Podcast appearances and mentions of john pappas

This week John Pappas makes his long-awaited debut on the World Series of Politics, joining Brandt Iden and Brendan Bussmann to talk futures contracts, some of regulated igaming's more surprising opponents and legislative progress in the current session. 

We welcome the inspirational Dr. John Pappas to the show! John graduated cum laude from Boston University and then Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, where he was chosen to participate in the Teacher Training Honors Program. John serves as a trustee of the Alpha Omega Council and is a member of the New England Hellenic Medical and Dental Society (NEHMDS) and has received the NEHMDS scholarship for academic excellence three times. In addition to the NEHMDS, John is also an active member of the American Dental Association, the Massachusetts Dental Society, the American Academy of Facial Esthetics and Spear Education. Since 2002, Dr. Pappas has served as the Director of the Metropolis of Boston Youth Dance Group and works as a dentist at his 2 Masterpiece Dentistry offices at Copley and Burlington. Join us to learn about the amazing and vibrant Greek dance culture in Boston! Learn more at https://greekfolkdance.org/ See more on GreekAF >

Welcome back to another episode of Talks To-Go! Jill and George talk with our next special guest father/daughter duo, Alexi Pappas and John Pappas. Alexi is a Greek-American Olympic athlete, writer, actress, and filmmaker. Her memoir-in-essays, Bravey: Chasing Dreams, Befriending Pain, and Other Big Ideas, came out January 2021.  Its adaptation as a children's book, Bravey, was released, August 22nd. John is a mechanical engineer and has spent his entire career in the electric utility industry. During his leisure time, John works on his golf game, spends time with friends and family, attends San Francisco Giants games and other cultural events such as the symphony. No reservations necessary.  All TALKS are TO-GO.   Alexi: @alexipappas Bravey for Young Readers: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0593562747?tag=kirkus-20&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1 Instagram: @talkstogopodcast TikTok: @talkstogopod

The Metropolis of Boston Dance Group (MYDG) is a not-for-profit Greek folk dance group founded in 1989 by Niki Dimotaki-Sokolove under the auspices of His Eminence Metropolitan Methodios and is the only dance group in North America certified by the Dora Stratou Dance Theatre of Athens, Greece.The mission established by founder Niki Dimotaki-Sokolove and His Eminence was to instill the culture and tradition of Hellenism and the appreciation of this great heritage in the Greek Orthodox youth of the Boston Metropolis through fellowship, learning, folk dances, and songs. The program of instruction was designed by Kiria Νίκi to emphasize the authentic aspects of Greek folk dance, including music recorded with regional instruments and costumes hand-sewn by ελληνοράφτες.Today, under the direction of Dr. John Pappas, the program strives to maintain the established mission and uphold the authenticity of our heritage while building upon the foundations set by Niki Dimotaki-Sokolove and His Eminence.Kefi Conference The Metropolis of Boston Dance Group is thrilled to announce the first ever international dance conference in Boston which will take place October 11-14, 2024. Participation from multiple states in the US and regions of Canada are expected to attend. Dance workshops will be led by instructors from Greece who preserve the authentic styles of the dances of their region. Metropolis of Boston Dance Group InstagramKefi Dance Conference InstagramKefi Dance Conference FacebookEpisode Music: Manolis Kottoros

Mike and Nick talk with former Poker Players Alliance Executive Director John Pappas about efforts to #GrowPApoker and expand online poker to more parts of the US.From what can players do to help bring shared liquidity to Pennsylvania to grassroots activism to bring online poker to more states, John Pappas draws on his experience as PPA Executive Director to share tips and advice for growing poker in the US.

Paul Burns, the president and CEO of the Canadian Gaming Association joined the latest episode of the Gaming News Canada Show some 24 hours after giving the latest update to the association's growing membership. Not surprisingly, some of the conversation during the CGA's virtual call involved the proposed standards to advertising in the gaming industry by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario. Burns, who'll be part of a discussion on regulated gaming in our home and native land beyond Ontario at next week's SBC Summit Barcelona, also answered our questions on the leadership changes at the AGCO over the past two months. John Pappas, GeoComply's senior VP of government and public affairs, made his return to the show to shine a brighter light on GeoComply's NFL Week 1 report, which included a 56-per-cent rise in betting transactions from a year ago. Pappas also provided an update on efforts by U.S. states to join the 30-something states with legal sports betting. Amanda Brewer, the Canadian country manager for Kindred Group, and her LeoVegas counterpart Jacob Hargaden-Llewellin also lent their voices to the conversation on the latest news in the Canadian sports betting and gaming world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In case you didn't believe the tweets, LinkedIn posts and dispatches from other platforms that the Meadlowlands Exposition Center was buzzing this week at the SBC Summit, we present the proof in live audio form. The latest Gaming News Canada Show podcast presented by Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP was an abbreviated edition of the rapid-fire variety. Over the fortysomething minutes, we had guests moving in and out of chairs in a corner of the SBC Sales Lounge (thanks to Bob McFarland and Sue Schneider for letting us set up shop there) as fast and furiously as the Florida Panthers' forecheck against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the NHL Eastern Conference semifinal series. GeoComply government and public affairs savant John Pappas stopped by to provide his thoughts on the many conversations around igaming and M&A during the Summit's three days, and also on his company's acquisition of fellow Vancouver company OneComply to kick start the week. Brock University sports management professor Dr. Michael Naraine joined us remotely to discuss the need for third-party research on responsible gambling in Ontario. Regular contributor Kris Abbott from Betano Canada also sat with us for a few minutes, as did Tallysight technology guru Masheed Ahadi to answer a few questions about the San Diego company's latest partnership deals with Sportradar and Homestand Sports. Avenue H Capital founder and FOGNC Benjie Cherniak shuffled his schedule to join us and provide his insight on the hottest topics of the Summit. And we gave the last word this week to Homestand Sports CEO Mark Silver (simply to guarantee we had a lift to Newark International Airport for the flight home. . . . ). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jonah Sigel of YYZ Sports Media stepped outside a conference ballroom to speak about his exclusive report very early Thursday morning that Rogers Sportsnet is phasing out its SNBets betting focused content brand. Two Canadian country managers, Amanda Brewer of Kindred Group and Betano's Kris Abbott, along with Mark Silver and Mike Day from Parleh Media Group, also passed along their thoughts on the work in progress that is making sports betting content accessible, understandable and entertaining for sports fans.John Pappas, the senior VP of government and public affairs for Vancouver-based GeoComply, then joined us for a conversation on the company's protection of Ontario sportsbook operators from proxy betting and cyberattacks, especially during the week leading up to Super Bowl LVII. And last but not least, NorthStar Gaming CEO and founding father Michael Moskowitz provided more insight into its expanded partnership with global online gaming software provider Playtech, announced at the start of the week. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Illumination Zone: Doug Kaminski, Chief Revenue Officer and John Pappas, senior director of EDRM Trusted Partner, Cobra Legal Solutions, sit down wiith Kaylee & Mary to talk about their experience at CLOC, their approach to pricing alignment with clients and what attracted John Pappas to Cobra.

The Big Betting Balagan turns 2 today (!) and to celebrate we have a bumper edition focussing on iGaming in the US with DC based John Pappas who is a Public Affairs & Government Relations expert. He talks us through activity in New York as well as what to expect in the US in 2022 and beyond, including iCasino and why the rollout has been slow. He also updates on some interesting developments in California. In other news WynnBets pending sale, more activity over at Playtech as well as with UK National Lottery bidders Camelot and Allwyn all get the Balagan treatment. We also discuss the merits of fixed-odds horse race betting in the US, and Lee teases us with a preview to a new book that is being published and which claims will “uncover the sinister inner workings of one of the country's most nefarious industries”… John Pappas can be reached via Twitter or LinkedIn: Tw: https://twitter.com/yanni_dc LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-pappas-8741baa8/

We break down what's going on in the first weekend with legal sportsbook apps in New York. We also talk about the controversy surround Draymond Green bets in the NBA, and we sit down with John Pappas from iDEA Growth to talk about legalization efforts in 2022.

Sports gambling is finally coming to Ohio. News and notes affecting NFL rosters. Quick hitters. Daily fantasy value picks. Ohio State got a big win on the hardwood yesterday against #22 Wisconsin. Parlay Party. Betting preview for Ravens-Browns & 49ers-Bengals. NFL Week 14 picks. John Pappas joined us to discuss legalized sports gambling coming to Ohio next year. Best bets to wrap up the show.

For more than a decade, John Pappas was the face of legalized online poker in the United States as he led the Poker Players Alliance during a period of the introduction of legal online gaming in the U.S. and a crackdown on sites like Full Tilt and PokerStars following the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in 2006. His positive message eventually accounted for 4 million members of the PPA who helped lobby states to legalize online gaming and poker. Today, he's also helping to promote Idea Growth, an organization founded by attorney Jeff Ifrah to advocate legal online gaming. He spoke with GGB Publisher Roger Gros at G2E in October. (To view a video of this podcast see below). GGB: You were involved in the legalization of online gaming, specifically online poker years ago. What was it like in those days? Pappas: I can remember going into meetings in those days and suggesting that the legalization of online gaming would be a good thing, and just being met with a chorus of “it's not going to happen, we don't want it, it's not going to happen.” We were standing alone being laughed at by most people. Now I think everyone's standing together trying to figure it out. There are still holdouts, especially in Nevada. It's slow to progress there when it comes to digital anything because of the reluctance of some factions to understand this new wave of gaming and consumer interaction. When did you begin to see the shift in attitudes toward online gaming? I think it was when Caesars and MGM began to get on board. When they began to recognize the potential, things started to change. For Caesars, it was the World Series of Poker. That's a very valuable brand, and you have to remember that poker was what everyone was talking about in those early days. They knew there were millions of people playing online poker, and how could they monetize this powerful asset they had? This is why you only have online poker approved in Nevada, because Caesars has the WSOP. Poker isn't as lucrative as online casino in states where both are legal. Why is that? Poker is a very difficult product on a state-by-state basis. If you have mass pooled liquidity in multiple states, it becomes a lot more compelling. It's very difficult to have a successful business, both from an operator's standpoint and a player's standpoint. One of the great things about playing on the Full Tilt or PokerStars sites back in 2009 was that there were 20,000 people there. If I wanted to play a $2 Sit-And-Go or a $1,000 Texas Hold 'em game, I could do that. Is the legalization of sports betting going to be the conduit to legalizing iGaming in those states as well? Yes, in most cases. Part of our organizational efforts with Idea is to go into these states that have successful online sports betting and point out that the next evolution of this is online casino gaming. We're partnering with the casino industries in these states so we don't come off as being the only ones who want it. States like Michigan, Pennsylvania and New Jersey were smart. They did it all together without piecing it out. It's going to take an education process to get them on board. I wish I could tell you that all those states that so quickly passed sports betting would be just as quick to legalize iGaming, but I expect it will take a couple of legislative sessions for people to understand the issues. Tell us about Idea Growth and why it was started. Regulated gaming has changed the face of online gaming and even e-commerce because of KYC, geolocation, the data that you have to understand who a person is, where they are betting, how much they're betting… You would never have that data available in a bricks-and-mortar casino. So casinos in every state have an interest in iGaming. It's going to get bigger, and we need to have a unified voice—a way to speak to lawmakers and regulators to make them understand iGaming. Idea was founded by Jeff (Ifrah) and a few others, and now has grown to 30-plus members, everything from the operators to payment processors to geolocation companies, and KYC data centers. We're all aligned together to get the word out. It's a very powerful tool. https://youtu.be/RE1SIJHTddw

Recovering from a global pandemic, living in a world at odds with itself and in the throws of economic collapse, we’re of course talking about the 1930’s, right? In looking to our past to help us understand the future, our search for a hero came back with, well, something more on-brand for us. Welcome to […]

This is a powerful episode where we talk to the Commanding officer and unit Sgt. of the prestigious NYPD Transit Bureau K9 unit. This unit is comprised of over 50 dog teams and protect NY City for every major event that happens, from UN National Assembly, US OPEN, New Year's Eve, Times Square, the entire subway system in their jurisdiction, and so much more.  We cover the "value of failure" and pushing yourself outside your comfort levels so you and your dog can grow as a team.  Hope you enjoy it.   Lt. John Pappas: over 25 years of Law enforcement experience. I started my career with the Amtrak Police, and in 1997 I joined the NYC Police Department. I rapidly rose through the ranks and became a Lieutenant in 2005. That same year I was tasked with creating the newest specialized unit within the NYPD, the Transit Bureau Canine Unit. The purpose of the unit is to deploy highly trained canine teams to perform a proactive, pedestrian and rail based patrol, in order to deter, detect, respond and mitigate an attack in the most dense urban environment in the Western Hemisphere, the NYC Transit System. The Transit Bureau Canine Unit is the largest of the NYPD's canine units, and the largest mass transit specific unit in the Western Hemisphere. Because our canines are capable of being in dense crowds, the unit has also been tasked with covering all large events in NYC, such as the UN General Assembly, New Year's Eve, US National Tennis Open, all sporting events, and large parades. Over the years, my team and I have created highly advanced counter-terrorism tactics and deployments, and have responded to more terror attacks than any other canine unit in the United States. My team and I have been consulted to assist in the successful creation of other police canine units, and we continue to assist other canine units nationally and internationally on canine training, management, deployments, tactics and mitigation strategies. We work in close cooperation with federal, state and local partners to conduct multifaceted training sessions to strengthen the regional cooperation of canine interoperability. It is my distinct privilege to be in command of one of the most advanced canine units in the world.    Sgt. Randy Brenner: is the Director of USS - K9 Solutions, Inc., located in Suffolk County, New York. Randy has been in law enforcement for over 20 years as well as the Director of Training, Patrol Supervisor and Canine Handler for the Canine Unit. In 2016 Randy was promoted to Sergeant Special Assignment. He assisted in the creation and implementation of the NYPD Transit Bureau Canine Unit, the Counterterrorism Canine Unit and the Vapor Wake Program. He also assisted the development of the Advanced Canine Detection Harness and was responsible for coordinating canine safety lectures in schools and outreach programs. Randy specializes in explosive detection and his knowledge and experience has increased the effectiveness both on the job and as director of USS - K9 Solutions, Inc.   The website for USS K9 Solutions www.ussk9.com   Show Sponsors:   FORD K9 LLC.   www.fordk9.com   Attend any one of our classes or seminars.  Ford K9 now offers the new CSDT (Certified Sport Detection Dog Trainer) classes.  We offer Level 1 and Level 2.  Becoming a CSDT will help you develop as a trainer and become more familiar and efficient as a trainer working with all types of dogs and handlers wanting to join in the great sport of scent detection.   Ford K9 also offers CPDT (Canine Police/Professional Detection Dog Training School ) Levels 1, 2 and Master Trainer. This is for Handlers and Trainers or those working professional detection dogs such as Explosive, Firearm, Narcotic, Mass Media and Cell Phone Detection.   We are offer various seminars such as Canine Cognition, Detection using Cognition for Handlers and Trainers in Law Enforcement, Security and SAR/HRD as well as Wildlife Conservation K9 Teams.  Contact us for more information at www.fordk9.com   SHOW YOUR SUPPORT for K9s TALKING SCENTS PODCAST you now have all kinds of gear for you guys from Shirts, Hats, Mugs and more just got to www.fordk9.com and click on the ONLINE STORE   Search Dog Timer (SDT) app go to the Apple App store and search look for the "Search Dog Timer" app.  This app allows you to log times and take photos with labels to where your odor is and when your dog found them.  Go check out Search Dog Timer

Brian Crombie focuses on the impact of Covid 19 on local Main Street Businesses, restaurants and retail. We speak with Jake Pedlar Chair of the Port Credit BIA and owner of Spice then John Pappas owner of the Crooked Cue on Lakeshore in PC.

Interview with Dentist John Pappas on Dental Hygiene during COVID-19. Grecian Echoes on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Grecian-Echoes-Ε…χώ-488968940614/

DANSK UDGAVE: Søg efter “Radiovagabond” (ét ord). In the latest episode of The Radio Vagabond Podcast, we visited an orphanage in the northern part of Nicaragua. I was there with my new friend John Pappas. He's a successful businessman from Canada that retired and is now a philanthropist. He's now giving back to the children from needy families of Nicaragua by putting a lot of time and money into an orphanage here. Also, he's supporting a young 19-year-old girl. "I always thought that my purpose in life was to make as much money as I could, but eventually I'm just going to take it in a box or leave it here because when I go, I have no one to leave it to. You definitely need to work hard but you also need a reason to be", he says. "A lot of people say 'why do you do it?' and 'you help them so much', and I say 'no no, it's what they give us, is tenfold what we give them." John, says that it's like when you adopt a child, you're not saving a child - it's more the child that is saving you." NICARAGUAN CIGARS Then John wanted to show me a small place where they produce high-class cigars. According to John, the Nicaraguan cigar is outstanding. And on the way there he tells me that it's not possible to buy Nicaraguan cigars here in Nicaragua. It's crazy, but because of the tax laws, you have to export the cigars and then re-import them. All the cigars produced here in Esteli are for export only, so they don't promote their own cigars here in their own country. So the tourists can walk away with fake cigars or Cuban cigars but can't walk away with local cigars. And then we entered the small place. Around 25 people are sitting around a few long tables rolling and shaping the brown tobacco leaves into big cigars. I can tell that these people know their craft. They've done this before. ALEX, THE STREET ARTIST John introduced me to Alex, the most successful street artist here in Esteli. He was a street artist pioneer, and around 20 years ago he was doing graffiti. Back in 1997 he was approached and was quite surprised. He didn't even know how talented he was. This meeting changed his life. At the time he didn't really know much about what he was doing but had this raw talent. And when he met two other talented street artists, he knew what he wanted to do in his life. Now, 20 years later, Alex is “the king of street art" here in Esteli. He's got his own crew, they do a lot of work for the cigar industry. He's even ventured into music. MANKU LAKE PARADISE In this episode, I also take to back to the lake close to Granada, where I met Fernando in the first episode here from Nicaragua. Here we were talking about the cattle company he runs where investors make a little money and help local farmers here at the same time. Go back and listen to episode #080 to hear this. We're in a beautiful area close to the lake, Lago Cocibolca outside Granada - and right here is where there are a lot of small islands - in Nicaragua, they call them Las Isletas. Getting to Manku Lake Paradise is a bit of a drive, but worth it. Even though it's only 7 miles (10 km) from Granada it takes 20-30 minutes to get here, since the last half of it is on a bumpy dirt road. But once you get here, the rate of your pulse will slow down. It's so beautiful and quiet, and it's impossible to be stressed here. There's a big round restaurant area without walls overlooking the beautiful lake, Lago Cocibolca, and the pool. We can also see a few of the small islands. It is truly a paradise. Fernando tells me about the place and takes me for a walk down to the lake - and after that horseback riding. 365 SMALL ISLANDS “Las Isletas” as the locals call them were formed when a big volcano erupted here thousands of years ago and threw huge rocks into the lake. They differ in size. The smallest is around 1000 sq.ft (100 sq.m.) and the biggest is around one hundred hectares. There is a community of about 1200 people living on the islands. Most of them here are fishermen. A few days earlier I was on a boat ride and saw that some of the islands have hotels or luxurious houses. There are also uninhabited islets with only some palm trees growing on it. I also saw a small island where the only inhabitants were a group of little monkeys. I GOT THE MAN FLU As you might remember from the first episode here from Nicaragua, I live in a beautiful big hotel apartment in a place called Paraiso Granada. Here I spent a week in bed. In the beginning, I thought it was food poisoning, but I found out that it was a simple flu. The "Man Flu". So I felt sorry for myself. For me, it was 4-5 days of basically just sleeping. And there I was, all alone in a strange country feeling sorry for myself. And after a few days, I realized that I wasn't alone. I had sent a message to the Dutch hotel manager, Ellen, and all of a sudden she came knocking on my door. With soup, juice, fruit, and a few tablets that might make my stomach ache go away. I speak to Ellen, a few hours before leaving about this. Also, we talk about me having too much in the fridge. She tells me that I should just leave it. The cleaning lady will be so happy to get it. A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE SITUATION IN NICARAGUA 2018 This episode was recorded in 2017 when everything was peaceful in the country. So, before the 2018-conflict. In the process of producing this podcast, I have been talking to a lot of my friends there. And to describe life there right now in a few words: Things are bad. Very bad. Hardly any tourists come here, which affects everything. A few words of the places I've talked about here: Manku Lake Paradise is closed for the time being, and hardly any guests are staying at Paraiso Granada. The restaurant here is still open, but mainly for local guests. Every night there is an armed guard in front of the hotel. I spoke to a lot of the people I met about doing an interview. But we agreed that it's just too dangerous - even if we did it anonymously and I didn't say their name and altered their voices. It just would not be worth the risk. Instead, I will tell you some of the things I've been told. I won't tell you who told me this, again because this will be too dangerous for them. There's a new law now in Nicaragua: When you speak out against the government, you can be arrested and sent to prison for 30 years after a mock trial where you are not able to get qualified legal representation, and you cannot appeal the sentence. You go away for 30 years. The government police are analyzing pictures from demonstrations, and anyone in the pictures might get a nightly visit from them and be arrested, tortured, and sent to prison for 30 years. I was told horrific stories about people having their tongue cut off, and their fingernails pulled out as a means of torture. I've also heard about squads of heavy armored militant policemen storming houses with automatic weapons in the middle of the night. I spoke to a man that walks around his house every night to see if there's a chalk mark on his house, that would indicate that he is next. He also said that he feels he is too old, to live through the torture, so he has told his wife that he would kill himself with his own 9 mm gun if the house was stormed one night. He asked his wife if she wanted him to shoot her before he shot himself. Imagine having that conversation with your wife. But that is life in Nicaragua right now in 2018. And many of the local people I talked to say that there is not much hope of anything getting better anytime soon and that their biggest hope is that The UN will send troops to help them. I left a bit of my heart in Nicaragua and I want to come back. I just can't do it now - and that breaks my heart. Next week I'll be back in The USA for the second half of my road trip. This time I'll go from Atlanta to New York, and I'm so looking forward to this. LINKS: Manku Lake Paradise. Sponsor Hotels25.com Follow The Radio Vagabond on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.  

ENGLISH VERSION: TheRadioVagabond.com I den seneste episode af Radio Vagabond Podcast besøgte vi et børnehjem i Esteli i den nordlige del af Nicaragua. Jeg var der sammen med min nye ven John Pappas. Han er en succesfuld forretningsmand fra Canada, der trak sig tilbage og er nu en filantrop. Han hjælper børn fra fattige familier i Nicaragua ved at give dem sin tid og en del af sine penge til et børnehjem her. Han støtter også en ung 19-årig pige. "Jeg har altid troet, at mit formål i livet var at tjene så mange penge som muligt, men kom til at tænke på, at jeg ikke har nogen at efterlade dem til når jeg ikke er her mere. Man skal helt sikkert arbejde hårdt, men man har også brug for en grund til at være", siger han. "Mange spørger mig, hvorfor jeg gør det, og siger at jeg hjælper dem så meget, og jeg siger 'nej nej, det er, hvad de giver mig. Det er ti gange mere end, hvad jeg giver dem". John siger, at det er som, når du adobterer et barn. Du redder ikke barnet - det er mere barnet, der redder dig.   NICARAGUANSKE CIGARER Så ville John vise mig et lille sted, hvor de producerer kvalitets cigarer. Ifølge John er den nicaraguanske cigar fremragende, og på vej derhen fortæller han mig, at det ikke er muligt at købe nicaraguanske cigarer her i Nicaragua. Det er vanvittigt, men på grund af skattelovgivningen, skal de eksportere cigarer og derefter importere dem igen. Alle cigarer, der bliver produceret her i Esteli er kun til eksport, så de markedsfører ikke deres egne cigarer her i deres eget land. Turisterne kan tage herfra med falske eller cubanske cigarer, men kan ikke få lokale cigarer. Vi ser omkring 25 personer, der sidder omkring et par lange borde, og ruller og forme de brune tobaksblade i store flotte cigarer. Jeg kan se, at disse mennesker kender deres håndværk. De har gjort det før.   GADEKUNSTNEREN ALEX John introducerede mig til Alex, den mest succesrige gadekunstner her i Esteli. Han var en pioner indenfor gadekunst, og for omkring 20 år siden lavede han graffiti. Tilbage i 1997 blev han kontaktet og blev helt overrasket. Han anede ikke selv, hvor talentfuld han var. Dette møde ændrede sit liv. På det tidspunkt vidste han ikke rigtig meget om, hvad han gjorde, men havde dette rå talent. Og da han mødte to andre talentfulde gadekunstnere, vidste han, hvad han ønskede at gøre i sit liv. Nu, 20 år senere, er Alex "kongen af ​​gadekunst" her i Esteli. Han har sit eget lille hold, de arbejder en del for cigarindustrien.   MANKU LAKE PARADISE I denne episode tager jeg også tilbage til søen tæt på Granada, hvor jeg mødte Fernando i den første episode her fra Nicaragua. Her talte vi om det kvægselskab, han driver, hvor investorer tjener lidt penge og samtidig hjælper lokale landmænd. Gå tilbage og lyt til episode #111 for at høre dette. Vi er i et smukt område tæt på søen, Lago Cocibolca uden for Granada - og det er her, hvor der er mange små øer - i Nicaragua kalder de dem Las Isletas. At komme til Manku Lake Paradise er lidt af en køretur, men det er besværet værd. Selvom det kun er 7 km fra Granada, tager det 20-30 minutter at komme hertil, da den sidste halvdel er på en ujævn grusvej. Men når du ankommer falder pulsen. Det er så smukt og roligt, og det er umuligt at blive stresset her. Der er et stort rundt restaurantområde uden vægge med udsigt over den smukke sø, Lago Cocibolca og poolen. Vi kan også se et par af de små øer. Det er virkelig et paradis. Fernando fortæller mig om stedet og tager mig en tur ned til søen - og derefter bliver jeg sat op på en hest og rider lidt rundt i skoven.   365 SMÅ ØER "Las Isletas" som lokalbefolkningen kalder dem, blev dannet, da en stor vulkan var i udbrud for tusindvis af år siden og kastede store sten i søen. De er forskellige i størrelse. Den mindste er omkring 100 kvm, og den største er omkring 1 kvadrat kilometer. Der bor omkring 1200 mennesker på øerne. De fleste af dem er fiskere. Et par dage tidligere var jeg på en sejltur og så at nogle af øerne har hoteller eller luksuriøse huse. Der er også ubeboede øer med kun nogle palmer, der vokser på den. Jeg så også en lille ø, hvor de eneste indbyggere var en gruppe af små aber.   JEG FIK MANDE-INFLUENZA Som du måske husker fra den første episode her fra Nicaragua, bor jeg i en smuk stor hotellejlighed på et sted, der hedder Paraiso Granada. Her tilbragte jeg en uge i sengen. I starten troede jeg, det var madforgiftning, men jeg fandt ud af, at det var en simpel influenza. Det var 4-5 dage, hvor jeg stort set bare sov. Og der var jeg, helt alene i et fremmed land, og have ondt af mig selv. Efter et par dage fandt jeg ud af, at jeg ikke var alene. Jeg havde sendt en besked til den hollandske hotelchef, Ellen, og pludselig bankede hun på min dør. Hun kom med suppe, juice, frugt og et par tabletter, der kunne få min mavepine til at gå væk. Et par timer inden jeg forlader landet taler jeg med Ellen om, at jeg har for meget i køleskabet. Hun siger mig, at jeg blot skal efterlade det og at rengøringsdame vil være så glad for at få det.   ET PAR ORD OM NICARAGUA 2018 Denne episode blev optaget i 2017, da alt var fredeligt i landet. Altså før 2018-konflikten. I forbindelse med produktionen af disse episoder har jeg talt med mange af mine venner i Nicaragua. Og hvis jeg skal beskrive livet i landet lige nu med få ord: Det er skidt. Meget skidt. Næsten ingen turister kommer her, hvilket påvirker alt. Manku Lake Paradise er lukket for øjeblikket, og næsten ingen gæster bor på Paraiso Granada. Restauranten er stadig åben, men det er stort set kun for lokale gæster. Hver nat er der en væbnede vagt foran hotellet. Ole med skofabrikken, som jeg talte med i episode #112 fortæller mig, at deres fabrik har været lukket siden maj 2018. Jeg har talt med mange af de mennesker, jeg mødte om at lave et interview, men vi blev enige om, at det bare er for farligt - selvom vi gjorde det anonymt, jeg ikke nævnte deres navn og ændrede deres stemmer. Det ville bare ikke være risikoen værd. I stedet vil jeg fortælle dig nogle af de ting, jeg har fået at vide. Jeg vil ikke fortælle dig hvem der fortalte mig dette igen, fordi det vil være for farligt for dem. Der er kommet en ny lov i Nicaragua: Når du siger noget grimt om regeringen, kan du blive arresteret og sendt i fængsel i 30 år efter retsag, hvor du ikke kan få kvalificeret juridisk repræsentation. Du bliver sendt væk i 30 år uden mulighed for at appellere. Regeringspolitiet analyserer billeder fra demonstrationer, og alle i billederne kan få et natligt besøg fra dem, hvor de kan blive anholdt, tortureret og sendt til fængsel i 30 år. Jeg har hørt forfærdelige historier om, at folk havde deres tunge skåret af, og deres fingernegler trukket ud som et middel til tortur. Jeg har også hørt om, at hold af militante politifolk stormee huse med automatvåben midt om natten. Jeg talte til en mand, der hver aften går rundt om i huset for at se, om der er et kritemærke på hans hus, hvilket vil indikere, at han er den næste. Han sagde også, at han føler at han er for gammel til at kunne overleve tortur og fængsel, så han har fortalt sin kone, at han vil vil skyde sig selv med sin egen 9 mm pistol, hvis huset bliver stormet en nat. Han har spurgt sin kone, om hun ville have, at han skyder hende, før han skød sig selv. Forestil dig at have den samtale med din kone. Men det er livet i Nicaragua lige nu i 2018. Og mange af de lokale folk, jeg talte med, sagde, at der ikke er meget håb om at det bliver bedre i nærmeste fremtid. Tværtimod. Flere sagde, at deres største håb er, at FN vil sende tropper til at hjælpe dem. Jeg efterlod en del af mit hjerte i Nicaragua, og jeg vil gerne komme tilbage. Jeg kan bare ikke gøre det nu.   I næste uge vil jeg være tilbage i USA i anden halvdel af min amerikanske road trip. Denne gang går turen fra Atlanta til New York, og det glæder jeg mig tigtig meget til.       LINKS: Sponsor Hotels25.dk Se billeder på Radiovagabond.dk  Følg også RadioVagabond på Facebook, Twitter, Instagram og YouTube.

This episode is part 2 of a series of programming and training concepts. We brought on good friend and client John Pappas to ask Shannon questions about the powerlifting training process. We discuss novice comps, mythical programs, manipulating frequency/volume, video analysis, warm ups, manipulating exercises to target weaknesses, tracking training metrics and lifestyle variables.

ENGLISH: TheRadioVagabond.com I denne episode kører jeg en tur med John Pappas, som jeg mødte i restauranten, hvor jeg bor i. Vi blev venner efter få sekunder. Ind imellem gange møder du nogen, hvor du bare klikker. Tre ting jeg, straks bemærker med John: Han har en flot tatovering med græske guder, der dækker hele sin højre arm, han smiler næsten altid, og har ALTID en cigar i hånden. For det meste af tiden er den ikke tændt; han sidder bare med den, ligesom de fleste andre ville sidde med en telefon. For John er en græsk/irsk canadisk ”cigarmand” og filantrop med stor kærlighed til Nicaragua. Efter at have opbygget en succesfuld restaurantkæde i Canada, bestemte han sig for, at han havde brug for et ”formål med livet”, og han trak sig tilbage. Herefter kom han i kontakt med nogle venner i tobaksindustrien her og sagde: "Jeg vil gerne give tilbage til et land, jeg elsker, og hjælpe børnene her i landet" Sammen fandt de et børnehjem og siden har de støttet det sammen. John fortæller mig, at det kan være svært, at arbejde sammen med en NGO som SOS, der kører hundredvis af børnehjem rund omkring i verden. Det svære er, at få dem til at acceptere, at man vil være med til at bestemme, hvad pengene går til. Men efter et stykke lykkedes det. Jeg kører i bjergene med min nye ven John. Vi er 170 km nord for Managua, som vi passerede på vej fra Granada. Og vi kommer nærmere Honduras grænsen yderligere 100 km længere nord på. De producerer tobak og mest cigarer i dette område, og det er det, der holder denne by i live. Ifølge John understøttes 90% af alt her af cigarindustrien. Vi kører gennem et fattigt kvarter - på en grusvej med små huse på hver side og den største tobaksfabrik i området i horisonten. Vi er på vej mod det børnehjem, som John arbejder med, og da vi nærmer os ser vi mindre affald, det er nymalet, og alt ser lidt pænere ud. Dette er en søndag formiddag og en stille dag her på børnehjemmet. Det er sjældent, at gæster får lov til at besøge dette børnehjem, så jeg føler mig meget privilegeret, da John tilbyder, at tage mig med. De fleste af børnene her er ikke forældreløse, men mange af dem er blevet seksuelt misbrugt. Og det er et kæmpe problem her i Nicaragua. Jeg har hørt nogen sige, at måske et ud af tre børn er blevet seksuelt misbrugt her. Derfor har de også en regel om, at alle mænd skal forlade børnehjemmet, inden solen går ned. Selv John, som de kender. Nicaragua er også et land med mange unge mødre. Jeg fik fortalt, at mange mænd ikke føler det store ansvar og blot smutter videre til den næste kvinde, efter at han har gjort hende gravid. Mere end 13 millioner børn fødes hvert år til mødre mellem 15 og 19 år. Faktisk er næsten 25% af alle fødsler i landet fra teenage-kvinder. Og omkring halvdelen af ​​kvinderne i landet har deres første barn, inden de fylder 20 år gamle. En anden detalje: Abort i Nicaragua er helt ulovlig. Nogen fra børnehjemmets personale mødte på et tidspunkt en 13 årig pige i byen. 13 år gammel - og højgravid. De gik hjem med hende og mødte sin mor. Hun var 27 - og højgravid. Og mens de talte sammen dukker pigens mormor op. Hun var omkring 45 - og også højgravid. Så altså: Tre generationer af nicaraguanske kvinder, alle meget gravide. Og tilsyneladende var det den samme fyr, der havde gjort alle tre gravide.  Vi går rundt i området og John fortæller mig mere om alle de forskellige projekter, han er involveret i. For det meste er det de små ekstra ting, der kan hjælpe med at forbedre livet for børnene. Som at for eksempel at dræne en sump i området og gøre det til en boldbane, tage børnene til en fodboldkamp, da lokalholdet vandt mesterskabet, afholde en fest eller lignende. John har altid selv haft et stort ønske om at blive far, men det blev ikke sådan. Indtil et år siden, hvor han adopterede en 18-årig pige. Eller det vil sige, ikke på papiret, men mere en aftale mellem ham og hende. Hun kalder ham far, og han støtter hende økonomisk og ”skræmmer kæresterne væk”, som han siger med et smil. Med børnehjemmet og pigen, fandt den canadiske cigarmand omsider sit livsformål. LINKS: Sponsor Hotels25.dk Se billeder på Radiovagabond.dk   

DANSK UDGAVE: Søg efter “Radiovagabond”  (ét ord).   I'm driving in the mountains with my new friend John. We're 105 miles north of Managua that we passed on the way from Granada. And we're getting closer to the Honduras border another 60 miles north of there.  We start this episode driving through some farmland that is mainly used for the tobacco industry. Mostly they produce cigars in this area - and that is what keeps this city alive. According to John 99% is supported by the cigar industry.  I met the guy in the car in the restaurant where I'm staying in. His name is John Pappas and we became instant friends. Sometimes you meet someone where you just click, and this was one of those times. Three things I notice immediately with John: He's got a beautiful tattoo with greek gods that covers his entire right arm, he's almost always smiling and he always always has a cigar. Most of the time it's not lit - he just sits with it, like most other people would sit with a smartphone. Because John is a cigar-man. And a philanthropist with a big love for Nicaragua. And then he's Greek/Irish Canadian.  He speaks English even though he's is born and raised in Montreal, Quebec in the French-speaking part of Canada. His father is of Greek descent and his mother is of Irish descent.  After having been very successful building a restaurant chain in Canada he decided that he needed a purpose and a change, and he retired and got in contact with some friends in the tobacco industry here and said: "I want to give back to a country that I love and help the children" One of his friends here found an orphanage here and together they've been supporting it. He tells me that it's hard when you're working with an NGO like SOS that runs hundreds of orphanages around the world, to tell them that you want to be a part of deciding what the money goes for, but after a while, they managed to do so. In this episode, you can hear when we're driving in a poor neighborhood. We're on a dirt road with tiny houses on each side and a huge building at the end of it. That's probably the largest tobacco factory in the area. John wants to show me the orphanage he's working with. And as we're approaching we can see a little bit of a difference. We see less garbage, freshly painted, and everything looks a bit nicer.  This is a Sunday morning and a quiet day here. It's not normal for guests to be able to visit this orphanage so I feel lucky that John would take me there. John tells me that most of the children are not orphans. Most of the children are abused in multible ways. And the thing with sexually abused children is a big problem in this country. I've heard someone say that maybe one out of three children has been abused here. So they have a rule that all males should leave the orphanage before the sun goes down. Even John, that they know. But the rule makes sense. Also, this is a country with so many young single mothers. I was told that many men have no responsibility and just move on to the next woman after he made her pregnant, and John confirms this. 13 million children are born every year to mothers between the ages of 15 and 19. In fact, almost 25% of all births in the country are from teenage women. And around half of the women in the country give birth before they're 20 years old. Abortion in Nicaragua is completely illegal. At the orphanage, we walked up to the room where the activity is taking place. The door and the windows are open so we can peek inside. And we see that this is an activity for 25 teenagers. They are being tough on "life" as John calls it.  John told me that one day some of the staff here at the orphanage came across a 13-year-old girl in the city. 13 years old - and very pregnant. So they walked home with her and met her mother. She was 27 … and very pregnant. Both mother and daughter were about to give birth any day. And as they were talking … on walks the grandmother. She was around 45 and ALSO very pregnant. So three generations of Nicaraguan women, all very pregnant. And apparently, it was the same guy that had made all three pregnant. The mother's boyfriend that had made both her, her mother and her 13-year-old daughter pregnant. We walk around the area for more than an hour. John tells me more about what they do and all the different projects he's involved with. Mostly it's the little extra things that can help improve life there. Like draining a swamp in the area and turn it into a ball pitch, taking the kids to football when the local team won the championship, throwing a party or things like that. He tells me that there's really only one father figure who works there with the young boys. And we just happen to run into him.  John always wanted to be a father himself… But things didn't turn out that way. Until one year ago where he adopted an 18-year old girl. Well, not legally, but he supports her and she calls him dad. And he scares off the boyfriends.  John has found his purpose in life. Right here in Nicaragua.  In the next episode, John will take me to visit a small cigar factory, we meet a local street artist, I visit the Eco Lodge Manku Lake Paradise - and then I get sick. LINKS: Sponsor Hotels25.com Follow The Radio Vagabond on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

This episode is part 1 of a series of programming and training concepts. We brought on good friend and client John Pappas to ask Shannon questions about the powerlifting training process. We discuss where does the beginner start, the importance of technique and requisite stability, face to face coaching & downfalls of the online coaching process.

Welcome to the 29th edition of the Fallout Feed Roundtable! Its the 11th episode of season three. We are the show who compares and contrasts Fallout experiences through a lively Roundtable discussion by playing through the same quests with characters who have been randomly assigned drastically different attributes. Welcome Everyone! Leon joins Ray, Pat and Andrew for a little Nuka World and Tales from the Commonwealth adventuring. We cover the quests "Power Play" and "Patriots". We check in with a great Reddit post from 32bit_browser and an email from new FB group member John Pappas. We discuss an upcoming Nintendo Switch Mariokart League and the possibility of an ASAPodcasting Fantasy Football league. The Fallout: New Vegas Roundtable planning is coming together nicely and we should have some more solid details coming your way in the next couple of weeks. Thanks for your great play along feedback and we hope you will join us in the Mojave. Roll a random character to Play-Along with the Fallout Roundtable: Fallout New Vegas: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Kx77l9_tHYKSidJMVe7zlsc7nu9EVJvmsdUxvUTxW6I/edit#gid=798318556 Fallout 4: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mpEuTbZ1rrha9wTyj5eF52GP02lWUKEEIz1iMywUk3A/edit?usp=sharing T-Shirts!: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ASAPodcasting Support us on Amazon, where funds benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, a cause near and dear to the hearts of ASAPodcasting: http://amzn.to/1cylrSK Contact the show: thefalloutfeed@gmail.com http://www.asapodcasting.com/#/the-fallout-feed/ Twitter: @thefalloutfeed FB: facebook.com/groups/askyrimaddictpodcast Twitch: twitch.tv/asapodcasting Forum: ASAPodcasting.Proboards.comSupport the show (http://patreon.com/asapodcasting)

The Attorney General and the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security are the most powerful domestic law enforcement officers in the United States government. In this episode, hear critical highlights from the confirmation hearings of President Trump's nominees for those jobs: Senator Jeff Sessions for Attorney General and General John Kelly for Secretary of DHS. Please support Congressional Dish: Click here to contribute with PayPal or Bitcoin Click here to support Congressional Dish for each episode via Patreon Mail Contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North #4576 Crestview, FL 32536 Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes CD098: USA Freedom Act: Privatization of the Patriot Act Sound Clip Sources Hearing: Attorney General Nomination, Senate Committee on the Judicary, January 10, 2017 Watch on C-SPAN Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Timestamps & Transcripts Part 1 1:12:10 Senator Chuck Grassley: During the course of the presidential campaign, you made a number of statements about the investigation of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, relating to her handling of sensitive emails and regarding certain actions of the Clinton Foundation. You weren’t alone in that criticism—I was certainly critical in the same way, as were millions of Americans, on those matters—but now you’ve been nominated to serve as Attorney General. In light of those comments that you made, some have expressed concern about whether you can approach the Clinton matter impartially in both fact and appearance. How do you plan to address those concerns? Jeff Sessions Mr. Chairman, it was a highly contentious campaign. I, like a lot of people, made comments about the issues in that campaign with regard to Secretary Clinton, and some of the comments I made, I do believe that that could place my objectivity in question. I’ve given that thought. I believe the proper thing for me to do would be to recuse myself from any questions involving those kind of investigations that involve Secretary Clinton that were raised during the campaign or could be otherwise connected to it. Sen. Grassley: Okay. I think it’s—let me emphasize, then, with a followup question. To be very clear, you intend to recuse yourself from both the Clinton email investigation, any matters involving the Clinton Foundation, if there are any. Sessions: Yes 1:22:55 Senator Diane Feinstein: Appearing on the TV show 60 Minutes, the president-elect said that the issue of same-sex marriage was “already settled. It’s law. It was settled in the Supreme Court. It’s done, and I’m fine with that.” Do you agree that the issue of same-sex marriage is settled law? Jeff Sessions: Supreme Court has ruled on that. The dissents dissented vigorously, but it was five to four, and five justices on the Supreme Court—a majority of the court—have established the definition of marriage for the entire United States of America, and I will follow that decision. 1:30:05 Senator Orrin Hatch: In the 108th Congress, you introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 77, expressing the sense of the Congress that federal obscenity laws should be vigorously enforced throughout the United States. It passed the Senate unanimously—it pleased it, too. In fact, it is the only resolution on this subject ever passed by either the Senate or the House. Now, Senator Sessions, with your permission I want to share with you that resolution adopted last year by the Utah legislature outlining why pornography should be viewed as a public health problem, as well as some of the latest research into the harms of obscenity. Is it still your view that federal laws prohibiting adult obscenity should be vigorously enhanced? Jeff Sessions: Mr. Chairman, those laws are clear, and they are being prosecuted today and should be—continue to be effectively and vigorously prosecuted in the cases that are appropriate. Sen. Hatch: In making this a priority for the Justice Department, would you consider reestablishing a specific unit dedicated to prosecuting this category of crime? Sessions: So, that unit has been disbanded—I’m not sure I knew that, but it was a part of the Department of Justice for a long time, and I would consider that. 1:49:40 Senator Patrick Leahy: Do you agree with the president-elect, the United States can or should deny entry to all members of a particular religion? Jeff Sessions: Senator Leahy, I believe the president-elect has, subsequent to that statement, made clear that he believes the focus should be on individuals coming from countries that have history of terrorism, and he’s also indicated that his policy, and what he suggests, is strong vetting of people from those countries before they’re admitted to the United States. 1:55:35 Senator Lindsey Graham: What’s your view of Obama’s administration’s interpretation of the Wire Act law to allow online video poker, or poker gambling? Jeff Sessions: Senator Graham, I was shocked at the memorandum, I guess the enforcement memorandum, that the Department of Justice issued with regard to the Wire Act and criticized it. Apparently, there is some justification or argument that can be made to support the Department of Justice’s position, but I did oppose it when it happened, and it seemed to me to be an unusual— Graham: Would you revisit it? Sessions: I would revisit it, and I would make a decision about it based on careful study. 2:12:55 Senator Dick Durbin: Senator Graham asked this question, and I listened to your answer when he asked you what would happen to those 800,000 currently protected by President Obama’s executive order, known as DACA, who cannot be deported for two years—it’s renewable—and can work for two years, and you said, let Congress pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill. You opposed the only bipartisan effort that we’ve had on the Senate floor in modern memory. And what’s going to happen to those 800,000, if you revoke that order and they are subject to deportation tomorrow, what is going to happen to them? What is the humane, legal answer to that? Jeff Sessions: Well, the first thing I would say is that my response to Senator Graham dealt with whose responsibility this is. I had a responsibility as a member of this body to express my view and vote as I believed was correct on dealing with issues of immigration. That’s not the attorney general’s role; the attorney general’s role is to enforce the law. And as you know, Senator Durbin, we’re not able financially or any other way to seek out and remove everybody that’s in the country illegally. President Trump has indicated that criminal aliens, like President Obama indicated, certainly are the top group of people, and so I would think that the best thing for us to do—and I would urge colleagues that we understand this—let’s fix this system. And then we can work together, after this lawlessness has been ended, and then we can ask the American people and enter into a dialogue about how to compassionately treat people who’ve been here a long time. Durbin: That does not answer the question about 800,000 who would be left in the lurch, whose lives would be ruined while you’re waiting on Congress for a bill that you opposed. Sessions: Well, I thought it did answer it pretty closely about what you asked, and I understand your concerns. 2:31:10 Senator Sheldon Whitehouse: As a question of law, does waterboarding constitute torture? Jeff Sessions: Well, there was a dispute about that when we had the torture definition in our law. The Department of Justice memorandum concluded that it did not necessarily prohibit that, but Congress has taken an action now that makes is absolutely improper and illegal to use waterboarding or any other form of torture in the United States by our military and by all our other departments and agencies. 2:54:50 Senator Amy Klobuchar: If you could just explain your views of the Voting Rights Act moving forward and what would happen in terms of enforcement if you were attorney general. Jeff Sessions: The Voting Rights Act that passed in 1965 was one of the most important acts to deal with racial difficulties that we face, and it changed the whole course of history, particularly in the South. There was a clear finding that there were discriminatory activities in the South that a number of states were systematically denying individuals the right to vote. And you go back into the history, you can see it plainly: actions and rules and procedures were adopted in a number of states, with the specific purpose of blocking African Americans from voting, and it was just wrong, and the Voting Rights Act confronted that. And it, in effect, targeted certain states and required any, even the most minor, changes in voting procedure, like moving a precinct across— Klobuchar: So, how would you approach this going forward? For instance, the Fifth Circuit’s decision that the Texas voter ID law discriminates against minority voters, that was written by a Bush appointee, do you agree with that decision? How would you handle this moving forward? Sessions: Well, I have not studied that. There’s going to be a debate about it, courts are ruling on it now, and that is a voter ID and whether or not that is an improper restriction on voting that adversely impacts disproportionately minority citizens. So that’s a matter that’s got to be decided. On the surface of it, it doesn’t appear to me to be that. I have publicly said I think voter ID laws properly drafted are okay, but as attorney general it’ll be my duty to study the facts in more depth to analyze the law, but fundamentally, that can be decided by Congress and the courts. 3:10:33 Senator Ben Sasse: This administration has made the case regularly that they need to exercise prosecutorial discretion because of limited resources—and, obviously, there aren’t infinite resources in the world—so what are some proper instances, in your view, when an administration might not enforce a law? Jeff Sessions:Well, critics of the immigration enforcement, the DAPA and the DACA laws, said that the prosecutorial-discretion argument went too far. It basically just eliminated the laws from the books. Secondly, with regard to that, the president’s executive—well, the order came from homeland security, not from the Department of Justice, but homeland security’s order not only said we’re not going to force the law, with regard to certain large classifications of people, but those people who’d not been given legal status under the laws of the United States were given photo IDs, work authorization, and social security numbers, and the right to participate in these government programs that would appear to be contrary to existing law. So that would, to me, suggest an overreach. Part 2 1:19:12 Senator Patrick Leahy: Would you use our federal resources to investigate and prosecute sick people who are using marijuana in accordance with their state laws even though it might violate federal law? Jeff Sessions: Well, I won’t commit to never enforcing federal law, Senator Leahy, but absolutely it’s a problem of resources for the federal government. The Department of Justice under Lynch and Holder set forth some policies that they thought were appropriate to define what cases should be prosecuted in states that have legalized, at least in some fashion, some parts of marijuana. Leahy: Do you agree with those guidelines? Sessions: I think some of them are truly valuable in evaluating cases, but fundamentally, the criticism I think that was legitimate is that they may not have been followed. Using good judgment about how to handle these cases will be a responsibility of mine. I know it won’t be an easy decision, but I will try to do my duty in a fair and just way. 1:25:13 Senator Mike Lee: Are there separation-of-powers concerns arising out of the Department of Justice’s current approach to state marijuana laws? Jeff Sessions: Well, I think one obvious concern is that the United States Congress has made the possession of marijuana, in every state, and distribution of it an illegal act. If that’s something is not desired any longer, Congress should pass a law to change the rule. It’s not so much the attorney general’s job to decide what laws to enforce; we should do our job and enforce laws effectively as we’re able. 1:48:18 Senator Dianne Feinstein: Thanks very much, Mr. Chairman. Just to begin, I would like to ask unanimous consent that all statements and written testimony sent to the committee concerning Senator Sessions be made part of the record, and I have some testimonies and letters. Chairman: Without objection, so ordered. Feinstein: Thank you very much. Senator Sessions, when I was a small child, it was during World War II, and my father took me to a racetrack south of San Francisco called Tanforan, and it had become a detention camp for Japanese American citizens, and during the length of World War II, well, thousands of families were held in this compound. And we checked with CRS that says no Japanese American was ever convicted of any sabotage against the United States during that period of time. Senator Lee, Senator Cruz, and I have tried together to enact a bill to assure that no American citizen or lawful permanent resident detained in the United States can be held indefinitely without charge or trial, pursuant to authorization of military force. So, here’s the question: do you believe that the government can, pursuant to a general authorization to use military force, indefinitely detain Americans in the United States without charge or trial? Jeff Sessions: Senator Feinstein, that’s an important question. Classically, the answer is yes. Classically, if you captured a German soldier, they could be held until the war ended. That was done, I’m sure, at the Civil War and most wars since. Feinstein: I’m talking about Americans. Sessions: I hear you. So, then, the question is, we’re in a war like we have now that’s gone on multiple years, and I would think the principal of law certainly would appear to be valid, but as reality dawns on us and wars might be even longer, it’s on us to discuss those issues. So I respect your willingness to think about that and what we should do, but in general I do believe, as Senator Graham has argued forcefully for many years, that we are in a war, and when members who—unlike the Japanese who were never proven to be associated with a military regime like the Japanese government, these individuals would have to be proven to be connected to a designated enemy of the United States. So I’ve probably explained more than I should, but that’s basically the arguments and the issues we’re facing. I respect your concerns, and I’m sure they will continue to be debated in the future. Feinstein: Well, let me just say a few things about that. I’ve served on the intelligence committee for fifteen years. I read all of it. I think I know as much as anybody about what’s happening in the United States, and this is not—these are Americans that we’re talking about. They can be picked up and detained and held without charge— Sessions: You’re talking about Americans. Feinstein: —of trial indefinitely. And that should not be the case. Sessions: Well, I understand your point, and a citizen of the United States has certain important rights. They cannot be abrogated. It is absolutely so. They cannot be detained without undergoing a habeas review, and the government surely has to prove that they are indeed connected sufficiently with an enemy action against the United States, so they couldn’t be detained. Feinstein: Well, I appreciate that. 1:52:32 Senator Dianne Feinstein: You were one of nine senators to vote against the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005. It prohibited the imposition of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment of any person in the custody or control of U.S. personnel. You also voted against an amendment sponsored by Senator McCain in the 2016 Defense Authorization bill to limit interrogations to the techniques provided by the army field manual, which does not include waterboarding. Do you agree that the CIA’s former enhanced interrogation techniques, including waterboarding, are prohibited by this provision of law as now codified at 42 U.S.C. 2000dd? Jeff Sessions: It does appear to be clear that on the last act and McCain amendment would prohibit waterboarding. Feinstein:And you would enforce that. Sessions: I would enforce the law, yes. Feinstein: Thank you very much. 1:56:50 Senator John Kennedy: My name is John Kennedy. That’s really my name. 2:01:33 Senator John Kennedy: When a radical Islamic terrorist drives a truck into a group of people and kills them, we’re told that we should not judge all Muslims by the act of a few. And I agree with that. Don’t you think the same rule ought to apply when one or two law enforcement officers make a mistake? Don’t you think that same rule ought to apply to all the other 99.9 percent law enforcement officials out there who just get up every day and go to work and try to protect us? Jeff Sessions: Well, I really do. And I think those of us in high public office do need to be cautious about demeaning whole departments and whole groups of people, because within those, most any department you can find in America, surely most of the people are just wonderful public servants trying to do the right thing. So when we say these things, we can increase risk for them, we can make it harder for them to have relationships with the constituents where they’re serving, and actually result in an increase in crime and ineffectiveness in law enforcement. So, boy, these issues are—we can’t miss these issues. Kennedy: No. Part 3 3:20 Senator Sheldon Whitehouse: Does a secular attorney have anything to fear from an Attorney General Sessions in the Department of Justice? Jeff Sessions: Well, no, and I used that word in the ninety-thousand-foot level of a little concern I have that we as a nation, I believe, are reaching a level in which truth is not sufficiently respected, that the very ideal, the idea, of truth is not believed to be real, and that all of life is just a matter of your perspective and my perspective, which I think is contrary to the American heritage. So that’s just a kind of a criticism of mine, but we are not a theocracy, nobody should be required to believe anything. I share Thomas Jefferson’s words on the Memorial over here—I swear eternal hostility over any domination of the mind of man—and I think we should respect people’s views and not demand any kind of religious test for holding office. Whitehouse: And a secular person has just as good a claim to understanding the truth as a person who is religious, correct? Sessions: Well, I’m not sure. In what method? Is it less objectively committed to— Whitehouse: In the methods that an attorney would bring to bear a case. Sessions: Well, let me just say we’re going to treat anybody with different views fairly and objectively. 59:04 Senator Chris Coons: We worked together to restore funding to the federal public defender service when it was cut by sequestration, and I think that’s because we both agreed that outcomes are more fair when there’s effective representation on both sides. One of the amendments I offered to that immigration bill would have provided counsel to children who were applying for refugee status because they were fleeing violence in their home countries, in U.S. immigration proceedings. Is that something you would support? Jeff Sessions: Senator Coons, as I understand it, that is the law, that you cannot provide lawyers to illegal entrants into the country, and I don’t believe it makes a distinguished—it distinguishes between minors and adults, but I may be wrong about that. I presume that’s why you’ve offered legislation to that effect to change established law, but in general I do not believe we can afford nor should we undertake to provide free lawyers for everybody that enters the country unlawfully. I think that would be a massive undertaking. So you’re talking about children specifically, I understand that. Coons: Specifically doesn’t matter... Sessions: And I think that’s a matter that Congress would need to decide what to do about. 1:02:25 Jeff Sessions: I would not favor a registry of Muslims in the United States—no, I would not—and I think we should avoid surveillance of religious institutions unless there’s a basis to believe that a dangerous or threatening illegal activity could be carried on there. 1:28:03 Senator Lindsey Graham: Let’s talk about the law of war. I think you were asked by Senator Feinstein about the indefinite detention. Hamdi v. Rumsfeld—this is Sandra Day O’Connor’s quote: There is no bar to this nation’s holding one of its own citizens as an enemy combatant—that case involved a U.S. citizen that was captured in Afghanistan and was held as an enemy combatant. Are you familiar with that case? Jeff Sessions: Generally, yes. Not as familiar as you, but I know you’ve studied at great depth. Graham: Well, this has been a military law. This is sort of part of what I did. Do your constitutional rights as a U.S. citizen stop at the nation’s shores, or do they follow you wherever you go? Sessions: Well, you have certain rights wherever you go. Graham: So if you go to Paris, you don’t give up your Fourth Amendment right against illegal search and seizure. Could the FBI break into your hotel room in Paris and, basically, search your room without a warrant? Sessions:I don’t believe— Graham :No, they can’t. Your constitutional rights attach to you. So, to the people who say, well, he was in Afghanistan—that doesn’t matter. What the court is telling us, no American citizen has a constitutional right to join the enemy at a time of war. In Ray Quirin—that case involved German saboteurs who landed in Long Island. Are you familiar with this? Sessions: I’m very familiar with that case. I have read it. Graham: They were German saboteurs and had American-citizen contacts in the United States. They were all seized by the FBI and tried by the military. So, what I would tell Senator Feinstein and my other colleagues—the law is well settled here, that a United States citizen in other wars have been held as enemy combatants when the evidence suggests they collaborated with the enemy. Under the current law, if you’re suspected of being an enemy combatant, within a certain period of time—sixty days, I think—the government has to present you to a federal judge and prove by preponderance of the evidence that you’re a member of the organization they claim you to be a member of. Are you familiar with that—your habeas rights? Sessions: Correct, yes. Graham: So, as to how long an enemy combatant can be held, traditionally under the law of war, people are taken off the battlefield until the war is over or they’re no longer a danger. Does that make sense to you? Sessions: It does make sense, and that is my understanding of the traditional law of war. Graham: And the law of war is designed to, like, win the war. The laws around the law of war are designed to deal with conflicts and to take people off the battlefield—you can kill or capture them—and there’s no requirement like domestic criminal law, at a certain point in time they have to be presented for trial, because the goal of the law of war is to protect the nation and make sure you win the war. So when you capture somebody who’s been adjudicated a member of the enemy force, there is no concept in military law or the law of war that you have to release them in an arbitrary date because that would make no sense. So, all I’m saying is that I think you’re on solid ground and this idea of an American citizen being an enemy combatant is part of the history of the law of war, and I am very willing to work with my colleagues and make sure that indefinite detention is reasonably applied and that we can find due process rights that don’t exist in traditional law of war because this is a war without end. When do you think this war will be over? Do you think we’ll know when it’s over? Sessions: I’ve asked a number of witnesses in armed services about that, and it’s pretty clear we’re talking about decades before we have a complete alteration of this spasm in the Middle East that just seems to have legs and will continue for some time. That’s most likely what would happen. Graham: You’re about to embark on a very important job at an important time, and here’s what my suggestion would be: that we work with the Congress to come up with a legal regime that recognizes that gathering intelligence is the most important activity against radical Islam. The goal is to find out what they know. Do you agree with that? Sessions: That is a critical goal. Graham:And I have found that under military law and military intelligence gathering, no manual I’ve ever read suggested that reading Miranda rights is the best way to gather information. As a matter of fact, I’ve been involved in this business for 33 years, and if a commander came to me as a J.A.G. and said, we just captured somebody on the battlefield—you name the battlefield—they want their rights read to them, I would tell them they’re not entitled to Miranda rights. They’re entitled to Geneva Convention treatment, they’re entitled to humane treatment, they’re entitled to all the things that go with the Geneva Convention because the court has ruled that enemy combatants are subject to Geneva Convention protections. So, I just want to let you know, from my point of view, that we’re at war; I’m encouraged to hear that the new attorney general recognizes the difference between fighting a crime and fighting a war and that the next time we capture bin Laden’s son-in-law—if he’s got any more—I hope we don’t read him his Miranda rights in two weeks. I hope we keep him, humanely, as long as necessary to interrogate him to find out what the enemy may be up to. Does that make sense to you? Sessions:Well, it does. We didn’t give Miranda warnings to German and Japanese prisoners we captured, and it’s never been part of the—so they’re being detained and they’re subject to being interrogated properly and lawfully any time, any day, and they’re not entitled to a lawyer, and so forth. Graham: Right. And Miranda didn’t exist back in World War II, but it does now, but the law of the Hamdi case says this is very important, that you do not have to read an enemy combatant the Miranda rights. They do have a right to counsel in a habeas pursuit— Sessions: In a habeas corpus, you’re correct. Graham: —to see if the government got it right; you can hold them as long as it’s necessary for intelligence gathering; and you can try them in Article III course, you can try them in military commissions. As attorney general of the United States, would you accept that military commissions could be the proper venue under certain circumstances for terrorists? Sessions: Yes. Graham: Thank you. Hearing: Nomination of General John F. Kelly, USMC (Ret.) to be Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Government Affairs, January 10, 2017. Watch on C-SPAN Timestamps & Transcripts 1:37:18 Senator Kamala Harris: I’d like to ask you a few questions, starting with the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, also known as DACA. Hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients around the country are afraid right now for what this incoming administration might do to them and also what it might do to their unauthorized family members. In order to receive DACA, these young people submitted extensive paperwork to the federal government, including detailed information regarding themselves and their loved ones. They also had to qualify, as you know, for the program; and in qualifying, each person’s case was reviewed and determined on a case-by-case basis: the young person must have not been convicted of a felony or a significant misdemeanor or three or more misdemeanors; the young person must also not be deemed to pose a threat to national security or public safety; the young person must currently be in school, have graduated or obtained a certificate of completion from high school, have obtained a general-education development certificate, also known as GED, and/or have been honorably discharged as a veteran of the Coast Guard or armed forces of the United States. Among other things, DACA applicants must submit proof of identity, proof of time and admission in the United States, proof of relevant student school completion or military status, and biometric information. As part of the DACA application process, we conduct biometric and biographic background checks against a variety of databases maintained by DHS and other federal agencies. If a DACA applicant knowingly makes a misrepresentation or fails to disclose facts in an effort to obtain DACA, it is a felony, and the applicant will be treated as an immigration-enforcement priority to the fullest extent permitted by law and be subject to criminal prosecution and/or removal from the United States. This means, obviously, that applicants to DACA know that if they’re not giving us the whole truth about their story, they’re putting a target on their own backs. At the time, the Department of Homeland Security assure them that it would follow its long-standing practice of not using such information for law-enforcement purposes except in very limited circumstances. These young people are now worried that the information that they provided in good faith to our government may now be used to track them down and lead to their removal. So my question is, do you agree that under DACA, and those young people have relied—by hundreds of thousands of them have relied—on our representations, do you agree with that, that we would not use this information against them? General John Kelly: The entire development of immigration policy is ongoing right now in terms of the upcoming administration. I have not been involved in those discussions. If confirmed, I know I will be involved in those discussions. I think there’s a big spectrum of people who need to be dealt with in terms of deportation— Harris: I’m speaking specifically about DACA.General Kelly: —and those categories would be prioritized. I would guess—I’m not part of the process right now—I would guess that this category might not be the highest priority for removal. I promise you, Senator, that I will be involved in the discussion. 1:45:00 Senator Rand Paul: We have on the books, and we passed about five years ago, a law that says that an American citizen can be indefinitely detained—not an American citizen overseas, not someone captured in Syria on a battlefield. Someone captured in the United States and accused of terrorism—accused of terrorism—can be kept indefinitely. They could be sent to Guantanamo Bay, but they could be sent to a variety of places. It’s never been used—and this president has said he wouldn’t use it, but he signed it anyway, much to the chagrin of some of us—but it is on the books. And I guess my question to you would be, do you think we can adequately arrest people in our country who are somehow a threat to our homeland security? Do you think the Constitution could be good enough, that due process in our courts of law in our country would work? Or would you think there’re going to have to be times when we’re just going to have to detain people without trial? General John Kelly: I’m pretty committed to the Constitution. I was not aware of the law—it surprises me—but I think we have enough laws to help us out in that regard. Paul: A couple of years ago they decided they’d use license plate screeners, and, apparently, they’re very rapid and they can collect hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands, of license plates an hour. But they decided they would go to a gun show, and why this particularly concerns me is you could also conceive the people at a gun show as exercising some sort of freedom of speech or some sort of ideological belief by being at a gun show, not just wanting to buy a gun, but actually defending their Second Amendment right to buy a gun. What alarms me is that if we’re going to scan license plates at a gun show, that we might go to a pro-life rally or a pro-abortion rally, depending on who’s in charge. I don’t want the government scanning people’s license plates. I don’t want them covering and getting all of our data just so we can possibly be safe some day from something. I want the individual to be protected, but I’m not against Homeland Security going after individuals and digging as deep as you want with the proper process. So what I would ask you is your opinion on how do we defend the country? Can we do it with the traditions of looking at individuals for whom we have suspicion, or are we going to have to collect all of this data and give up our privacy in the process? General Kelly: Senator, I would go with the traditional route. The scanning of the license plates, I mean, may be a reason—I can’t think of one right now. I’m not for the mass collection of data on people. I’d go the other way. Paul: And this is an amazing amount of information we can look at. If you had all the information of everyone’s Visa purchases in the country, there’s no end. But realize that this is a big part of what your job is, is people are going to be coming to you saying, protect us; we want to be safe, but at the same time, what are we willing to give up? Can we keep what we actually believe and what we are as a people, the freedom that you are committed to as a soldier? And I hope you’ll keep that in mind. General Kelly: Sir. Paul: Thank you. 2:15:08 General John Kelly: My law-enforcement friends tell me that in the case of drugs that come in—frankly, I’m not arguing for legalization for marijuana here; I’m just saying that the only drugs I’ve really ever concerned myself with at SouthCom were the three hard drugs. All the marijuana flow that we saw was coming from some of the Caribbean islands, south. So I’d just focus on the hard drugs. Hearing: Is the Department of Justice Adequately Protecting the Public from the Impact of State Recreational Marijuana Legalization?, Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, April 05, 2016. Watch on YouTube Senate Session: Republican Senators on Surveillance Bill Reauthorization, May 15, 2015. Jeff Sessions speaks at 28:18 Senate Session: Jeff Sessions Mocks Karl Rove, June 21, 2013. Additional Reading Article: 10 Things You Didn't Know about Gen. John Kelly by Sara Clarke, US News, January 17, 2017. Article: 10 things to know about Sen. Jeff Sessions, Donald Trump's pick for Attorney General by Amber Phillips, The Washington Post, January 10, 2017. Article: Sessions failed to disclose oil interests as required, ethics experts say by Tom Hamburger, The Washington Post, January 9, 2017. Article: Trump picks retired General John Kelly to lead Homeland Security, report says by Ben Jacobs and Spencer Ackerman, The Guardian, December 7, 2016. Article: Bowe Bergdahl, Facing Desertion Trial, Asks Obama for Pardon by Charlie Savage, New York Times, December 2, 2016. Webpage: State Marijuana Laws in 2016 Map, Governing the States and Localities, November 11, 2016. Article: Gutting Habeas Corpus by Liliana Segura, The Intercept, May 4, 2016. Press Release: Senators Introduce Restoration of America's Wire Act, Senator Dianne Feinstein, June 24, 2015. Article: The Destruction of Defendant's Rights by Lincoln Caplan, The New Yorker, June 21, 2015. Commentary: The Wire Act Ñ Don't Fix What Isn't Broken by John Pappas, Roll Call, March 18, 2015. Article: Department Of Justice Flip-Flops On Internet Gambling by Nathan Vardi, Forbes, December 23, 2011. Article: Holder accused of neglecting porn by Josh Gerstein, Politico, April 16, 2011. Article: American Lawbreaking by Tim Wu, Slate, October 15, 2007. Justice Dept. Memo May 5, 2005. Supreme Court Opinion: Hamdi vs Rumsfeld by Justice O'Connor, Supreme Court, June 28, 2004. References Legal Dictionary at Cornell University: Habeas Corpus U.S. Code: Production and transportation of obscene matters for sale or distribution Cover Art Design by Only Child Imaginations

Bernard talks about the anniversary of Black Friday one year later with Executive Director of the Poker Players Alliance, John Pappas.

Bernard talks about the anniversary of Black Friday one year later with Executive Director of the Poker Players Alliance, John Pappas.

Get a very informed perspective on the fight to legalize online poker in the U.S. as Executive Director of the Poker Player's Alliance, John Pappas, joins Lou Krieger and Shari Geller for Keep Flopping Aces on Rounders Radio. Also, find out what you can do to help the PPA as they work with Congress to license and regulate online gaming.

Get a very informed perspective on the fight to legalize online poker in the U.S. as Executive Director of the Poker Player's Alliance, John Pappas, joins Lou Krieger and Shari Geller for Keep Flopping Aces on Rounders Radio. Also, find out what you can do to help the PPA as they work with Congress to license and regulate online gaming.

Dr. Alan Schoonmaker hosts this debate with special guests John Pappas, President of the Poker Players Alliance and Preston Oade, a Lawyer versed in gaming law. They will be debating the question "Are the proposed federal poker laws good or bad for poker players?" Be sure to tune into this special report exclusively at Rounder's Radio.   John Pappas is the Executive Director of the Poker Players Alliance. Its website is www.pokerplayersalliance.org . He argues that the UIGEA created serious problems for online poker that can be solved or mitigated by new laws such as the ones sponsored by Congressmen Frank and Wexler.    Incidentally, at their website you can download an article by David Sklansky and Dr. Alan Schoonmaker called, “Poker is good for you.‿ Click on “News‿ and “Positive Aspects of Poker.‿    Preston Oade is a distinguished attorney who has tried two constitutional cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, and he has tried many other cases about regulations in other federal courts. He believes that the proposed laws would do more harm than good.   

Dr. Alan Schoonmaker hosts this debate with special guests John Pappas, President of the Poker Players Alliance and Preston Oade, a Lawyer versed in gaming law. They will be debating the question "Are the proposed federal poker laws good or bad for poker players?" Be sure to tune into this special report exclusively at Rounder's Radio.   John Pappas is the Executive Director of the Poker Players Alliance. Its website is www.pokerplayersalliance.org . He argues that the UIGEA created serious problems for online poker that can be solved or mitigated by new laws such as the ones sponsored by Congressmen Frank and Wexler.    Incidentally, at their website you can download an article by David Sklansky and Dr. Alan Schoonmaker called, “Poker is good for you.‿ Click on “News‿ and “Positive Aspects of Poker.‿    Preston Oade is a distinguished attorney who has tried two constitutional cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, and he has tried many other cases about regulations in other federal courts. He believes that the proposed laws would do more harm than good.