layer of illusion surrounding the DPP authorities' reckless approach will be stripped away. In short, "Taiwan independence" is a dead end.Lai's latest remarks do not signal any abandonment of "Taiwan independence", but rather a repackaging of it in more carefully crafted rhetoric."Taiwan independence" is fundamentally incompatible with peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. The expansion of separatist forces advocating "Taiwan independence" will ultimately push Taiwan toward a dangerous abyss — a trajectory that runs counter not only to the interests of the Chinese nation, but also to the strategic interests of the US. In this sense, curbing "Taiwan independence" separatist activities and maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait serve the shared interests of both China and the US. Lai's remarks further underscore the reality that "Taiwan independence" has become a common challenge confronting both Beijing and Washington.There is but one China in the world and that Taiwan is part of China. No matter what Lai says or does, he will not stop the historical trend toward reunification, which is unstoppable, as a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office said on Wednesday.Secessionist /sɪˈseʃənɪst/分裂主义者，脱离联邦者• Fallacy /ˈfæləsi/谬论，谬误• Litany /ˈlɪtəni/唠叨，一连串（枯燥的叙述或抱怨）• Grovel /ˈɡrɒvl/卑躬屈膝，摇尾乞怜• Solicit /səˈlɪsɪt/乞求，争取，征求• Pernicious /pəˈnɪʃəs/有害的，恶性的，流毒深远的• Barefacedly /ˈbeəfeɪsɪdli/厚颜无耻地，公然地• Fawn /fɔːn/阿谀奉承，巴结• Predicament /prɪˈdɪkəmənt/困境，窘境• Trajectory /trəˈdʒektəri/轨迹，弹道
CFL training camps see some players get injured, others released, and other signing with another team. Edmonton quarterback Cody Fajardo believes the Elks can be in the 2026 Grey Cup. Calgary vs Saskatchewan on CFL+ May 18 (2026) gave the first taste of some of the new rules coming to the CFL, the 35 second clock was a hit! Ironically, next season in 2027, not pre-season but regular-season play starts on Victoria Day Weekend. While many starting quartback jobs are secure, who amng the backups will step-up? (CFl on CBC theme used with express permission; podcast recorded May 18, 2026).
There's a very specific kind of panic that happens when someone says, "Just listen to your hunger." Because in theory? It sounds so simple. Eat when you're hungry. Stop when you're full. Trust your body. Very calming Pinterest quote energy. And then real life happens. In this episode, I'm breaking down why that happens. We're talking about how years of restriction, dieting, food rules, and trying to override your body can completely distort your hunger cues. We're getting into the fear of "if I start eating, I won't stop," why so many people feel like their hunger is excessive or wrong, and why the advice to "just trust your body" can backfire when your body has spent years not being listened to. Quotes "The fear of, 'If I let myself eat, it's never gonna stop, and I'm just gonna keep being hungry because there is no on or off switch, it's just on,' is rooted a lot of time in past experience. So it sort of reinforces the concept that you should be afraid of your hunger." - Rachelle Heinemann "It's really hard to trust a signal when you think that following it will have consequences that you cannot accept." - Rachelle Heinemann "We have to develop accurate hunger cues, and then the trust that you will actually feed it." - Rachelle Heinemann "Hunger is not a failure and it's not dangerous. It's something that is just a signal." - Rachelle Heinemann Frequently Asked Questions Why do my hunger cues feel so extreme? A lot of times, hunger cues feel extreme because your body has spent years not trusting that food is consistently coming. If you restrict, delay eating, skip meals, or constantly override hunger, your body eventually stops giving subtle cues and starts screaming. So instead of "slightly hungry," you go from nothing to starving. Why do I feel hungry again right after eating? Sometimes, because the meal genuinely wasn't enough. Sometimes, because your body is trying to recover from restriction. And sometimes, because hunger doesn't work on the perfect schedule, people think it should. Hunger is not a stopwatch. Your body does not care that lunch was 45 minutes ago if it still needs energy. Why does intuitive eating feel chaotic for me? Because if your body has a history of restriction, "just listen to your hunger" can feel like opening the floodgates. Your body is trying to protect you from famine, not create balance right away. That's why structure and consistency usually have to come before hunger cues feel calm and reliable. Can restriction cause binge eating? Yes. When you repeatedly ignore hunger or don't eat enough, your body eventually responds with urgency around food. That's why binge eating often feels chaotic and out of control after periods of restriction. It's not a lack of willpower. It's your body trying to keep you alive. Why am I always thinking about food? Usually, because your body and brain don't feel safe around food yet. Restriction increases food thoughts. Hunger increases food thoughts. Constant rules around eating increase food thoughts. Most people are shocked by how much quieter their brain gets once they start eating consistently. How do I trust my hunger cues again? Usually not by immediately relying on them. Ironically, trust gets rebuilt through consistency first. Eating regularly, eating enough, and creating structure teach your body that food is not disappearing. Over time, hunger becomes more subtle, clearer, and less urgent. Will I gain weight if I start listening to my hunger? Possibly. Sometimes yes. Sometimes no. The bigger issue is that if you are actively terrified of weight gain while trying to heal your relationship with food, those two things usually fight each other the entire time. Recovery often requires putting intentional weight loss on pause long enough to let your body stabilize. Why does hunger feel emotionally overwhelming? Because for a lot of people, hunger is tied to desire, need, permission, and taking up space. It's not just about food. Listening to hunger often means acknowledging wants and needs in general, and that can feel deeply uncomfortable if you've spent years minimizing yourself. Can hunger cues stop working after years of dieting? Yes. Hunger cues can become really distorted after chronic dieting, restriction, or disordered eating. Some people barely feel hunger until they're ravenous. Others feel hungry all the time. That doesn't mean your body is broken. It usually means your body has adapted to inconsistency. Why can't I stop eating once I start? A lot of people think this means they're addicted to food or lack discipline. Usually, it means they're underfed. When your body thinks food is scarce, it's not interested in moderation. It's interested in survival. Should I eat even if I'm not hungry in recovery? A lot of times, yes. Especially early on. If your hunger cues are unreliable, waiting until you feel hungry enough can keep you stuck in the restriction and binge cycle. Structure helps rebuild stability before hunger cues become more trustworthy. What does normal hunger actually feel like? Usually a lot less dramatic than people expect. Over time, hunger becomes softer, earlier, and more informational. It stops feeling like an emergency and starts feeling like a cue. Resources Brave on Purpose! - Grab my new book here! Grab my Journal Prompts Here Looking for a speaker for an upcoming event? Let's chat! Now accepting new clients! Find out if we're a good fit! Basics of Intuitive Eating Episode The 6 Week Body Image Group is a small, Zoom-based group for women where we actually talk about this — the thoughts, the patterns, the why. Each week, dietitian Sydney Greene and I, (therapist Rachelle Heinemann) hold an open, honest conversation about what it feels like to live in a body and how to build a genuinely different relationship with it. Not a diet. Not a fix. Just real work, with the right people, in a room that gets it. Details: Wednesdays, 7 PM EST | $100/session | Superbills available | Starts early June Email sydney@sydneygreenehealth.com to save your spot. LEAVE A REVIEW + help someone who may need this podcast by sharing this episode. Be sure to sign up for my weekly newsletter here! You can connect with me on Instagram @rachelleheinemann, through my website www.rachelleheinemann.com, or email me directly at rachelle@rachelleheinemann.com
In this episode, Junior explores the fascinating discovery of nervous system regulation through the human voice and how years of observation and research led him to uncover scientific explanations for what was happening inside his vocal studio. What originally began as voice training unexpectedly evolved into something much deeper — a process that appeared to help regulate stress, emotional tension, and the nervous system itself.After three years of research, Junior began teaching these principles to everyday people through his life coaching service, Here For You Life Coaching. Ironically, a few accidental changes in his teaching method shifted his work away from the traditional articulation-focused classical vocal approach and into something centered on nervous system regulation. Over time, doctors and medical professionals who experienced the method found it fascinating that the process appeared connected to vagus nerve stimulation, as well as the release of calming neurotransmitters associated with endorphins and oxytocin.Junior also explains that these discoveries are not new. Research surrounding the effects of sound, vibration, breath, and nervous system response dates back decades, with some studies tracing back to the 1940s. However, many holistic approaches and natural remedies were overshadowed over time by more commerce-driven systems. This episode revisits those ideas through the lens of vocalization, energy, frequency, and vibration.If you struggle with anxiety, overthinking, burnout, PTSD, chronic stress, or emotional overload, this episode offers insight into how the human voice may help regulate the nervous system and create a calmer, more centered state. Junior emphasizes that while no medical claims are being made, many people are surprised by the positive changes they experience once they begin practicing these methods consistently.To learn more about nervous system regulation through the human voice, visit www.hereforyoulifecoaching.com and begin your journey today.Medical Disclaimer: We make no medical claims and offer no guarantees of healing. Individual experiences may vary.Here For You Life Coaching is a Voicemaster Enterprises LLC company. © 2026 All rights reserved.
"I fear that it is at a cost which will give pain to my friends" [FINA] This special emergency episode of I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere serves as a tribute to actor David Burke, the first performer to play Dr. Watson in the Granada television series, who passed away a few days ago at the age of 91. Burt is away, but Scott is joined by Gus and Luke Holwerda, co-hosts and creators of The Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes Podcast. Ironically, we had recorded a regular episode with Gus and Luke earlier this week, but upon the news of David's passing, we pre-empted that show. Gus and Luke share their personal reminiscences about David, stemming from their visit to David's home, revealing how nervous he was at that meeting. We analyze Burke's unique portrayal, highlighting the many deeply human qualities he brought to the role in the 13 episodes in which he starred with Jeremy Brett, laying the groundwork for a well-rounded, three-dimensional Watson And we share and comment on a number of clips from those episodes. Listen to hear if a favorite scene of yours comes up and if you name the episodes from which they're drawn before we do. As a reminder, our supporters can listen to the show ad-free and have access to occasional bonus material. Join us on the platform of your choice (Patreon | Substack). And if you need some show swag or gift ideas, or if you want to show off your good taste to other Sherlockians, check out our Merch Store, with mugs, notepads and more. Leave I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts. Links David Burke, the First Watson of the Granada Era, Passes at 91 The Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes Podcast David Burke: A Sherlockian Conversation (iTunes | YouTube) England 2022 Trip Report: David Burke, Granada Filming Locations and more! (iTunes | YouTube) BRETTCON Video Greetings: Stephen Fry, Colin Jeavons, David Burke (YouTube) I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere / Trifles Merch Store Explore more here. Find all of our relevant links and social accounts at linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock. And would you consider leaving us a rating and or a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Goodpods? It would help other Sherlockians find us. Your thoughts on the show? Leave a comment below, send us an email (comment AT ihearofsherlock DOT com), call us at 5-1895-221B-5. That's (518) 952-2125.
Darrell Castle returns to the discussion of war by talking about a war not spoken of so much since it has been driven from the headlines by the war against Iran. Transcription / Notes VLADIMIR PUTIN, DONALD TRUMP, AND THE DECLINE OF EMPIRES Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today's Castle Report. This is Friday the 15th day of May in the year of our Lord 2026. My beat today is once again war but we visit a war not spoken of so much since it has been driven from the headlines by the war against Iran. Yes, we don't hear much about Ukraine these days but it continues to cost lives, and resources and it continues to threaten the global geopolitical order. I'm sure you remember, if you are a long-term sufferer of these Reports, that back in 2014 in the eastern provinces of Ukraine the people voted overwhelmingly to become or remain part of the Russian Federation but that decision didn't sit well with Victoria Nuland who was the U.S. State Department representative there. She helped instigate a revolution that replaced the pro-Russian government with one more pro Europe and that led to a Russian invasion and the current war. Mr. Putin, like President Trump, has found that sometimes wars are easier to get into than they are to get out of. I remember from the war archives reading the discussions from the Japanese general staff when they were planning the battle of Midway. The admiral who was to command their carriers said this will work if the Americans do exactly what we expect and want them to. Well, the Americans didn't do what the Japanese expected and the Ukrainians haven't done what the Russians expected. When a Nation which seems to have overwhelming power goes to war against a much weaker opponent the powerful nation expects a quick and decisive, not to mention cheap, victory. Some examples would be the Soviet Union in World War ll, the Iranians of today, and the Ukrainians that are the subject for today. I mention World War ll a lot because last week the 9th of May was the annual celebration in Moscow of the Russian victory over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War. This year the celebration was different because for the first time in 18 years, Russia's Victory Day parade had no tanks, no missile carriers, and no armored columns going through Red Square. Smaller regions in Russia have their own smaller parades and celebrations and many of those have been canceled altogether. The people of Moscow were told to expect to have no internet service on May 9th. The reason for all the caution and the stepped down celebration was fear of Ukrainian drone and missile attacks. Yes, that's right folks, the Russian Federation, successor to the Soviet Union, cannot traditionally celebrate its victory over Nazi Germany because once again it is at war inside its own borders. The ironic thing is that once again the war is being fueled, at least partially by German arms. The two wars being fought right now, Ukraine and Iran, in which larger more powerful nations attacked smaller weaker ones are changing the dynamics of global politics and showing us once again that the unexpected results of war can totally change the geopolitics of the world. Ukraine, supplied to the tune of hundreds of billions in arms and treasure, primarily by the United States but also by the European nations has apparently perfected drone and missile warfare and has become one of the world leaders in that technology. Ukraine is now a world leader as we will see but recently Great Britain, desperate to prolong the fight I guess, gave the Ukrainians 120,000 drones from their own inventory. Ukraine, just an agricultural region on the border of Russia and only of any significance because of its proximity to Russia has become one of the world's most proficient practitioners of the new art of unmanned warfare. They are so proficient that they attack deep inside Russia seemingly at will to the point that the Russian people are afraid to conduct a parade in their community. Thousands of armed drones roam the skies looking for targets and although they are relatively easy to shoot down they are unstoppable in those numbers. Reports are that Iranian missiles and drones reach their targets about 10% of the time but that is against sophisticated air defense systems dedicated to stopping them. Against thousands, 10% is still a lot of destruction and in Ukraine/Russia I understand that they are virtually impossible to defend against. People will tolerate what they are told will be a short and decisive war but only for so long. The propaganda sent to them daily and now through Social Media minute by minute grows tiring when the people realize that it is all just lies. Reports coming from Russia indicate that Putin is feeling the heat of public dissatisfaction with the war. Nobody will tell us exact casualty figures but they obviously number in the hundreds of thousands. War you never have to feel and never see unless you look for it is one thing but when the numbers of dead reach that high and especially when the economy is crumbling as is Russia's people notice. To that end, last week, President Putin made a phone call to President Trump and proposed a new economic relationship with the United States. The internal pressure on President Putin seems to be working because he is now saying the war is coming to a settlement when there is no battlefield evidence that is the case. He says now that he wants a negotiated settlement and he wants the Europeans to be a part of it. Ironically, he seems to have singled out Germany as the leader in the settlement negotiations. He has maintained all along that he will not recognize Zelensky as the legitimate leader of Ukraine and would therefore not meet with him. That attitude has changed and now he wants to meet with him and he wants the Europeans to help the two of them broker a deal. I admit I am guessing here, but I think it's an educated guess. Putin always wanted to make Russia a part of the European community but the EU bureaucrats would not have him at their parties. These recent inquiries indicate to me that he wants to renew the efforts to make Russia part of Europe. Ordinarily, I don't think the Europeans would give him the time of day but the world is far from ordinary right now and they just might listen this time. Why, because of Iran and behind that Israel. Putin might be trying to take advantage of anti-US sentiment in Europe due to the war in Iran. The Europeans obviously want no part of that adventure that Mr. Trump started so perhaps a Europe-Russia détente is now possible. European politicians have made some astonishingly anti-US statements lately. Spain has doubled down on its refusal to let the US use its own bases in Spain for attacks on Iran. One of the leading candidates for Prime Minister of Spain is running on a campaign to take Spain out of NATO as a way to prevent that country from becoming involved in fighting Israel's wars. So, Putin seeks to turn the clock back to when relations between Russia and Europe were better, but that was when Russia was weaker than now. Just as in the U.S. regarding Iran there is massive and growing opposition in Russia to the war in Ukraine. The Russian economy is reeling and rumors are that the power brokers in Russia have turned against him. He has reportedly increased security at his private residences. It will be interesting to see how the U.S. will react to all this. President Trump left for China on Tuesday for a three-day summit with Mr. Xi. That summit has been in the planning process for months and has continued discussions despite the Iran war. The summit will obviously be primarily about the economic relationship between the U.S. and China but I'm sure Iran will be an important topic. China had Iranian officials in China just prior to Trump's visit. The question being asked By American media is, will Trump trade Taiwan for Iran, but we will see. Meanwhile back here in America the empire appears to be in decline and is always looking for someone to accelerate the process and Donald Trump appears to be the right man for the job. The empire killers of debt and war are now out of control. The debt has passed 39 trillion and interest payments have passed one trillion per year. Cutting taxes is a good idea if the cuts are matched with spending cuts but the President is removing the fuel tax to bring prices down with no corresponding spending cuts. The wars continue to cost more each day with no end in sight. So much of the world's economy depends on the price of oil so Trump starts a stupid war that closes the most important oil spigot in the world. It appears now that the U.S. cannot force Iran to do anything without risking major retaliation and resulting damage to the world economy with much higher oil prices. So, we are told the ceasefire is still in effect when it clearly isn't. According to U.S. intelligence Iran has 75% of its missile capacity intact and almost all of its underground facilities have been reopened. Iran is now a superpower in control of the most important waterway in the world. Russia's and other adversaries which depend on selling oil have had their incomes increase. So that all adds up to quite an achievement with no visible upside at all. Finally, folks, if the American Empire is in decline under the weight of debt and war what better man could we have to manage it. At least that's the way I see it. Until next time folks, This is Darrell Castle, Thanks for listening.
What happens when an insurance executive leaves corporate leadership, joins an early internet startup, discovers the power of freelancers before remote work became mainstream, and then builds a company around helping small businesses scale smarter?You get a fascinating entrepreneurial journey like the one shared by Elizabath Eiss on this episode of Inventive Journey.In this conversation, Elizabath explains how her career evolved from commercial insurance underwriting into technology startups, consulting, and eventually founding Results Resourcing — a company focused on helping entrepreneurs and small businesses build operational support through curated freelance teams.One of the most memorable moments in the episode comes from a simple phrase that completely reshaped her business model:“Confident, reliable, nice.”That was the request from a business owner who needed urgent support and didn't care about flashy resumes or complicated credentials. They simply wanted someone dependable, capable, easy to work with, and available quickly.Ironically, that simple request captures one of the biggest hiring challenges facing modern entrepreneurs.Small businesses today are overwhelmed.Founders are trying to handle sales, marketing, bookkeeping, customer support, operations, social media, hiring, and strategic planning all at the same time. Many entrepreneurs become trapped inside operational work and never truly step into the CEO role required for sustainable growth.Elizabath believes outsourcing can help solve that problem — but only if it's done strategically.Throughout the episode, she discusses the evolution of freelance marketplaces, why so many founders struggle with delegation, and how curated teams can provide far more value than disconnected individual contractors.She also shares insights from her early corporate career where she learned how businesses succeed, fail, adapt, and scale. Her insurance underwriting background exposed her to countless industries and gave her a unique perspective on operational effectiveness and organizational risk.The episode also explores networking, entrepreneurial resilience, and the importance of staying open to reinvention throughout a career.Some additional highlights include:Why many founders stay too operational for too longThe hidden costs of trying to do everything yourselfHow outsourcing has evolved over the last two decadesWhy networking remains one of the most underrated entrepreneurial skillsThe lessons learned from joining a startup that ultimately failedHow small businesses can scale without massive payroll overheadThe shift from hiring individual freelancers to building integrated support teamsWhy adaptability matters more than rigid career planningOne especially valuable insight comes when Elizabath discusses recognizing when to leave struggling situations instead of staying purely out of optimism. That balance between persistence and realism is something nearly every entrepreneur faces at some point.The conversation also highlights the broader economic importance of small businesses. As Elizabath points out, the overwhelming majority of businesses in the United States are tiny organizations or solopreneurs. Helping those businesses grow even modestly can create major impacts for families, local economies, and communities.Whether you're an entrepreneur, startup founder, freelancer, consultant, or small business owner trying to scale more effectively, this episode offers practical insights grounded in real operational experience.Most importantly, it reminds listeners that growth doesn't always come from doing more personally.Sometimes growth comes from building systems, relationships, and support structures that allow founders to focus on what matters most.And sometimes the most valuable business qualities are still the simplest ones:Confident.Reliable.Nice.To chat about this one-on-one, grab a free consult at strategymeeting.com
The gang set food on Roshar once more. What shenanigans shall ensue? LAFO! (I just realized I typed "food" instead of "foot" but I'm too lazy to fix it. Ironically, I wrote this whole parenthetical instead.)
October 7 and the Gaza war radically changed the way many people around the world, including Diaspora Jews, viewed Israel. For Toronto-based journalist Jesse Brown, the turning point came not with Hamas' massacre itself, but with the domestic backlash that followed. “Canadians got angry with Jews after October 7, and the entire national discourse seemed to just turn against Jews in a way that I wouldn’t have imagined possible,” he told the Haaretz Podcast. Using police-reported hate crime statistics from Canada and the United States, Brown argues that a Jew in Canada is now about nine times more likely to be the victim of a hate crime than a Jew in the United States. Ironically, he explained to podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer, the progressive political atmosphere in Canada has made things worse for Jews, not better. Brown’s podcast series “What is Happening Here” documents the skyrocketing antisemitism targeting Jewish institutions and neighborhoods in Canada, including synagogues being shot at, firebombed or vandalized, and Jewish-owned businesses and individuals singled out for harassment campaigns. Brown contends that debates over whether specific chants or actions are “anti-Israel,” “anti-Zionist” or “antisemitic” obscure the practical impact on Jewish communities. While he stops short of equating anti-Zionism with antisemitism, Brown said that contemporary anti-Zionism is “just as dangerous to Jews.” Read more: Canadian Watchdog Reports Record Number of Antisemitic Incidents in 2025 Canadian-Jewish Groups Decry Efforts by pro-Palestinian Groups to Strip Jewish Schools of Their Charity Status Toronto Police Arrest Suspect in Passover Shooting at Jewish-owned Restaurant Campaign Targeting Jewish Children's Summer Camps in Canada Condemned as AntisemiticSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What should I do with the worst person in my life? Ironically, they may play the largest role in who I become.I hope you have somebody in your life who doesn't deserve your mercy; maybe deserves your wrath. To do the right thing with mercy (blessed are the merciful...) you have to start with somebody hard; with someone who does not deserve it. Endeavor Give mercy to one who should be receiving JUSTICE, and watch the kingdom of God, which is the kingdom of MERCY, be extended.https://youtu.be/YVmSsbDDbgM
Hiranya Peiris is playing a starring role in a movie that promises to tell perhaps the greatest story of all time. However, it's a movie with a difference – there's no director and no script. The Legacy Survey of Space and Time is one of the most ambitious projects in the world of astronomy, with a mission to create a decade-long time-lapse movie of the visible universe, to answer fundamental questions about its origin, evolution and, ultimately, its fate.Hiranya is Professor of Astrophysics 1909, the prestigious Chair at the Institute of Astronomy at Cambridge University. Over her career she's been one of the pioneers of a revolution in astronomy, bridging fundamental physics with the observational data coming back from space, to establish the first evidence-based standard model for the origin, evolution and fate of the universe. The endeavour has transformed the field from the ‘wild west' of physics to the modern era of precision cosmology. Ironically, it was another movie, of sorts, Carl Sagan's documentary series ‘Cosmos', that first sparked Hiranya's interest in the universe as a young girl. Always keen to inspire women to follow in her footsteps and choose careers in science, if this interview were a live show she'd have reserved the front row for schoolgirls.Presented by Jim Al-Khalili Produced by Beth Eastwood A BBC Studios production
Jeremiah was the reluctant prophet. He cursed the day he was born and accused God of deceiving and overpowering him. He never wanted the job and resented every minute of it — but he couldn't stop the fire in his bones. Ironically, Yeshua’s ministry follows in the footsteps of Jeremiah, and we are to do the same. Matthew Vander Els takes us on a deep dive into the mind and ministry of Jeremiah to understand why he was asked to do what he did, and how we are to follow in his footsteps with the spirit of Yeshua inside of us. Join this channel to get access to perks: / @aroodawakening Watch more on the Michael Rood TV App! https://bit.ly/2X9oN9h Join us on ANY social media platform! https://aroodawakening.tv/community/s... Your Donation keeps these videos going! Thank you! https://aroodawakening.tv/donate/ Support us by visiting our store! https://roodstore.com/ Support us with purchases on Amazon!* https://amzn.to/3pJu9cC Have Questions? Ask us Here! https://aroodawakening.tv/support/con... "PLEASE NOTE: This is an affiliate link. This means that, at zero cost to you, A Rood Awakening! International will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Continuous Creation and the Discovery of the Hiss The "Steady State" theory was famously conceptualized after Fred Hoyle and his colleagues, Thomas Gold and Hermann Bondi, watched the looping narrative of the horror film Dead of Night, leading them to propose a universe where matter is continuously created to maintain a constant density as galaxies drift apart. Hoyle described a "creation field" where new particles spontaneously emerge from empty space due to quantum uncertainty, an idea he compared to new spectators filling empty rows in a stadium to keep the crowd density uniform. A major breakthrough in this research was Hoyle's prediction of a specific energy state for carbon-12, the "triple-alpha process," which explained how life-essential elements could be synthesized in the immense heat of dying stars' collapsing cores. Meanwhile, George Gamow and his student Ralph Alpher theorized that the early universe consisted of a primordial substance called "Ylem" that underwent a "Big Squeeze" to form the elements. Ironically, Hoylecoined the term "Big Bang" during a 1949 BBC radio broadcast as a derisive joke to mock the idea of a single initial explosion, a nickname that Gamow disliked because he felt it misrepresented the physics of the early universe. Despite their professional competition, the two men remained friends and famously debated the temperature of the universe during a 1956 road trip through La Jolla in a white Cadillac. While they failed to accurately predict the cosmic temperature during that drive, the debate was effectively settled in 1964 when Bell Labs researchers Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson accidentally discovered a persistent radio "hiss" while trying to calibrate a satellite antenna. After ruling out urban interference and cleaning pigeon droppings from their equipment, they realized they had found the cosmic microwave background radiation. This discovery, which Robert Dicke and Jim Peebles at Princeton were also searching for, provided the definitive evidence for the Big Bang and "scooped" the scientific community, ultimately vindicating Gamow's model over Hoyle's Steady State theory. Guest Author: Paul Halpern. (3/4)DECEMBER 1961
Today on part one of our return conversation with Patricia Wedenfeld, daughter of comedian Pat Cooper, we catch up with Patti two years after our last conversation in 2024 to see how things are going at the behest of a listener who suggested we reached out to Patti to have her back on the podcast to find out more about her story which is one of the most difficult we've ever shared on the podcast in close to six years since we started. Once again, Patti is open, honest, raw and delves into some serious family drama that has taken place even since our first interview. The open wounds of our last episode haven't truly healed but in the midst of her journey, we learn that there is a silver lining in all the heartache she has had to endure What's that you ask? Ironically, it's family. A family she knew about but didn't know. A family that had their own issues with her father that very much mirror her own. And hopefully, it's a family that might find common ground underneath all the pain all of them have had to endure needlessly. The understatement of the year is that Pat Cooper was a complex individual who didn't hold back verbal punches in public or in private. He cut to the quick in a deeply funny way on stage and a staggeringly brutal way off it, no question. So on part one of this conversation, we delve into how Patti is dealing with all of the trauma a few years later and frankly, it's another deeply personal conversation. It's still raw, it's still tough to talk about and it's still hard to believe. But in 2026, with some distance, some help and some life lessons, things are just a bit better if not perfect for Patti and her family. It's another tough but hopeful conversation with Patti on this episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast. Take a listen.
LIKEITORNOT is back with another entertaining episode for your listening pleasure. Dive into the sultry sounds of a drunken sailor, as host AHyp, introduces the LIKEITORNOT family to Sam the man, SamTooPersonal on Instagram, in this 1 hour & 6 minute long episode that you'll keep the earbuds in for as you walk into work or cook or whatever the hell it is your doing at the moment. Background beats by Truss One make it easy to listen too and the fact I don't edit this thing also allows the listeners to hear it all.. the fuck ups, the rebounds and the bounce back. We talk about Sam's music background & that time when he was a part of the Seattle rap scene, shoutout to Casual Product, Burien stand up. He speaks on his journey becoming an online influencer, documenting his weight loss journey, being a comedian (by nature dude is just hilarious!) and being authentic. He tells you how to do it and tells us what works for him. Step by step, literally. Recorded live, midday at Pizza Time Pub, in the heart of the 6th Avenue business district, this episode was unofficially sponsored by Rainier Beer. Ironically, Sam speaks on his journey with sobriety, balancing fatherhood and work, all while becoming an online influencer. He tells us how he does it, how he maintains and how he presses forward. A funny but truly inspiring episode. The sky was blue all day and Rick kept the Rainier's coming all show, this was a fun one. I appreciate the hell outta all you out there listening, hope y'all like it. Support the showThanks for listening to the latest episode of LIKEITORNOT
It's Thursday, April 23rd, A.D. 2026. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 140 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com. I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Jonathan Clark Egyptian Christian convert from Islam imprisoned A Christian convert in Egypt faced a court hearing for his faith this week. Said Abdelrazek previously converted from Islam to Christianity. He then tried to change his identity documents to reflect his conversion. That's when authorities charged him with terrorism-related offenses. He is now an internationally recognized prisoner of conscience. Prisoners in such cases often face a lack of due process. International Christian Concern notes, “Abdelrazek's situation reflects broader challenges facing religious minorities and converts in Egypt. While the country's constitution nominally guarantees freedom of belief, converts from Islam often face severe social pressure, legal obstacles, and security scrutiny.” Israel celebrates sexual perversion in land of Sodom and Gomorrah The government of Israel promoted an event to celebrate sexually perverted lifestyles in June. Ironically, the event is being held at the Dead Sea. The region is traditionally associated with the biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. A post from the official X account of Israel said, “This June the Dead Sea becomes Pride Land, the biggest LBGTQ+ festival ever in the Middle East.” Ezekiel 16:49-50 warns, “This was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit.” In light of the historical judgment of God upon Sodom and Gomorrah for the sins of sexual perversion, Israel should know better. Judges 3:12 says, “Once again, the Israelites did evil in the LORD's sight.” Tennessee declared June as Nuclear Family Month Meanwhile, in the United States, Tennessee, by contrast, has declared June as Nuclear Family Month. Republican Governor Bill Lee signed the resolution earlier this month after it passed the state's House and Senate. The measure says, “The nuclear family, consisting of one husband, one wife, and any biological, adopted, or fostered children, is God's design for familial structure and has been the bedrock of society since the creation of the world.” 325,000 foster children need a home Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Health and Human Services Secretary, testified before Congress last week about foster care. Currently, there are two children for every available foster family. This is because the Biden administration was excluding many Christian families from the system for their beliefs. The Trump administration has worked to remove that policy. Since then, the number of foster children needing homes has dropped from 425,000 to 325,000. Southern Poverty Law Center funneled $3 million to extremist groups The U.S. Department of Justice announced an indictment against the Southern Poverty Law Center on Tuesday. Shockingly, the far-left group funneled over three million dollars to violent extremist groups including the Ku Klux Klan, the United Klans of America, Unite the Right, the National Alliance, the National Socialist Movement, and the American Nazi Party. The Southern Poverty Law Center is known for smearing conservative and Christian organizations as “hate groups.” Acting U.S. Attorney Kevin Davidson said, “Donors gave their money believing they were supporting the fight against violent extremism. As alleged, the [Southern Poverty Law Center] instead diverted a portion of those funds to benefit individuals and groups they claimed to oppose.” Texas Tech ends all academic gender confusion programs The Texas Tech University System announced this month it is ending all academic programs that endorse gender confusion. A memo from the university system stated, “Instructors may not teach that gender identity is a fluid spectrum, endorse the existence of more than two genders, or decouple gender from biological sex as a factual or scientific baseline.” The Texas Tech University System includes five member universities with over 64,000 students. President Trump participated in “America Reads the Bible” And finally, the America Reads the Bible event began on Sunday at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. Hundreds of political and religious leaders are participating in reading the entire Bible aloud over the course of this week. President Donald Trump also participated in the event. He read a portion of 2 Chronicles 7 from the Oval Office on Tuesday. Listen. TRUMP: “The Lord appeared to Solomon by night and said to him: ‘I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place to Myself for a house of sacrifice. If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. ... “But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods and worship them, then will I pluck them up from the roots out of My land which I have given them, and this house which I have sanctified for My name, will I cast out of My sight and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among nations.” Close And that's The Worldview on this Thursday, April 23rd, in the year of our Lord 2026. Follow us on X or subscribe for free by Spotify, Amazon Music, or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com. Plus, you can get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.
In Episode 20, we explore perfectionism in anxiety recovery and why trying to recover “perfectly” can keep you stuck. Many people approach desensitisation with rigid rules, constant self-monitoring, and pressure to get every step right. Ironically, that perfectionistic mindset often strengthens anxiety rather than weakens it.In this episode, I look at how perfectionism can show up in recovery behaviours, why mistakes and setbacks are part of the process, and how real progress often comes from flexibility rather than flawless execution.Drawing on both my work as a therapist and my own experience with anxiety, this episode helps you step away from recovery perfectionism and focus on what actually moves the needle.Keywords:perfectionism anxiety, anxiety recovery, panic attacks, exposure therapy, desensitisation, overthinking, intrusive thoughts, OCD recovery, Pure O, anxiety therapist, anxiety podcast, fear of failure, recovery setbacks, anxiety perfectionism
Ironically, you should put your phone away....AFTER listening to this episode. Michael explores a growing crisis hiding in plain sight: the loss of contemplation in modern life. Drawing on research from The Washington Post and Georgetown professor Cal Newport, Michael examines how constant audio, smartphones, and even AI may be eroding our ability to think deeply. With Americans consuming hours of content daily and attention spans shrinking dramatically, what are we losing—and what are the consequences for our minds, our productivity, and even the economy? Through reflections on historian David McCullough's disciplined thinking process and conversations with callers, Michael makes the case for a “mental fitness” revolution—one that prioritizes silence, reading, and intentional thought in an age of endless distraction. Listen here, and then rate, review and share this podcast...and then put your phone away and take some time to contemplate. Original air date 21 April 2026. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Reformed Brotherhood | Sound Doctrine, Systematic Theology, and Brotherly Love
In this powerful episode of The Reformed Brotherhood, Tony and Jesse return to their parable series with an in-depth examination of the Laborers in the Vineyard from Matthew 20:1-16. This often-misunderstood parable confronts our natural inclination toward merit-based thinking and exposes the scandal of God's grace. The hosts unpack the covenantal language embedded in the text, particularly the workers' "grumbling"—a loaded term echoing Israel's wilderness rebellion. Through careful exegesis and theological reflection, they demonstrate how this parable dismantles religious entitlement while celebrating God's sovereign freedom to bestow mercy according to His purposes, not our calculations. The discussion offers fresh insights into grace, election, and the radical generosity that defines God's kingdom economy. Key Takeaways The parable operates on covenant logic, not economic fairness: The landowner's dealings with his workers reflect covenantal promise-keeping rather than marketplace transactions, establishing that God's relationship with His people is fundamentally gracious. "Grumbling" carries profound theological weight: The Greek word used for the workers' complaint is the same term in the Septuagint for Israel's wilderness rebellion—not mere dissatisfaction, but a covenantal accusation against God's faithfulness. Two types of workers represent two approaches to God: The first-hired workers who contracted for specific wages represent those relating to God through legal obligation and merit, while later workers who trusted the owner's promise represent faith-based relationship. The reversal of payment order is narratively essential: By paying the last workers first, the landowner deliberately exposes the merit-based assumptions of the first workers, forcing them to confront their entitlement. Grace doesn't negate justice—it transcends it: The landowner fulfills every contractual obligation while simultaneously exercising sovereign generosity beyond what is owed, demonstrating that mercy and justice coexist in God's character. The parable addresses the present kingdom, not just heaven: Because it includes grumbling and complaint, this parable describes life in God's kingdom now—the "already but not yet"—rather than the consummated state. Divine sovereignty in salvation is the theological climax: The landowner's declaration "Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?" directly addresses God's freedom in election and the scandal of unmerited grace. Key Ideas The Covenantal Nature of the Landowner's Dealings The parable's opening establishes a formal agreement between the landowner and the first workers: one denarius for a day's labor. This contractual arrangement is crucial for understanding what follows. Unlike marketplace haggling, this represents a covenant—the landowner binds himself to provide what he has promised. Tony emphasizes that even this initial contract is an act of condescension and grace, as the master had no obligation to employ anyone at all. As the day progresses, subsequent workers are hired with increasingly less formal agreements. By the third hour, the landowner promises only "whatever is right," and by the eleventh hour, no wage is even mentioned. These later workers enter the vineyard based entirely on the landowner's character and trustworthiness. This progression mirrors the movement from law to gospel—from contractual obligation to trusting promise. The theological implication is profound: those who relate to God based on His gracious word rather than calculated merit are actually in a more secure position than those who attempt to earn their standing through works. The Wilderness Echo: Grumbling as Covenant Violation The hosts make a critical exegetical observation about the Greek word for "grumbling" (γογγύζω) used in verse 11. This is not casual complaining but the identical term used throughout the Septuagint to describe Israel's covenant rebellion in the wilderness. When the workers grumble "upon receiving" their wages, they're not merely expressing disappointment about pay inequality—they're filing a covenant lawsuit against the master, accusing him of unfaithfulness. This connection to Numbers 16 and Exodus 16-17 is devastating. The Israelites' wilderness grumbling wasn't about logistics or comfort; it was fundamentally about doubting God's covenant fidelity. By employing this loaded terminology, Matthew signals that the first workers' complaint is nothing less than accusing God of covenant violation. The landowner's response ("Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?") is a covenant defense—he has fulfilled his obligations precisely. The workers' real offense is not miscalculation but begrudging God's freedom to show mercy beyond what is contractually required. The "Evil Eye" and Begrudging God's Grace The final rhetorical question—"Or do you begrudge my generosity?"—contains another Jewish idiom often lost in translation. The Greek literally reads, "Is your eye evil because I am good?" This "evil eye" imagery appears throughout Scripture as a metaphor for envy, stinginess, and resentment toward another's blessing. The landowner's question cuts to the heart: are you cursing me for being generous? This directly parallels Jonah's response to Nineveh's salvation. Jonah had just experienced miraculous deliverance through the great fish, yet when God showed identical mercy to the Ninevites, Jonah's response was essentially, "I knew you were gracious—that's why I ran!" The parable exposes the same perverse logic: those who have received covenant mercy begrudging that same mercy extended to others. For the Pharisees listening to Jesus, this was an indictment of their resentment toward tax collectors and sinners receiving the kingdom. For Christians today, it challenges any sense of spiritual superiority based on how long we've been in the kingdom or how much we've sacrificed. Memorable Quotes Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity? That 'or' is a logical connector—either I'm not allowed to do what I want with my belongings, which is ridiculous, or if I am allowed, then you must be mad at me for being generous. Those are the only options. — Tony Arsenal The grumbling in the Old Testament in this context is a covenantal accusation. These workers aren't just complaining about not getting what they thought they would—they're questioning the veracity of the covenant that was made. — Tony Arsenal Most of us are this eleventh-hour call. It's much better to be in the place of that younger brother who comes in and repents than to be the older brother who is stubborn and finds some reason to come before God with self-righteous grievances. — Jesse Schwamb Full Episode Transcript [00:01:05] Jesse Schwamb: Welcome to episode 488 of the Reformer Brotherhood. I'm Jesse [00:01:13] Tony Arsenal: and I am still Tony, and this is the podcast where Tony comes back. Hey brother. [00:01:19] Jesse Schwamb: Hey brother. The band is back together again, man. It's reunited and boy, do you feel it? It feels good, doesn't [00:01:26] Tony Arsenal: it? I do, I do. I'm excited to come back. It was nice to take a break. [00:01:29] Jesse Schwamb: Good. [00:01:29] Tony Arsenal: I, uh, I've been, you know, texted with you a couple times. Just it was, I did my best to sort of not think about the podcast because that's sort of defeats the purpose of taking a break from something if you spend a lot of time thinking about it. Um, so I'm back. I'm refreshed. I'm ready to go. [00:01:44] Break and Work Chaos [00:01:44] Tony Arsenal: I appreciate the listeners' patience. Uh, it's been sort of a weird, crazy busy time at work. Uh, there's a lot going on. I, I lost like. 60% of my staff in the course of like three weeks. And, um, I'm still kind of in the thick of it, but we're coming out of it. So took a little bit of time to just make sure that I was having a, an appropriate space to de-stress from that and take care of my family and attend to worship. And, um, it was really a, a blessing to have that. Uh, sort of sabbatical. Ironically, the sabbatical wars were going on at the same time on Twitter, and Jesse is blissfully unaware of that 'cause he's not involved in in the Twitter. That's true. Um, but yeah, just took a little break and it's kinda like overblown it, to call it a sabbatical. Like this is a podcast, it's a hobby, but, but it was nice to have, uh, a little bit of extra time, you know, couple hours extra week, uh, uh, each week of extra time to just decompress and, uh, play with the kids and spend time with my wife and clean the house a little bit, which was good. [00:02:36] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, it is always good to have a clean house. You look great. You seem refreshed. The voice sounds good, and I'm like, I don't know, in year seven or eight of my Twitter sabbatical, it's going great so far. I feel like I haven't missed a whole lot. The world still seems wild and I'm sure, or X, right? We gotta go X on this. It's [00:02:53] Tony Arsenal: always Twitter. It's always gonna be Twitter. I don't care what Elon Musk says. [00:02:56] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, I'm listen. I'm totally fine with that. [00:02:58] Back to Parables [00:02:58] Jesse Schwamb: And I teased this in the last episode, but we can't be stopped. I mean, people should know this by now, we have an inexorable march through the parables of Jesus's true. That will not be stopped. We're always gonna come back until there are no more. And on this episode, we're gonna be hanging out in Matthew 20, talking about laborers in the Kingdom of Heaven. [00:03:17] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. I'm stoked. I'm, I'm, I'm excited to get back into it. I'm excited to get back into the word together with everybody. I'm excited to clear whatever that was on in my throat out [00:03:27] Jesse Schwamb: emotion, [00:03:27] Tony Arsenal: live on the air. Uh, but yeah, it'll be good. I'm, I'm stoked. I mean, I love this stuff and it's good to be back. [00:03:32] Jesse Schwamb: Listen, you had the rest. Now let's talk about labor. So speaking of labor, it's, it's time for you to work up here, Tony. Are you affirming with or denying against on this episode? [00:03:42] Tony Arsenal: Uh, I'm affirming something and I'm hopeful, uh, that just a little behind the scenes activity here. Jesse recorded episode 487, like an hour and a half ago. I have not yet listened to it, so I don't know if you did an affirmation and I I did. If you did. I hope it's not the same one. [00:03:58] Jesse Schwamb: I did not. You're [00:03:59] Tony Arsenal: safe. Uh, good. So I'm safe. [00:04:01] Artemis II Hype [00:04:01] Tony Arsenal: So, um, I'm affirming the Artemis two mission. Um, oh, nice. Have you been, I mean, I know you're not on Twitter, but I'm sure there's news elsewhere. Uh, this amazing mission around the moon, um, for astronaut, for astronauts, I think, um, the furthest man space travel, um, since the Apollo program. Um. Pretty intense, pretty amazing pictures, right? The camera technologies amazing. Increased exponentially, uh, since we were there last. Um, this is ostensibly in preparation for an actual moon landing, which who knows when that will be? Um, but as far as I've seen, the mission was a resounding success. There was no right. I think they had, they ran into a few little hiccups early on with some technical things, but nothing crazy. I have not heard. Um, I know they did touch down and they did reentry. Um, I've not heard anything one way or another, but I'm assuming since I have not heard terrible, tragic news that they made it through, did they do the reentry? I'm really, apparently I'm not actually paying as much attention to this as I thought I was. I saw a lot of information about reentry, but I guess, I don't know for sure when that happened or is happening. [00:05:05] Jesse Schwamb: I mean, by this point, when people listen to it, it'll be old news anyway, right? So [00:05:09] Tony Arsenal: For sure. Yeah. And either, either it went terribly wrong and I'm gonna feel awful, or it went fine and I'm gonna feel a little silly for. Throwing a caveat that it went terribly wrong out there. But, um, it's cool. It's, it's amazing. I mean, I, I commented to my wife the other day and she's kinda like, yeah, maybe we should like, spend that money on people who are on the planet. I was like, okay, I can, I can buy that wisdom. But, um, there's something very cool and very Genesis, uh, one, ask Genesis one and two, ask about flying out into space and taking dominion over Yeah, for sure. Over a, a little ball of rock, uh, you know, uh, 25,000 miles away or whatever it is. Um. And, you know, I'm like an engineering nerd. I, I don't know anything about engineering, but I love watching YouTube videos that explain stuff like this. And [00:05:52] Jesse Schwamb: me [00:05:52] Tony Arsenal: too, all of the videos that have cropped up now about free return and how, like they're able to basically like do minimal burn on the thrusters to get into the right trajectory and then just like meet the moon in the place it's gonna be. And then the, you know, the moon's gravity captures it and whips it back around and then shoots it back towards Earth. And for the most part, they're able to do all of that with relatively minor, um, relatively minor energy output because they're just utilizing physics and gravity and math, um, to fly to the moon and come back. Yes. It's pretty crazy amazing. So, yeah. Amazing. And the photos of like the, the sort of like new versions of the Earthrise photos are really, really phenomenal. Um, they're crisp, they're clean, they're obviously like the best, the best actual pho photographic images we've had of the lunar surface. Um. And the, the far side of the lunar surface, which we get all sorts of like telescopic photos and things of this side of the lunar surface because it's tightly locked and is facing us at all times. We don't get a ton of really great photography of the far side of the moon, which is a big part of what this mission was, so, [00:06:56] Jesse Schwamb: right. [00:06:56] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. If you haven't seen the photos, I mean, they're out there, they're amazing. There will be even more available once we get back. You know, they, they're transmitting only the most stellar, amazing ones. Um, and, but they're taking, I'm sure thousands and thousands of photos and, um, so yeah, it's pretty cool. I'm affirming the Artemis two mission. Um. It's just amazing what, what people can do with common grace, you know? That's right. In insight into nature. Um, I don't know anything about the astronauts. I don't know anything about their religious faith or their spiritual life or anything like that. But, um, the people who design this, the people who fly it, they're just tapping into the truth that's present in God's creation. So good on them. Uh, either I'm glad they got home, wish they have a safe home coming, or something along those lines, I guess. I don't know. [00:07:40] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, you'll be happy to know that NASA is reporting that the four astronauts are an excellent condition after they landed in the Pacific Ocean. So [00:07:47] Tony Arsenal: good. [00:07:47] Jesse Schwamb: All, all appears to be well. And it says they have a giant SD card of pictures that's they've been taking. Yeah. And saving. I'm sure. They were just, they were just too big to send to over wifi. [00:07:58] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Like massive wideness. Yeah. I mean, I'm sure they have a ton that they didn't send because you know Right. Data rates to the moon are pretty high. Yeah. [00:08:05] Jesse Schwamb: Ex. Yeah. [00:08:05] Tony Arsenal: This economy is crazy. So [00:08:07] Jesse Schwamb: Exactly. In this economy. Really In this economy. Yeah, exactly. [00:08:11] Cosmic Worship Reflections [00:08:11] Jesse Schwamb: I think you're right. This is good. I haven't talked about this at all. It's hard not to get just stoked, even in the amateur way about the science, the technology, the physics of all this stuff, and then even the astronauts just being overwhelmed by what they're seeing. [00:08:24] Tony Arsenal: Mm-hmm. [00:08:25] Jesse Schwamb: It's hard not to get pulled into that and think about the universe that God has created and find that there is something transcendent just, uh, by observing all of these things. Yeah. Like even casually, which I think shows, again, this is literally the, the heavens and the earth crying out for God, showing his immeasurable power and, you know, immortal nature. It's incredible that we can even see and be a part of some of these things. Just wild. [00:08:49] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah, and I think it's crazy that they can get signals to the moon. I mean, I drive home from Dartmouth College and I go through half of the spot there, and I don't have a cell signal, but we can get images from the moon. Um, so yeah, it's great. It's great. Check it out if you haven't seen it. If you haven't heard about it, I don't know what you're doing. Uh, this is probably the largest major scientific advancement in our generation. Um, in terms of like big scale scientific enterprise projects. There's been a lot of really amazing technology that's been developed. But this is like the first big. Almost like risky kind of scientific, [00:09:30] Jesse Schwamb: right? [00:09:30] Tony Arsenal: I dunno. Gambit or I dunno, gamble that we've done in a long time. Big deal. I mean, big a lot. Deal of things. Deal. Nothing went wrong. Nothing ma major went wrong. Praise God that they all got back to the planet safely. Right. But, um, a lot of things could have gone wrong, uh, and they didn't. So check out the photos, check out the scientific data they're gonna get. I mean, I'm sure they've got all sorts of information about the way the, the, the space ship moved, all of that stuff. It's gonna be really interesting to see kind of how this all comes about. [00:09:56] Jesse Schwamb: Get some worship on, right? Yeah. I mean this is what a one, a thing to be reminded about how big and how glorious God is. [00:10:01] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. [00:10:01] Jesse Schwamb: And, and to realize, like you said, the risks of this exploration. And this is God again, creating all of this outta nothing. Why? Yeah. Just absolutely wild. Incredible. [00:10:12] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah, for [00:10:12] Jesse Schwamb: sure. Blown away. [00:10:13] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. What about you, Jesse? What do you have for us? [00:10:15] Bayes and Predictability [00:10:15] Jesse Schwamb: I got affirmation. It's equally nerdy, and actually this is as is always the case. This is why one of many reasons I miss you is it, it dovetails so nicely, so I'm affirming with a book. It's called Everything Is Predictable, how Esy and Statistics Explains the World. It's by a guy named Tom Chivers. I know this sounds super nerdy, but hear me out on this because Thomas Bayes, if you don't know this guy is first kind of like a wild and interesting guy, but this whole theory he put forward is super interesting. And this book is not like a mathematics book. It's like reads almost like a statistical thriller, which as it came outta my mouth, realized it was not maybe more ingratiating. I could have chosen better words than statistical thriller. But Thomas Bayes was alive in the 17 hundreds. And what's interesting to me at least about him, is he was an English statistician, who was a Presbyterian minister actually. He was a non-conformist and his, this whole theorem that he developed was actually published after his death. And the non-conformist part is super interesting. It's all in this book, even some of his different theological ideas. But because he was non-conformist, it basically meant like he couldn't learn. He was kicked out of all the English universities. He had to go to Scotland. Even all of that shaped how he came up with this particular theorem. But the gist of it is. Rather than treating like probabilities, as we think about it as this fixed frequency, you know, how many times does this thing occur? He argued and realized that it should represent a degree of belief and then you would update that belief rationally as new evidence comes in. And I know that sounds super quaint, but this is like what machine learning is based on medical diagnosis. A lot of like space travel is based on this in terms of understanding uncertainty and systems spam, all of that stuff. Here's an example, I think Tony, because we are, we have to carry forward with the top 50 medical podcast thing, right? We've got going on here. Lemme just give everybody an example of why you need this and why you automatically think this way. So. Statistics is really important, especially in medical testing. This was really prevalent in during COVID. So there's two ways that you can describe how a medical test performs you. You know this already, Tony, you're an expert. So one would be like sensitivity. So like how AIG [00:12:19] Tony Arsenal: not an expert. [00:12:20] Jesse Schwamb: Oh, you're definitely an expert in testing. Here we go. So one would be like sensitivity. How good is the test at catching people who are sick? So if you're sick, you, you want the test to identify that, that you're sick. That's sensitivity. So a test with a 99% sensitivity is gonna correctly identify 99 out of a hundred people who are truly sick. It always gonna miss one person. It's a false negative. The other half of that coin is something called specificity. So if sensitivity is all about catching the people who are sick, specificity is gonna say, how good is the test at clearing people who are not sick? And so a test with 99% specificity, you might have correctly guessed, is gonna identify or clear 99 out of a hundred healthy people. Now if you have a test. Both of those 99% sensitive and 99% specific, you might be thinking, that is the dream. That's exactly what I want. That that test is gonna be so precise and accurate. How could my intuition fail me? But this is the thing. It actually fails all the time, and here's why. Let's say that. You go out and you screen a group of people, a general population for a rare disease that affects one in a thousand people. One in a thousand people, rare disease. So if you screen 10,000 people from the general population, that means that truly only 10 of them are going to have the actual disease. I'm not gonna do all the math 'cause it'll, oh, this is already making for amazing podcasting. But here's the bottom line. That test, which sounds so good on the face, is going to identify 109 people as truly sick or truly having disease. But the problem is that only 10 of them actually have it. That means that only there's, it only has a success rate of 9%. There's only 9% chance you actually have the disease, but it's falsely identified. The short end of this is Bayes corrects that problem. He fixes it with his theorem so that we get to the right number of people. That's what's called like a base fallacy rate. It's not taking into account that really only 10 people should have this particular disease or this sickness. So I know that's sounds super nerdy, but so much of our lives are based on this. We have a prior belief or a prior set of things that we understand about the world. And then as evidence comes in, we refine that. That sounds so normal and normative, but it's revolutionary in this book actually. Bayes versus what's called like frequentist or frequent, um, probability is like hotly debated. People actually throw down over this theorem. So it's a really fun read. Go check out. Everything is predictable. Al Bayesian statistics explains our world. It really is for everybody. And then you can impress your friends with all the statistical pross you're gonna have when you're done reading it. [00:14:56] Tony Arsenal: Like the medical administrator hat that I can't always take off is like, why would we screen 10,000 people? Are, are they all symptomatic? Are none of them symptomatic? But suppose it doesn't really [00:15:08] Jesse Schwamb: matter for the example. That's a great, so generally what happens here is, let's say it's like some kind of rare form of cancer, unless you use Bayesian statistics, what you'll find is you'll get these false positive rates. So these tests do use Bayesian statistics. It corrects, in other words, for this problem. So there might be a lot of people that are gonna screen for this because if you, you wanna know if you have it, but you don't wanna get it wrong and say that you do. So this ensures his approach ensures that you get it. Right. It's wild. Fascinating stuff. [00:15:34] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, and I would think actually, you know, there's probably, there's other mechanisms as well where they would, where they would sort of screen out. People that shouldn't be tested or help identify false negatives, false positives. Um, but yeah, that's, that's interesting. I probably won't read that book, but it sounds like an interesting read. I just don't have a lot of room on my A TBR shelf. [00:15:55] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, listen. That, that's fair. [00:15:57] Goodreads DNF Update [00:15:57] Jesse Schwamb: By the way, here's like a, a side affirmation. I think you and I both share speaking like books and cataloging books. If you use Good Reads, good Reads. Right. Finally adding a list of the Do Not Did Not Finish book. That's fantastic. This, this might be an example for some people, so pick it up and even if you don't have a place for it, guess where you can put it on the did not finish list. Yeah. Good Reads. [00:16:16] Tony Arsenal: That's finally, that's one of those like, like why didn't they add that 15 years ago? Kind of an updates and you get the email and they're like, we're so excited to introduce the did Not Finish thing. And we're like, yeah. Like of course. Like, duh. It's likes, like, we're proud to introduce that. Your keypad now has a zero on it. [00:16:36] Jesse Schwamb: Right. So [00:16:37] Tony Arsenal: yeah. I'm, I'm excited about the DNR, um, the DNF, um, I'm so excited. I can't even remember what it's called. Yeah. The shelf. But, uh, very, very useful. The DNR list [00:16:47] Jesse Schwamb: is a diff it is a different list. Speaking of medical things, it's a different [00:16:50] Tony Arsenal: list. Yeah. Yeah, that's definitely a different thing. Usually it's not a list. It's a list of one in most cases. [00:16:56] Jesse Schwamb: Exactly, [00:16:57] Tony Arsenal: yeah. You can't put other people on your [00:17:00] Jesse Schwamb: DNR [00:17:00] Tony Arsenal: This, [00:17:00] Jesse Schwamb: I suppose. Yeah, I should clarify that. You can really, you can only really put yourself, or I suppose somebody for whom you have that kind of authority over on that list, but I was thinking that more from like a medical perspective, that somewhere there would be a database in which there might be a list of DNR. I don't know. [00:17:15] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, maybe. I don't know. I'm not sure. Probably there was at some point, but I think with medical chart technology now, that's probably like a. A moot point. Yeah. They don't need to be able to like cross reference a master list anymore. They just look in the patient's electronic record. We're really like in the weeds here. You can tell it's been a while since I've, I've podcasted. I don't really remember how to do this. [00:17:35] Jesse Schwamb: This is great. [00:17:36] Segue to Matthew 20 [00:17:36] Jesse Schwamb: I think at this point we try to make some kind of awkward segue that is mildly successful. Again, probably has statistically like a 20 to 27% chance of being successful and really hitting the mark. Yeah. So do you have anything that's gonna move us into this? [00:17:49] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, I mean, I feel like you've been podcasting for the last several weeks without me and I've been working hard and now I'm kind of coming in as Johnny come lately and we're gonna get paid the same amount so. Even though you've worked harder for longer and I'm coming in late to the game here. [00:18:03] Jesse Schwamb: Oh man. Ple loved ones. Please tell me you got that. Please tell me you got all of that. That's, that's what you show up for here. Yeah, that was [00:18:10] Tony Arsenal: a deep cut. [00:18:11] Jesse Schwamb: That, that was beautiful. And I think leads us right into Matthew 20. So I think we've got at least 16 verses to get through here. Maybe again, if we're gonna keep a statistical theme here, something about engineering and math, all that stuff, we'll let everybody else pick the over under and whether or not we're gonna get through this and how many verses that's going to be. But at this point, we might as well begin. [00:18:32] Tony Arsenal: Yes. Yeah. [00:18:33] Read the Parable [00:18:33] Tony Arsenal: I'll start by reading. Uh, we're here in Matthew chapter 20, the first 16 versus this is the parable of the laborers in the vineyard and it reads. For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborer laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into the vineyard and going out about the third hour, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace. He said to them, you go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right, I will give you. So they went, going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the 11th hour, he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, why do you stand here idle all day? They said to him, because no one has hired us. And he said to them, you go into the vineyard too. And when the evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, call the laborers and pay them with their wages, beginning with the last up to the first. And when those hired about the 11th hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now, when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it, they grumbled at the master of the house saying, these last worked only one hour and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat. And he replied to one of them, friend, I'm doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me? For a denarius, take what belongs to you and go, I choose to give the last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you beg, do you begrudge my generosity? So the last will be first and the first will be last. Now I just wanna head this off. I did bite my tongue earlier and I probably am lisping and this is like a running gag. We thought that we'd resolved it. Uh, so if you hear me stumble over my words a little bit, it's just, it's just the struggle bus today. [00:20:24] Jesse Schwamb: Listen, this is the, these are like the real things we have to deal with when the podcasting, like the real threats, the real injuries. I appreciate you like working through it. Like you just get back up and you walk it off with your tongue. [00:20:35] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, my, my, uh, my podcasting hiatus was actually just a recovery of the last time I bit my tongue. I just needed a couple weeks to, no, I'm just kidding. [00:20:43] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, we didn't wanna say. [00:20:44] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. [00:20:44] Kingdom Fairness and Grumbling [00:20:44] Tony Arsenal: So, Jesse, this is a, this is a parable that follows right on the heels, um, of kind of everything we've been talking about. And I think as we go through these parables and we look at them and we, we sort of pick them up and we look at the different facets of them, we sort of compare them to each other. We kind of, we kind of place them in their context really. They all have basically the same theme, right? Like they're all kind of circulating around these same topics. In this parable, it's circulating around this idea that, um, the, the owner of the vineyard, the master of the vineyard, is allowed to pay the people he employs whatever he wants. And as long as the payment that is due to an individual is received by that individual, then what other people receive and how they receive it and how hard they've worked and how hard they didn't work. That's really not germane to whether or not the, the laborer received a fair wage, uh, in the first place. Right. So we're, we're circling around themes of kind of fairness of, uh, of sort of resentment, I think for resentment at the master's generosity, which has been a big theme in previous ones. So this will be good for us to expand on. There's always little nuggets and kernels of things that are different from other parables, and then it's interesting to always see the ways that they kind of line up and, and tell us similar things. [00:21:57] Jesse Schwamb: And this parable is unique to Matthew. Yeah. And it does function as this exposition or expansion of what Jesus says in chapter 19 where it says, but many who are first will be last. And the last first, which is repeated with this lovely like inverted emphasis in, at the end of this as you just read. So it belongs to this like interesting cluster of teacher teachings on discipleship and reward nature of the kingdom of God. And we've, we've spoken a lot about that. I think I was just reminded of this as you were, you were. Reading this, I feel like I remember this from some teaching, like this parable is kind of like a unique chiasm that's anchored on the landowner, sovereign generosity, which you brought up. And then there's the complaints of the first hired, which is mirrored by the late comers vulnerability. And then the landowners, two speeches which divide everything, kind of provide sandwich and the like, the theological climax. It does start in that really familiar way, which we've gotten accustomed to thinking about that introductory formula of the kingdom of heaven is like, and it signals of course that what follows is not gonna be a lesson in economics, but it's gonna use all this economic language as theological disclosure for how God's kingdom operates. And it starts again, like you said, with this master of the house, which to me seems. Pretty clearly like a, a God figure himself. Yeah. It's, that's kind of like a reoccurring mathian image. I think. So we've got this vineyard, which of course has all this symbolism, steeply rooted in Israel's covenant imagination and evokes God's people and his redemptive labor among them. So, man, now that I'm saying this all loud, is this thing like super pregnant with all kinds of like imagery and meaning? [00:23:27] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. And you know, it's, it's always good to remember, although parables have kind of some parables, most parables have sort of distinct discreet, symbolic elements where like, this represents that this represents that almost in an allegorical form. And, and in some cases, like purely in allegorical form, where it's like pilgrim's progress where each, each individual, each entity, each location each represents some sort of symbolic value. But we have to remember that when, when it says the parable of the kingdom of heaven is like the master of the house, it's not just like the master of the house. Yes. Right. It's like this whole scenario. Yes. It's, it's like. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It's like everything that follows, it's like the entire, um, the entire paree here. That's what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. And one of the things that I think is striking about this is the kingdom of heaven is like some people complaining, like the people complaining about, some people are getting the same wage for less work. Um, that is part of what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. So I think we sometimes think of, of. The kingdom of heaven in, um, in the parables, we think of it as though God is just saying, this is what heaven is like. Right? Jesus Just saying like, this is what heaven is like, but the kingdom of heaven, that language is broader than what we normally would say, uh, is. We're thinking of heaven, like in the, the spiritual abode where God lives and the angels live. Um, where, where the departed saints are waiting for the resurrection, the kingdom of heaven is, is also inclusive of the, the sort of like. Time now between the victory of Christ on the cross and the consummation of the kingdom and the last day, the kingdom of heaven is inclusive of that time period too. And so this parable sort of situates us. I think it situates us in that pre consummated state where we're talking about what it's like to be a part of the kingdom of heaven here and now in our fallen state, but still solidly in the kingdom of heaven. 'cause there's not gonna be any complaining or grumbling about God's justice in God's fairness once we're in the final resurrected state. Right? Sure. Nobody's gonna be looking back and be like, yeah, you were way too gracious for that guy. Nobody's gonna be playing the Jonah part when we're all resurrected and we're worshiping for, for all time going forward. So this parable, because there are elements of. Dissatisfaction or elements of grumbling or complaining similar to like the, the parable of the prodigal son. There's this sun figure, the, the older sun figure who like is just a bonehead and doesn't get it. Well, that can't be talking about the people who are in the resurrection kingdom in the final kingdom. It's gotta be talking about people who are still awaiting the resurrection of the body and who are still not yet. Uh, and even in, in that parable, the, the older son doesn't even seem to be a figure who's, who's regener. Maybe he does become regener at some point in the future, but he doesn't seem to be. In, even in God's kingdom, he doesn't seem to be, even among God's people, he's consistently placed outside of the field. You don't even know he exists until Nick halfway through the parable. This is similar in that there are these workers, they're receiving their wages and some of them are, are outwardly dissatisfied and grumbling against the master of the house. Um, so I think if we think about parables as describing heaven rather than the kingdom of heaven, we can lose sight of, of what's actually being said in a lot of them. [00:26:50] Contracts Versus Grace [00:26:50] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, that's really good stuff because it strikes me that there are like, strangely, two groups here mentioned, I, I find this really kind of fascinating. We, I think we should talk about this, like the first group has like the most formal agreement, it's almost a legal contract, right? Various was like a standard day laborers wage sufficient mostly for subsistence. And so that detail seems theologically loaded to me. These workers relate to the landowner on the basis of a contract and what is owed. And so their claim at the end of the day will be exactly that. They're owed something and they know it, and that sets up Then this contrast with a second group, which is mostly all about grace because by the time we get to that third hour, like. Approximately like 9:00 AM then we're beginning this pattern repeated at the sixth and the ninth hours. And crucially, for those workers who go out, go out and get recruited, there's no wage that's specified for them. Only the promise of like whatever is right. And so they enter the vineyard, not on the basis of a contract, but on the basis of like the owner's word and character. And that seems to be like more of a picture of trust and not, not calculation. Yeah. Separate than like the first group. And that marketplace, idleness, as I read this, doesn't imply like laziness because verse seven clarifies like they just had not been hired. Right? They were overworked, they were unemployed. They were marginalized. So it does set up, like you said, everything you just talked about, about the kind of this, I like that. Like the Jonah, the Jonah whiners or whatever, like yeah, they want to complain about this, right? There are, and there are two, two separate groups that have kind of been brought into the fold, not under different terms or pretenses, but differently. [00:28:17] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. And I think too, bear's saying, um. Although there are elements of parables that are very, very directly applicable. Mm. We shouldn't read this as though every, every specific thing in the parable is not a parable. Right. Right. I think we can look at this and we can go, you know, you can read this in a way where, oh yeah, there's some people actually earn their, earn their wage, they earn ary. Right. It's a fair contract. And they work all day and he says, well, I'm gonna give you what's right, what you, what I owe you. [00:28:45] God Owes Nothing [00:28:45] Tony Arsenal: The reality is God doesn't owe any of us anything. Right? Right. He owes us wrath and judgment and destruction. And so even, even the people who are the hard workers in the kingdom of God don't merit and never could merit, um, to, in a certain sense, in a strict sense and stick with me before you send your, your angry emails in a real strict sense. Even Adam couldn't merit. What was, well, it was guaranteed to him, according to the Covenant of Works, God had to condescend to make the covenant of works in order for Adam to have any sort of fruition of his blessedness. So there there's no natural obligation, strict obligation that God has to reward the work of his creatures because nothing they could do could ever be sufficient enough to obligate him. So the, the obligation of himself, and that's, this is where I do think this is strong, the fact that he obligates himself to these workers to give them their denarius after a hard day's work [00:29:37] Jesse Schwamb: exactly [00:29:37] Tony Arsenal: is itself. A covenantal, um, contractual, yes. But I actually read this as sort of a covenantal thing and the, the strange part is that the people don't recognize the sort of semi gracious covenantal nature of this. Yes. [00:29:50] Grace In The Hiring [00:29:50] Tony Arsenal: I think, um, you know, there have been times when I, where I've been unemployed, um, not for very long. Now, I know some people face unemployment for a lot longer than I ever have, but I know there was times where I was, I was looking for work and someone would say to me like, Hey, you know, my, my, my lawn needs to be mowed. Could you come over and I'll, I'll give you 25 bucks to mow my lawn. It's a small lawn. Um. That's a gracious act in most cases. Right, right. Um, yes, I'm performing a task. Yes, they're paying me, but they didn't have to offer me that work. They didn't have to offer me that job, especially when it's something that like they could have accomplished themselves. They could have just done it themselves. Um, so I think there's an element of that here, that there's, there's a condescension of the master to these workers, to these laborers who are not part of his household. These are not, they're not slaves. These are not people who are part of his household, who are regular employees. These are people that he goes out into the market to, to find and to hire. And as we see some of, some of these mark, like the difference between the ones that are hired and the ones that are not hired until later in the day, the parable's not super clear about what it is. Just that they're not hired, it doesn't say the lazy ones were left there. The ones were exactly, that were ugly or had like limp legs or like just couldn't cut it. It just says like there was some that didn't get hired. Um, so there's a gracious element of this, and that makes the recognition at the end or the lack of recognition at the end by these full day laborers, the, the sort of like recognition, this, this entitled ness, um, that actually makes it all the worst. It's like the people who are outwardly attached to the covenant of grace. Um, I know all the Baptists in our, our group, their heads just exploded, but like are outwardly attached to the covenant of grace, um, who wanna somehow complain about like the graciousness of the covenant of grace that they're outwardly attached to it. It's just sort of like a form of, of theological and temporary insanity, I think. And that's what we see on full display here. [00:31:40] Jesse Schwamb: It's definitely all grace. You're right that nobody's gonna get injustice right in this parable. And I think that's definitely exemplified the further out you go in this hiring order. [00:31:49] Eleventh Hour Mercy [00:31:49] Jesse Schwamb: So by the time you get to 5:00 PM which is pretty extraordinary, right? Only really like one hour remains before sense, right? It's the end of the working day. [00:31:56] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. [00:31:56] Jesse Schwamb: You can imagine like these guys who are being hired at the hour probably can contribute very little in the last hour of the day, right? But this owner goes out and hires them and no agreement is stated whatsoever. It's just pure grace. The landowner's question, why do you stand here idle all day? I think to your point, underlies their vulnerability. They were not idle by choice, presumably. And so I think we rightly here in this, like a foreshadowing of those who are called the late in redemptive history, Gentile sinners, the seemingly least qualified for kingdom membership. All of that I think is at play and it's all, it's getting this lovely setup of all these groups to help us understand what that kingdom is actually like. [00:32:33] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. [00:32:35] Reverse Payroll Setup [00:32:35] Tony Arsenal: And then we have this, um, this is where the sort of dramatic tension turns, right? The end of the day comes and, uh, the master calls the, the people that he brought last, right? He calls the people who'd only been there for an hour and he starts to go down the list of the people who, the people who were last, and the people who came in next. And the people who came in next, right? And the workers who had contracted at the beginning of the day. Um, they're watching this happen and they're kind of going, oh, this is gonna be good. Like, that guy's only been here for an hour and he got a denarius. You know, the logic is probably like, I'm gonna get 12 denarius, like I'm gonna go 12 days worth of work. Um, because I think there's an assumption on their part, um, that the master's fair that he is, he's providing an equitable wage. Um, of course the master is fair, but he's providing an equitable wage that's commensurate with the work delivered. A delivered, delivered, right? And that, that's the key to this parable. [00:33:26] Merit Mindset Exposed [00:33:26] Tony Arsenal: I think the expectation that God. Helps those who help themselves. Right? God rewards those who put in the hard work. God. God provides blessing or salvation according to the merit provided by the one who's being saved. That perspective is what's on full display here. Yes. By the people who are, uh, the ones who contracted for the full day. They're not thinking about the covenant that they have with this person or the contract they have with this person. They're not thinking about the fact that they agreed to work for the day in order to earn a day's wage. They're thinking about how this actually is gonna work out great in their favor. They're looking at this as a strictly merit-based kind of a, a thing. And you would think that like when the, the one hour people come in, they get a denarius, and then the three hour people come in and they get a denarius. You'd think they would pick up on it at some point, but then in the course of the payroll, it doesn't seem that they do. They still get to the bottom of the list and think they're gonna get more compared to the other people who all got the same. [00:34:22] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, that display piece is critical to this. It is like complete setup. Like you can imagine he, the landowner calling everybody together at the end of the day and they're all standing around. Some of them are exhausted because they've again born all their work in the heat of the day on their backs. They're tired, they're dirty, maybe they're exhausted. And he starts in this reverse order. And by the way, we should note that there is something here that's beautiful in that the law, the landowner is law abiding because right evening payment is mandated in the Torah. So we see all this taking place as to fulfill the law in some ways. But the reversal of the order that last of first is like such deliberative and good narrative storytelling and staging, isn't it? 'cause it ensures that the first hired workers are going to witness the payment of those who work the least. And if without that order, if you just did it the other way around, the more a crisis of the parable disc like completely goes away. [00:35:10] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. [00:35:10] Jesse Schwamb: So this execution of the payment at the owner's will, it just shows that he has. He's completely independent. His sovereignty belong. The sovereignty belongs to the master alone. And so this 11th hour workers receiving a full day's wage for one hour of work, that's like an act of sheer generosity. It's not proportional justice. And I think as reform, people, maybe all of us at some point have had this conversation about predestination and justice and mercy. And again, really I think putting a crowbar between this idea that nobody is receiving injustice, but some are receiving mercy and grace. And here these first hired workers seeing this form, like you said, this expectation that they're gonna receive more, like you said, where that came from. Yeah, it's just them, right? It's purely manufactured in their own reasoning. It's not anchored in the covenantal promise and certainly not witnessed in the grace that they should be receive, like perceiving as the payments get doled out, like sequentially moving in their reverse order toward those who have worked the longest. But their expectation reveals that they have fundamentally misread like the landowner's character. They're still operating in the register of a contract and not grace. [00:36:16] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. And you know, I think to sort of lock this covenant covenantal frame and sort of like lack of recognition of the covenant into place too, when you look at the language of this parable, um, and especially kind of what it's following up on, it's coming on the heels of this interaction with this rich, rich young ruler who comes in and he thinks that he's gonna earn eternal life by keeping the commandments. Um, and, and he, he has this outward sense or this outward display of pty. He's calling Jesus good. He's saying he, you know, he keeps the commandments, Jesus doesn't even disagree with him actually, that he has connect. Yes. You know, I think it's implied that, well, of course you haven't, but he, he still is graciously trying to like, convince this guy, no, you actually need to abandon your self righteousness and, and pursue and follow me. Um. But this is a parable where like other people are listening, right? There's other witnesses. This isn't like the rich young ruler came to him in the middle of the night, like Nicodemus. This is something that's happened on PO on in the public. So we can anticipate that the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the scribes and the lawyers were all aware of this. They may have been there, but they were at least aware of this happening. And I think there's some language in here that is actually directed at those people. [00:37:30] Grumbling As Accusation [00:37:30] Tony Arsenal: And, and here's where it comes in, is you get to verse, um, we'll start reading again at verse nine. It says, when those hired about the 11th hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now, when those hired first came, so we're referring to the people who are hired at the beginning of the day. Now, when those who were hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius and on receiving it, right? So this is as, this is, um, uh, just unbelievable as they're receiving the denarius on receiving it, they grumbled at the master of the house. Now, just the way that I read that and said the word grumbled tells you that that word is really important here. Yes. If you look at this Greek word. And you compare it to the, the word, the usage of this word in the, the, um, Sept. Yes. Which of course is the Greek translation of the Old Testament. This word most commonly appears in the wilderness wandering accounts. [00:38:22] Jesse Schwamb: Yes. [00:38:23] Tony Arsenal: Right. And the, the primary sin of the Israelites during the wilderness wandering was grumbling against the Lord. And this grumbling against the Lord in that context is not just a general complaining, right. It's not just like a, a sort of like a, a general dissatisfaction or like murmuring. This isn't like water cooler frustration about your boss. The grumbling in the Old Testament in this context is a covenantal accusation, right. So this is tied to the, the accounts where Moses first is told to strike the rock, and he does so when the water comes out, and then second is told to speak to the rock, but he strikes it. I won't go into all the details, but the scene that's being, being displayed there is the people come, they accuse the Lord of abandoning them into the wilderness. And this scene where Moses is set up on the rock and he strikes the rock, that scene is a judicial scene. The people have filed a covenant accusation against the Lord, and in reality, it's the people who have been unfaithful. But the Lord standing in the place of the rock is the one who is struck, right? Jesus was the rock in the wilderness from which the water came. Paul says that in First Corinthians, right? So this language of grumbling in this is not just, they're not just complaining about the fact that they didn't get what they thought they were going to, they're questioning the veracity of the covenant that was made. So they're, they're still locked into this merit-based. This merit-based idea even more than it seemed at first, right? There's a logic to the idea that like, oh, if the, the master is actually paying a wage of one denarius for per hour, like there's a logic to that. But it's not just that they're saying, and this is, this explains the response of the master. It's not just that they're saying like, Hey, wait a second, like the wage rate that you're paying is not right. They're saying you have violated the terms of our covenant in the way that you have paid us. 'cause it's upon receiving it that they complain or they grumble and the master says more or less like, Hey. You agreed with me for one Denarius, I'm giving you what you've earned. I'm giving you what you agreed on. Why don't you take it and go. So the answer is not to try to justify why he is free to pay these other people more, or why he's free to pay these people a perceived less. The answer is, again, they're complaining against the covenant. He is bringing it back to the covenant saying, well, here's what the covenant relationship was. You work for the day. I give you Denarius. We're square here, we're on the same page. We've fulfilled our covenant obligations, and you've received your reward for that. So I, I think that's another thing we have to lock in here is this is not just a general idea of like unfairness that's being presented. This is not just a general idea that people are saying the master of the house is unfair. They're saying he's covenantal. Unfaithful. Right? That's a pretty big accusation. [00:41:09] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, that is, thank you by the way, for completely stealing the whole tugen thing from me. Like I was just going hot to Tugen to find that reference. And now all I can do is add to it. So that is from at least one of those occasions, a number 16, and I just wanna read the verse. This is 16 six. So Moses and Aaron said to all the sons of Israel at evening, you will know that Yahweh has brought you outta the land of Egypt. And in the morning you will see the glory of Yahweh for he hears your grumblings against Yahweh. And what we are that you grumble against us. So I'm totally with you. This is not subtle. The workers first complaint here, the first workers' complaint is like theologically serious. Uh, I think that's what you're hitting us on. Like it charges the owner with injustice. Right. And as I read it, the grievance has like two layers or two parts, I would say. One is this comparative part, which is basically saying, you made us equal to them. Right? And the second be like a meritorious part, they have worked harder and in worse conditions. And that's why they say things like, it's, it's all inflammatory language, isn't it? Like the scorching heat emphasizes like the real bodily cost and their complaint. I think if we're honest, it's not irrational, but it's spiritually revealing at least because Right, they believe their greater effort, mayors greater reward and they resent that grace shown to others. So like you said, they're bringing forward a very serious grievance and it's, it's not just like, Hey, we think maybe could you give us a bonus? Right. But that is a matter of faithfulness. And in fact, like as I'm looking at this tugen here, shout out to logos Bible software. And I'm saying that that verb that we're talking about in Exodus 16 is in the imperfect tense. So this is, they kept on grumbling and it is like an an echo of Israel's murmuring in the wilderness, which I presume like Matthew certainly had intentionally used there or had that view in part casting these workers as the same types of those who relate to God through entitlement rather than gratitude. So it's like insults upon insult here, but it is to emphasize this fact that it's no small accusation, it's not subtle, it's meant to be in your face. They're coming in hot with this and they're making a big deal about it. [00:43:16] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, and again, I think like underscoring the covenantal nature of this is so key. And I think, you know, when we look at this, we really have to land that this is not just saying. Your wage structure is not right. 'cause and, and we gotta remember, they weren't there when the master went and made this bargain, or, you know, brought these other workers into the vineyard. They weren't there to hear what covenant or contract he did or didn't make. And as we've commented, they didn't, he didn't even make a covenant with them. He basically just said, I'm gonna put you to work and I'll pay you what's fair. I'll pay you what's right. Um, and they went, okay, you need the work and thank you. Like, I think, I think that's kind of like the, the scene here is they're standing there. They recognize they're not gonna get a wage for the day, especially these ones that he's coming in at the 11th hour, they're not gonna get a wage for the day. And as you said, these are subsistence workers. Right. These are people that if you don't get a wage, and this is the, the grounding of the Old Testament, um, the Old Testament command of, of paying at the end of the day is that if they don't get their wage, they're not gonna eat. They're not gonna have food, they're not gonna have the money they need to survive. Um, so he comes in and he basically says like. You don't have a job that's not gonna be good for you. I'll take care of you. I'll, I'll give you a job and I'll take care of you. And the ones who are complaining and grumbling, they have no line of sight to that process. That, that's right. They make a lot of assumptions about the, and this is, goes back to, um. The parable of the talents, which we haven't really talked about yet. The, the, there's a lot of assumptions about the nature of this master that the, the contracted or covenanted day laborers are making that don't turn out to be accurate. Right. They, they assume that he's working, as you've said, that he's working on this one-to-one, you know, quid pro quo. You do this, I do that kind of a, a methodology and he's actually operating on a basis of a much more. Basic, uh, grace principle. Uh, and again, even, even the principle of hiring these original workers and covenanting with them is gracious in the sense that he didn't have to hire them. Right. So, so all along the way they're, they're, it's like the epitome of looking a gift horse in the mouth. [00:45:24] Jesse Schwamb: Yes. [00:45:24] Tony Arsenal: They've been hired, and so yes, it is right for them to expect their, um, to expect their wage, whatever that wage might be. But they, they are misinterpreting the idea of what the wages are and how the wages are to be delivered. They're, they're applying, this is actually a lot like job's, friends, right? Their, their logic is not actually all that bad, but they have, they have missing parts of the picture that makes the logic. Apply differently in this particular situation. They think that this, this master works on a strict merit-based. You do X amount of work, you receive X amount of money. And this master is actually more functioning on this covenantal principle of, I'm gonna pay you what's right, regardless of what, what work you've done, which, what work is actually owed to you. And the master makes these, this agreement with these other workers to just say, go into the vineyard and then when the evening comes, I'll pay you. Right. Well, he intended to pay them what they needed to survive, regardless of how much work they provided. Right? So they're all, even though there's a formal contract to say these, this group works for the whole day and this group, you know, and, and they receive one day's labor, at the end of the day, he's graciously providing another day of survival for all of these people, for the work that they're, they're putting forward regardless of how much they actually contribute to his bottom line. [00:46:41] Owner Defends The Covenant [00:46:41] Jesse Schwamb: And we see that in verse 13, where the landowner gives his defense, you know, it says. He and he replied, friends, I'm doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for Denarius? Now the address, because now I'm deep in the Greek Tony. Here we go. So the address I'm seeing in, uh, again, shout out to Locus Bible software, it, this use of friend is not like the warm fellows, but like a more formal or distance term of address. It's used elsewhere in Matthew. But I think the point here is that the owner's first line of defense is this contractual point, which you're saying. I have not wronged you. He's kept his agreement precisely. No injustice has been done. And that's crucial. The owner doesn't re appreciate justice. He actually fulfills it. He obligates himself and he fulfills that obligation. And what the worker receives is exactly what was promised and exactly what is due. And so by the time he gets to verse 14 where he says, take what belongs to you, and go, I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you here. I think this is like the theological beating hide of this whole bad boy. Yeah. [00:47:37] Jesse Schwamb: The landowner explicitly invokes his will, his sovereign freedom to do and to give as he pleases, which is exactly how God behaves. It's not a negation of justice, but this declaration of something beyond justice, it is grace. He exercises his freedom and generosity to those who had no claim, and the command, take what belongs to you and go is, is kind of like a world dismissal, like, like you were saying. Yeah. We're in the courtroom. He's like, I, I've ruled on this already. Like, bring Brian, bring your grievance. Here's my ruling. Take what you have and go. Their grumbling has revealed that they're not celebrating the kingdom. They're actually grieving it. So yeah, you know, I think original invocation of like Jonah is right on the money. It's basically like, are are you mad enough? Yeah, I'm mad enough to die. Like, how dare you give me, give me this great shade and then take it away from me. Yeah. And in some ways this is even worse because what they have been given has been that were promised to them, was given to them, and they get to retain and God says, go, or the landowner as God says, go now and take what is yours. Take what I've given to you graciously. But your point that like what supersedes that, the antecedent to all of that is still God's covenant keeping, covenant making promise, making, right? That sets the whole thing up. But I love this idea that, you know, I will choose, it's my desire, it's language of divine volition. And of course the reform theology, this single verb resonates with the entire doctrine of election. It's God's free, sovereign, and gracious will to bestow blessing without reference to merit, like praise his name. [00:49:00] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. And then we come to kind of the close of this parable, right? And this is, this reall
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