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Ce jeudi 19 juin, la piste d'un retour de l'ISF en France, le chiffre dévoilé par Les Echos de la Cour des comptes sur le pacte Dutreil, qui représente un coût considérable de quatre milliards d'euros au budget de l'État, ainsi que l'approbation des députés à la relance du nucléaire, ont été abordés par Isabelle Job-Bazille, directrice des études économiques de Crédit-Agricole SA, Denis Payre, président de Nature & People First, et Christian Saint-Étienne, professeur au CNAM et membre du Cercle des Économistes, dans l'émission Les Experts, présentée par Nicolas Doze sur BFM Business. Retrouvez l'émission du lundi au vendredi et réécoutez la en podcast.
Kick off hurricane season with us as we host President of ISF, Jonathan Conrad! We will talk all about the exciting events ISF has coming up to help you prepare for hurricane season.
On this episode, JD (filling in for Shadan) is joined by ISF writing Hector A. Gonzalez to discuss all the films he saw at this year's Cannes Film Festival, including IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT, SENTIMENTAL VALUE, SOUND OF FALLING, DIE MY LOVE, EDDINGTON and more! Visit https://insessionfilm.com for merch and more! Thanks for listening and be sure to subscribe! Become an ISF VIP today to get exclusive bonus content! Follow us on X/Twitter! @InSessionFilm | @RealJDDuran | @BrendanJCassidy
Unlock the mysteries of the mind on the Neuronoodle Neurofeedback Podcast!Join EEG pioneer Jay Gunkelman (500,000+ brain scans), Joshua Moore, Anthony Ramos, and host Pete Jansons for a jaw-dropping neuroscience Q&A.
On this episode, Brendan is joined by ISF writer Joey Gentile to discuss the new horror film FINAL DESTINATION BLOODLINES! Visit https://insessionfilm.com for merch and more! Thanks for listening and be sure to subscribe! Become an ISF VIP today to get exclusive bonus content! Follow us on X/Twitter! @InSessionFilm | @RealJDDuran | @BrendanJCassidy
Jennifer McNelly, CAE, CEO of the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP), discusses the Intersociety Forum (ISF) and a recent report calling for a shift in how safety is embedded in business strategy. Representing nearly 30 safety and health organizations, the ISF advocates moving beyond legal compliance toward risk-based, proactive safety management systems. Jennifer explores why compliance alone hasn't lowered fatality rates and how industry consensus standards, predictive data insights, and integrated safety strategies can drive better outcomes—not just for workers, but for business performance. She also highlights why now is the time for unity and how safety professionals can become influential change agents within their organizations. This conversation is packed with actionable insights for safety leaders looking to align safety and strategic value—and to help shape the future of workplace protection.
On this episode, JD and Brendan are joined by ISF writer Shaurya Chawla to discuss Marvel's latest entry into the MCU with THUNDERBOLTS*! Visit https://insessionfilm.com for merch and more! Thanks for listening and be sure to subscribe! Become an ISF VIP today to get exclusive bonus content! Follow us on X/Twitter! @InSessionFilm | @RealJDDuran | @BrendanJCassidy
Today, Steve talks about ISF's flagship foresight report "Threat Horizon 2027: Grasping for Control." In a world defined by disruption and acceleration, this report offers not just a forecast of cyber threats, but a blueprint for resilience, and Steve walks listeners through the key themes. Key Takeaways: 1 Flexibility will be key in an increasingly volatile world. 2 Cyber must be considered in every aspect of an organization's operations. 3 Control is possible, even if it sometimes doesn't feel like it. Tune in to hear more about: 1 Why identity is becoming more and more important for businesses (2:24) 2 How senior leaders can prepare for the future (17:06) 3 Why control is still possible (21:42) Standout Quotes: 1 “Identity is really the cornerstone of everything that we do in the digital world, and it's fast becoming one of the most critical areas for business leaders to understand and take seriously.” - Steve Durbin 2 “Leaders need to understand the economic impact of cyber risk. What are the potential costs of disruption? How would a breach affect reputation, revenue, operations? It's the reputational bit, for instance, in my case, that worries me the most. And once you start thinking in those terms. You can make many more business-aligned, informed decisions about what you are going to do because you stop looking at the cost of doing something and instead you flip it and look at the implications and associated costs of not doing it.” - Steve Durbin 3 “I think that business leaders as a group, tend to be pretty resilient individuals. I've worked a lot with entrepreneurs, and they are probably some of the most resilient that I've ever come across because they have to be. And one of the things that they always believe in, I've found, is that irrespective of what's going on around you, control is still possible. But in order to have that level of control, it takes foresight, it takes focus, and I think above all it takes flexibility and, I would say, courage.” - Steve Durbin Read the transcript of this episode Subscribe to the ISF Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts Connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter From the Information Security Forum, the leading authority on cyber, information security, and risk management.
Today, Steve talks about ISF's flagship foresight report "Threat Horizon 2027: Grasping for Control." In a world defined by disruption and acceleration, this report offers not just a forecast of cyber threats, but a blueprint for resilience, and Steve walks listeners through the key themes. Key Takeaways: 1 Flexibility will be key in an increasingly volatile world. 2 Cyber must be considered in every aspect of an organization's operations. 3 Control is possible, even if it sometimes doesn't feel like it. Tune in to hear more about: 1 Why identity is becoming more and more important for businesses (2:24) 2 How senior leaders can prepare for the future (17:06) 3 Why control is still possible (21:42) Standout Quotes: 1 “Identity is really the cornerstone of everything that we do in the digital world, and it's fast becoming one of the most critical areas for business leaders to understand and take seriously.” - Steve Durbin 2 “Leaders need to understand the economic impact of cyber risk. What are the potential costs of disruption? How would a breach affect reputation, revenue, operations? It's the reputational bit, for instance, in my case, that worries me the most. And once you start thinking in those terms. You can make many more business-aligned, informed decisions about what you are going to do because you stop looking at the cost of doing something and instead you flip it and look at the implications and associated costs of not doing it.” - Steve Durbin 3 “I think that business leaders as a group, tend to be pretty resilient individuals. I've worked a lot with entrepreneurs, and they are probably some of the most resilient that I've ever come across because they have to be. And one of the things that they always believe in, I've found, is that irrespective of what's going on around you, control is still possible. But in order to have that level of control, it takes foresight, it takes focus, and I think above all it takes flexibility and, I would say, courage.” - Steve Durbin Read the transcript of this episode Subscribe to the ISF Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts Connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter From the Information Security Forum, the leading authority on cyber, information security, and risk management.
Sharnz and Arkayo return with their usual banter discussing Jamaica Carnival, Vybz Kartel's controversial Barbados concert, and the hottest Soca music of today.• Vybz Kartel's Easter Sunday concert in Barbados sparked religious protests• Spotlight on Sizwe C's new Afro Soca fusion track "Hundred"• Song of the month: "F Your Man" by Mr Ridge and Problem Child dominating London parties• Sharnz announces her new event "Brawling" focused on showcasing Bajan soca music (follow @tridentldn)• Sharnz booked for Ibiza Soca Festival alongside Kes, Skinny Fabulous, Lyrical, and other artists• Upcoming carnivals in Jamaica and AtlantaIf you're going to ISF or Atlanta Carnival, let us know in the comments and share your videos! Tag us so we can live vicariously through you. Next month we'll be back with more content and a few surprises, so stay tuned!Follow us on IG:@djsharnz@thearkayo@soca_chronicleswww.socachronicles.comSponsored by:www.acesir.com
Ce mercredi 16 avril, la question de savoir si la France devrait s'inspirer du système économique italien, le potentiel retour de l'impôt de solidarité sur la fortune, ainsi que la proposition choc de la Cour des comptes de moduler les remboursements de santé en fonction des revenus, ont été abordés par Dany Lang, enseignant chercheur en économie à Sorbonne Paris Nord, Guillaume Poitrinal, fondateur de WO2, et Sylvain Orebi, président d'Orientis, dans l'émission Les Experts, présentée par Nicolas Doze sur BFM Business. Retrouvez l'émission du lundi au vendredi et réécoutez la en podcast.
On this episode, we continue our critic spotlight series as we get to know ISF founder JD Duran and his experience becoming a critic and starting the website/podcast! Panel: Kristin Battestella, Zita Short, Amy Thomasson Visit insessionfilm.com for merch and more! Thanks for listening and be sure to subscribe on your podcast app of choice! insessionfilm.com/subscribe
This week, we face battle and bloodshed in Beleriand in Chapters XIII and XIV of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion. Is Fëanor's fate inevitable? How do we understand the rescue of Maedhros in the context of the Doom of the Noldor? Why do we get so much geography?To see the video broadcast of this episode, click here; to see the slides, click here!Next week, we continue our journey with everything to the end of Chapter XV of the Quenta Silmarillion, live on YouTube on Wednesday, April 2nd at 8PM Central.Footnotes:The SilmarillionStars And Swords on YouTubeThe Silmarillion Unit Production ScheduleStars And Swords on Bookshop.orgLOTRProject.comTo join me for the live YouTube broadcast, to support the podcast, to join the conversation on Discord and to get access to monthly bonus episodes, please visit Patreon.com/NextWord and pledge your support! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
An interview with Steve Durbin, Chief Executive, ISF, hosted by CEO and Founder of The Drop In CEO Podcast, Deborah A. Coviello. Originally published by The Drop in CEO Podcast. In this episode, Steve shares his unique journey from literature to cybersecurity, emphasising the importance of curiosity, learning, and fresh perspectives in leadership. The discussion delves into the evolving landscape of cybersecurity, the necessity for business leaders to adopt a resilient and informed approach to technology and risk management, and the value of continuous education and networking. Steve offers practical advice for business leaders on safeguarding against cyber threats and highlights the dynamic interplay between technology, business strategy, and security. Episode Highlights: 01:57 Steve's Journey: From Literature to Cybersecurity 05:12 The Importance of Reading and Continuous Learning 08:02 Transitioning Careers: Embracing Technology 16:58 Information Security Forum: Mission and Impact 29:12 Practical Advice for Leaders on Cybersecurity Discover more about the Information Security Forum (ISF), and tune in to our engaging podcasts.
An interview with Steve Durbin, Chief Executive, ISF, hosted by CEO and Founder of The Drop In CEO Podcast, Deborah A. Coviello. Originally published by The Drop in CEO Podcast. In this episode, Steve shares his unique journey from literature to cybersecurity, emphasising the importance of curiosity, learning, and fresh perspectives in leadership. The discussion delves into the evolving landscape of cybersecurity, the necessity for business leaders to adopt a resilient and informed approach to technology and risk management, and the value of continuous education and networking. Steve offers practical advice for business leaders on safeguarding against cyber threats and highlights the dynamic interplay between technology, business strategy, and security. Episode Highlights: 01:57 Steve's Journey: From Literature to Cybersecurity 05:12 The Importance of Reading and Continuous Learning 08:02 Transitioning Careers: Embracing Technology 16:58 Information Security Forum: Mission and Impact 29:12 Practical Advice for Leaders on Cybersecurity Discover more about the Information Security Forum (ISF), and tune in to our engaging podcasts.
Marre de ton job ? Trouve un job qui a du sens grâce à l'Institut Transitions !Voici Cécile Duflot de l'ONG Oxfam France sur le dernier rapport d'Oxfam sur les inégalités !Cet épisode fait partie du podcasthon, une semaine où 1500 podcasts de 45 pays mettent en lumière l'association de leur choix.SOMMAIRE01:31 Questions mitraillettes06:49 Rapport d'Oxfam09:46 2 vitesses11:49 Héritage14:33 Écologie17:19 ISF climatique19:53 Pays du Sud22:35 Podcasthon_Merci au sponsor du mois : Nouvelles Voies, une formation de 1 an pour trouver un job (vraiment) engagé !Découvre leur webinaire sur t.ly/formation.Distribué par Audiomeans. Visitez audiomeans.fr/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.
Selon une étude récente de la Direction générale des finances publiques (DGFiP), les 0,1 % des foyers fiscaux français les plus aisés, soit environ 74 500 foyers, déclarent un revenu fiscal annuel supérieur à 463 000 euros. Revenus moyens et compositionCes foyers perçoivent en moyenne 1 030 000 euros par an, un montant nettement supérieur à la moyenne nationale de 32 000 euros. Leurs revenus se composent principalement de :Revenus du capital : Une part significative provient de revenus de capitaux mobiliers, tels que les dividendes et les intérêts.Salaires et traitements : Une autre portion notable est constituée de rémunérations issues de leur activité professionnelle.Ces sources de revenus sont plus volatiles que celles du reste de la population, étant davantage influencées par les fluctuations économiques et les modifications législatives.Évolution des revenusEntre 2003 et 2022, le revenu moyen de ces foyers a augmenté de 4,7 % par an en moyenne (3,0 % en termes réels), contre 2,0 % pour le reste des foyers (0,5 % en termes réels). Cette croissance a contribué à une concentration accrue des revenus sur cette période, bien que de manière relativement limitée.Patrimoine immobilierLe patrimoine immobilier moyen de ces foyers s'élève à 4,6 millions d'euros en 2022, selon les déclarations à l'impôt sur la fortune immobilière (IFI), contre 250 000 euros pour les autres foyers. Ce patrimoine a augmenté de près de 18 % entre 2017 et 2022.En 2016, dernière année de déclaration à l'impôt de solidarité sur la fortune (ISF), qui couvrait à la fois le patrimoine immobilier et mobilier, le patrimoine moyen total de ces foyers s'élevait à 10,2 millions d'euros, après avoir presque doublé depuis 2003. Il était alors composé à 21 % de patrimoine immobilier et à 79 % de patrimoine mobilier.Caractéristiques sociodémographiquesLes foyers les plus aisés présentent des caractéristiques distinctes :Propriétaires de leur résidence principale : Ils sont très majoritairement propriétaires de leur habitation principale.Situation matrimoniale : Ils sont davantage en couple que le reste de la population.Âge : Ils sont généralement plus âgés que la moyenne nationale.Stabilité dans la catégorie des hauts revenusLes mouvements d'entrée et de sortie de la catégorie des plus hauts revenus sont rares, indiquant une certaine stabilité au sein de ce groupe.ConclusionLes 74 500 foyers français les plus aisés se distinguent par des revenus et un patrimoine nettement supérieurs à la moyenne nationale. Leur richesse provient principalement de revenus du capital et de rémunérations élevées, et leur patrimoine est majoritairement composé d'actifs mobiliers et immobiliers. Ces foyers sont généralement plus âgés, en couple et propriétaires de leur résidence principale, reflétant une stabilité financière et sociale notable. Hébergé par Acast. Visitez acast.com/privacy pour plus d'informations.
Ce mardi 25 février, l'inquiétude de l'AFEP concernant la piste étudiée par Bercy d'une contribution anti-optimisation de 0,5 % sur les patrimoines, ainsi que la production d'acier en Europe, qui est menacée par les surcapacités mondiales, les coûts de l'énergie et la féroce concurrence de la Chine, ont été abordées par Augustin Landier, professeur à HEC, Christian Saint-Étienne, professeur au CNAM et membre du Cercle des Économistes, et Pierre-Henri de Menthon, directeur de la rédaction de Challenges, dans l'émission Les Experts, présentée par Nicolas Doze sur BFM Business. Retrouvez l'émission du lundi au vendredi et réécoutez la en podcast.
En ny dag gryr för Hänt På Restaurang! Vi välkomnar våra nya medlemmar Patrik Tapper och Agnes Fällman! Vi pratar den här veckan om Alla Hjärtans Dag på krogen! Det blir en kavalkad av hur man raggar analogt på krogen, hur man dejtar efter att ha varit gifta i tio år och den eviga frågan om det egentligen är en bra grej att bli tillsammans med någon som jobbar på krogen.Tack alla ni som skickat in veckans historier: Hampus, Christian Wallin (extra på Patreon), Victor Börjesson, Daniel Tyo StoltSara Rydell (extra på Patron) och Erika Meischner.Och extra mycket tack till er som skickat bidrag via våra Swish: Edward Eriksson, Emelie Forsblom Nerima Ouma, Oscar Pettersson, Magnus Foss, Philip Tisting, Cilla Jarminde, Axel Skog, Malin Ervik, Kim Johansson, Jon Larsson, Anne Tysnes, Jonna Broberg, Pelle Eriksson, Helen Andersson och Erik Ekstrand! Hjältar är ni! Glöm inte att trycka på följknappen i din podspelare och gå gärna in och diskutera veckans avsnitt på våra sociala medier och om du lyssnar via Spotify kan även delta i våra olika omröstningar. Fred, kärlek och Fernet.Medverkande: Jesper Borgenstrand, Henrik Olsen, Agnes Fällman, Patrik TapperStöd oss på Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HantparestaurangSwish: 1234 8689 64 - Hänt På ABFölj oss: FB: Hänt På Restaurang / Insta: Restaurangliv / TikTok: Hänt På Restaurang / Threads: RestauranglivMaila in din egen historia till: jesper@hantparestaurang.seSponsor / Annonsering: sponsor@hantparestaurang.seMusik:Henrik Olsen - HPR ThemeMats Ronander - Gör Mig Lycklig NuSF / Björn Isfält - Ronja RövardotterFoto: Leo Josefsson / Lightbox Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Room by Room: The Home Organization Science Insights Podcast
With rising costs and global warming concerns, we seek home improvements that will achieve maximum energy savings. So, this week on Room by Room: The Home Organization Science Insights Podcast, host Sabrina Oktavelia consults Director, Architect, and Program Lead—Healthy Environments Kerryn Wilmot on what it takes to have an energy-efficient house. Kerryn Wilmot has an extensive background and has worked as a Research Director, Architect, and Healthy Environments Program Lead at the University of Technology Sydney. Kerryn drives research on smart cities and healthy urban environments at ISF, specializing in sustainability, urban health, and regenerative design. She's also renowned for leading the pioneering 60L Green Building project in Melbourne, a Banksia Award-winning development that redefined sustainable commercial architecture. Kerryn Wilmot has an extensive background and has worked as a Research Director, Architect, and Healthy Environments Program Lead at the University of Technology Sydney. Kerryn drives research on smart cities and healthy urban environments at ISF, specializing in sustainability, urban health, and regenerative design. She's also renowned for leading the pioneering 60L Green Building project in Melbourne, a Banksia Award-winning development that redefined sustainable commercial architecture. In this episode, Kerryn Wilmot informs that there are different ways to achieve maximum energy savings. She emphasized the importance of properly putting away energy-hungry old appliances such as refrigerators and ACs that take most of our electricity bills. Additionally, she also mentions strategically utilizing our electronics to avoid peak hours i.e. hot summer afternoons, and utilizing solar energy during those times if we have solar panels installed. See Kerryn Wilmot's profile: https://profiles.uts.edu.au/Kerryn.Wilmot Connect with Kerryn Wilmot via the following platforms: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerryn-wilmot-0119b213 Produced by the Home Organization Science Labs, a division of LMSL, the Life Management Science Labs. Explore LMSL at https://lifemanagementsciencelabs.com/ and visit http://ho.lmsl.net/ for additional information about Home Organization Labs. Follow us on Social Media to stay updated: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCODVhYC-MeTMKQEwwRr8WVQ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/homeorg.science.labs/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/homeorg.science.labs/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/HOScienceLabs LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/home-organization-science-labs TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@home.org.science.labs You can also subscribe and listen to the show on your preferred podcasting platforms: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/room-by-room-the-home-organization-science-insights-podcast/id1648509192 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7kUgWDXmcGl5XHbYspPtcW Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/37779f90-f736-4502-8dc4-3a653b8492bd iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/102862783 Podbean: https://homeorganizationinsights.podbean.com/ PlayerFM: https://player.fm/series/3402163 Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/room-by-room-the-home-organiza-4914172
“All that's required is the willingness to heal,” explains Gabby Bernstein. Gabby Bernstein, #1 New York Times bestselling author, spiritual teacher and entrepreneur, joins us to discuss her transformative 4-step process to truly connect to your inner self and heal, plus: - Gabby's introduction to internal family systems (IFS) (~2:35) - What is ISF? (~6:50) - The role of mindset (~10:25) - Emotional reactions (~12:20) - The role of gratitude (~14:07) - The relevance of ISF (~15:35) - The 4 step process (~18:55) - Anxiety as a protector part (~24:45) - Taping into your self energy (~28:00) - Demo of the 4 step process (~31:35) - The perspective shift (~39:45) - Confidence and willingness (~41:10) - Accessing prayer (~43:20) - The tension between willingness and surrender (~44:30) - Gabby's non-negotiables (~47:30) - How to instill this in younger generations (~52:40) Referenced in the episode: - Learn more about Gabby (https://gabbybernstein.com/) - Follow her on Instagram (@gabbybernstein) - Read her newest book, Self Help - Learn more about The founder of Internal Family Systems (https://ifs-institute.com/about-us/richard-c-schwartz-phd) Join Gabby on her Change Your Life Tour in New York, L.A., San Francisco or Boston gabbyberntein.com/events We hope you enjoy this episode, and feel free to watch the full video on YouTube! Whether it's an article or podcast, we want to know what we can do to help here at mindbodygreen. Let us know at: podcast@mindbodygreen.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
CDU-Chef Merz verteigt sein politisches Vorgehen zum Wahlkampfthema Migration, Junge Alternative der AfD steht vor Auflösung, Trauer um ehemaligen Bundespräsidenten Horst Köhler, Getötete Zivilisten in ukrainischen Städten nach russischen Luftangriffen, Terrororganisation Hamas lässt drei weitere israelische Geiseln frei, US-Angriffe gegen IS-Führer in Somalia, US-Präsident Trump belegt Waren aus Mexiko und Kanada sowie China mit Zöllen, Italienisches Gericht stoppt zum dritten Mal Unterbringung von Migranten in Albanien, Die Ergebnisse der Fußball-Bundesliga, Das Wetter Hinweis: Die Beiträge zur "Fußball-Bundesliga" dürfen aus rechtlichen Gründen nicht auf tagesschau.de gezeigt werden.
Ce mercredi 15 janvier, la "taxe anti-optimisation pour les hauts patrimoines" annoncée par François Bayrou lors de son discours de politique générale, la remontée du coût de la dette publique, ainsi que le coût de la SNCF pour les contribuables, ont été abordés par François Ecalle, fondateur de FipEco.fr, Guillaume Dard, président de Montpensier Finance, et Patrick Artus, économiste et conseiller économique de la société de gestion Ossiam, dans l'émission Les Experts, présentée par Nicolas Doze sur BFM Business. Retrouvez l'émission du lundi au vendredi et réécoutez la en podcast.
Ce lundi 13 janvier, le parfum des hausses d'impôts qui plane sur le budget, avec un possible retour de l'ISF et de la CDHR, l'ajout d'une nouvelle taxe sur les hauts revenus, la série des prises d'opposition concernant la situation de notre pays face au risque de crise financière, ainsi la hausse du prix du baril de pétrole, suite à l'annonce de la Grande-Bretagne et des États-Unis de mettre en place de nouvelles sanctions contre la Russie, ont été abordés par Céline Antonin, économiste à l'OFCE, Benjamin Coriat, professeur de sciences économiques à Paris 13, et Sophie Sidos-Vicat, présidente des Conseillers du Commerce Extérieur de la France, dans l'émission Les Experts, présentée par Nicolas Doze sur BFM Business. Retrouvez l'émission du lundi au vendredi et réécoutez la en podcast.
Could co-living investments be the secret to rapid financial freedom? In this episode of the Infinite Financial Freedom Podcast, host Josh Mettle interviews Grant Shipman, founder of Living Smith, who achieved a $2 million net worth and financial freedom in just 15 months through the power of co-living.Grant shares how he turned the traditional rental model on its head, transforming single-family homes into cash flow powerhouses with a 97% lifetime occupancy rate. From navigating tenant dynamics to creating sustainable housing solutions, Grant reveals the step-by-step strategies that make co-living a win for investors, renters, and communities alike.Whether you're a seasoned investor or just starting out, this episode is packed with insights to help you unlock the potential of co-living investments. Visit LivingSmithPro.com/ISF for exclusive resources and tools shared by Grant, and start your journey to financial freedom today!
On this episode, JD is joined by ISF writer Will Bjarnar to discuss Robert Eggers' new film NOSFERATU! Visit https://insessionfilm.com for merch and more! Thanks for listening and be sure to subscribe on your podcast app of choice! https://insessionfilm.com/subscribe Follow us on Twitter! @InSessionFilm | @RealJDDuran | @BrendanJCassidy
On this episode, ISF writer Will Bjarnar joins JD and Brendan to discuss Clint Eastwood's new film JUROR #2! Visit https://insessionfilm.com for merch and more! Thanks for listening and be sure to subscribe on your podcast app of choice! https://insessionfilm.com/subscribe Follow us on Twitter! @InSessionFilm | @RealJDDuran | @BrendanJCassidy
Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. Your host is Paul Marden.If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website rubbercheese.com/podcast.If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned in this podcast.Competition ends on 11th December 2024. The winner will be contacted via Twitter. Our guests:https://www.wethecurious.org/ Chris Dunford, Sustainability and Science Director at We The Curious As Sustainability and Science Director, Chris Dunford has been responsible for Sustainable Futures at We The Curious since 2011. During that time, he has introduced a sector-leading programme of environmental best practice, innovative technologies, and organisational change. In 2019, We The Curious became the first science centre in the world to declare a climate emergency and pledged to meet ambitious decarbonisation targets in this decade, implemented alongside climate change adaptation.Beyond We The Curious, Chris has held positions as Head of Environmental Sustainability at UKRI, Elected Director of the Bristol Green Capital Partnership, Mentor of Arizona State University's ‘Sustainability in Science Museums' Global Fellowship, and Chair of the ASDC Decarbonisation Group. Chris' background is in science communication and stand-up comedy. https://w5online.co.uk/Victoria Denoon is the Head of Visitor Experience at W5 Science and Discovery Centre.Victoria joined W5 Science and Discovery Centre in March 2020 and has responsibility for all aspects of W5's operations. She is also currently an ASDC Trustee. Prior to joining the team at W5, she worked in Higher Education in the United States for 15 years with a particular interest in advancing the careers of women in STEM fields. http://www.aberdeensciencecentre.org/Bryan Snelling is the CEO of Aberdeen Science Centre. He's been in this position for five years having started in November 2019. Bryan has worked in the visitor attraction sector for 11 years having previously enjoyed 6 years as CEO at The Gordon Highlanders Museum in Aberdeen. Bryan has worked in many sectors during his career including education having worked across the UK in Portsmouth and London before moving to Aberdeen. Bryan is originally from South Wales and in his spare time he enjoys playing the guitar, playing cricket and reading. https://www.sciencecentres.org.uk/Shaaron Leverment is the Chief Executive at The Association for Science and Discovery Centres.Shaaron is the CEO of ASDC and has over 20 years' experience working in science engagement and education. She stands for the value of science centres and museums for social good, as community assets that are accessible and relevant for a more diverse public.Shaaron joined ASDC in 2016 as the Deputy CEO. She is also the co-founding director of 'Explorer Dome' that engages over 70,000 children and adults every year. She leads on a number of national and international programmes and collaborations that aim to improve the relevance and accessibility of STEM for a more diverse public. As a past president of the British Association of Planetaria, she is also currently the EDI co-chair of the International Planetarium Society. Shaaron is mum to two boys, and the owner of a large hairy Golden Retriever.She is part of varied networks, working with schools, universities, science centres, museums and volunteer groups, as well as nation-wide professional associations and Government agencies. She has created and directed national and international (EU) science engagement programmes, including leading the Horizon 2020 Hypatia programme in the UK to support greater gender inclusion in informal science education, and is the driving force behind Our Space Our Future, supporting participative practice in space science outreach.Through work with ASDC, Ecsite and other international partnerships, Shaaron is known for her work to support greater equity and inclusion within our STEM education and engagement organisations, with the ambition of embedding more equitable practice for transformative organisation-wide change. Transcription: Paul Marden: Welcome to Skip the Queue. A podcast for people working in and working with visitor attractions. I'm your host, Paul Marden. Now, today's episode is a special one. A few days ago I was at the Association for Science and Discovery Centre's annual conference recording in front of a live studio audience. Joined by a panel of the great and good from the Science and Discovery Centre community, Victoria Denoon, Head of Visitor Experience at W5 Science and Discovery Centre. Bryan Snelling, the CEO of Aberdeen Science Centre. Chris Dunford at ASDC Sustainability Group Chair and Sustainability Director at We the Curious. And Shaaron Leverment, the CEO of ASDC. Now, I have to say, this was a bit of a proof of concept for us and we had a few technical gremlins, but whilst the sound quality isn't brilliant, the conversations absolutely were. Paul Marden: So without further ado, let's go over to that recording I took a couple of days ago. Why don't we start with our icebreaker questions? So this is a tradition for the podcast and nobody has been prepared for this. So, Victoria, you'll like this one. It's a really easy one. Bauble or custard cream? Victoria Denoon: You said it was going to be easy. Paul Marden: Oh, no, I could give you my answer straight away. It's a firmly held belief for me. Of course, it's the only answer to that question. Bryan, you have to live in a sitcom for the rest of your life. Which one? And why? Bryan Snelling: Oh God, can I have the ball? But do you know what? The only one that sprung to mind was Only Fools and Horses. I think, you know, a bit of dodgy dealing here and there. Can't go wrong with that, I think. Yeah, Wheeler dealing, you know what I mean? Paul Marden: One day Wanda's There'll be millionaires. Chris, play 10 instruments or speak 10 languages. Chris Dunford: Oh, horrible. I'm going to go for 10 instruments because I feel as if Google can do the rest. But 10 instruments? I can finally record my own albums. Paul Marden: And Shaaron, last but not least, control time like Hermione or Fly Like Harry. Shaaron Leverment: Oh, God, fly Like Harry, Paul Marden: Really? Shaaron Leverment: Yeah, yeah, 100%. Paul Marden: You don't need a time turner to be in every session. That wasn't the latest question at all. Okay, let's get cracking then with the main interview. Shaaron, first question is for you. This year and next sees the 25th anniversary of the millennium funded science centers which saw a huge amount of investments into science communic engagement across the country. What did that do to shape science in the last quarter of the century? And where do you think it will take us next. Shaaron Leverment: Great question. Paul Marden: Thank you. Shaaron Leverment: Like 25 years ago, as I mentioned in my talk, even no one really knew what science communication was. You know, now obviously there's masters in it, there's people who are doing PhDs in it and I think it's actually becoming a very important part of policy and recognised as strategically important in terms of the way in which nation engages with science. And I do believe that's because we have these amazing places across the U.K. now. Let's be honest, like a lot of them existed beforehand. There was at least 6, including Satrasphere, which is now Aberdeen Science Centre, which existed before the Millennium centers. And then suddenly all of these centers were. But now we've got 60, nearly 70 across the entire places. The Lost Shore is just open, which is all about surf and science. Shaaron Leverment: I think science, referring to one of our keynotes, is really becoming part of culture. And then we're no longer looking at sort of museums and centres as like cathedrals of science. We're looking at them as real kind of cultural and community assets. So that's where I think. I think that's where the trajectory is going for the next 25 years. I'll just wrap that into the end of that. Paul Marden: This is a follow up for that and really anyone can join in on this one. Thinking more about where we go in the next 25 years, let's talk about funding streams because we had a big lump of money back just before the millennium projects get them kicked off and we're unlikely to see that level of lottery funding again. So how can centres, after all, they are visitor attractions and charities in many cases. How do they diversify their income streams? Victoria Denoon: I think there's two things about that and one's really important from the ASDC perspective because there's what we can do individually, but there's also what we can do collectively as a network. So you know, we are looking at that particularly from the Millennium Science Centre perspective. Victoria Denoon: And obviously that's a bigger voice if we do that together. So that's really important to have those conversations. At W5 we do that by increasing what we do for corporate hire. We do a W5 late program, which is an 18 plus evenings for adults to come down. And because we're going to be 25 years old next year, there's that nostalgia that really helps sell that. So we're looking at key events to drive revenue across the year to really get more people in our door who wouldn't come to us otherwise. Bryan Snelling: Yeah, I think it's obviously very important to diversify our income. But what we're talking about here, in terms of the money we got in 2019, you're only really going to get that sort of money again from very large institutions or government. And I think whether you're trying to persuade an individual to come and visit your science centre or local, national, devolved governments to give you money, it's all about the message that you're sending. It's about the science centres are really important part, and we were talking about it earlier on, the culture of what we're doing here. So whether you're just one individual or a multinational that has big bucks, you've really got to try and make them understand that. Chris Dunford: I think it's. Yeah, I think it's almost as well as diversifying to new funders, it's also diversifying what the existing funders will be happy to fund, because I think the funders understandably want the shiny new exhibition, the lovely new outreach in the brand advance, the school workshop photo opportunity. And those are all good things. And we couldn't do those things without the funders. But they'll need to. As these buildings getting older, they need to recognize at some point that those things can take place in the building where the roof leaks and it closes in the summer because the heat wave and the cooling system can't keep up. So I think if you're saying to the funders, yes, you can support this workshop, but we will need some contribution towards the rooms that the workshop take place in. Chris Dunford: So I think it'd be helpful to understand that. And to do that, we just need to make the case better to our value. So it's not just this extra news thing, but day to day supporting us to literally keep the lights on and keep the rain out of the roof. Bryan Snelling: Can I just add, I think there's also an important thing here about mission drift. We should be true to our own mission. We should know where we're going, our direction, and not have as much as possible. Because I understand it's a balance. Not have as much as possible. The funder direct what we do. It should be the other way around, or at least. And one of the big words of this conference that I've heard is collaboration. And we shouldn't just be doing it all the money, we should be actually understanding this is what we should be doing and this is how we're going. You should be coming on board with us. Paul Marden: You risk the tail wagging the dog, don't you? If all you do is chase the sources of funding. And you do that in a haphazard way. It's got to follow, as you say, it's got to follow the mission and the core values of the centre. Victoria Denoon: And it is a relationship, you know, it's like philanthropy and, you know, universities doing their work with donors. I mean, you really do have to have mutual respect and understanding and be looking for sponsors or funders or partners who have the same mission and values that you do. That conversation becomes a lot easier. Paul Marden: Absolutely. Shaaron, any thoughts? Shaaron Leverment: I think I agree with what they're saying. It's really well put. Paul Marden: This is an audience question and this is from Kate Allen from Purple Stars. And she asked me, is the A in steam in cooperate and why it's not a binary question. Chris Dunford: Right. Bryan Snelling: Look it up. Victoria Denoon: Yes. Bryan Snelling: Did you see the inflection in that? Paul Marden: Absolutely. Bryan Snelling: I think it's a two way process. I think that the A is very important. And again, I'm gonna repeat myself, but I think it's been a big part of what the conference has been about and it's been about collaboration. Yes, it's important, but it's a two way process because it's not all about us incorporating the arts. It's also about the arts incorporating the st, the E and the M and the science elements. So I think it's a two way process at the moment. I feel this is just my own opinion that it's a little bit more give than take. Shaaron Leverment: I think there's an interesting, you know, there's an interesting conversation of like, do you need an artist for it to be art? What is art and what is science? You know, and actually, you know, so much of, you know, the engagements that we see involve huge creativity, kids making planets and things like that in science. I do think that we need to use all the tools to get across these massive ideas. And I don't actually even know what science is anyway, so I'm on the back. Shaaron Leverment: And I also noticed in Tom Crick, when he was looking at the curriculum, they separate mathematics and numeracy from science and tech, you know, and so in science, tech engineering is often considered the invisible E in stem. Maths is often considered the invisible M in STEM in science and discovery centres, you know, and so the arts as well. I fully believe that we need to be trans and multidisciplinary 100%. But you know, I think it includes, you know, the music and everything. I think includes absolutely everything. So maybe these acronyms, which is not, they're not useful at all. Paul Marden: I don't think it helps. One of the things that we talked about when we first. We were spinning ideas around this episode, weren't we? And you talked about the idea that you shocked me, that science matters to me and I care about it. And it's something that I enjoy doing with my family. And to consider that isn't for the government to consider. That's not really part of culture because they're funded quite separately. It offends my roles, I think. Shaaron Leverment: But also, you know, it's just another beautiful way of looking at the world. You might look up at a night sky, you know, like Mara or Kilda, like we're hearing by Este. And you might look at it with eyes where you're just wondering at the jewelry of creation or making pictures in the stars. Or you might also be wondering about, well, maybe there's a planet out there. Shaaron Leverment: And I think you can look with all eyes and you can. It's all in wonder. And the fact that they are segregated, it comes back to school science, I think. I think actually in the normal world, as human beings, we don't have to separate them, but it's just very hard, especially when these are crazy funding lines. Like Tom mentioned the difference. I did not know that festivals are considered part of culture, but science festivals aren't. It's madness. Chris Dunford: It also depends in a way what you're doing. So if you're putting the A into STEAM because you say that as a society, as a cultural attraction, we want to involve ourselves, then obviously, yes, we don't want to. You know, it's inclusive because as Shaaron said, they can. They bring different things to the table. But if you're putting an A in there because you're saying that art is the same as the others, then they're no different. But that's good. It's good that art and science kind of behave in different ways. So. So they both start with an idea or a question. They can both be kind of curious or stimulated by something. But then whether we do night sky or whatever, the way that art might scrutinise the night sky would be different to the way that science will scrutinise. And that's fine. Chris Dunford: They can complement each other. It's not. You need to recognize the differences in those kind of, I don't know, the intellectual disciplines, so they can support each other rather than say, well, artists, science, design. It's not as simple as that. They're different, but that's okay. Victoria Denoon: I do think they play a part together in making things more accessible to people. So if you look at major technology companies, they focus just as much on the design and the look of some of their products as they do on the actual technology that goes into them. So there's a lovely added experience there with putting that together. I think it's very important, but for different reasons. Paul Marden: Absolutely. There's been a lot of talk at the conference about diversity and inclusivity. To a certain extent, inclusion is about understanding who your audience is and understanding what it is that they need. Paul Marden: So let's dig into that about your three science centres. What are the customer demographics, what does the audience look like and what areas of diversity and inclusion are important to them? Victoria Denoon: Well, I think that assumes we've actually asked our audiences, you know, what is important to them. And I don't, you know, I'd like to sort of throw that over to other representatives for science centres because we have done some of that, but we probably haven't done it enough to be able to actually answer that question. That's something we are really looking at because we have a lot of different information about the demographics, but not really what they want to see us do. So we're looking at different focus groups and how to involve more people in that to get a better picture of that for our particular science centre. Bryan Snelling: I think we were very lucky to receive a lot of well enough ISF funding plus local funding to completely overhaul our science centre four years ago. What happened four years ago, it was wonderful. But as Shaaron said, we're actually not a millennium sites and we've been going for 36 years. I think tech request, slightly longer than us, Shaaron Leverment: 38.Bryan Snelling: There we go. But not many longer than us. But over that time we've asked and we found out a lot of information about what our visitors wanted. And similar to what Victoria said, we don't necessarily ask enough. We recognise that's a bad thing. We need and we are putting in place and now to evaluate to get feedback more. But back then were very aware of sort of things that we needed to do. We needed to be wheelchair user friendly. Bryan Snelling: So everything is now accessible throughout the science centre. We're one of the lucky places that have a changing places facility which is incredibly good and it's gone down very well. We also have a sensory space which was retrofitted admittedly. But if you look at our feedback on the online, that's gone down fantastically well and it allows some of our neurosensitive visitors just to calm down, go there and just take a moment and then come back and I think the very fact that we're a science centre, it's very hands on, it's very stimulating. Bryan Snelling: So having that has been a real wonderful addition to what we've got. And I think we've also got to remember financial inclusion. So a lot of the sort of sponsorship that we look for is to work with in Scotland. It's called simd, the Scottish Index for Multiple Deprivation. Chris Dunford: I'm sure there's a similar thing in England, but I want to know what it is. Paul Marden: We'll talk about that in a minute. Bryan Snelling: But we a lot of again, it's not mission drift when you are also doing it. A lot of our funders want to give us money so we can support those maybe who don't have as much money as the rest of us. So all of these things we've taken into account and parts of what we do at the science centre. Chris Dunford: Yeah. I suppose the question ultimately is when we ask our visitors what does inclusion, diversity mean to them, we won't get the answer we need. And that's because if you have a certain demographic who are visiting and you ask them diversity, inclusion, then obviously they will speak from their own life experience. But actually the people need to ask the people who aren't visiting. So in that respect, I mean the things we draw upon, we work closely with things like local council, so we have access to their data of who's living in the city and who's facing areas of deprivation and that kind of thing. Chris Dunford: So you can kind of fairly accurately figure out who's around you in your community and who's around you in your community isn't mirroring who's coming through the door and straight away you know where your focus areas are and the reason they might not be visiting, it might be economic, but it could also because there's things that you do unintentionally. It makes it look like you're not for them. Paul Marden: Yes. Chris Dunford: So only by engaging with them, seeing you through their eyes, will you understand maybe why you've been doing a thing which wasn't encouraged when they through the door. I suppose the last thing to say on that is often it's very tempting to think the inclusion thing is going to be groups that can't afford to visit and therefore Chapel saying it may be then detracting from the purely commercial enterprise we need to do to keep the buildings open and running. Chris Dunford: And for some areas who cannot afford to visit, then yes, that's an important part of what you do. But there could be areas, community who aren't visiting. And they can afford to visit because for some reason you're not currently for them, you can become for them. And you've also opened up a whole other market as well. So whether you're looking at it because you want more visitors financially, or you're looking at it because you want to be able to reach everyone, you need to ask who's in the city, who isn't here currently visiting and can we find out why they're not visiting? And then we just work through those challenge at a time until you hopefully are truly reflecting those around you. Paul Marden: I was at a Museum and Heritage Show earlier this year. There was a really interesting talk about inclusivity and making places accessible. And one of the key facts was that people that need an accessible place to visit, if they don't know something is accessible because you haven't communicated it properly, they will assume you are not accessible. And so having the changing places toilet and the sensory room is amazing. But you also have to communicate that to people in order for them to come and feel like it is a place for them. And that's. You're right, it's not about the charitable end of the organisation. It can be just a commercial thing. When you tell that story simply and easily for people, all of a sudden you are not going to market. Shaaron Leverment: We're sort of encouraging people. We've got an accessibility conference coming up in May which will be hosted by Winchester. And hopefully between now and then we can really support people with some of these amazing visual stories. Because I think you're absolutely right that you do need to know if it's accessible. You need to know what facilities you need to have those opportunities to know that there's a quiet space and what to expect. And then someone, honestly, if they know what's there and what's not there, then that's enough. Paul Marden: I've talked about this example before podcast, but Skipton Town Hall is an amazing example. They've got a museum whose name escapes me, but they won last year's Kids in Museum's Family Friendly award. But they have an amazing page that talks about their accessibilities with photos and videos where you can see the entrance, every entrance to the building and where that entrance will lead you to. It shows you the changing places toilet. You know, they are making it super easy for you to be able to understand that. And it's on your page, but it's a page that's hugely valuable on their website. Victoria Denoon: I think just beyond what you can do on your own. Site for that. There are organisations you can work with that tell people the story about what attractions in their area are accessible. So making sure you know who those groups are and working with them to get your story out and how you can support that's really important. Paul Marden: I've got Tudor in front of me from Eureka and I know that's something that Eureka has done a lot of is communicating the accessibility of what they deeds the outside world. I'm going to take your Scottish index of multiple deprivation and take that back to the uk. I'm going to talk a little bit about Cambridge Science Centre because they've passed two weeks ago, they've just opened their new building and one of the things that they talked about on the podcast with me was that part of the motivation for locating it on Cambridge Science park was because it is cheap by jail with one of the areas of multiple deprivation within the city. Paul Marden: They run youth groups in that area and what they found was that even though these kids are in a youth group associated with the Science centre and they are right next door to the Science park, those kids don't feel that a career in Science in the UK's hotspot for tech is a place where they could end up. Paul Marden: They just don't feel like it is of them. So how do we help those kids and families in those areas feel like science centres are for them and a career in the future and in science and tech is an opportunity for them? Bryan Snelling: I think when were redesigning the Aberdeen Science Centre, as I said, the only thing that's still there because It's a Category 2 listed building is the outer walls. But what we looked at that time was we said, well, how can we make it relevant to the northeast of Scotland? So we have three zones in the Science Centre which relates to either the up and coming or very much mature economies up there. We have an energy zone, of course we do, but space, you know, Shetland is on our patch, big patch, so is Sutherland and those of you who know Scotland, very big patch. That sort of space is a big part of what's happening up in northeast Scotland, but also life sciences. So we made it relevant so that people on an everyday sort of and kids can sort of relate to things. Bryan Snelling: I think we're the only city and people will help me out here and bring me down to size if that's the case. We have hydrogen buses in Aberdeen. I think we're one of the only, let's go like that. One of the only cities that currently do that and they see these things travelling through the city centre every day. But you know, they want to know more about that. So it's about making it relevant, making it day to day obvious that this, you can work in this because actually it's there or it's that or it's yes. The other thing is about showing the other careers that you can link it, you can focusing on space, but there's more than just that. You somebody said, yes, you also need to have a chef in the Antarctica. Bryan Snelling: So show them the other careers actually link in with this sort of and just make it relevant. Chris Dunford: Yeah, and I think obviously if you've got sections of society where there's young people who feel that science isn't for them, I think the first thing to recognise obviously is that they are in their lives. They're obviously getting messages that are telling them that's the case in the way in which children from other backgrounds are getting messages telling them what science is for them. And you can see that through the lens of the science capital. You can't control all of those, but you can control how you interact with them. Now, obviously what Cambridge did is they were able to physically relocate. Most of us aren't in that position in terms of the whole building, although that reached us the ability to do that on a complete short term basis. Chris Dunford: But I think again it's recognising that inclusion work is so much more than just kind of saying, “Hey, we are free. Why don't you come along today and you can visit for free or whatever.” It's the diversity of your staff and that's across the organisation. Because if they visit and they see someone that looks like them and that tells them that it is for them in a way in which it's going to be very difficult to do with the people actually working there don't look like people they would recognise as being in that kind of group in that way. It's about the activities themselves. So again, the ideas of kind of co development. So if you develop activities, rather than guess what you think they would like, just find out what they would like and involve them in those activities. Chris Dunford: So inclusion is difficult and it takes a lot of time because you can't just kind of put a sign on the door and say work for you now. You need to change the organisation. So it is enabling them to visit and then to keep that relationship going. That's the other thing that's very difficult. But I think if you did one funded visit and they came once and that was it, that might not be Enough to make them go, “Oh, so I can't be a scientist.” You get some kind of relationship with them going on over time. So yeah, it's a long, drawn out process, which means you need to look very hard at yourself and be prepared and brave to make changes in your own organisation. Because unintentionally you are probably putting some of the barriers there yourselves. Shaaron Leverment: I just want to echo that it really is about building those relationships. We ran a program called Explorer Universe across eight centres. And you know, we were all about extra partnerships and being brave and making new engagement to people who would never have thought to come through your doors. And you know, it ended up being like a year long of partnership building and then those relationships and almost all the programs were outreach. Some of them ended up, you know, as a celebratory event coming through the science centre. But it was very much going to where the kids were going to their space, you know, physically and emotionally and mentally, whatever, and working in partnership. So if you don't have the staff that reflect that community, then you can work in partnership and create those moments. Shaaron Leverment: And then when they do come to the centre, be there at the front door to welcome them. You know, I know you and it's very much, you know, like an experience floor In North Wales. Were working in a playground, you know, and talking all about them jumping off the playground with like parachutes, talking about friction and stuff like that. And one of the best quotes from that was like, I didn't realise this was science. You're like turning what they are doing and saying that you are a techie, techie person, you are a sciencey person, you are an engineer. That's what it is. Shaaron Leverment: You know, it's not saying this is what science is, you know, it's changing the capital that they have already into science capital to know that they are already inherent, as Osley said, inherent sort of scientists anyway. Paul Marden: Yes. Shaaron Leverment: So, yeah.Victoria Denoon: I think science centres are in a really wonderful space here to be able to do that because, you know, we do build relationships with community groups and schools all the time. And research has shown that these young people, why they see themselves in relation to their peers, that will attract them more than anything else into potential careers in science. So having a space where people can come and, you know, we don't tell them, don't touch that, don't do that. Victoria Denoon: You know, they can really fully get hands on and engage in things and having that opportunity. We just opened two years ago, our Learning Innovation for Everyone Space. We offer free school programs there, particularly in partnership with Microsoft and do coding workshops and things like that and lots of other activities and you can also do OCN accredited programs with us there. So it's really about getting them together as a group of their peers and showing them what's possible in that space. Paul Marden: That's amazing. So I'm a dev by background. Telling the story of Computer Science is not something that you see in every science centre that you go to. The whole kind of the history of computing, it exists in places, there are pockets of it. But it's not something that I want to coding club as well. But how many of my kids could go to a local science centre and feel that what they're doing when they're coding the robot and building some Lego is related to something that they see when they're at the science centre and that there's a mental leap to go from this fun thing that we're doing with this robot to the career that is amazing that I could have in the future. It's really hard. Paul Marden: Talking of kids, I'm a trustee at Kids in Museum and we talk a lot about getting the voice of young people who visit attractions and young people, they're worthy, they're in their career and incorporating that into the decision making, strategic direction of museums and science centres. I think it's definitely really important when we talk about climate emergency to get that younger voice in so that trustees don't all look like me. Let's talk a little bit about the youth platform and how you incorporate the youth voice into what you guys do. Who wants to take that one first? I can spot who cracks first. Bryan Snelling: Okay. I'm not very good at this, am I? You are very good. No, but I'm actually quite proud of what we do at Aberdeen. We about a year and a bit ago introduced a STEM youth ball and we're very pleased with that. We actually work with a local festival so it's ourselves and Aberdeen Tech Fest that jointly I say support, but actually they support us. The youth board, it's made up of secondary school kids, young people and last year was a pilot year and it went very well. We're now looking at developing it further. But what they do is they look at what they want to do, they work out what they want to do within a board situation. Bryan Snelling: They've got all the usual bits, chair and the secretary, but they work out that they want to deliver this program and then they'll go away, work together on the delivery of that program. They'll also work out the marketing side of things. They'll also do all of that. But I also, and my counterpart with TechFest also bring our ideas and say what do you think about this? And they give us a very. Paul Marden: Take some of them and rubbish a few I guess.Bryan Snelling: That's what it's for. Paul Marden: Exactly. Bryan Snelling: I mean, let's get out of the way in a safe space before we then go ahead and spend money on this thing. Paul Marden: The most brutal focus could possibly bring together. Bryan Snelling: But we're very pleased with that. The other thing that we're currently looking at doing is working with local university, Robert Goldman University, especially the architecture school, to redevelop our outer area, the garden. It was the only area that wasn't developed when we did inside. And we undertook a number of brainstorming sessions with the youngsters and I mean your 5 to 12 year olds to get their input. And we did that a number of ways, remember drawing or talking or writing, whatever. And that was really interesting. We'd obviously, as the adults had done a similar thing but what they brought was a completely different point of view and it's wonderful. Paul Marden: Excellent. Victoria, you can't not look at teacher. It's only going to encourage me to. Victoria Denoon: No, I think you know, to what Bryan was saying there. We haven't started yet but we're looking at this idea of creating a Y suite, you know, which is our youth suite, which would be young people that will come in and kind of meet once a quarter to help us with some of those decisions. Bryan was talking about Inspiring Science Fund. We also did a huge renovation at W5 as a result of that and that involved a lot of consultation with young people, with teachers, et cetera. And we do a lot of youth led programs but we're looking at really how do we engage that in this more strategic direction going forward. Paul Marden: I think it's hugely valuable, isn't it? When you take it from a consultation point to something that is actually helping to drive the strategy of the organisation. It's transformational. Sharoon, do you have any thoughts about that? Shaaron Leverment: Yeah, I mean I sort of see it from a bird's eye view really, you know. But you know we have our Youth Voice Award because last year our volunteers award was won by. Part of our volunteers award was won by Winchester young group of environmental activists that were really doing great things down at Winchester Science Centre and influencing one seekers charity. And anyone who was at dinner last night, you might have seen the video from Zed King who has done so much work supporting Centre for Life and making massive changes there and not just there, like actually across the network. We are. So we've got this Youth Voice award as one of the only awards that we give because it is so important. We are all about. Not all about, but we are a lot about young people. Shaaron Leverment: So they need to have voice but it's very difficult to be sure how to do that and to make sure that we're not putting too much pressure. I mean here at this conference you can. There we've got some young people coming in showing their bio robots. We've got. Obviously we had the Esports award last night and our next keynote we've got two younger panel members to do a discussion about eco anxiety and how that feels for them to influence the way in which we think about our climate engagement from the voices of people who are experiencing it and experiencing this massive grief and anxiety about their own futures. So yeah, there's a lot of work going on obviously over in Armagh as well, you know, especially with autistic families and you know, I think it's. Shaaron Leverment: Yeah, it's a growing area and we're putting a lot of effort into encouraging like hearing these stories and different things and you know, I know we the curated. Well, with your authority sharing, I might just throw that over to you. I mean I think that's a great piece of work. Chris Dunford: Yeah. On the climate side especially. One thing we've done in the past is work with Bristol City Council, Youth Council, I think I might say most councils will have something like this because they then feed into the UK lean Parliament. I think that's really useful for two reasons. Firstly, because it gives them a space when you talk about climate issues. But secondly, it's helping them to understand the process of democracy, which young people's possibly more important now than ever. I think that's really key because I think what often happens, especially at events like cop, is that inside the room you've got the politicians and decision makers who are struggling with this really difficult challenge of how do we decarbonise and knowing there isn't an easy thing to fix it. Chris Dunford: It's going to be a lot of trailblazers, compromise, a lot of hard work outside where you've got the young people kind of screaming desperately do something, finally find the solution and then have these two different worlds. So I think if you could bring those together to bring the youth Voice into those conversations. What are the trade offs? What are the decisions? Because the consequence of decisions they inherit not us. But also it's useful for young people because it helps them understand that there isn't an easy solution and yes, there's going on strike and it's making the message clear, but there's getting into discussion of what are the trade offs, what are the compromises, and that's how a democracy works. I think that's really useful. Chris Dunford: But the other thing I'd say is if you're going to engage with young people on this and also be prepared for the fact that they're clear, they know what they want and they want the allies to take action. So if you say to them, great, there's time to change that, you're creating a youth board so you can learn about climate change, they'll say, yes, but what are you doing to reduce your carbon emissions? So we're doing this group and we're going to get your views on that. Thank you, that's fine. What are you doing to reduce your carbon emissions? So if you're going to enter into this space, they know what they want from us. They want to take action to create deep, radical and rapid decarbonisation. Chris Dunford: So be prepared for that question because they will ask it and it's the right to ask it. We need to do stuff as well as having board. At the same time, you've got to be taking the action to show that you're copying the agency, what they want. Shaaron Leverment: Have you seen the recent DCMS call as well? I mean, it's obviously strategically important at government as well. So all funders and DCMS in particular are making an election in this. So, yeah, leading the way. Paul Marden: A beautiful segue to my next question, which is what, Chris, this one's for you really is what are ASDC members doing ahead of national targets to reach net zero? Chris Dunford: Yeah. So it's probably worth just causing phone. So, in terms of the national target, for anyone who isn't aware, net zero for the UK is 2050. And net zero essentially means that your carbon emissions are down to zero or they're not zero, then you're offsetting what emissions you are creating. So the balance of the atmosphere is 2 0. And it's really hard. And the reason it's really hard, whether you're a government or an organisation, is you're following the greenhouse gas protocol, which means it's across all three scopes, which essentially means it's the stuff you expect. Chris Dunford: So it's the energy from the grid, it's your fuel and vehicles, it's burning gas in your home or places where, but it's also emissions from all the stuff that you buy and the investments from your bank and your pensions and it's the emissions from your business who travel to visit you. It's huge. It's very complex. So it's difficult. That's essentially what it means, the claim in terms of what sciences are doing. So it's a mixed back. There's plenty of science centers who still don't have a specific claim decarbonisation target, whether that be net zero or 2050 or sooner. So that's one issue I think we need to. Those who have done that piece of work have to work those who haven't to support them, enable them and encourage them to create a space where they can do. Chris Dunford: Because your Internet provider probably has a Net Zero pledge on their website, your supermarket certainly does. Your local council will, your university. So with science centres, it might seem strange that we're actually behind those players rather than leaving it. And of those that do have targets, there's probably about seven science centres in the network. This is student, big museum. So in terms of. In terms of the main science centres and then Tampa Gardens and museums, if you include them, there's probably about 11 organisations who have a kind of a decarbonisation net zero net neutral aimed before 2015. They're mostly around 2030. And again, that's really hard. And those organisations are now figuring out what that means and just how difficult that is. Chris Dunford: There is also even project who have boldly gone for a net positive to say they'll actually be removing more carbon than releasing by 2030. But it's really hard. And the reason it's hard for science centres is we're not Marks and Spencers. We can't just hire a stable team overnight and throw money at this problem. So we're renting some organisations who are tight on time and money who now to take on this huge challenge. That doesn't excuse us from the challenge. So there's no easy solution on the fact that we have to put resource into this. And I think that's why there aren't more Net Zero aims on websites for the centres at the moment. But I think we can get there. We need to recognise it's hard. Chris Dunford: And finally, if you are doing lots of engagement, as I said with schools, then again you need to be backing this up with some kind of Net zero. So it's a mixed bag of the network. There's probably about 10 or so that have specific net zero aims and they're mostly around 2030, 2040. But my prediction is in the coming years, those organisations are going to make some really hard choices and actually say how they're going to do that, because we know from experience it's really difficult. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't be doing it. It means you have to push even harder than you were before. Paul Marden: Thank you. Bryan Snelling: Can I add something? Paul Marden: Of course. Bryan Snelling: I think decarbonisation is an important message, full stop, especially in Aberdeen, for obvious reasons. I hope we feel that we have an important duty almost to the visitors to the northeast of Scotland and beyond. Because I think how can we talk the talk about decarbonisation if we don't walk the walk? So there's an internal thing, which notwithstanding how difficult it is, we're just starting down that route. We've had an energy audit done of ourselves. We're now in the process of working out what that roadmap is, or maybe it should be a cycle path road towards net zero, but we need to work that out. But on the other side, we're also tasked with telling people, this is what you should be doing. This is the energy transition. Bryan Snelling: This is how you renewable energy in the future. So how can you do both? How can you do one without the other one? I mean, and I think we just need to be aware of that. And I think as the future goes back to the very first question about what's happening in the future, that's all big part of what we need to be looking at.Paul Marden: Conference is all about shaping future science together. What's your take home message from the different talks that you've been to, or possibly because we've not finished the conference yet that you're looking forward to. What's the standout moment? I know. So I would say for me, the standout moment was last night's awards. I mean, if you weren't overtaken by Zed's video, if you weren't moved by Hamish talking about. And for me, what they both demonstrated is that volunteering and engagement is a conversation. It's a two way street, isn't it? Because they weren't just there as a resource doing things, they were getting something from the relationship and giving back to the sense, etc. At the same time. For me, that bit was the most powerful. Shaaron Leverment: Yeah. And I think actually, you know, there's a lot of emotion there, you know, and it's incredible to someone stand up and say science and you saved my life. Paul Marden: Yes. Shaaron Leverment: You know, I think it was just incredible and very brave. And I think that kind of bringing that emotion into science, it's really important and remembering the people, even people. I think there's been quite a few messages about, you know, the safe spaces that we provide and that interaction with people and that genuine understanding. I think I'm really excited about. We're no longer sort of let science speak for itself and we're not going. Shaaron Leverment: You know, I think people are socially connecting and using emotion a lot more because first we feel right, first we feel and that is what our inclusive outcomes are all about. That it's what makes a difference for someone who is disengaged and doesn't feel that science and technology could be for them to feeling that maybe there's a place they need to feel they belong. So I'm really excited about that aspect of it. I also agree with everything that the elders are about. Bryan Snelling: Really. Shaaron Leverment: Yeah. Chris Dunford: I think several things yesterday for me resonated with the thing which Stephen Breslin said at the very start, which is that we come to these conferences anxious and slightly overwhelmed by the challenges we're facing and leaves feeling energized and positive with at least some of the solutions. And I think that's. That's a similar pattern that I experienced with these conferences. And I think through that lens I've been listening to all the challenges yesterday. And it's just our job is hard and potentially getting harder and as it gets harder, it's more important to society than ever. And I think that's the main thing I'm taking away. Chris Dunford: And I don't just mean things like the inclusion work and the decarbonisation work which we've spoken about during this session, but even things like one of the sessions that really stuck me yesterday was where the Science museum were talking in the lightning talks about their new AI exhibition and the fact that when all the many centers open they could have exhibits that explained Google of motion by pendulums and spinning things. A physical thing. And now we're having to have conversations about AI where there is no physical thing you can hold in your hands. Chris Dunford: There's a historical artefact, it's a circuit board doesn't tell you anything about what circuit board really does in terms of how it impacts society and how are we going to do science communication, science engagement around these challenging issues like AI which are then mounted up with all these kind of social problems with them, which again, the laws of motion that we come with. So, so I suppose I'm going away with that is the fact that our creativity is going to be tested more than before and our ingenuity and our ability to collaborate beyond our initial partners. So, yeah, for me, weirdly, it's about the science communication side and things like AI are going to make that really challenging. And how are we going to do that? Any of the answers other than the fact that we know we're not doing it alone, we're doing it as a network. And that's obviously big talk. Victoria Denoon: Yeah, I think it's the same thing. That remark by Stephen really is something that stuck with me because I did come here as well, thinking about the challenges we're facing, not just as a Science and Discovery centre, but also politically at the moment and just how pessimistic you can be about things. And really being in this conference with all of these amazing people makes you feel more optimistic about things and I think that's just really powerful and it carries you through. So for me, that's. And I think some of the conversations that have been happening here, I feel like since last year we've made a huge jump in terms of where the impact of our network is going with other people. And, you know, Tom's talk this morning really brought that home a little bit as well. So I'm feeling very optimistic. Paul Marden: Thank you. We always end our interviews with a book recommendation, which can be personal or professional. So, Victoria, do you want to share yours with everyone? Victoria Denoon: Well, I think when were talking about this, it was like, what's your favourite book? And for me, my favourite book is actually Pride and Prejudice. It's a book I would read over and could read over and over again. Jane Austen's musings. Paul Marden: Excellent. Bryan. Bryan Snelling: You know, this is the most difficult question that you're going to be putting to us. I've read, you know, fiction most of my life. I mean, you can't. I've always got a book, always looking at a book. So I don't actually have favourites. Why is it favourites? What I can say is my most recent book that I've read was the Thursday we're at the Club by Rich Lawson, which is quite nice. The most profound one was actually 1984. I read that when I was about 18 and I thought, wow. And that was really quite interesting. Followed swiftly by Animal Farm, of course. Paul Marden: So that's three recommendations bankrupt me over. Chris. Chris Dunford: So I've gone for War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells. I'm a big fan of, like, old sci fi books. It's different to modern sci fi. Sci fi books like Jules Byrne and H.G. Wells will just ramble on pages about scientific theories at the time. Things they read in nature. So it's genuinely kind of science fiction. But War of the Royals because it's just. It scares me every time I read it. Like it still scares me. Absolutely. And I quite enjoy that. And I don't know why. And there's something about the complete, you know, civilisation. Actually some shouldn't put on this thread too hard, but there's something fascinating about that. Kind of, as he describes it, the liquefaction of society is everything kind of falls apart and every time I pick it up, I'm terrified and I pick it up again, I'm still terrible. Paul Marden: Shaaron, lastly, yours. Shaaron Leverment: I had forgotten this is a question. Paul Marden: Chris had three books, so you can choose. Shaaron Leverment: I'll go for in my. In my head I go for I just off the cup. The Martian is great. When it's got a little bit tiresome with the whole potatoes, improve it. But it is a brilliant. Yeah, it's great. Paul Marden: We are done. If you enjoyed today's episode, please like and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Thank you to my guests Victoria, Bryan, Chris and Shaaron, and my amazing ASDC Live studio audience. Paul Marden: Thanks for listening to Skip the Queue. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review. It really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned. Skip The Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. You can find show notes and transcriptions from this episode and more over on our website, SkiptheQueue.fm. The 2024 Visitor Attraction Website Survey is now LIVE! Dive into groundbreaking benchmarks for the industryGain a better understanding of how to achieve the highest conversion ratesExplore the "why" behind visitor attraction site performanceLearn the impact of website optimisation and visitor engagement on conversion ratesUncover key steps to enhance user experience for greater conversionsDownload the 2024 Rubber Cheese Visitor Attraction Website Survey Report
On this episode, Shadan is joined by ISF writer Will Bjarnar to discuss the Oscars race and how many of the top categories are shaping up as awards season is in full swing! Visit https://insessionfilm.com for merch and more! Visit this episode's sponsor: https://koffeekult.com - Get 15% OFF with the code: ISF24 Thanks for listening and be sure to subscribe on your podcast app of choice! https://insessionfilm.com/subscribe Follow us on Twitter! @InSessionFilm | @RealJDDuran | @BrendanJCassidy
Ce lundi 28 octobre, l'urgence pour le gouvernement de réduire l'absentéisme des fonctionnaires, qui a augmenté de 80% en dix ans et coûte 15 milliards d'euros par an, en alignant les règles du public sur celles du privé, ainsi que l'adoption de l'impôt Zucman, une sorte d'ISF qui taxe à 2% les patrimoines qui dépassent un milliard d'euros, ont été abordées par Éric Heyer, directeur du département analyse et prévision à l'OFCE, Gaëlle Macke, directrice déléguée de la rédaction de Challenges, et Philippe Mutricy, directeur des études de BPI France, dans l'émission Les Experts, présentée par Nicolas Doze sur BFM Business. Retrouvez l'émission du lundi au vendredi et réécoutez la en podcast.
On this episode, Shadan and Erica are joined by ISF writer Héctor A. González, who's seen 115 movies during all of the festivals this year! So we talk about his experiences and what films he thinks will be the biggest players this awards season. Visit https://insessionfilm.com for merch and more! Visit this episode's sponsor: https://koffeekult.com - Get 15% OFF with the code: ISF24 Thanks for listening and be sure to subscribe on your podcast app of choice! https://insessionfilm.com/subscribe
In this heartfelt episode, we're joined by Erin Santos-Primis, founder of the Isabella Santos Foundation, to share her moving journey following her daughter Isabella's stage 4 neuroblastoma diagnosis at just two and a half years old. Erin discusses the challenges of navigating the healthcare system, the emotional toll of pediatric cancer, and the importance of community support and early diagnosis. She also opens up about her personal transformation, balancing life as a single mother, and using her voice to drive systemic change and advocate for personalized care. Liz is honored to be an emcee with Maggie Gavigan at this year's ISF luncheon on Tuesday, October 29th at Carmel Country Club 9:00-11:30 am. Please join us at the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, hosted by the Isabella Santos Foundation to learn more about and support rare pediatric cancer. Learn more and register for one of the three event dates at https://isabellasantosfoundation.org/brunchclub/. MUD/WTR is a coffee alternative consisting of 100% organic cacao, ayurvedic herbs and functional mushrooms. With just a fraction of caffeine found in coffee, you get energy, focus and immune support without the crash! Use this link for 15% off your purchase, or $20 off PLUS a 15% discount if you subscribe! Some key takeaways from this episode include: Advocate for yourself and your kids. You never have to accept the first diagnosis, the first treatment plan, or the first option for anything. Get second, third, or fourth opinions and stand firm if your gut is telling you the option presented isn't good enough. Turning your pain into purpose is a beautiful thing, but it doesn't have to become your entire identity. You are not just a mom, a partner, etc., you're are your own individual person with needs and wants. Make sure you protect your individuality. There are so many great organizations providing things like gas cards to families navigating cancer treatments, but the Isabella Santos Foundation focuses on funding research and clinical trials to make it so fewer families need those resources to begin with. You can learn more and donate at https://isabellasantosfoundation.org/donate. Hilliard Studio Method takes working out to the next level to produce results that are nothing short of a total mind-body transformation. If you're ready to get in incredible shape, you can work out with us in-person at our Charlotte studio, join classes from home via Zoom, or sign up for our on-demand streaming service! HSM In-Person Classes HSM At Home (Via Zoom) HSM Streaming Be Powerful with Liz & Lee is focused on helping you find your inner power and for us to share our thoughts on society, culture, and current events. As the team behind Hilliard Studio Method in Charlotte, North Carolina, we love all things wellness and will also share info on how to live your healthiest life mentally, physically, and emotionally. Podcast contact info: Liz's Instagram Lee's Instagram Hilliard Studio Method HSM Facebook Liz & Lee's YouTube
Today's episode is the second of three conversations with ISF CEO Steve Durbin around the increasing impact of technology on society and business. Societies have always been divided, but how future divisions may manifest feels more uncertain than ever right now. In this episode, Steve and producer Tavia Gilbert offer an analysis of potential future scenarios, as well as practical tips for what organisations can do now to prepare. Key Takeaways: 1. The future will be defined by technology and social media, leading to a shift away from traditional divisions and towards a more complex world where data and information are highly instantaneous and influential. 2. Leadership will need strong empathy, consolidation skills, and the ability to challenge/be challenged. 3. Leaders should assume imperfection and constantly update their situational awareness to make informed decisions. They also ought to prioritize simplicity and clear communication to build trust and drive success. Tune in to hear more about: 1. Leadership and organisation in a rapidly changing world (4:44) 2. The role of businesses in society, including their potential to fill the void left by declining trust in traditional leadership models (9:58) 3. Information security and the importance of skepticism in the digital age (14:33) 4. Technology's impact on information sharing and nationalism (18:33) 5. Trust and verification in social media and supply chains (22:35) 6. Leadership, adapting to change, and the importance of soft skills in a rapidly changing world (28:23) Standout Quotes: 1. “Businesses have a new responsibility in the modern era … provide guidelines and stability in a time of deep division.” - Steve Durbin 2. “The one thing that is going to be so important that will differentiate the winners from the losers in the organisational stakes is: those organisations that are able to consolidate this overall sense of corporate purpose with purpose of the individual, whatever that looks like. And if we can do that, then I think that we'll create something that's particularly special and magic.” - Steve Durbin Mentioned in this episode: ISF Analyst Insight Podcast Are we linking the ISF Threat Horizon Report? Protecting the Crown Jewels? Any other ISF resources for this episode? Read the transcript of this episode Subscribe to the ISF Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts Connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter From the Information Security Forum, the leading authority on cyber, information security, and risk management.
Ariella; lethal and lovely.Based on a post by ronde, in 2 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Steamy Stories.Packed and Stacked.She was maybe twenty-five, and even in the battle dress she was wearing, she looked slender. I couldn’t tell much else about her except she looked a little the Arabic women I’d seen in Afghanistan. I was sure about two things though; the rifle was an Israeli M 89 SR sniper rifle, and she sounded very serious when she spoke.“What are you doing here?” she demanded.Since I was armed to the teeth and had just shot a guy, my story about being a tourist and out taking some pictures wasn’t going to work very well. The truth would work better unless she was one of the traffickers. I didn’t think she was though. If she had been, she’d have just shot me while she had the chance.“I’m an American. This guy hired me to track down some gold he thought was hidden in an old led mine. This is where the led mine is supposed to be located. I hadn’t counted on there being anybody else here.”She smiled then.“You’ll be Dale Stevenson, right?”“Yeah. How do you know that?”She was still smiling.“We can talk about that later. Right now, we need to take care of the guys who are going to come down that road in a couple of minutes.”Showdown looming.When the truck finally came into view, the men looked a little hesitant and the woman told me why.“They’re taking it slow because they don’t know who’s out here. If it was the Argentine Army, the traffickers would have known they were coming and they wouldn’t be here. That’s because they pay certain people in the Army to protect them. They would just relocate and the Army could appear to be doing their job because they discovered the camp. Once they figure out where we are, they won’t stop until we’re dead or they are so I hope you’re a good shot. During my briefing they said you are.”It was about then the truck came creeping down the road. The woman sighted through the rifle scope and with two quick shots; she shot the driver and smashed in the receiver of the M60.The men bailed out of the pickup and clustered up behind it, then talked for a while before another man pulled the dead driver out of the truck, got back in, started the engine, and started it back down the road. The other men followed behind it with their rifles ready. When they got close enough to see their faces, most of them looked scared.The woman was looking through the scope on her rifle when she whispered.“They’re still looking for where the shots came from, Oh, one of them just pointed in the direction of the man you shot. They think the shots came from those rocks over there. They’ll keep the truck between them and the rocks until they’re pretty close, and then jump out from behind it and start firing at those rocks and any other cover they see. We’ll have to take them before they spread out too much. I’ll take out the driver and the ones in the lead. You start at the rear and work your way toward the truck.”The truck continued to creep down the road, and when they were about ten meters from the main road, the men began to move up the side of the truck. She took out the driver and that was my signal. I sighted in on the man furthest from the truck and fired.The whole thing took less than a minute. I saw one man running back toward the camp, but he didn’t make it. The woman’s shot dropped him face first in the dirt of the road.Well, like I said, my original intention was to retreat if possible. Now, we’d shot a bunch of people based on what the woman had said, and I didn’t have the slightest idea who the hell she was or who they were. The only thing I was sure of was I was in deep shit and it was probably going to get deeper.I turned to look at the woman. She was in the process of changing magazines on her rifle. She slammed the full magazine into the magazine well, checked the chamber for a live round, and then looked up and smiled.“I guess you’re as good as they said. You only missed twice.”She was beginning to piss me off by telling me what to do and then criticizing me for how I did it.“Yeah, well, it’s been a while since I’ve been in a firefight. Since you seem to know everything about me and what just happened, what do we do now?”She stood up, shouldered the rifle, and frowned.“I’ve been watching that camp for a week waiting for you to get here, and I counted twelve men. That means there are five left. They’ll wait a while for these men to come back, but when they don’t they’ll send at least two to find out what happened. We need to get to that camp before they do that.”“And what do we do when we get there? I don’t really like shooting people when I don’t know which side they’re on.”She smiled again.“They’re on the side that would kill both of us without even thinking about it. Does that help?”Moving to a safer place.We kept to the rocks until we got to the trees, and then made our way to the camp by walking a few meters from the road. Two men were just walking to the second truck when we got there. The woman tapped me on the shoulder and when I looked she pointed at the shack and held up three fingers, the pointed to me.Without waiting for an answer, she sighted down the scope of her rifle. A second later, the guy starting to climb in the driver’s seat grabbed his chest and then fell down. It was maybe two seconds later and after the other guy started running back to the shack that he went down with a bullet in his back.That was about when the other three came running out of the shack with their rifles. I took them out with three shots. Then, we waited to see if any of them were going to get up or if there were any more in the shack. After five minutes, all was quiet, so the woman stood up.“That should be all of them. Let’s go see what they have in the shacks.”I noticed she didn’t shoulder the rifle this time, and she didn’t just walk out into the clearing. She ran to take cover behind the truck first. I followed her and kept watching our flanks and rear.Once we were at the truck, she peeked around it at the shack, then ran the three meters to the corner. Once she was there, she motioned for me. I knew what she wanted me to do because it was a standard method of entering a building used by US Army Rangers. I ran to the other corner. Once I was there, we started working our way to the door.Her count had been right. There was nobody in the smaller shack. It was evidently sort of a barracks and mess hall, because there were four cots on one side. On the other side was a table and a small wood-burning stove.We left the shack and repeated the same thing on the larger shack. When we pushed open the door there, I saw the reason the traffickers were there.Inside that shack and in a clump were six young girls holding on to each other because they were terrified. Two looked like the women I’d seen in Buenos Aires, but the other four were definitely Asian.The woman rattled off something in Spanish, and then something in what I guessed was French. It looked to me like the girls relaxed a little then. The two Hispanic girls smiled, and two of the Asian girls said something back to her and then started jabbering away at the other two.The woman turned to me and smiled.“I just told them we were here to rescue them. The girls who talked to me are Vietnamese girls and they understood French. They said they’ve been here for two weeks. The other two Asian girls are from Taiwan and they speak Chinese. The two Vietnamese girls are telling them what I said. Now we have to get them somewhere safe. I can take care of that.”The woman pulled what looked like a cell phone from her vest and tapped the screen, then held it to her ear. A few seconds later, she said, “Secure. Six kittens”. She got an answer, said, “Ready in fifteen”, then tapped the screen again. As she put the cell phone back in her vest, she smiled.“You’re wondering how I got a cell phone to work out here aren’t you? It is a cell phone so if I were to be captured, it won’t raise any suspicions. It works just like any other cell phone except it will only communicate with our own cell towers. My group has a mobile tower about six kilometers from here. They’ll meet us at the road in about fifteen minutes.”Like she said, about fifteen minutes later, a bus drove up and stopped where the road to the camp met the main road. Once the six girls were on board, the bus drove off and left the woman and me standing there in the road. I asked her why she didn’t get on the bus too. She smiled.“I’ll tell you on the way back to their camp. We have a few things left to do.”Her story explained a lot about her and how she knew so much about me.“My name, my real name, is Ariella. You don’t need to know my last name."Ariella is Hebrew for "Lioness of God”. My father named me that because he said I was so much like my grandfather. My grandfather was killed during the rebellion in the Warsaw ghetto. My other grandparents were sent to Treblinka where they were killed.“My father was ten years old then, and during the fighting, some people in the Polish resistance smuggled him out of the ghetto and into the forest. From there, he was taken to a Catholic monastery where he was baptized as a Catholic so the Germans wouldn’t arrest and take him to a concentration camp. He had to learn how to act like a Catholic boy in a very short time, but he was a smart boy and survived the war that way."When the war ended, my father was taken to France and placed with Catholic foster parents. He grew up on a vineyard near Langon and learned to speak French, but he never forgot he was Jewish. As soon as he reached the age of nineteen, he left France for Israel and began searching for any relatives who survived the camps. He found no one with the same last name who remembered his father or mother. Instead, he found Miriam, the woman he would marry and the woman who would become my mother."Her past was much like my father’s, though she was French. Her parents placed her with Catholic friends when the Nazi’s began arresting French Jews. She was later taken to Spain and raised by a family there. She was only eighteen when she went to Israel in hopes of finding her family. She found a job to support herself working in the government, and that is how she met my father."From my mother, I learned to speak and write Spanish. From both my father and mother, I learned to speak and write French and Hebrew."When I was eighteen, I was conscripted into the Israeli Defense Force. Because my testing showed I had an aptitude for languages, when I finished basic and combat training, I was sent to a school to learn to speak and write Arabic. After that school, I was transferred to the Combat Intelligence Collection Corps. I was made part of Sayeret Matkal, the Israeli Special Forces branch that does recon and intelligence gathering behind enemy lines. I can’t tell you what I did there."When I finished my service, a man came to see me and asked if I’d like to help Israel in a different way. What he told me sounded exciting, so I accepted and became part of the Duvdevan Unit. I spent two years dressed in civilian clothes in several Arab countries gathering intelligence on terrorist organizations. A year ago, I was identified by one of the radical Islamic organizations as an Israeli agent and had to leave the Middle East or I’d have been killed. I was assigned to Argentina to gather intelligence on the Neo-Nazi groups that are located here and to some extent, in Brazil and other South American countries."The men we just killed are part of a Neo-Nazi group who call their organization Ahner. They took their name from the Nazi Germany think-tank known as Ahnenerbe. Their ideology is the same as the German Nazi party. They advocate the elimination or enslavement or all races they consider inferior, and they finance their operations by trafficking in sex slaves of those same races. That’s what they’re doing out here; financing their operations. I was assigned to stop them."The camp you saw is a lay-over point between the ports in Chile where they land the girls and wherever they’re going next. It might be the brothels in Buenos Aires, Mexico, almost any country including the US. They will kill anyone who tries to stop them. Do you feel better about what we did now?”I’d heard of the Duvdeven Unit of the Israeli Special Forces, but the name was about all I’d heard. Nobody, not even the CIA guys I worked with, knew much about what the Duvdeven Unit did, or if they knew, they weren’t telling anybody. All that was known was they were Israelis who were fluent in Arabic and dressed in the clothing of the local population. Supposedly they infiltrated the ranks of the terrorists and sent that information back to Israel. There were rumors about assassinations of high-ranking terrorist officials, but that’s all they were, just rumors.That knowledge explained a lot of things about Ariella. I knew the Israeli Special Forces are among the most highly trained fighting forces in the world and were as good as our own US Army Rangers and Navy SEALs. To work undercover in the situations in Afghanistan and Iran would require more than training though. It would require an immense amount of self-confidence and as one of my Ranger instructors had once said, “balls big enough to need a wheelbarrow”.It also explained how much she knew about me. The CIA in the Middle East and the Israeli Special Forces have a very close working relationship. All it would take is for someone in the ISF to request information about me and they’d have it. What I didn’t understand is why they were interested in what I was doing in Argentina.“OK, I understand why you’re here, but you said you were waiting on me for a week. It’s not that I don’t appreciate you bailing my ass out of trouble, but why are you so interested in why I’m here?”Ariella stopped walking then and turned to face me.“Because Marcus Richter hired you.”I was confused again.“Richter isn’t a Neo-Nazi. He’s a dealer in international currencies.”Ariella smiled.“That’s what he told you, and he is, but his story is more detailed than that.At the end of World War Two, the Allies were looking for a German banker named Heinrich Richter because he was responsible for sending much of the gold pillaged by the German Army to Swiss banks. They wanted his records and his testimony so they could return the gold to the appropriate countries.Israel was very interested as well, because a significant amount of that gold came from Jews in the countries Germany overran. The Allies were closing in on him when he disappeared. The rumor was he was able to escape to Argentina. Through our intelligence efforts in Argentina, we learned he did indeed relocate to Argentina where he married a local woman with high status in the government. Unfortunately, we learned that information after he died."For several years, we monitored the activities of his wife and son, the same Marcus Richter who spoke with you. His mother appears to have retired to an estate in the country with a private nurse, and no one other than Richter visits or telephones her. In our observations of Richter though, it was soon evident he has close connections with several Neo-Nazi groups in Argentina. We suspected he was using his business to launder money for them, but we were never able to positively tie his financial dealings to them. Richter is smart and he uses Swiss banks for all the transfers. Getting information from a Swiss bank is something even Israel can not easily do. The reason is the amount of Nazi gold still held in those banks."We needed a way to stop him, so we laid a trap for him. We forged the hallmark on a single gold bar and arranged for another currency trader who supports our cause to contact him. We also planted the story about the submarines through another of our contacts in Argentina, a former member of the ISF who emigrated from Germany to Argentina a few years ago. The man who told Richter about the smelter was another of our contacts who casually related the story to Richter’s assistants. The story about the mine and its location has been rumored in Argentina for years so once we had located the smelter for him, Richter assumed the gold must be in the mine, just as we intended.The rest of the story you already know, except that the money you are being paid came from the treasury of Ahner. We know that information through the efforts of a man who is the son of a Jewish man and his Argentine wife. He grew up in Buenos Aires and is fluent in Spanish. He has infiltrated Ahner and relays information on their activities to my unit.”I was beginning to understand now and I didn’t feel good about the whole deal.“So, there is no gold?”Ariella smiled.“We believe there is a cache of Nazi gold somewhere in Argentina, but it is not likely to be found. All the people who knew of it are dead by now and as far as we’ve been able to determine, they didn’t pass the information on to anyone. As for any gold here in a led mine, well, there is a led mine a few kilometers from here, but it doesn’t have any gold.”“So I came down here for nothing?”“Oh no, you are going to be very useful. When you go back and tell Richter there is no gold here, he’ll have to relay that to Ahner. In the past, his contracts with Ahner have been that he is paid an advance which would be returned should his work not be successful. Since he will have failed in this attempt, Anher will demand that Richter return the advance.He won’t be able to do that because as we speak, the US is quietly in the process of freezing all his US bank accounts and arranging for a transfer from his Swiss bank would take too long"It would be my guess that when Ahner can’t get their money back, Marcus Richter will suddenly disappear and never be found. That is what happened to the last person who promised something to Ahner and then didn’t deliver. As I said, they will kill anyone without even a second thought.”“It sounds like I need to start sleeping with a pistol from now on. Thanks a lot.”Ariella shook her head.“No. You’re in no danger. We know Richter never disclosed your identity to Ahner, and the ammunition for both our rifles and your pistol are common to weapons issued to the Argentine Army and of the same manufacturer. When we leave, I’ll leave some evidence that it was the Argentine Army that attacked the camp. That does happen from time to time, usually when some company commander decides he isn’t being paid well enough to keep protecting them.”When we got back to the camp, Ariella took off her backpack.
Ariella; lethal and lovely.Based on a post by ronde, in 2 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Steamy Stories.Packed and Stacked.She was maybe twenty-five, and even in the battle dress she was wearing, she looked slender. I couldn’t tell much else about her except she looked a little the Arabic women I’d seen in Afghanistan. I was sure about two things though; the rifle was an Israeli M 89 SR sniper rifle, and she sounded very serious when she spoke.“What are you doing here?” she demanded.Since I was armed to the teeth and had just shot a guy, my story about being a tourist and out taking some pictures wasn’t going to work very well. The truth would work better unless she was one of the traffickers. I didn’t think she was though. If she had been, she’d have just shot me while she had the chance.“I’m an American. This guy hired me to track down some gold he thought was hidden in an old led mine. This is where the led mine is supposed to be located. I hadn’t counted on there being anybody else here.”She smiled then.“You’ll be Dale Stevenson, right?”“Yeah. How do you know that?”She was still smiling.“We can talk about that later. Right now, we need to take care of the guys who are going to come down that road in a couple of minutes.”Showdown looming.When the truck finally came into view, the men looked a little hesitant and the woman told me why.“They’re taking it slow because they don’t know who’s out here. If it was the Argentine Army, the traffickers would have known they were coming and they wouldn’t be here. That’s because they pay certain people in the Army to protect them. They would just relocate and the Army could appear to be doing their job because they discovered the camp. Once they figure out where we are, they won’t stop until we’re dead or they are so I hope you’re a good shot. During my briefing they said you are.”It was about then the truck came creeping down the road. The woman sighted through the rifle scope and with two quick shots; she shot the driver and smashed in the receiver of the M60.The men bailed out of the pickup and clustered up behind it, then talked for a while before another man pulled the dead driver out of the truck, got back in, started the engine, and started it back down the road. The other men followed behind it with their rifles ready. When they got close enough to see their faces, most of them looked scared.The woman was looking through the scope on her rifle when she whispered.“They’re still looking for where the shots came from, Oh, one of them just pointed in the direction of the man you shot. They think the shots came from those rocks over there. They’ll keep the truck between them and the rocks until they’re pretty close, and then jump out from behind it and start firing at those rocks and any other cover they see. We’ll have to take them before they spread out too much. I’ll take out the driver and the ones in the lead. You start at the rear and work your way toward the truck.”The truck continued to creep down the road, and when they were about ten meters from the main road, the men began to move up the side of the truck. She took out the driver and that was my signal. I sighted in on the man furthest from the truck and fired.The whole thing took less than a minute. I saw one man running back toward the camp, but he didn’t make it. The woman’s shot dropped him face first in the dirt of the road.Well, like I said, my original intention was to retreat if possible. Now, we’d shot a bunch of people based on what the woman had said, and I didn’t have the slightest idea who the hell she was or who they were. The only thing I was sure of was I was in deep shit and it was probably going to get deeper.I turned to look at the woman. She was in the process of changing magazines on her rifle. She slammed the full magazine into the magazine well, checked the chamber for a live round, and then looked up and smiled.“I guess you’re as good as they said. You only missed twice.”She was beginning to piss me off by telling me what to do and then criticizing me for how I did it.“Yeah, well, it’s been a while since I’ve been in a firefight. Since you seem to know everything about me and what just happened, what do we do now?”She stood up, shouldered the rifle, and frowned.“I’ve been watching that camp for a week waiting for you to get here, and I counted twelve men. That means there are five left. They’ll wait a while for these men to come back, but when they don’t they’ll send at least two to find out what happened. We need to get to that camp before they do that.”“And what do we do when we get there? I don’t really like shooting people when I don’t know which side they’re on.”She smiled again.“They’re on the side that would kill both of us without even thinking about it. Does that help?”Moving to a safer place.We kept to the rocks until we got to the trees, and then made our way to the camp by walking a few meters from the road. Two men were just walking to the second truck when we got there. The woman tapped me on the shoulder and when I looked she pointed at the shack and held up three fingers, the pointed to me.Without waiting for an answer, she sighted down the scope of her rifle. A second later, the guy starting to climb in the driver’s seat grabbed his chest and then fell down. It was maybe two seconds later and after the other guy started running back to the shack that he went down with a bullet in his back.That was about when the other three came running out of the shack with their rifles. I took them out with three shots. Then, we waited to see if any of them were going to get up or if there were any more in the shack. After five minutes, all was quiet, so the woman stood up.“That should be all of them. Let’s go see what they have in the shacks.”I noticed she didn’t shoulder the rifle this time, and she didn’t just walk out into the clearing. She ran to take cover behind the truck first. I followed her and kept watching our flanks and rear.Once we were at the truck, she peeked around it at the shack, then ran the three meters to the corner. Once she was there, she motioned for me. I knew what she wanted me to do because it was a standard method of entering a building used by US Army Rangers. I ran to the other corner. Once I was there, we started working our way to the door.Her count had been right. There was nobody in the smaller shack. It was evidently sort of a barracks and mess hall, because there were four cots on one side. On the other side was a table and a small wood-burning stove.We left the shack and repeated the same thing on the larger shack. When we pushed open the door there, I saw the reason the traffickers were there.Inside that shack and in a clump were six young girls holding on to each other because they were terrified. Two looked like the women I’d seen in Buenos Aires, but the other four were definitely Asian.The woman rattled off something in Spanish, and then something in what I guessed was French. It looked to me like the girls relaxed a little then. The two Hispanic girls smiled, and two of the Asian girls said something back to her and then started jabbering away at the other two.The woman turned to me and smiled.“I just told them we were here to rescue them. The girls who talked to me are Vietnamese girls and they understood French. They said they’ve been here for two weeks. The other two Asian girls are from Taiwan and they speak Chinese. The two Vietnamese girls are telling them what I said. Now we have to get them somewhere safe. I can take care of that.”The woman pulled what looked like a cell phone from her vest and tapped the screen, then held it to her ear. A few seconds later, she said, “Secure. Six kittens”. She got an answer, said, “Ready in fifteen”, then tapped the screen again. As she put the cell phone back in her vest, she smiled.“You’re wondering how I got a cell phone to work out here aren’t you? It is a cell phone so if I were to be captured, it won’t raise any suspicions. It works just like any other cell phone except it will only communicate with our own cell towers. My group has a mobile tower about six kilometers from here. They’ll meet us at the road in about fifteen minutes.”Like she said, about fifteen minutes later, a bus drove up and stopped where the road to the camp met the main road. Once the six girls were on board, the bus drove off and left the woman and me standing there in the road. I asked her why she didn’t get on the bus too. She smiled.“I’ll tell you on the way back to their camp. We have a few things left to do.”Her story explained a lot about her and how she knew so much about me.“My name, my real name, is Ariella. You don’t need to know my last name."Ariella is Hebrew for "Lioness of God”. My father named me that because he said I was so much like my grandfather. My grandfather was killed during the rebellion in the Warsaw ghetto. My other grandparents were sent to Treblinka where they were killed.“My father was ten years old then, and during the fighting, some people in the Polish resistance smuggled him out of the ghetto and into the forest. From there, he was taken to a Catholic monastery where he was baptized as a Catholic so the Germans wouldn’t arrest and take him to a concentration camp. He had to learn how to act like a Catholic boy in a very short time, but he was a smart boy and survived the war that way."When the war ended, my father was taken to France and placed with Catholic foster parents. He grew up on a vineyard near Langon and learned to speak French, but he never forgot he was Jewish. As soon as he reached the age of nineteen, he left France for Israel and began searching for any relatives who survived the camps. He found no one with the same last name who remembered his father or mother. Instead, he found Miriam, the woman he would marry and the woman who would become my mother."Her past was much like my father’s, though she was French. Her parents placed her with Catholic friends when the Nazi’s began arresting French Jews. She was later taken to Spain and raised by a family there. She was only eighteen when she went to Israel in hopes of finding her family. She found a job to support herself working in the government, and that is how she met my father."From my mother, I learned to speak and write Spanish. From both my father and mother, I learned to speak and write French and Hebrew."When I was eighteen, I was conscripted into the Israeli Defense Force. Because my testing showed I had an aptitude for languages, when I finished basic and combat training, I was sent to a school to learn to speak and write Arabic. After that school, I was transferred to the Combat Intelligence Collection Corps. I was made part of Sayeret Matkal, the Israeli Special Forces branch that does recon and intelligence gathering behind enemy lines. I can’t tell you what I did there."When I finished my service, a man came to see me and asked if I’d like to help Israel in a different way. What he told me sounded exciting, so I accepted and became part of the Duvdevan Unit. I spent two years dressed in civilian clothes in several Arab countries gathering intelligence on terrorist organizations. A year ago, I was identified by one of the radical Islamic organizations as an Israeli agent and had to leave the Middle East or I’d have been killed. I was assigned to Argentina to gather intelligence on the Neo-Nazi groups that are located here and to some extent, in Brazil and other South American countries."The men we just killed are part of a Neo-Nazi group who call their organization Ahner. They took their name from the Nazi Germany think-tank known as Ahnenerbe. Their ideology is the same as the German Nazi party. They advocate the elimination or enslavement or all races they consider inferior, and they finance their operations by trafficking in sex slaves of those same races. That’s what they’re doing out here; financing their operations. I was assigned to stop them."The camp you saw is a lay-over point between the ports in Chile where they land the girls and wherever they’re going next. It might be the brothels in Buenos Aires, Mexico, almost any country including the US. They will kill anyone who tries to stop them. Do you feel better about what we did now?”I’d heard of the Duvdeven Unit of the Israeli Special Forces, but the name was about all I’d heard. Nobody, not even the CIA guys I worked with, knew much about what the Duvdeven Unit did, or if they knew, they weren’t telling anybody. All that was known was they were Israelis who were fluent in Arabic and dressed in the clothing of the local population. Supposedly they infiltrated the ranks of the terrorists and sent that information back to Israel. There were rumors about assassinations of high-ranking terrorist officials, but that’s all they were, just rumors.That knowledge explained a lot of things about Ariella. I knew the Israeli Special Forces are among the most highly trained fighting forces in the world and were as good as our own US Army Rangers and Navy SEALs. To work undercover in the situations in Afghanistan and Iran would require more than training though. It would require an immense amount of self-confidence and as one of my Ranger instructors had once said, “balls big enough to need a wheelbarrow”.It also explained how much she knew about me. The CIA in the Middle East and the Israeli Special Forces have a very close working relationship. All it would take is for someone in the ISF to request information about me and they’d have it. What I didn’t understand is why they were interested in what I was doing in Argentina.“OK, I understand why you’re here, but you said you were waiting on me for a week. It’s not that I don’t appreciate you bailing my ass out of trouble, but why are you so interested in why I’m here?”Ariella stopped walking then and turned to face me.“Because Marcus Richter hired you.”I was confused again.“Richter isn’t a Neo-Nazi. He’s a dealer in international currencies.”Ariella smiled.“That’s what he told you, and he is, but his story is more detailed than that.At the end of World War Two, the Allies were looking for a German banker named Heinrich Richter because he was responsible for sending much of the gold pillaged by the German Army to Swiss banks. They wanted his records and his testimony so they could return the gold to the appropriate countries.Israel was very interested as well, because a significant amount of that gold came from Jews in the countries Germany overran. The Allies were closing in on him when he disappeared. The rumor was he was able to escape to Argentina. Through our intelligence efforts in Argentina, we learned he did indeed relocate to Argentina where he married a local woman with high status in the government. Unfortunately, we learned that information after he died."For several years, we monitored the activities of his wife and son, the same Marcus Richter who spoke with you. His mother appears to have retired to an estate in the country with a private nurse, and no one other than Richter visits or telephones her. In our observations of Richter though, it was soon evident he has close connections with several Neo-Nazi groups in Argentina. We suspected he was using his business to launder money for them, but we were never able to positively tie his financial dealings to them. Richter is smart and he uses Swiss banks for all the transfers. Getting information from a Swiss bank is something even Israel can not easily do. The reason is the amount of Nazi gold still held in those banks."We needed a way to stop him, so we laid a trap for him. We forged the hallmark on a single gold bar and arranged for another currency trader who supports our cause to contact him. We also planted the story about the submarines through another of our contacts in Argentina, a former member of the ISF who emigrated from Germany to Argentina a few years ago. The man who told Richter about the smelter was another of our contacts who casually related the story to Richter’s assistants. The story about the mine and its location has been rumored in Argentina for years so once we had located the smelter for him, Richter assumed the gold must be in the mine, just as we intended.The rest of the story you already know, except that the money you are being paid came from the treasury of Ahner. We know that information through the efforts of a man who is the son of a Jewish man and his Argentine wife. He grew up in Buenos Aires and is fluent in Spanish. He has infiltrated Ahner and relays information on their activities to my unit.”I was beginning to understand now and I didn’t feel good about the whole deal.“So, there is no gold?”Ariella smiled.“We believe there is a cache of Nazi gold somewhere in Argentina, but it is not likely to be found. All the people who knew of it are dead by now and as far as we’ve been able to determine, they didn’t pass the information on to anyone. As for any gold here in a led mine, well, there is a led mine a few kilometers from here, but it doesn’t have any gold.”“So I came down here for nothing?”“Oh no, you are going to be very useful. When you go back and tell Richter there is no gold here, he’ll have to relay that to Ahner. In the past, his contracts with Ahner have been that he is paid an advance which would be returned should his work not be successful. Since he will have failed in this attempt, Anher will demand that Richter return the advance.He won’t be able to do that because as we speak, the US is quietly in the process of freezing all his US bank accounts and arranging for a transfer from his Swiss bank would take too long"It would be my guess that when Ahner can’t get their money back, Marcus Richter will suddenly disappear and never be found. That is what happened to the last person who promised something to Ahner and then didn’t deliver. As I said, they will kill anyone without even a second thought.”“It sounds like I need to start sleeping with a pistol from now on. Thanks a lot.”Ariella shook her head.“No. You’re in no danger. We know Richter never disclosed your identity to Ahner, and the ammunition for both our rifles and your pistol are common to weapons issued to the Argentine Army and of the same manufacturer. When we leave, I’ll leave some evidence that it was the Argentine Army that attacked the camp. That does happen from time to time, usually when some company commander decides he isn’t being paid well enough to keep protecting them.”When we got back to the camp, Ariella took off her backpack.
Today, BBC journalist Nick Witchell interviews Steve about the threat landscape in light of a number of damaging hacks that have recently been made public. They consider the challenges regulators face given the current geopolitical situation and discuss how organisations can create a thorough cyber defense and response plan. Key Takeaways: 1. Organisations cannot abdicate responsibility for data security, even when outsourcing to third parties. They need strong incident response plans and ongoing assessment of third-party security capabilities. 2. In terms of any country's political agenda on cybersecurity, AI regulation is often overshadowed by other issues. 3. Few parliamentarians and ministers come from a security background, which is one reason why it's critical to provide guidance and insight to them. 4. A more thoughtful and funded approach to security would benefit society, considering the potential impact on people's lives and the need for effective incident response. Tune in to hear more about: 1. Accountability and responsibility in cybersecurity (1:59) 2. Role of cybersecurity centers and national institutions (5:13) 3. Government and political involvement in cybersecurity (8:29) 4. Public awareness and the ISF's role (12:21) 5. Risk management and security investment (16:32) 6. Concerns about technology implementation (20:14) Standout Quotes: 1. “We (at the ISF) don't want to be one of those organisations that's constantly barracking people and complaining. We want to be holding true to some of our founding principles, which is about providing best advice, providing some of the best tools, providing some of the best insights that we gather from our own team and also from our member community. But we do need to make more noise about that, because people desperately need to understand some of the implications, and indeed, very much more importantly, what they can actually practically do about it.” - Steve Durbin 2. “There is no one size fits all. That's the other thing about this. You have to have it in line with your business direction, your size, your maturity, all of those sorts of things. Very often people ask me for blueprints or, what does good look like? And my answer is always the same: it varies depending on your stage of maturity and your willingness to spend, and how important your data is to you.” - Steve Durbin Mentioned in this episode: ISF Analyst Insight Podcast Read the transcript of this episode Subscribe to the ISF Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts Connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter From the Information Security Forum, the leading authority on cyber, information security, and risk management.
Ce lundi 2 septembre, les possibilités de réforme du système fiscal français, notamment la fusion entre l'IR et la CSG, les enjeux du retour de l'ISF, et l'idée d'une taxation à 0% des droits de donation, ont été abordés par Éric Gérard, fondateur d'Ambition France, Dany Lang, enseignant chercheur en économie à Sorbonne-Paris Nord, et Olivier Babeau, président de l'Institut Sapiens, dans l'émission Les Experts, présentée par Nicolas Doze sur BFM Business. Retrouvez l'émission du lundi au vendredi et réécoutez la en podcast.
I want to be very clear: I am NOT endorsing or opposing any politician or candidate. But this is an incredibly important topic and I am hoping that I can break it down fairly and dispassionately. I am also going to try my best to keep my personal views out of it. I look forward to hearing your thoughts, comments, corrections and questions. Here goes…Year Of The Opposite - Travis Stoliker's Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.In plain English, what exactly is going on and why is the concept of taxing unrealized capital gains in the news?The concept of taxing unrealized capital gains has become a hot topic, especially as the Biden-Harris administration pushes forward their unique tax policies. In essence, unrealized capital gains are the increases in value of assets like stocks or property that haven't been sold yet. Under a new proposal, the idea is to tax these paper profits annually as if they were actual income.This topic is making headlines because it's a major shift in how we think about wealth and taxation. Traditionally, taxes are levied on income you actually receive—like your salary—or on profits you make when you sell an asset. (Note: When I say “Asset” just think: your real estate, your stock, or maybe a business you own that you sell.) But now, the discussion has pivoted to taxing potential income before it's even realized. (Note: When I say “realized” in a financial concept it means selling an asset like a stock and converting the stock certificate into cash.) The stated goal behind this new and novel approach is supposed to ensure that the wealthiest individuals pay a fair share, addressing concerns over wealth inequality. However, as with any significant policy shift, it brings along a flurry of debates and concerns.The Biden-Harris administration has said: "Preferential treatment for unrealized gains disproportionately benefits high-wealth taxpayers and provides many high-wealth taxpayers with a lower effective tax rate than many low- and middle-income taxpayers."What has been proposed and what is the history of the proposal to tax unrealized capital gains?The proposal isn't just a fleeting idea; it's embedded in the Biden administration's fiscal plans. Officially introduced in March 2023, the proposal suggests a minimum tax of 25% on total income, including unrealized gains, for those with a net worth exceeding $100 million. This isn't a new debate, though. The concept of taxing wealth rather than just income has been discussed for years, but it's only now being seriously considered as a part of fiscal policy.The reason this is coming up this week is that the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget reported on the Harris campaign's stance. They stated: 'The campaign specifically told us that they support all of the tax increases on the high earners and corporations that are in the Biden budget." Here is the full policy and some important excerpts: But doesn't this policy only apply to super rich people?Yes, but the concern is that this is exactly how the income tax originally started. The idea of taxing only the super-rich isn't new; it mirrors the initial U.S. income tax in 1861, which taxed just 3% of the population making over $800. However, this tax was temporary, repealed in 1872, but its concept evolved, leading to the 16th Amendment in 1913, allowing for a broader income tax.Critics worry that what starts as a tax on the ultra-wealthy could expand, much like the income tax did. Initially targeting the rich, the income tax eventually reached the middle class, with rates as high as 94% for top earners by 1944, showing how tax policies can broaden over time.Even though this policy doesn't yet apply to everyday people, can you give me an example that a common person can relate to?Sure, imagine you own a house. Over the years, the value of your house increases significantly, but you don't sell it. Under a policy that taxes unrealized gains, you'd have to pay taxes each year on the increased value of your home—even though you haven't actually received any cash from that increase. This could create a financial burden, especially if you're cash-poor but asset-rich. Let's try to use an example. Say you bought a house in East Lansing for $100,000 but due to some crazy economic events like the lead up we saw to 2007, the house in theory is worth $200,000. But you have no intention of selling your house because you just want to live in it. Under this proposal, you'd have to pay a 25% tax on the gain of $100,000. Meaning you'd have to come up with $25,000 in cash to pay your taxes on the house. Where would you come up with that cash? Would you have to sell the house in order to pay the taxes? Maybe you did have $25,000 in cash, which you had intended to use to replace the roof on your house or remodel it. Now you would have to use that money to pay taxes. And what if that $200,000 increased value was not real. What if we saw what happened in 2008 happen all over again and there is a market crash and now your house is again worth $100,000? As you can see, this gets very complicated and very confusing, very quickly. To be very clear: This current proposal does NOT apply to your house or mine. I'm just using this example because it's something we can all relate to.Do other countries do this?While some countries have experimented with taxing wealth, including unrealized gains, it remains far from a global standard. For instance, Norway's wealth tax indirectly affects unrealized gains as part of the overall wealth calculation, but it has sparked debates over unintended consequences like capital flight. Similarly, France's former wealth tax (ISF) faced criticism for driving wealthy individuals out of the country, leading to its repeal in 2017 and replacement with a tax focused solely on real estate. These cases illustrate the challenges and potential downsides of taxing unrealized gains, making the U.S. proposal a relatively novel and significant departure from how most countries handle capital gains taxation.What would this mean for innovation and invention in America? What would this do to startups?Innovation thrives on risk-taking and long-term investment. A tax on unrealized gains could potentially dampen the entrepreneurial spirit by imposing financial burdens on profits that exist only on paper. Entrepreneurs might become more cautious, fearing the tax implications of holding onto high-risk, high-reward ventures. This policy could stifle innovation by deterring the very risk-taking that drives breakthroughs.Let's be more specific about how this policy might impact startups. Many startups don't generate profits in their early years. Take Amazon, FedEx, Snapchat, TBS, Netflix, Adobe, and Airbnb as examples—none of these companies made a single dime of profit for more than five years after they launched. Yet, during this period, the paper valuation of these companies soared like a rocket.What does this mean in practice? It means that while these companies appeared successful on paper, they weren't generating cash profits. The founders and investors were reinvesting every penny back into the company's growth—hiring more people, building infrastructure, and ramping up advertising. Often, this reinvestment happens alongside rounds of fundraising at ever-higher valuations, based on the company's potential rather than its current profitability.In plain English, the "value" of these companies on paper kept climbing, but there was no cash flow to match it. If this proposal were enacted, founders and investors wouldn't just need to pour their personal cash into growing the business and paying employees—they'd also need to invest additional cash solely to pay taxes on unrealized gains. Would you sign up for that?I think an example might be useful here: We all know that restaurants are notoriously difficult and often unprofitable businesses. Now, imagine you've opened the dream café you've always wanted. You invest $100,000 from your 401(k) to build out your first location. Things are going well in your first year, so you decide it's time to expand and open a second location. Like many entrepreneurs, instead of paying yourself, you choose to reinvest the business's earnings into hiring the best employees possible. Then, you get an opportunity to launch that second location across town, but it's going to take another $100,000 to make it happen.After working an entire year without paying yourself, and having already invested your 401(k) savings into the business, you need to bring in a new investor to raise the additional $100,000. When the new investor comes on board, they value the company higher, so on paper, the value of your café increases. However, despite this increase in paper valuation, you, the founder, still haven't earned a single dime from the company.Now, because the valuation on paper has gone up (the unrealized gain), you and the new investor not only need to come up with the $100,000 to build the second location—you also need an additional $25,000 just to cover the taxes on that unrealized gain.And let's not forget, startups are incredibly risky. What happens if the company fails? What if the founders are working on something as monumental as a cure for cancer? Would they, and their investors, continue to risk their money, time, and resources, knowing that a portion of it is being siphoned off for taxes on non-existent profits? Would you? Is this really what we want as a society—discouraging the very risks that lead to life-changing innovations?Again, to be very clear: This current proposal does NOT apply to your Cafe or mine. I'm just using this example because it's something we can all relate to.Since people can move, if this happened, wouldn't all the rich people just move and leave the United States?Maybe. That is the problem with policies like this—they tend to have unintended consequences. Wealthy individuals have the resources to relocate to countries with more favorable tax laws. If implemented, we might see a migration of wealth out of the U.S., similar to what has happened in other countries with aggressive tax policies. This exodus could lead to a decrease in investment and philanthropy within the U.S., ultimately hurting the economy. And most importantly, this could ultimately reduce total tax income for the government which would completely defeat the intended goal of this policy.Addressing some common misconceptions about taxes in the United States: “The rich need to pay their fair share” There are some common misconceptions that are often stated that need to be cleared up. It surprises many people to learn that every year, between 40-55% of U.S. households pay $0 in federal income taxes. None. Now let's look at the top 1% of earners that are often talked about. The top 1% of earners bring in around 20-21% of all income in the U.S., but they pay nearly half of all federal income taxes. This isn't to say that the system is perfect, but it's a reminder that tax policy is already incredibly complex and there are many misconceptions. Can you explain in a bit more detail how this would exactly work?Here's where it gets technical. The unrealized gains tax would function as a prepayment on future realized gains taxes, meaning you wouldn't pay taxes twice on the same gain. If you eventually sell the asset for less than its taxed value or incur a loss, you could get a refund. This system aims to prevent people from being taxed on income they never actually receive, but it also adds layers of complexity.For example, if you're illiquid—meaning most of your wealth is tied up in non-tradable assets—you might only have to pay taxes on liquid assets, but there's a catch: you'd face a deferral charge of up to 10% on the gain of your illiquid assets. And if you pass away, your estate pays the death tax, with any overpaid unrealized taxes refunded to the estate.Can this policy actually be implemented by the President?No, not directly. While the President can propose tax policies, it's ultimately up to Congress to pass them. Given the contentious nature of this proposal and the significant legal and logistical hurdles, its implementation is far from guaranteed. It's a complex policy that would require broad support and careful crafting to become law.How would this tax interact with state-level taxes?State tax systems often mirror federal rules, so if a federal tax on unrealized gains were implemented, states might consider adopting similar measures. However, this could lead to conflicts between federal and state tax policies, particularly in states with lower or no income tax. Additionally, the combined burden of federal and state taxes on unrealized gains could increase the overall tax rate on affected individuals.How would this policy affect retirement accounts and other tax-advantaged savings vehicles?At this point, the proposal does not specifically target retirement accounts like 401(k)s or IRAs, which traditionally benefit from tax deferral until funds are withdrawn. However, if the policy were to extend to such accounts, it could complicate the tax treatment of these savings vehicles and potentially undermine their tax-advantaged status. Clarifications would be needed to determine how, if at all, these accounts would be affected.How do you determine how much tax to be paid? Who determines the value of an unrealized capital gain? For example: how do you know how much a business is worth for sure if you haven't yet sold it? The tax on unrealized capital gains is based on the value of your assets at the end of each year. For stocks, it's easy to figure out because their market value is clear. But when it comes to assets like a small business or real estate that haven't been sold, it gets tricky.For these types of assets, the value would have to be estimated, often through appraisals. This is where things can get complicated and subjective. For example, valuing a business that hasn't been sold yet involves guessing what someone might pay for it based on current market conditions and future earnings.To illustrate how hard it is to value something accurately, just think about how often you've seen wildly different "Zestimates" on Zillow for houses, including your own. This same kind of uncertainty can apply to other assets, making it difficult to determine an exact tax amount.The policy might include safeguards to adjust for big swings in value, allowing for tax credits or refunds if an asset's value drops after you've already paid tax on it. But the details on how this would work aren't clear yet, and it's something that would need to be carefully handled to avoid unfair taxes based on inaccurate valuations.Addressing some of the myths that are being said about this policy:There are several myths or misconceptions often cited which might not hold up under scrutiny:Myth: Taxing Unrealized Gains is Fair Because Wealthy Individuals Use Unrealized Gains for Borrowing:Reality: While it's true that wealthy individuals can use the value of their assets as collateral for loans, this doesn't mean they've realized income. (IE: sold their asset for cash.) The value of the underlying assets can still fluctuate, and if the asset's value drops below the loan amount, the individual might still owe on the loan despite having no income from the asset. Taxing unrealized gains could lead to situations where individuals owe taxes on "income" they never actually received.Myth: It's Just Like Taxing Income or Profits:Reality: Taxing unrealized gains is fundamentally different from taxing income or realized profits because it's based on potential wealth, not actual wealth. This could lead to scenarios where individuals or entities are taxed on wealth that might never materialize if the asset's value decreases.Myth: This Will Only Affect the Ultra-Wealthy:Reality: While the proposal might target the ultra-wealthy, there are always unintended consequences when imposing any tax policy. This may result in an increase in sales of businesses, or a decrease. It could lead to people moving their money out of the country, or potentially people completely migrating out of the country. The consequences could be far-reaching and unintended, as seen in France and Norway. As always, please remember, these are never lectures. They are reminders to myself and I want to hear and learn from you. What do you think? Is this proposed policy a good idea? What did I get wrong? Please let me know so that I can improve. If you got value out of this, please do me a favor by sharing or subscribing. It means a lot to me. Year Of The Opposite - Travis Stoliker's Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Year Of The Opposite - Travis Stoliker's Substack at www.yearoftheopposite.com/subscribe
Allie lives in the Portland area working behind the scenes as a stagehand to put on all of your favorite live shows. Her favorite hobbies include making her friends and family beg her to leave the beach because she's hyper-fixated on sea glass hunting, dressing up for themed dance nights around Portland in which she always prefers to close a place down, napping at the air conditioned library while her children pile books on her, and collecting captivating conversations with fellow humans. Discussed this week: doing weed illicitly, being an uncool weed-doer, Billy's Chowder House in Wells and it's filthy, filthy parking lot, Bird's Eye frozen fried veggies, uni, ISF trading in Portland near Becky's, mommy's nighttime medicine, matte black, pineapple weed, Paul's Boutique, shitty dirt plants that save the world,, yolk energy, getting slipped weed chocolate bars by our mom, taking edibles and wrapping presents, Housu, One Cut of The Dead, Big Brain thoughts, Catholic aftershocks and Christian earthquakes, and more! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/potluckypodcast/support
Die Ikhaya Somandla-familie, of ISF, het in Mei aangekondig dat hulle 'n groenenergiekompleks in Walvisbaai wil ontwikkel. Dit sal 'n olieraffinadery, 'n hernubare-energie-kragstasie en verwante bergingsfasiliteite insluit. Kosmos 94.1 Nuus het gepraat met James Links, die hoofbestuurder van ISF, vir 'n opdatering oor die projek.
On the latest CE Pro Podcast, Joel Silver of ISF, Jason Dustal of Murideo and AVPro Edge, and Robert Zohn of Value Electronics, explain how even simple calibration adjustments can create happier clients.
Couples work involves not just the external families each partner comes from, but also the internal systems each brings to the relationship. IFS (Internal Family Systems) research reminds us that couples can grow these internal systems with self-awareness and compassion individually and together. Today Christa offers the E + M audience a few basic strategies for doing this work together today. Join us for the deeper dive ISF couples episode today for the next level of care on Apple Podcast by subscribing (or if you're in the membership group, it's included through the website login here!) Freebie! Here's your freebie from today's episode, too as you strengthen in your SP, SX, and SO instinct together! Podcasts featuring Christa Hardin: The Book Tour + More! Sign up for the Enneamsummit: Mental Health free here! https://www.tylerzach.com/a/2147912098/LS2nNmzL (free link) or get the All-Access Pass here: https://www.tylerzach.com/a/2147912099/LS2nNmzL Email enneagramandmarriage@gmail.com with your book receipt for your digital copy of The Hidden Chapter Listen on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/c7fsnBLA0Rc Spread the word about the podcast here!
I am excited to share an episode about one of my favorite topics... branding!!! And my guest, Anika Jackson, is absolutely brilliant in sharing her advice and insight to help you build not only your professional brand, but your personal one as well. Anika Jackson is a senior communications and marketing professional with over 25 years of experience working with diverse brands and clients to build local and global interest and create meaningful, synergistic relationships between brands and consumers. Anika produces and hosts the Your Brand Amplified® podcast, a Listen Notes top 0.5% podcast. In addition, she is a graduate level professor at USC Annenberg and co-producer and co-host of the USC MediaSCape speaker series and podcast. Separately, she is VP of PR at Full Capacity Marketing and president of the ISF women's expo and a board member for the International Soccer Festival. Ms. Jackson is a bestselling Amazon author in the women's anthology, Business on Purpose Vol. 2. Join us for this incredible podcast that will surely impact your perspective about branding.
Being the mother of 5 children, my 5th one, adopted later in his life and mine, the thought of losing any one of them, is unimaginable. This episode is about the unimaginable - a mother, a family, who lost a beautiful, funny, feisty, smart, caring, courageous 7-year-old to cancer. As many of you know, I have had my personal battle with cancer and currently, my younger brother is facing his - unless you have been through your own, it is hard to imagine the havoc that chemotherapy, radiation, and medications wreak on your body, not to mention your spirit when you are feeling sick and definitely not looking like anything familiar to your pre-cancer self - As a grown-up, there are certain expectations of how I should be weathering my cancer journey - after all, I have lived a life, even if I am not ready to say good-bye, but a child - that is an entirely different story; one in which they are just beginning their life's journey, only to be shortchanged or at best, sidetracked for a period-of-time where we bear witness to their suffering through various cancer treatments - it doesn't get much worse… Isabella Joanne Santos had a rare form of cancer, neuroblastoma, at age 2. She endured chemotherapy, surgery, radiation, antibodies, numerous ups & downs, meaning multiple relapses for 5 years until she passed away at age 7; while many of us were reading our children bedtime stories…Isabella and her family were waging a war. What was so spectacular about Isabella was that she was truly a rare gift to her family and to those who were lucky enough to meet her; the word rare in this context means an unusual, talented, gifted, special little girl, and yet, in the cancer world, rare means 700 children are affected each year. It means children, usually under the age of 5, are diagnosed with a form of cancer. It means scary statistics about survival rates and relapses. In the case of the latter instance, rare is not one of the words you ever want to hear. Established in 2007, The Isabella Santos Foundation (ISF) is dedicated to eradicating pediatric cancer's devastating impact while honoring the legacy of Isabella Santos, her courageous fight against neuroblastoma. Collaborating with medical institutions, ISF drives innovative research to pioneer new treatments and enhance young cancer patients' lives. Over-the-course of seventeen years, ISF has provided over $7 million in funding toward expanding the scope of research and treatment and supporting families dealing with cancer in a variety of ways. It was Isabella's dream to Beat Cancer, Grow Hair, and Live Her Dreams. Although research and advanced treatments didn't come in time for her dreams to come true, Isabella's legacy will give other kids a fighting chance against rare childhood cancers. Like so many smaller, gutsy organizations, they iterated in a positive direction to meet the unmet needs of their constituencies - in this case, all childhood cancers Check out their website: www.isabellasantosfoundation.org
Steve recently sat for an interview with veteran journalist Julie MacDonald for a feature with The European. Last week, we listened to the first part of that conversation, and today, we're hearing the second. Julie and Steve talk about scenario planning, transparency within industries, and what good leadership looks like in this complex moment in history. Key Takeaways: 1. Durbin emphasizes AI's dependence on data integrity and the importance of starting with good data. 2. Durbin discusses the challenges of geopolitical threats and market flux, and how organizations must prepare for an uncertain future. 3. Durbin notes increased use of ISF's supplier assessment tools to mitigate risks due to geopolitical tensions and COVID-19. Tune in to hear more about: 1. Cyber security, AI, and data integrity (0:00) 2. Cyber security threats, vulnerabilities, and supply chain risks (3:40) 3. Risk management, leadership priorities, and the importance of collaboration (9:28) Standout Quotes: 1. “Bear in mind that when it all comes crashing down, there isn't a piece of technology in the world that will get your systems back up and running. And so don't forget the role that people have to play. So look after the people, make sure that they understand the important role that they have, because I think all too often, we talk about them being the weakest link. Actually, they're the strongest link.“ - Steve Durbin 2. “You have to focus on the crown jewels. That's your starting point. Very often, people will say to me, well, how much should we be spending? And my answer to that is, it depends. It depends on your risk profile, depends how nervous you are, it depends if you're going to enter new markets, it depends if you're coming out of markets. So you have to, as the leader of an organization, I think, juggle all of those things. And you have to do it in a very sort of swanlike way.“ - Steve Durbin 3. “You will make mistakes. And the mistake itself isn't important. What is important is how you recover from that, and how you learn from it going forward. And how you share that with other people in your organization. And how you become very much more agile to take advantage of some of the opportunities that that might open up.“ - Steve Durbin Mentioned in this episode: ISF Analyst Insight Podcast Read the transcript of this episode Subscribe to the ISF Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts Connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter From the Information Security Forum, the leading authority on cyber, information security, and risk management.
On this episode, Brendan is joined by ISF writer Benjamin Wiebe to discuss Kevin Costner's ambitious new project HORIZON: AN AMERICAN SAGA - CHAPTER 1! Visit https://insessionfilm.com for merch and more! Visit this episode's sponsor: https://koffeekult.com - Get 15% OFF with the code: ISF24 Thanks for listening and be sure to subscribe on your podcast app of choice! https://insessionfilm.com/subscribe Follow us on Twitter! @InSessionFilm | @RealJDDuran | @BrendanJCassidy
On this episode, JD and Brendan are joined by ISF writer Max Vincent to discuss Yorgos Lanthimos' latest film KINDS OF KINDNESS! Visit https://insessionfilm.com for merch and more! Visit this episode's sponsor: https://koffeekult.com - Get 15% OFF with the code: ISF24 Thanks for listening and be sure to subscribe on your podcast app of choice! https://insessionfilm.com/subscribe Follow us on Twitter! @InSessionFilm | @RealJDDuran | @BrendanJCassidy
On Episode 91 of Women InSession, after discussing Brad Pitt in the 90s a few months ago and some debate among the ISF team, we decided to have a discussion about Pitt in the 21st Century and why it differs drastically from his 90s output! Panel: Kristin Battestella, Jaylan Salah, Amy Thomasson, Zita Short Visit https://insessionfilm.com for merch and more! Thanks for listening and be sure to subscribe on your podcast app of choice! https://insessionfilm.com/subscribe
La inflación encabeza la lista de preocupaciones de los franceses, seis puntos más que en mayo. El 40% de los encuestados por Ipsos la ponen en primer lugar de la lista de sus preocupaciones, por delante de la violencia y la criminalidad (31%), de la inmigración (21%) y de la salud (25%). Aunque la subida de los precios se ha moderado, un 2,3% en mayo, los franceses llevan perdiendo poder adquisitivo desde hace años. ¿Qué proponen los principales partidos en materia económica? Muchos franceses irán a votar el domingo que viene 30 de junio, primera vuelta de las elecciones legislativas, pensando en el bolsillo. La alianza de izquierdas que se presenta bajo el nombre Nuevo Frente Popular y el partido centro y liberal oficialista Juntos por la República proponen medidas diametralmente opuestas, mientras que la extrema derecha de la Agrupación Nacional ha cambiado de presupuesto varias veces en una semana. La financiación del programa económico de la extrema derecha genera dudas"En diez días, los gastos propuestos por la Agrupación Nacional pasaron de 130.000 millones de euros a 40.000 millones, o sea, no hay programa. Cada día cambian de idea y eso muestra la incertidumbre y la falta de credibilidad", afirma Ludovic Subran, economista jefe de Allianz. Para el experto, el partido de Marine Le Pen, favorito en los sondeos con una intención de voto del 36%, pone encima de la mesa unas propuestas que responden más que nada a un populismo económico como bajar la edad de jubilación a los 60 años y que los menores de 30 no paguen impuestos. "Esto quiere decir que el esfuerzo nacional lo tendrá que hacer la gente que tiene entre 30 y 60 años, esto muestra la estupidez de ese programa", considera Subran. La extrema derecha apuesta por la preferencia nacional y ahí según el economista, hay dos medidas importantes, "reducir los gastos hacia los extranjeros, algo que es ilegal, y bajar la contribución francesa al presupuesto europeo", añade. El sector empresarial, preocupado ante el aumento histórico de impuestos que planea la izquierda Por su parte, la alianza de izquierdas Nuevo Frente Popular, que tiene una intención de voto del 29%, defiende más gasto público y más impuestos para financiarlo. Una de las primeras medidas que anuncia es el aumento de los salarios de los funcionarios del 10%, así como revalorizar las ayudas a la vivienda.Para financiarlo prevén más impuestos, entre ellos reestablecer el impuesto a las grandes fortunas, ISF, para recaudar 15.000 millones de euros, el triple de lo que aportaba el suprimido por el presidente Emmanuel Macron. "Es un programa que tiene 120.000 millones de gastos adicionales, pero que tiene 100.000 millones de subida de impuestos adicionales. La financiación del programa no es un problema pero sí la fuga de capital y el miedo rojo, algunos franceses lo comparan a la llegada al poder en 1981 del socialista François Miterrand", analiza Ludovic Subran. Según el economista, Macron consiguió durante estos últimos siete años, "bajar la tasa de desempleo pero no logró mostrar que estaba protegiendo a los franceses, especialmente a la clase media francesa que siente que baja en términos de estándares de vida. Y este programa del Nuevo Frente Popular puede seducir porque baja la edad de jubilación a los 60 años e indexa las tranferencias sociales a la inflación, pero también es un programa muy marcado socialmente y hay gente que tiene miedo a un choque fiscal", asegura. El oficialismo propone más de lo mismo obviando el descontento de los franceses Los macronistas, tercera fuerza favorita con el 19,5% en los sondeos, proponen continuidad. Lejos de los 120.000 millones de gastos de la izquierda, el movimiento Juntos por la República prevé 7.000 millones de euros de gastos adicionales y cero subida de impuestos, según explica Subran. "Es como decir que hicieron un trabajo tan bueno que no hay que cambiar la política económica cuando sabemos muy bien que el tema del déficit presupuestario en Francia es súper importante. Se van a tener que hacer recortes por 112.000 millones de euros en los próximos tres, cuatro o cinco años; además hay un problema de poder adquisitivo en Francia. No sé si escucharon lo suficiente las quejas que llevaron a tantos franceses a votar por la extrema derecha el pasado 9 de junio (día de las elecciones europeas)", afirma el economista jefe de Allianz.
Quand on parle d'impôts, on n'évoque pas uniquement l'impôt sur le revenu. TVA, CSG, ISF.... quelle est la politique fiscale des différents camps qui s'affrontent ? Ecoutez L'éco & You avec Martial You du 26 juin 2024.
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