Podcasts about Lithuania

On this week's episode of ‘The Old Man and the Three,' host Cam Johnson welcomes his Denver Nuggets teammate Jonas Valanciunas!The begin the episode Cam and co-host Tommy Alter address the current events in Minneapolis and the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.Then with Jonas, they dive into Jonas' 14-year NBA career, his professional career in Lithuania before the NBA, his advice to bigs in the the current NBA, why he enjoys this year's Nuggets roster, what it's like playing with Nikola Jokic, and so much more. Let's go!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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

Whether you’re a seasoned team member or preparing for your first trip, short-term mission trips have the potential to make a meaningful global impact. In this conversation, we’ll highlight five key principles that help ensure our efforts contribute to lasting, sustainable change in the communities we serve.

IWhat is our children's future? What skills should they be developing? How should schools be adapting? What will the fully functioning citizens and workers of the future look like? A look into the landscape of the next 15 years, the future of work with human and AI interactions, the transformation of education, the safety and privacy landscapes, and a parental playbook. Navigation: Intro The Landscape: 2026–2040 The Future of Work: Human + AI The Transformation of Education The Ethics, Safety, and Privacy Landscape The Parental Playbook: Actionable Strategies Conclusion Our co-hosts: Bertrand Schmitt, Entrepreneur in Residence at Red River West, co-founder of App Annie / Data.ai, business angel, advisor to startups and VC funds, @bschmitt Nuno Goncalves Pedro, Investor, Managing Partner, Founder at Chamaeleon, @ngpedro Our show: Tech DECIPHERED brings you the Entrepreneur and Investor views on Big Tech, VC and Start-up news, opinion pieces and research. We decipher their meaning, and add inside knowledge and context. Being nerds, we also discuss the latest gadgets and pop culture news Subscribe To Our Podcast Bertrand SchmittIntroduction Welcome to Episode 72 of Tech Deciphered, about our children’s future. What is our children’s future? What skills should they be developing? How should school be adapting to AI? What would be the functioning citizens and workers of the future look like, especially in the context of the AI revolution? Nuno, what’s your take? Maybe we start with the landscape. Nuno Goncalves PedroThe Landscape: 2026–2040 Let’s first frame it. What do people think is going to happen? Firstly, that there’s going to be a dramatic increase in productivity, and because of that dramatic increase in productivity, there are a lot of numbers that show that there’s going to be… AI will enable some labour productivity growth of 0.1 to 0.6% through 2040, which would be a figure that would be potentially rising even more depending on use of other technologies beyond generative AI, as much as 0.5 to 3.4% points annually, which would be ridiculous in terms of productivity enhancement. To be clear, we haven’t seen it yet. But if there are those dramatic increases in productivity expected by the market, then there will be job displacement. There will be people losing their jobs. There will be people that will need to be reskilled, and there will be a big shift that is similar to what happens when there’s a significant industrial revolution, like the Industrial Revolution of the late 19th century into the 20th century. Other numbers quoted would say that 30% of US jobs could be automated by 2030, which is a silly number, 30%, and that another 60% would see tremendously being altered. A lot of their tasks would be altered for those jobs. There’s also views that this is obviously fundamentally a global phenomenon, that as much as 9% of jobs could be lost to AI by 2030. I think question mark if this is a net number or a gross number, so it might be 9% our loss, but then maybe there’re other jobs that will emerge. It’s very clear that the landscape we have ahead of us is if there are any significant increases in productivity, there will be job displacement. There will be job shifting. There will be the need for reskilling. Therefore, I think on the downside, you would say there’s going to be job losses. We’ll have to reevaluate whether people should still work in general 5 days a week or not. Will we actually work in 10, 20, 30 years? I think that’s the doomsday scenario and what happens on that side of the fence. I think on the positive side, there’s also a discussion around there’ll be new jobs that emerge. There’ll be new jobs that maybe we don’t understand today, new job descriptions that actually don’t even exist yet that will emerge out this brave new world of AI. Bertrand SchmittYeah. I mean, let’s not forget how we get to a growing economy. I mean, there’s a measurement of a growing economy is GDP growth. Typically, you can simplify in two elements. One is the growth of the labour force, two, the rise of the productivity of that labour force, and that’s about it. Either you grow the economy by increasing the number of people, which in most of the Western world is not really happening, or you increase productivity. I think that we should not forget that growth of productivity is a backbone of growth for our economies, and that has been what has enabled the rise in prosperity across countries. I always take that as a win, personally. That growth in productivity has happened over the past decades through all the technological revolutions, from more efficient factories to oil and gas to computers, to network computers, to internet, to mobile and all the improvement in science, usually on the back of technological improvement. Personally, I welcome any rise in improvement we can get in productivity because there is at this stage simply no other choice for a growing world in terms of growing prosperity. In terms of change, we can already have a look at the past. There are so many jobs today you could not imagine they would exist 30 years ago. Take the rise of the influencer, for instance, who could have imagined that 30 years ago. Take the rise of the small mom-and-pop e-commerce owner, who could have imagined that. Of course, all the rise of IT as a profession. I mean, how few of us were there 30 years ago compared to today. I mean, this is what it was 30 years ago. I think there is a lot of change that already happened. I think as a society, we need to welcome that. If we go back even longer, 100 years ago, 150 years ago, let’s not forget, if I take a city like Paris, we used to have tens of thousands of people transporting water manually. Before we have running water in every home, we used to have boats going to the North Pole or to the northern region to bring back ice and basically pushing ice all the way to the Western world because we didn’t have fridges at the time. I think that when we look back in time about all the jobs that got displaced, I would say, Thank you. Thank you because these were not such easy jobs. Change is coming, but change is part of the human equation, at least. Industrial revolution, the past 250 years, it’s thanks to that that we have some improvement in living conditions everywhere. AI is changing stuff, but change is a constant, and we need to adapt and adjust. At least on my side, I’m glad that AI will be able to displace some jobs that were not so interesting to do in the first place in many situations. Maybe not dangerous like in the past because we are talking about replacing white job collars, but at least repetitive jobs are definitely going to be on the chopping block. Nuno Goncalves PedroWhat happens in terms of shift? We were talking about some numbers earlier. The World Economic Forum also has some numbers that predicts that there is a gross job creation rate of 14% from 2025 to 2030 and a displacement rate of 8%, so I guess they’re being optimistic, so a net growth in employment. I think that optimism relates to this thesis that, for example, efficiency, in particular in production and industrial environments, et cetera, might reduce labour there while increasing the demand for labour elsewhere because there is a natural lower cost base. If there’s more automation in production, therefore there’s more disposable income for people to do other things and to focus more on their side activities. Maybe, as I said before, not work 5 days a week, but maybe work four or three or whatever it is. What are the jobs of the future? What are the jobs that we see increasing in the future? Obviously, there’re a lot of jobs that relate to the technology side, that relate obviously to AI, that’s a little bit self-serving, and everything that relates to information technology, computer science, computer technology, computer engineering, et cetera. More broadly in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, that might actually be more needed. Because there is a broadening of all of these elements of contact with digital, with AI over time also with robots and robotics, that those jobs will increase. There’s a thesis that actually other jobs that are a little bit more related to agriculture, education, et cetera, might not see a dramatic impact, that will still need for, I guess, teachers and the need for people working in farms, et cetera. I think this assumes that probably the AI revolution will come much before the fundamental evolution that will come from robotics afterwards. Then there’s obviously this discussion around declining roles. Anything that’s fundamentally routine, like data entry, clinical roles, paralegals, for example, routine manufacturing, anything that’s very repetitive in nature will be taken away. I have the personal thesis that there are jobs that are actually very blue-collar jobs, like HVAC installation, maintenance, et cetera, plumbing, that will be still done by humans for a very long time because there are actually, they appear to be repetitive, but they’re actually complex, and they require manual labour that cannot be easily, I think, right now done by robots and replacements of humans. Actually, I think there’re blue-collar roles that will be on the increase rather than on decrease that will demand a premium, because obviously, they are apprenticeship roles, certification roles, and that will demand a premium. Maybe we’re at the two ends. There’s an end that is very technologically driven of jobs that will need to necessarily increase, and there’s at the other end, jobs that are very menial but necessarily need to be done by humans, and therefore will also command a premium on the other end. Bertrand SchmittI think what you say make a lot of sense. If you think about AI as a stack, my guess is that for the foreseeable future, on the whole stack, and when I say stack, I mean from basic energy production because we need a lot of energy for AI, maybe to going up to all the computing infrastructure, to AI models, to AI training, to robotics. All this stack, we see an increase in expertise in workers and everything. Even if a lot of this work will benefit from AI improvement, the boom is so large that it will bring a lot of demand for anyone working on any part of the stack. Some of it is definitely blue-collar. When you have to build a data centre or energy power station, this requires a lot of blue-collar work. I would say, personally, I’m absolutely not a believer of the 3 or 4 days a week work week. I don’t believe a single second in that socialist paradise. If you want to call it that way. I think that’s not going to change. I would say today we can already see that breaking. I mean, if you take Europe, most European countries have a big issue with pension. The question is more to increase how long you are going to work because financially speaking, the equation is not there. Personally, I don’t think AI would change any of that. I agree with you in terms of some jobs from electricians to gas piping and stuff. There will still be demand and robots are not going to help soon on this job. There will be a big divergence between and all those that can be automated, done by AI and robots and becoming cheaper and cheaper and stuff that requires a lot of human work, manual work. I don’t know if it will become more expensive, but definitely, proportionally, in comparison, we look so expensive that you will have second thoughts about doing that investment to add this, to add that. I can see that when you have your own home, so many costs, some cost our product. You buy this new product, you add it to your home. It can be a water heater or something, built in a factory, relatively cheap. You see the installation cost, the maintenance cost. It’s many times the cost of the product itself. Nuno Goncalves PedroMaybe it’s a good time to put a caveat into our conversation. I mean, there’s a… Roy Amara was a futurist who came up with the Amara’s Law. We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and overestimate the effect in the long run. I prefer my own law, which is, we tend to overestimate the speed at which we get to a technological revolution and underestimate its impact. I think it’s a little bit like that. I think everyone now is like, “Oh, my God, we’re going to be having the AI overlords taking over us, and AGI is going to happen pretty quickly,” and all of that. I mean, AGI will probably happen at some point. We’re not really sure when. I don’t think anyone can tell you. I mean, there’re obviously a lot of ranges going on. Back to your point, for example, on the shift of the work week and how we work. I mean, just to be very clear, we didn’t use to have 5 days a week and 2 days a weekend. If we go back to religions, there was definitely Sabbath back in the day, and there was one day off, the day of the Lord and the day of God. Then we went to 2 days of weekend. I remember going to Korea back in 2005, and I think Korea shifted officially to 5 days a week, working week and 2 days weekend for some of the larger business, et cetera, in 2004. Actually, it took another whatever years for it to be pervasive in society. This is South Korea, so this is a developed market. We might be at some point moving to 4 days a week. Maybe France was ahead of the game. I know Bertrand doesn’t like this, the 35-hour week. Maybe we will have another shift in what defines the working week versus not. What defines what people need to do in terms of efficiency and how they work and all of that. I think it’s probably just going to take longer than we think. I think there’re some countries already doing it. I was reading maybe Finland was already thinking about moving to 4 days a week. There’re a couple of countries already working on it. Certainly, there’re companies already doing it as well. Bertrand SchmittYeah, I don’t know. I’m just looking at the financial equation of most countries. The disaster is so big in Western Europe, in the US. So much debt is out that needs to get paid that I don’t think any country today, unless there is a complete reversal of the finance, will be able to make a big change. You could argue maybe if we are in such a situation, it might be because we went too far in benefits, in vacation, in work days versus weekends. I’m not saying we should roll back, but I feel that at this stage, the proof is in the pudding. The finance of most developed countries are broken, so I don’t see a change coming up. Potentially, the other way around, people leaving to work more, unfortunately. We will see. My point is that AI will have to be so transformational for the productivity for countries, and countries will have to go back to finding their ways in terms of financial discipline to reach a level where we can truly profit from that. I think from my perspective, we have time to think about it in 10, 20 years. Right now, it’s BS at this stage of this discussion. Nuno Goncalves PedroYeah, there’s a dependency, Bertrand, which is there needs to be dramatic increases in productivity that need to happen that create an expansion of economy. Once that expansion is captured by, let’s say, government or let’s say by the state, it needs to be willingly fed back into society, which is not a given. There’re some governments who are going to be like, “No, you need to work for a living.” Tough luck. There’re no handouts, there’s nothing. There’s going to be other governments that will be pressured as well. I mean, even in a more socialist Europe, so to speak. There’re now a lot of pressures from very far-right, even extreme positions on what people need to do for a living and how much should the state actually intervene in terms of minimum salaries, et cetera, and social security. To your point, the economies are not doing well in and of themselves. Anyway, there would need to be tremendous expansion of economy and willingness by the state to give back to its citizens, which is also not a given. Bertrand SchmittAnd good financial discipline as well. Before we reach all these three. Reaping the benefits in a tremendous way, way above trend line, good financial discipline, and then some willingness to send back. I mean, we can talk about a dream. I think that some of this discussion was, in some ways, to have a discussion so early about this. It’s like, let’s start to talk about the benefits of the aeroplane industries in 1915 or 1910, a few years after the Wright brothers flight, and let’s make a decision based on what the world will be in 30 years from now when we reap this benefit. This is just not reasonable. This is not reasonable thinking. I remember seeing companies from OpenAI and others trying to push this narrative. It was just political agenda. It was nothing else. It was, “Let’s try to make look like AI so nice and great in the future, so you don’t complain on the short term about what’s happening.” I don’t think this is a good discussion to have for now. Let’s be realistic. Nuno Goncalves PedroJust for the sake of sharing it with our listeners, apparently there’re a couple of countries that have moved towards something a bit lower than 5 days a week. Belgium, I think, has legislated the ability for you to compress your work week into 4 days, where you could do 10 hours for 4 days, so 40 hours. UAE has some policy for government workers, 4.5 days. Iceland has some stuff around 35 to 36 hours, which is France has had that 35 hour thing. Lithuania for parents. Then just trials, it’s all over the shop. United Kingdom, my own Portugal, of course, Germany, Brazil, and South Africa, and a bunch of other countries, so interesting. There’s stuff going on. Bertrand SchmittFor sure. I mean, France managed to bankrupt itself playing the 75 hours work week since what, 2000 or something. I mean, yeah, it’s a choice of financial suicide, I would say. Nuno Goncalves PedroWonderful. The Future of Work: Human + AI Maybe moving a little bit towards the future of work and the coexistence of work of human and AI, I think the thesis that exists a little bit in the market is that the more positive thesis that leads to net employment growth and net employment creation, as we were saying, there’s shifting of professions, they’re rescaling, and there’s the new professions that will emerge, is the notion that human will need to continue working alongside with machine. I’m talking about robots, I’m also talking about software. Basically software can’t just always run on its own, and therefore, software serves as a layer of augmentation, that humans become augmented by AI, and therefore, they can be a lot more productive, and we can be a lot more productive. All of that would actually lead to a world where the efficiencies and the economic creation are incredible. We’ll have an unparalleled industrial evolution in our hands through AI. That’s one way of looking at it. We certainly at Chameleon, that’s how we think through AI and the AI layers that we’re creating with Mantis, which is our in-house platform at Chameleon, is that it’s augmenting us. Obviously, the human is still running the show at the end, making the toughest decisions, the more significant impact with entrepreneurs that we back, et cetera. AI augments us, but we run the show. Bertrand SchmittI totally agree with that perspective that first AI will bring a new approach, a human plus AI. Here in that situation, you really have two situations. Are you a knowledgeable user? Do you know your field well? Are you an expert? Are you an IT expert? Are you a medical doctor? Do you find your best way to optimise your work with AI? Are you knowledgeable enough to understand and challenge AI when you see weird output? You have to be knowledgeable in your field, but also knowledgeable in how to handle AI, because even experts might say, “Whatever AI says.” My guess is that will be the users that will benefit most from AI. Novice, I think, are in a bit tougher situation because if you use AI without truly understanding it, it’s like laying foundations on sand. Your stuff might crumble down the way, and you will have no clue what’s happening. Hopefully, you don’t put anyone in physical danger, but that’s more worrisome to me. I think some people will talk about the rise of vibe coding, for instance. I’ve seen AI so useful to improve coding in so many ways, but personally, I don’t think vibe coding is helpful. I mean, beyond doing a quick prototype or some stuff, but to put some serious foundation, I think it’s near useless if you have a pure vibe coding approach, obviously to each their own. I think the other piece of the puzzle, it’s not just to look at human plus AI. I think definitely there will be the other side as well, which is pure AI. Pure AI replacement. I think we start to see that with autonomous cars. We are close to be there. Here we’ll be in situation of maybe there is some remote control by some humans, maybe there is local control. We are talking about a huge scale replacement of some human activities. I think in some situation, let’s talk about work farms, for instance. That’s quite a special term, but basically is to describe work that is very repetitive in nature, requires a lot of humans. Today, if you do a loan approval, if you do an insurance claim analysis, you have hundreds, thousands, millions of people who are doing this job in Europe, in the US, or remotely outsourced to other countries like India. I think some of these jobs are fully at risk to be replaced. Would it be 100% replacement? Probably not. But a 9:1, 10:1 replacement? I think it’s definitely possible because these jobs have been designed, by the way, to be repetitive, to follow some very clear set of rules, to improve the rules, to remove any doubt if you are not sure. I think some of these jobs will be transformed significantly. I think we see two sides. People will become more efficient controlling an AI, being able to do the job of two people at once. On the other side, we see people who have much less control about their life, basically, and whose job will simply disappear. Nuno Goncalves PedroTwo points I would like to make. The first point is we’re talking about a state of AI that we got here, and we mentioned this in previous episodes of Tech Deciphered, through brute force, dramatically increased data availability, a lot of compute, lower network latencies, and all of that that has led us to where we are today. But it’s brute force. The key thing here is brute force. Therefore, when AI acts really well, it acts well through brute force, through seeing a bunch of things that have happened before. For example, in the case of coding, it might still outperform many humans in coding in many different scenarios, but it might miss hedge cases. It might actually not be as perfect and as great as one of these developers that has been doing it for decades who has this intuition and is a 10X developer. In some ways, I think what got us here is not maybe what’s going to get us to the next level of productivity as well, which is the unsupervised learning piece, the actually no learning piece, where you go into the world and figure stuff out. That world is emerging now, but it’s still not there in terms of AI algorithms and what’s happening. Again, a lot of what we’re seeing today is the outcome of the brute force movement that we’ve had over the last decade, decade and a half. The second point I’d like to make is to your point, Bertrand, you were going really well through, okay, if you’re a super experienced subject-matter expert, the way you can use AI is like, wow! Right? I mean, you are much more efficient, right? I was asked to do a presentation recently. When I do things in public, I don’t like to do it. If it’s a keynote, because I like to use my package stuff, there’s like six, seven presentations that I have prepackaged, and I can adapt around that. But if it’s a totally new thing, I don’t like to do it as a keynote because it requires a lot of preparation. Therefore, I’m like, I prefer to do a fire set chat or a panel or whatever. I got asked to do something, a little bit what is taking us to this topic today around what’s happening to our children and all of that is like, “God! I need to develop this from scratch.” The honest truth is if you have domain expertise around many areas, you can do it very quickly with the aid of different tools in AI. Anything from Gemini, even with Nana Banana, to ChatGPT and other tools that are out there for you and framing, how would you do that? But the problem then exists with people that are just at the beginning of their careers, people that have very little expertise and experience, and people that are maybe coming out of college where their knowledge is mostly theoretical. What happens to those people? Even in computer engineering, even in computer science, even in software development, how do those people get to the next level? I think that’s one of the interesting conversations to be had. What happens to the recent graduate or the recent undergrad? How do those people get the expertise they need to go to the next level? Can they just be replaced by AI agents today? What’s their role in terms of the workforce, and how do they fit into that workforce? Bertrand SchmittNo, I mean, that’s definitely the biggest question. I think that a lot of positions, if you are really knowledgeable, good at your job, if you are that 10X developer, I don’t think your job is at risk. Overall, you always have some exceptions, some companies going through tough times, but I don’t think it’s an issue. On the other end, that’s for sure, the recent new graduates will face some more trouble to learn on their own, start their career, and go to that 10X productivity level. But at the same time, let’s also not kid ourselves. If we take software development, this is a profession that increase in number of graduates tremendously over the past 30 years. I don’t think everyone basically has the talent to really make it. Now that you have AI, for sure, the bar to justify why you should be there, why you should join this company is getting higher and higher. Being just okay won’t be enough to get you a career in IT. You will need to show that you are great or potential to be great. That might make things tough for some jobs. At the same time, I certainly believe there will be new opportunities that were not there before. People will have to definitely adjust to that new reality, learn and understand what’s going on, what are the options, and also try to be very early on, very confident at using AI as much as they can because for sure, companies are going to only hire workers that have shown their capacity to work well with AI. Nuno Goncalves PedroMy belief is that it generates new opportunities for recent undergrads, et cetera, of building their own microbusinesses or nano businesses. To your point, maybe getting jobs because they’ll be forced to move faster within their jobs and do less menial and repetitive activities and be more focused on actual dramatic intellectual activities immediately from the get go, which is not a bad thing. Their acceleration into knowledge will be even faster. I don’t know. It feels to me maybe there’s a positivity to it. Obviously, if you’ve stayed in a big school, et cetera, that there will be some positivity coming out of that. The Transformation of Education Maybe this is a good segue to education. How does education change to adapt to a new world where AI is a given? It’s not like I can check if you’re faking it on your homework or if you’re doing a remote examination or whatever, if you’re using or not tools, it’s like you’re going to use these tools. What happens in that case, and how does education need to shift in this brave new world of AI augmentation and AI enhancements to students? Bertrand SchmittYes, I agree with you. There will be new opportunities. I think people need to be adaptable. What used to be an absolute perfect career choice might not be anymore. You need to learn what changes are happening in the industry, and you need to adjust to that, especially if you’re a new graduate. Nuno Goncalves PedroMaybe we’ll talk a little bit about education, Bertrand, and how education would fundamentally shift. I think one of the things that’s been really discussed is what are the core skills that need to be developed? What are the core skills that will be important in the future? I think critical thinking is probably most important than ever. The ability to actually assimilate information and discern which information is correct or incorrect and which information can lead you to a conclusion or not, for example, I think is more important than ever. The ability to assimilate a bunch of pieces of information, make a decision or have an insight or foresight out of that information is very, very critical. The ability to be analytical around how you look at information and to really distinguish what’s fact from what’s opinion, I think is probably quite important. Maybe moving away more and more from memorisation from just cramming information into your brain like we used to do it in college, you have to know every single algorithm for whatever. It’s like, “Who gives a shit? I can just go and search it.” There’s these shifts that are not simple because I think education, in particular in the last century, has maybe been too focused on knowing more and more knowledge, on learning this knowledge. Now it’s more about learning how to process the knowledge rather than learning how to apprehend it. Because the apprehension doesn’t matter as much because you can have this information at any point in time. The information is available to you at the touch of a finger or voice or whatever. But the ability to then use the information to do something with it is not. That’s maybe where you start distinguishing the different level degrees of education and how things are taught. Bertrand SchmittHonestly, what you just say or describe could apply of the changes we went through the past 30 years. Just using internet search has for sure tremendously changed how you can do any knowledge worker job. Suddenly you have the internet at your fingertips. You can search about any topics. You have direct access to a Wikipedia or something equivalent in any field. I think some of this, we already went through it, and I hope we learned the consequence of these changes. I would say what is new is the way AI itself is working, because when you use AI, you realise that it can utter to you complete bullshit in a very self-assured way of explaining something. It’s a bit more scary than it used to be, because in the past, that algorithm trying to present you the most relevant stuff based on some algorithm was not trying to present you the truth. It’s a list of links. Maybe it was more the number one link versus number 100. But ultimately, it’s for you to make your own opinion. Now you have some chatbot that’s going to tell you that for sure this is the way you should do it. Then you check more, and you realise, no, it’s totally wrong. It’s definitely a slight change in how you have to apprehend this brave new world. Also, this AI tool, the big change, especially with generative AI, is the ability for them to give you the impression they can do the job at hand by themselves when usually they cannot. Nuno Goncalves PedroIndeed. There’s definitely a lot of things happening right now that need to fundamentally shift. Honestly, I think in the education system the problem is the education system is barely adapted to the digital world. Even today, if you studied at a top school like Stanford, et cetera, there’s stuff you can do online, there’s more and more tools online. But the teaching process has been very centred on syllabus, the teachers, later on the professors, and everything that’s around it. In class presence, there’s been minor adaptations. People sometimes allow to use their laptops in the classroom, et cetera, or their mobile phones. But it’s been done the other way around. It’s like the tools came later, and they got fed into the process. Now I think there needs to be readjustments. If we did this ground up from a digital first or a mobile first perspective and an AI first perspective, how would we do it? That changes how teachers and professors should interact with the classrooms, with the role of the classroom, the role of the class itself, the role of homework. A lot of people have been debating that. What do you want out of homework? It’s just that people cram information and whatever, or do you want people to show critical thinking in a specific different manner, or some people even go one step further. It’s like, there should be no homework. People should just show up in class and homework should move to the class in some ways. Then what happens outside of the class? What are people doing at home? Are they learning tools? Are they learning something else? Are they learning to be productive in responding to teachers? But obviously, AI augmented in doing so. I mean, still very unclear what this looks like. We’re still halfway through the revolution, as we said earlier. The revolution is still in motion. It’s not realised yet. Bertrand SchmittI would quite separate higher education, university and beyond, versus lower education, teenager, kids. Because I think the core up to the point you are a teenager or so, I think the school system should still be there to guide you, discovering and learning and being with your peers. I think what is new is that, again, at some point, AI could potentially do your job, do your homework. We faced similar situation in the past with the rise of Wikipedia, online encyclopedias and the stuff. But this is quite dramatically different. Then someone could write your essays, could answer your maths work. I can see some changes where you talk about homework, it’s going to be classwork instead. No work at home because no one can trust that you did it yourself anymore going forward, but you will have to do it in the classroom, maybe spend more time at school so that we can verify that you really did your job. I think there is real value to make sure that you can still think by yourself. The same way with the rise of calculators 40 years ago, I think it was the right thing to do to say, “You know what? You still need to learn the basics of doing calculations by hand.” Yes, I remember myself a kid thinking, “What the hell? I have a calculator. It’s working very well.” But it was still very useful because you can think in your head, you can solve complex problems in your head, you can check some output that it’s right or wrong if it’s coming from a calculator. There was a real value to still learn the basics. At the same point, it was also right to say, “You know what? Once you know the basics, yes, for sure, the calculator will take over because we’re at the point.” I think that was the right balance that was put in place with the rise of calculators. We need something similar with AI. You need to be able to write by yourself, to do stuff by yourself. At some point, you have to say, “Yeah, you know what? That long essays that we asked you to do for the sake of doing long essays? What’s the point?” At some point, yeah, that would be a true question. For higher education, I think personally, it’s totally ripe for full disruption. You talk about the traditional system trying to adapt. I think we start to be at the stage where “It should be the other way around.” It should be we should be restarted from the ground up because we simply have different tools, different ways. I think at this stage, many companies if you take, [inaudible 00:33:01] for instance, started to recruit people after high school. They say, “You know what? Don’t waste your time in universities. Don’t spend crazy shitload of money to pay for an education that’s more or less worthless.” Because it used to be a way to filter people. You go to good school, you have a stamp that say, “This guy is good enough, knows how to think.” But is it so true anymore? I mean, now that universities have increased the enrolment so many times over, and your university degree doesn’t prove much in terms of your intelligence or your capacity to work hard, quite frankly. If the universities are losing the value of their stamp and keep costing more and more and more, I think it’s a fair question to say, “Okay, maybe this is not needed anymore.” Maybe now companies can directly find the best talents out there, train them themselves, make sure that ultimately it’s a win-win situation. If kids don’t have to have big loans anymore, companies don’t have to pay them as much, and everyone is winning. I think we have reached a point of no return in terms of value of university degrees, quite frankly. Of course, there are some exceptions. Some universities have incredible programs, incredible degrees. But as a whole, I think we are reaching a point of no return. Too expensive, not enough value in the degree, not a filter anymore. Ultimately, I think there is a case to be made for companies to go back directly to the source and to high school. Nuno Goncalves PedroI’m still not ready to eliminate and just say higher education doesn’t have a role. I agree with the notion that it’s continuous education role that needs to be filled in a very different way. Going back to K-12, I think the learning of things is pretty vital that you learn, for example, how to write, that you learn cursive and all these things is important. I think the role of the teacher, and maybe actually even later on of the professors in higher education, is to teach people the critical information they need to know for the area they’re in. Basic math, advanced math, the big thinkers in philosophy, whatever is that you’re studying, and then actually teach the students how to use the tools that they need, in particular, K-12, so that they more rapidly apprehend knowledge, that they more rapidly can do exercises, that they more rapidly do things. I think we’ve had a static view on what you need to learn for a while. That’s, for example, in the US, where you have AP classes, like advanced placement classes, where you could be doing math and you could be doing AP math. You’re like, dude. In some ways, I think the role of the teacher and the interaction with the students needs to go beyond just the apprehension of knowledge. It also has to have apprehension of knowledge, but it needs to go to the apprehension of tools. Then the application of, as we discussed before, critical thinking, analytical thinking, creative thinking. We haven’t talked about creativity for all, but obviously the creativity that you need to have around certain problems and the induction of that into the process is critical. It’s particular in young kids and how they’re developing their learning skills and then actually accelerate learning. In that way, what I’m saying, I’m not sure I’m willing to say higher education is dead. I do think this mass production of higher education that we have, in particular in the US. That’s incredibly costly. A lot of people in Europe probably don’t see how costly higher education is because we’re educated in Europe, they paid some fee. A lot of the higher education in Europe is still, to a certain extent, subsidised or done by the state. There is high degree of subsidisation in it, so it’s not really as expensive as you’d see in the US. But someone spending 200-300K to go to a top school in the US to study for four years for an undergrad, that doesn’t make sense. For tuition alone, we’re talking about tuition alone. How does that work? Why is it so expensive? Even if I’m a Stanford or a Harvard or a University of Pennsylvania or whatever, whatever, Ivy League school, if I’m any of those, to command that premium, I don’t think makes much sense. To your point, maybe it is about thinking through higher education in a different way. Technical schools also make sense. Your ability to learn and learn and continue to education also makes sense. You can be certified. There are certifications all around that also makes sense. I do think there’s still a case for higher education, but it needs to be done in a different mould, and obviously the cost needs to be reassessed. Because it doesn’t make sense for you to be in debt that dramatically as you are today in the US. Bertrand SchmittI mean, for me, that’s where I’m starting when I’m saying it’s broken. You cannot justify this amount of money except in a very rare and stratified job opportunities. That means for a lot of people, the value of this equation will be negative. It’s like some new, indented class of people who owe a lot of money and have no way to get rid of this loan. Sorry. There are some ways, like join the government Task Force, work for the government, that at some point you will be forgiven your loans. Some people are going to just go after government jobs just for that reason, which is quite sad, frankly. I think we need a different approach. Education can be done, has to be done cheaper, should be done differently. Maybe it’s just regular on the job training, maybe it is on the side, long by night type of approach. I think there are different ways to think about. Also, it can be very practical. I don’t know you, but there are a lot of classes that are not really practical or not very tailored to the path you have chosen. Don’t get me wrong, there is always value to see all the stuff, to get a sense of the world around you. But this has a cost. If it was for free, different story. But nothing is free. I mean, your parents might think it’s free, but at the end of the day, it’s their taxes paying for all of this. The reality is that it’s not free. It’s costing a lot of money at the end of the day. I think we absolutely need to do a better job here. I think internet and now AI makes this a possibility. I don’t know you, but personally, I’ve learned so much through online classes, YouTube videos, and the like, that it never cease to amaze me how much you can learn, thanks to the internet, and keep up to date in so many ways on some topics. Quite frankly, there are some topics that there is not a single university that can teach you what’s going on because we’re talking about stuff that is so precise, so focused that no one is building a degree around that. There is no way. Nuno Goncalves PedroI think that makes sense. Maybe bring it back to core skills. We’ve talked about a couple of core skills, but maybe just to structure it a little bit for you, our listener. I think there’s a big belief that critical thinking will be more important than ever. We already talked a little bit about that. I think there’s a belief that analytical thinking, the ability to, again, distinguish fact from opinion, ability to distinguish elements from different data sources and make sure that you see what those elements actually are in a relatively analytical manner. Actually the ability to extract data in some ways. Active learning, proactive learning and learning strategies. I mean, the ability to proactively learn, proactively search, be curious and search for knowledge. Complex problem-solving, we also talked a little bit about it. That goes hand in hand normally with critical thinking and analysis. Creativity, we also talked about. I think originality, initiative, I think will be very important for a long time. I’m not saying AI at some point won’t be able to emulate genuine creativity. I wouldn’t go as far as saying that, but for the time being, it has tremendous difficulty doing so. Bertrand SchmittBut you can use AI in creative endeavours. Nuno Goncalves PedroOf course, no doubt. Bertrand SchmittYou can do stuff you will be unable to do, create music, create videos, create stuff that will be very difficult. I see that as an evolution of tools. It’s like now cameras are so cheap to create world-class quality videos, for instance. That if you’re a student, you want to learn cinema, you can do it truly on the cheap. But now that’s the next level. You don’t even need actors, you don’t even need the real camera. You can start to make movies. It’s amazing as a learning tool, as a creative tool. It’s for sure a new art form in a way that we have seen expanding on YouTube and other places, and the same for creating new images, new music. I think that AI can be actually a tool for expression and for creativity, even in its current form. Nuno Goncalves PedroAbsolutely. A couple of other skills that people would say maybe are soft skills, but I think are incredibly powerful and very distinctive from machines. Empathy, the ability to figure out how the other person’s feeling and why they’re feeling like that. Adaptability, openness, the flexibility, the ability to drop something and go a different route, to maybe be intellectually honest and recognise this is the wrong way and the wrong angle. Last but not the least, I think on the positive side, tech literacy. I mean, a lot of people are, oh, we don’t need to be tech literate. Actually, I think this is a moment in time where you need to be more tech literate than ever. It’s almost a given. It’s almost like table stakes, that you are at some tech literacy. What matters less? I think memorisation and just the cramming of information and using your brain as a library just for the sake of it, I think probably will matter less and less. If you are a subject or a class that’s just solely focused on cramming your information, I feel that’s probably the wrong way to go. I saw some analysis that the management of people is less and less important. I actually disagree with that. I think in the interim, because of what we were discussing earlier, that subject-matter experts at the top end can do a lot of stuff by themselves and therefore maybe need to less… They have less people working for them because they become a little bit more like superpowered individual contributors. But I feel that’s a blip rather than what’s going to happen over time. I think collaboration is going to be a key element of what needs to be done in the future. Still, I don’t see that changing, and therefore, management needs to be embedded in it. What other skills should disappear or what other skills are less important to be developed, I guess? Bertrand SchmittWorld learning, I’ve never, ever been a fan. I think that one for sure. But at the same time, I want to make sure that we still need to learn about history or geography. What we don’t want to learn is that stupid word learning. I still remember as a teenager having to learn the list of all the 100 French departments. I mean, who cared? I didn’t care about knowing the biggest cities of each French department. It was useless to me. But at the same time, geography in general, history in general, there is a lot to learn from the past from the current world. I think we need to find that right balance. The details, the long list might not be that necessary. At the same time, the long arc of history, our world where it is today, I think there is a lot of value. I think you talk about analysing data. I think this one is critical because the world is generating more and more data. We need to benefit from it. There is no way we can benefit from it if we don’t understand how data is produced, what data means. If we don’t understand the base of statistical analysis. I think some of this is definitely critical. But for stuff, we have to do less. It’s beyond world learning. I don’t know, honestly. I don’t think the core should change so much. But the tools we use to learn the core, yes, probably should definitely improve. Nuno Goncalves PedroOne final debate, maybe just to close, I think this chapter on education and skill building and all of that. There’s been a lot of discussion around specialisation versus generalisation, specialists versus generalists. I think for a very long time, the world has gone into a route that basically frames specialisation as a great thing. I think both of us have lived in Silicon Valley. I still do, but we both lived in Silicon Valley for a significant period of time. The centre of the universe in terms of specialisation, you get more and more specialised. I think we’re going into a world that becomes a little bit different. It becomes a little bit like what Amazon calls athletes, right? The T-Pi-shaped people get the most value, where you’re brought on top, you’re a very strong generalist on top, and you have a lot of great soft skills around management and empathy and all that stuff. Then you might have one or two subject matter expertise areas. Could be like business development and sales or corporate development and business development or product management and something else. I think those are the winners of the future. The young winners of the future are going to be more and more T-pi-shaped, if I had to make a guess. Specialisation matters, but maybe not as much as it matters today. It matters from the perspective that you still have to have spikes in certain areas of focus. But I’m not sure that you get more and more specialised in the area you’re in. I’m not sure that’s necessarily how humans create most value in their arena of deployment and development. Professionally, and therefore, I’m not sure education should be more and more specialised just for the sake of it. What do you think? Bertrand SchmittI think that that’s a great point. I would say I could see an argument for both. I think there is always some value in being truly an expert on a topic so that you can keep digging around, keep developing the field. You cannot develop a field without people focused on developing a field. I think that one is there to stay. At the same time, I can see how in many situations, combining knowledge of multiple fields can bring tremendous value. I think it’s very clear as well. I think it’s a balance. We still need some experts. At the same time, there is value to be quite horizontal in terms of knowledge. I think what is still very valuable is the ability to drill through whenever you need. I think that we say it’s actually much easier than before. That for me is a big difference. I can see how now you can drill through on topics that would have been very complex to go into. You will have to read a lot of books, watch a lot of videos, potentially do a new education before you grasp much about a topic. Well, now, thanks to AI, you can drill very quickly on topic of interest to you. I think that can be very valuable. Again, if you just do that blindly, that’s calling for trouble. But if you have some knowledge in the area, if you know how to deal with AI, at least today’s AI and its constraints, I think there is real value you can deliver thanks to an ability to drill through when you don’t. For me, personally, one thing I’ve seen is some people who are generalists have lost this ability. They have lost this ability to drill through on a topic, become expert on some topic very quickly. I think you need that. If you’re a VC, you need to analyse opportunity, you need to discover a new space very quickly. We say, I think some stuff can move much quicker than before. I’m always careful now when I see some pure generalists, because one thing I notice is that they don’t know how to do much anything any more. That’s a risk. We have example of very, very, very successful people. Take an Elon Musk, take a Steve Jobs. They have this ability to drill through to the very end of any topic, and that’s a real skill. Sometimes I see people, you should trust the people below. They know better on this and that, and you should not question experts and stuff. Hey, guys, how is it that they managed to build such successful companies? Is their ability to drill through and challenge hardcore experts. Yes, they will bring top people in the field, but they have an ability to learn quickly a new space and to drill through on some very technical topics and challenge people the right way. Challenge, don’t smart me. Not the, I don’t care, just do it in 10 days. No, going smartly, showing people those options, learning enough in the field to be dangerous. I think that’s a very, very important skill to have. Nuno Goncalves PedroMaybe switching to the dark side and talking a little bit about the bad stuff. I think a lot of people have these questions. There’s been a lot of debate around ChatGPT. I think there’s still a couple of court cases going on, a suicide case that I recently a bit privy to of a young man that killed himself, and OpenAI and ChatGPT as a tool currently really under the magnifying glass for, are people getting confused about AI and AI looks so similar to us, et cetera. The Ethics, Safety, and Privacy Landscape Maybe let’s talk about the ethics and safety and privacy landscape a little bit and what’s happening. Sadly, AI will also create the advent of a world that has still a lot of biases at scale. I mean, let’s not forget the AI is using data and data has biases. The models that are being trained on this data will have also biases that we’re seeing with AI, the ability to do things that are fake, deep fakes in video and pictures, et cetera. How do we, as a society, start dealing with that? How do we, as a society, start dealing with all the attacks that are going on? On the privacy side, the ability for these models and for these tools that we have today to actually have memory of the conversations we’ve had with them already and have context on what we said before and be able to act on that on us, and how is that information being farmed and that data being farmed? How is it being used? For what purposes is it being used? As I said, the dark side of our conversation today. I think we’ve been pretty positive until now. But in this world, I think things are going to get worse before they get better. Obviously, there’s a lot of money being thrown at rapid evolution of these tools. I don’t see moratoriums coming anytime soon or bans on tools coming anytime soon. The world will need to adapt very, very quickly. As we’ve talked in previous episodes, regulation takes a long time to adapt, except Europe, which obviously regulates maybe way too fast on technology and maybe not really on use cases and user flows. But how do we deal with this world that is clearly becoming more complex? Bertrand SchmittI mean, on the European topic, I believe Europe should focus on building versus trying to sensor and to control and to regulate. But going back to your point, I think there are some, I mean, very tough use case when you see about voice cloning, for instance. Grandparents believing that their kids are calling them, have been kidnapped when there is nothing to it, and they’re being extorted. AI generating deepfakes that enable sextortion, that stuff. I mean, it’s horrible stuff, obviously. I’m not for regulation here, to be frank. I think that we should for sure prosecute to the full extent of the law. The law has already a lot of tools to deal with this type of situation. But I can see some value to try to prevent that in some tools. If you are great at building tools to generate a fake voice, maybe you should make sure that you are not helping scammers. If you can generate easily images, you might want to make sure that you cannot easily generate tools that can be used for creating deep fakes and sex extortion. I think there are things that should be done by some providers to limit such terrible use cases. At the same time, the genie is out. There is also that part around, okay, the world will need to adapt. But yeah, you cannot trust everything that is done. What could have looked like horrible might not be true. You need to think twice about some of this, what you see, what you hear. We need to adjust how we live, how we work, but also how we prevent that. New tools, I believe, will appear. We will learn maybe to be less trustful on some stuff, but that is what it is. Nuno Goncalves PedroMaybe to follow up on that, I fully agree with everything you just said. We need to have these tools that will create boundary conditions around it as well. I think tech will need to fight tech in some ways, or we’ll need to find flaws in tech, but I think a lot of money needs to be put in it as well. I think my shout-out here, if people are listening to us, are entrepreneurs, et cetera, I think that’s an area that needs more and more investment, an area that needs more and more tooling platforms that are helpful to this. It’s interesting because that’s a little bit like how OpenAI was born. OpenAI was born to be a positive AI platform into the future. Then all of a sudden we’re like, “Can we have tools to control ChatGPT and all these things that are out there now?” How things have changed, I guess. But we definitely need to have, I think, a much more significant investment into these toolings and platforms than we do have today. Otherwise, I don’t see things evolving much better. There’s going to be more and more of this. There’s going to be more and more deep fakes, more and more, lack of contextualisation. There’s countries now that allow you to get married with not a human. It’s like you can get married to an algorithm or a robot or whatever. It’s like, what the hell? What’s happening now? It’s crazy. Hopefully, we’ll have more and more boundary conditions. Bertrand SchmittYeah, I think it will be a boom for cybersecurity. No question here. Tools to make sure that is there a better trust system or detecting the fake. It’s not going to be easy, but it has been the game in cybersecurity for a long time. You have some new Internet tools, some new Internet products. You need to find a difference against it and the constant war between the attackers and the defender. Nuno Goncalves PedroThe Parental Playbook: Actionable Strategies Maybe last but not the least in today’s episode, the parent playbook I’m a parent, what should I do I’ll actually let you start first. Bertrand, I’m parent-alike, but I am, sadly, not a parent, so I’ll let you start first, and then I’ll share some of my perspectives as well as a parent-like figure. Bertrand SchmittYeah, as a parent to an 8-year, I would say so far, no real difference than before. She will do some homework on an iPad. But beyond that, I cannot say I’ve seen at this stage so much difference. I think it will come up later when you have different type of homeworks when the kids start to be able to use computers on their own. What I’ve seen, however, is some interesting use cases. When my daughter is not sure about the spelling, she simply asks, Siri. “Hey, Siri, how do you spell this or this or that?” I didn’t teach her that. All of this came on her own. She’s using Siri for a few stuff for work, and I’m quite surprised in a very smart, useful way. It’s like, that’s great. She doesn’t need to ask me. She can ask by herself. She’s more autonomous. Why not? It’s a very efficient way for her to work and learn about the world. I probably feel sad when she asks Siri if she’s her friend. That does not feel right to me. But I would say so far, so good. I’ve seen only AI as a useful tool and with absolutely very limited risk. At the same time, for sure, we don’t let our kid close to any social media or the like. I think some of this stuff is for sure dangerous. I think as a parent, you have to be very careful before authorising any social media. I guess at some point you have no choice, but I think you have to be very careful, very gradual, and putting a lot of controls and safety mechanism I mean, you talk about kids committing suicide. It’s horrible. As a parent, I don’t think you can have a bigger worry than that. Suddenly your kids going crazy because someone bullied them online, because someone tried to extort them online. This person online could be someone in the same school or some scammer on the other side of the world. This is very scary. I think we need to have a lot of control on our kids’ digital life as well as being there for them on a lot of topics and keep drilling into them how a lot of this stuff online is not true, is fake, is not important, and being careful, yes, to raise them, to be critical of stuff, and to share as much as possible with our parents. I think We have to be very careful. But I would say some of the most dangerous stuff so far, I don’t think it’s really coming from AI. It’s a lot more social media in general, I would say, but definitely AI is adding another layer of risk. Nuno Goncalves PedroFrom my perspective, having helped raise three kids, having been a parent-like role today, what I would say is I would highlight against the skills that I was talking about before, and I would work on developing those skills. Skills that relate to curiosity, to analytical behaviours at the same time as being creative, allowing for both, allowing for the left brain, right brain, allowing for the discipline and structure that comes with analytical thinking to go hand in hand with doing things in a very, very different way and experimenting and failing and doing things and repeating them again. All the skills that I mentioned before, focusing on those skills. I was very fortunate to have a parental unit. My father and my mother were together all their lives: my father, sadly, passing away 5 years ago that were very, very different, my mother, more of a hacker in mindset. Someone was very curious, medical doctor, allowing me to experiment and to be curious about things around me and not simplifying interactions with me, saying it as it was with a language that was used for that particular purpose, allowing me to interact with her friends, who were obviously adults. And then on the other side, I have my father, someone who was more disciplined, someone who was more ethical, I think that becomes more important. The ability to be ethical, the ability to have moral standing. I’m Catholic. There is a religious and more overlay to how I do things. Having the ability to portray that and pass that to the next generation and sharing with them what’s acceptable and what’s not acceptable, I think is pretty critical and even more critical than it was before. The ability to be structured, to say and to do what you say, not just actually say a bunch of stuff and not do it. So, I think those things don’t go out of use, but I would really spend a lot more focus on the ability to do critical thinking, analytical thinking, having creative ideas, obviously, creating a little bit of a hacker mindset, how to cut corners to get to something is actually really more and more important. The second part is with all of this, the overlay of growth mindset. I feel having a more flexible mindset rather than a fixed mindset. What I mean by that is not praising your kids or your grandchildren for being very intelligent or very beautiful, which are fixed things, they’re static things, but praising them for the effort they put into something, for the learning that they put into something, for the process, raising the

It's our last week before the avalanche of national finals begins and doesn't stop for almost two months, so we've got another batch of sneak peeks of upcoming shows, plus a listener postcard about the important issue of voting in 2026. Jeremy likes the look of some of these men with accordions, Dimitry's hero might just show up to save the day, and Oscar's villain origin story begins. Visit Eurovisionworld for dates & viewing info for this season's national finals: https://eurovisionworld.com/This week's companion playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/31B99OJyDhWFtzuHBw6427 The Eurovangelists are Jeremy Bent, Oscar Montoya and Dimitry Pompée.The theme was arranged and recorded by Cody McCorry and Faye Fadem, and the logo was designed by Tom Deja.Production support for this show was provided by the Maximum Fun network.The show is edited by Jeremy Bent with audio mixing help was courtesy of Shane O'Connell.Find Eurovangelists on social media as @eurovangelists on Instagram and @eurovangelists.com on Bluesky, or send us an email at eurovangelists@gmail.com. Head to https://maxfunstore.com/collections/eurovangelists for Eurovangelists merch. Also follow the Eurovangelists account on Spotify and check out our playlists of Eurovision hits, competitors in upcoming national finals, and companion playlists to every single episode, including this one!

Allen, Joel, Rosemary, and Yolanda discuss the ongoing federal halt on US offshore wind projects and mounting lawsuits from Equinor, Ørsted, and Dominion Energy. Plus Japan’s Goto floating wind farm begins commercial operation with eight Hitachi turbines on hybrid SPAR-type foundations, and Finnish investigators seize a vessel suspected of severing Baltic Sea cables. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly newsletter on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard’s StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on YouTube, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary’s “Engineering with Rosie” YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! The Uptime Wind Energy Podcast brought to you by Strike Tape, protecting thousands of wind turbines from lightning damage worldwide. Visit striketape.com. And now your hosts, Allen Hall, Rosemary Barnes, Joel Saxum and Yolanda Padron. Welcome to the  Allen Hall: Uptime Wind Energy Podcast. I’m your host, Alan Hall. I’m here with Rosie Barnes, Joel Saxum, and Yolanda Padron. Many things on the docket this week. The, the big one is the five US offshore wind projects that are facing cancellation after the federal halt. And on December 22nd, as we all know, the US Department of Interior ordered construction halted on every offshore wind project in American waters. Uh, the recent given and still given is national security. Uh, developers see it way differently and they’ve been going to court to try to. Get this issue resolved. Ecuador, Ted and Dominion Energy have all filed lawsuits at this point. EOR says [00:01:00] a 90 day pause, which is what this is right now, will likely mean cancellation of their empire. Project Dominion is losing more than about $5 million a day, and everybody is watching to see what happens. Orton’s also talking about taking some action here. Uh, there’s a, a lot of moving pieces. Essentially, as it stands right now, a lot of lawsuits, nothing happening in the water, and now talks mostly Ecuador of just completely canceling the project. That will have big implications to US. Electricity along the east coast,  Joel Saxum: right Joel? Yeah. We need it. Right? So I, I hate to beat a dead horse here because we’ve been talking about this for so long. Um, but. We’ve got energy demand growth, right? We’re sitting at three to 5% year on year demand growth in the United States, uh, which is unprecedented. Since, since, and this is a crazy thing. Since air [00:02:00] conditioning was invented for residential homes, we have not had this much demand for electricity growth. We’ve been pretty flat for the last 20 years. Uh, so we need it, right? We wanna be the AI data center superpower. We wanna do all this stuff. So we need electrons. Uh, these electrons are literally the quickest thing gonna be on the grid. Uh, up and down that whole eastern seaboard, which is a massive population center, a massive industrial and commercial center of the United States, and now we’re cutting the cord on ’em. Uh, so it is going to drive prices up for all consumers. That is a reality, right? Um, so we, we hear campaign promises up and down the things about making life more affordable for the. Joe Schmo on the street. Um, this is gonna hurt that big time. We’re already seeing. I think it was, um, we, Alan, you and I talked with some people from PGM not too long ago, and they were saying 20 to 30% increases already early this year. Allen Hall: Yeah. The, the increases in electricity rates are not being driven by [00:03:00] offshore wind. You see that in the press constantly or in commentary. The reason electricity rates are going up along the east coast is because they’re paying for. The early shutdown of cold fire generation, older generation, uh, petroleum based, uh, dirty, what I’ll call dirty electricity generation, they’re paying to shut those sites down early. So that’s why your rates are going up. Putting offshore wind into the equation will help lower some of those costs, and onshore wind and solar will help lower those costs. But. The East Coast, especially the Northeast, doesn’t have a lot of that to speak of at the minute. So, uh, Joel, my question is right now, what do you think the likelihood is of the lawsuits that are being filed moving within the next 90 days? Joel Saxum: I mean, it takes a long time to put anything through any kind of, um, judicial process in the United States, however. There’s enough money, power [00:04:00] in play here that what I see this as is just like the last time we saw an injunction happen like this is, it’s more of a posturing move. I have the power to do this, or we have the power to do this. It’s, it’s, uh, the, it’s to get power. Over some kind of decision making process. So once, once people come to the table and start talking, I think these things will be let, let back loose. Uh, I don’t, I don’t think it will go all the way to, we need to have lawsuits and stuff. It’ll just be the threat of lawsuits. There’ll be a little bit of arbitration. They’ll go back to work. Um, the problem that I see. One of the problems, I guess, is if we get to the point where people, companies start saying like, you know what, we can’t do this anymore. Like, we can’t keep having these breaks, these pauses, these, this, you know, if it’s 90 days at $5 million a day, I mean that’s 450 million bucks. That’s crazy. But that nobody, nobody could absorb that.  Allen Hall: Will they leave the mono piles and transition pieces and some [00:05:00] towers just sitting in the water. That’s what  Joel Saxum: I was gonna say next is. What happens to all of the assets, all of the steel that’s in the water, all the, all the, if there’s cable, it lays if there’s been rock dumps or the companies liable to go pick them up. I don’t know what the contracts look like, right? I don’t know what the Boem leases say. I don’t know about those kind of things, but most of that stuff is because they go back to the oil field side of things, right? You have a 20 year lease at the end of your 20 year lease. You gotta clean it up. So if you put the things in the water, do they have 20 years to leave ’em out there before they plan on how they’re gonna pull ’em out or they gotta pull ’em out now? I don’t know.  Allen Hall: Would just bankrupt the LLCs that they formed to create these, uh, wind  Joel Saxum: farms. That’s how the oil field does it bankrupt. The LC move on. You’ve, you’ve more than likely paid a bond when you, you signed that lease and that, but that bond in like in a lot of. Things is not enough. Right. A bond to pull mono piles out would have to be, [00:06:00] I mean, you’re already at billions of dollars there, right? So, and, and if you look again to the oil and gas world, which is our nearest mirror to what happens here, when you go and decommission an old oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico, you don’t pull the mono piles out. You go down to as close to the sea floor as you can get, and you just cut ’em off with a diamond saw. So it’s just like a big clamp that goes around. It’s like a big band saw. And you cut the foundations off and then pull the steel back to shore, so that can be done. Um, it’s not cheap.  Allen Hall: You know what I would, what I would do is the model piles are in, the towers are up, and depending on what’s on top of them, whether it’s in the cell or whatever, I would sure as hell put the red flashing lights on top and I would turn those things on and let ’em run just so everybody along the East coast would know that there could be power coming out of these things. But there’s not. So if you’re gonna look at their red flashy lights, you might as well get some, uh, megawatts out of them. That’s what I would do.  Joel Saxum: You’d have to wonder if the contracts, what, what, what it says in the contracts about. [00:07:00] Uh, utilization of this stuff, right? So if there’s something out there, does the FAA say, if you got a tower out there, it’s gotta have a light on it anyways. Allen Hall: It has to or a certain height. So where’s the power coming from? I don’t know. Solar panel. Solar panel. That’s what it have to be, right? Yeah. This is ridiculous. But this is the world we live in today.  Speaker 4: Australia’s wind farms are growing fast, but are your operations keeping up? Join us February 17th and 18th at Melbourne’s Pullman on the park for Wind energy o and M Australia 2026, where you’ll connect with the experts solving real problems in maintenance asset management. And OEM relations. Walk away with practical strategies to cut costs and boost uptime that you can use the moment you’re back on site. Register now at W OM a 2020 six.com. Wind Energy o and m Australia is created by wind professionals for wind professionals. Because this industry needs solutions, not speeches, [00:08:00] Allen Hall: the dominoes keep falling. In American offshore wind, last year it was construction halts this year, contract delays. Massachusetts has pushed back the signing of two offshore wind agreements that were supposed to be done. Months ago, ocean Winds and Berroa won their bids in September of 2024. The paperwork is still unsigned more than a year later, a year and a half later. State officials blame Federal uncertainty. Uh, the new target is June and offshore wind for these delays are really becoming a huge problem, especially if you don’t have an offtake agreements signed, Joel.  Joel Saxum: I don’t see how the, I mean, again, I’m not sitting in those rooms. I’m not a fly on the wall there, but I don’t see how you can have something sitting out there for, it’s just say September 24. Yeah. Yeah. You’re at 18 months now, right? 17, 18 months without an agreement signed. Why is, why is Massachusetts doing this? What’s, what’s the, what’s the thing there? I mean, you’re an, [00:09:00] you are, uh, an ex Massachusetts, Massachusetts, Ian, is that what it’s called?  Allen Hall: Yeah. I, I think they would like to be able to change the pricing for the offtake is most likely what is happening as, uh, the Trump administration changes the agreements or trying to change the agreements, uh, the price can go up or down. So maybe the thing to do is to not sign it and wait this out to see what the courts say. Maybe something will happen in your favor. That’s a real shame. Right. Uh, there’s thousands of employees that have been sidelined. Uh, the last number I saw was around 4,000. That seems on the low end.  Joel Saxum: Yeah. I think about, um, the, the vessels too. Like you’re the, like the Eco Edison that was just built last year. I think it’s upwards of 500 million bucks or something to build that thing down in Louisiana, being sent up there. And you have all these other specialized, uh, vessels coming over from Europe to do all this construction. Um, you know. Of course if they’re coming over from Europe, those are being hot bunked and being paid standby rates, which [00:10:00] is crazy ’cause the standby rates are insane. Uh, ’cause you still gotta run fuel, you still gotta keep the thing running. You still gotta cook food. You still have all those things that have to happen on that offshore vessel. Uh, but they’re just gonna be sitting out there on DP doing nothing.  Yolanda Padron: You have the vessels, you have people’s jobs. You have. Regular people who are unrelated to energy at all suffering because of their prices going up for energy and just their cost of living overall going up. All because they don’t look pretty.  Joel Saxum: Yeah. The entire, that entire supply chain is suffering. I mean, Yolanda, you’re, you, you used to work with a company involved in offshore wind. How many people have, um, you know, have we seen across LinkedIn losing their jobs? Hey, we’re pivoting away from this. I gotta go find something else. And with that. In the United States, if you’re not from the States, you don’t know this, but there’s not that much wind, onshore wind on the East coast. So many of those families had to relocate out there, uproot your family, go out to Massachusetts, New Jersey, [00:11:00] Virginia, wherever, put roots back down and now you’re what? What happens? You gotta move back.  Yolanda Padron: Good luck to you. Especially, I mean, you know, it’s, it’s a lot of projects, right? So it’s not like you can just move on to the next wind farm. It’s a really unfortunate situation.  Allen Hall: Well, for years the promise of floating wind turbines has dangled just out of reach and the technology works, and the engineers have been saying for quite a while. We just needed someone to prove it at scale. Well, Japan just did the go-to floating wind farm began commercial operation this past week. Eight turbines on hybrid spar foundations anchored in water is too deep for anything fixed. Bottom, uh, it’s the first. Wind farm of his kind in Japan and signals to the rest of Asia that floating wind is possible. Now, uh, Rosemary, their turbines that are being used are Hitachi turbines, 2.1 megawatt machines. I don’t know a lot about this hybrid spark [00:12:00] type floater technology, which looks to be relatively new in terms of application. Is this gonna open up a large part of the Japanese shoreline to offshore wind? Rosemary Barnes: Yeah, I mean, at the first glance it’s like two megawatt turbine turbines. That’s micro, even for onshore these days, that’s a really small turbine. Um, and for offshore, you know, usually when you hear about offshore announcements, it’s like 20 megawatt, 40 megawatt monstrosities. However, I, I think that if you just look at the size of it, then it really underestimates the significance of it, especially for Japan. Because they, one, don’t have a lot of great space to put turbines on shore or solar power on shore. Um, and two, they don’t have any, any good, um, locations for fixed bottom offshore. So this is not like this floating offshore wind farm. It’s not competing against many onshore um, options at all. For Japan, it’s competing against energy imports. I’m really happy to see [00:13:00] a proper wind farm. Um, in Japan and they’ll learn a lot from this. And I hope that it goes smoothly and that, you know, the next one can be bigger and better. And then it’s also, you know, Japan traditionally has been a really great manufacturing country and not so much with wind energy, but this could be their chance. If they’re the country that’s really on scale developing the floating offshore industry, they will necessarily, you know, like just naturally as a byproduct of that, they’re gonna develop manufacturing, at least supporting manufacturing and probably. Some major components and then bring down the cost. You know, the more that, um, these early projects might start out expensive, but get cheaper, fast. That’s how we hope it’ll go. And then they’ll push out into other areas that could benefit from offshore wind, but um, not at the cost. Somewhere like California, you know, they have the ability to have onshore wind. They’d really like some offshore wind, some floating offshore wind. But it is a hard sell there at the moment because it is so much more expensive. But if it gets cheaper because, you know, projects like [00:14:00] this help push the price down, then I think it will open things up a lot. So yeah, I am, I’m quite excited to see this project.  Allen Hall: Will it get cheaper at the two to six megawatt range instead of the 15 to 20 megawatt range?  Joel Saxum: That’s what I was gonna comment on. Like there’s, there’s a, there’s a key here that the general public misses. For a floating offshore wind farm. So if you’re gonna do this cost effectively, that’s why they did it with the 2.1 megawatts ones because with a, with the spar product that they’re using basically. And, and I was sourcing this off at my desk, so here you go,  Rosemary Barnes: Joel. We need a closed caption version for those listening on the podcast and not watching on YouTube. Joel’s holding like a foam, a foam model of a wind turbine. Looks like it’s got a stubby, stubby holder on the bottom.  Joel Saxum: This is. Turbine. Steel. Steel to a transition piece and then concrete, right? So this is basically a concrete tube like, um, with, with, uh, structural members on the inside of it. And you can float this thing or you can drag these, you can float ’em key side and then drag ’em out, and [00:15:00] then it just fill ’em halfway or three quarters away with ballast sea seawater. So you just open a valve, fill the thing up to three quarters of the way with seawater, and it sinks it down into the water a little bit. Water level sits about. Right at the transition piece and then it’s stable. And that’s a hybrid. Spar product is very simple. So to make this a easy demonstrate project, keyside facility is the key, is the big thing. So your Keyside facility, and you need a deep water keyside facility to make this easy. So if you go up to Alan, like you said, a two to six, to eight to 10 to 15 megawatt machine. You may have to go and take, you may have to barge the spars out and then dump ’em off the spar and then bring the turbines out and put ’em on. That’s not ideal. Right? But if you can do this all keyside, if you can have a crane on shore and you can float the spars and then put the, build the whole turbine, and then drag that out as it sits, that’s a huge cost reduction in the installation operations. So it, it’s all about how big is the subsea portion of the spar? How? How deep is your [00:16:00] deep water keyside port? To make it efficient to build. Right. So they’re looking at 10 gigawatts of floating offshore wind by 2030. Now it’s 2026. That’s only four years away, so 10 gigawatts. You’re gonna have to scale up the size of the turbines. It’ll be interesting how they do it, right? Because to me, flipping spars off of a barge is not that hard. That’s how jackets and spars have been installed in the past. Um, for, um, many industries, construction industries, whether it’s oil and gas or just maritime, construction can be done. Not a problem. Um, it’s just not as efficient. So we’ll see what, we’ll see what they do.  Allen Hall: You would need 5,000 turbines at two megawatts to get to 10 gigawatts, 5,000 turbines. They make 5,000 cars in a day. The, the Japanese manufacturing is really efficient. I wouldn’t put anything by the Japanese capabilities there.  Joel Saxum: The problem with that is the cost of the, the inter array cables and [00:17:00] export cables for 5,000 turbines is extreme. Allen Hall: We also know that. Some of the best technology has come out of Japan for the last 50 years, and then maybe there’s a solution to it. I, I’m really curious to see where this goes, because it’s a Hitachi turbine. It’s a 2.1 megawatt turbine, as Rosemary’s pointed out. That’s really old technology, but it is inexpensive to manufacture and easy to move around. Has benefits.  Rosemary Barnes: Yeah. It also means like they, they’re not gonna be surprised with like, you know, all of. When you make a 20 megawatt offshore wind turbine, you’re not only in the offshore environment, you’re also dealing with, you know, all your blade issues from a blade that long and 2.1 megawatt turbine has blades of the size that, you know, just so mature, reliable, robust. They can at least rule those headaches out of their, um, you know, out of their. Development phase and focus on the, the new stuff.  Joel Saxum: Does anybody know who [00:18:00] makes blades for Hitachi?  Allen Hall: Rosie? Was it lm? I, I, I know we have on a number of Hitachi turbines over time, but I don’t know who makes the blades.  Rosemary Barnes: Yeah, I don’t know. But I mean, also it’s like, um, it doesn’t mean that they’re locked into 2.1 megawatts for forever, right? So, um, if the economics suggest that it is be beneficial to scale up. Presumably there will be a lot that they have learned from the smaller scale that will be de-risking the, the bigger ones as well. So, you know, um, it’s, there’s advantages to doing it both ways. It’s probably a slower, more steady progress from starting small and incrementally increasing compared to the, you know, like big, um, fail fast kind of, um, approach where you just do a big, big, huge turbine and just find out everything wrong with it all at once. Um, but. You know, pros and cons to both.  Allen Hall: Hitachi buys TPI. They got the money. They got the money, and they got the brain power. [00:19:00] Delamination and bottom line. Failures and blades are difficult problems to detect early. These hidden issues can cost you millions in repairs and lost energy production. C-I-C-N-D-T are specialists to detect these critical flaws before they become expensive burdens. Their non-destructive test technology penetrates deep to blade materials to find voids and cracks. Traditional inspections completely. Miss C-I-C-N-D-T Maps. Every critical defect delivers actionable reports and provides support to get your blades back in service. So visit cic ndt.com because catching blade problems early will save you millions. The Baltic Sea has become a chessboard under sea. Cables carry data. Pipelines carry energy as we’ve all seen and someone keeps cutting them. Finnish investigators are now saying a cargo ship dragged its anchor [00:20:00] across the seabed for tens of kilometers before severing a telecommunications cable. On New Year’s Eve, special forces seize the vessel. Four crew members are detained, but the questions still remain. Who or what is trying to cut cables and pipelines at the bottom of the Baltic Sea.  Joel Saxum: It’s not accidents like it happened on New Year’s Eve and it was, and you drug an anchor for tens of kilometers. That’s on purpose. There’s, there’s no way that this is someone, oh, we forgot to pull the anchor up. You know how much more throttle you have to put on one of these? Have you seen an anchor for an offshore vessel? They’re the size of a fricking house,  Allen Hall: so they’re investigating it right now. And four, the 14 crew members are under detention. Travel restrictions, we’ll see how long that lasts. Crew includes nationals from of all places, Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan. So there is a, a Russian element to this. [00:21:00] I don’t know if you were all watching, I don’t know, a week or two ago when there’s a YouTube video from and oral, which makes undersea. Equipment and defense, uh, related, uh, products. And Palmer Lucky who runs that company basically said, there are microphones all over the bottom of the ocean, all around the world. Everything is monitored. There’s no way you can drag an anchor for a kilometer without somebody knowing. So I’m a little surprised this took so long to grab hold of, but. Maybe the New Year’s Eve, uh, was a good time to pick because everybody is kind of relaxed and not thinking about a ship, dragging an anchor and breaking telecommunication cables, wind turbines have to be really careful about this. There, there have to be some sort of monitoring, installation sensors that are going on around the, all the wind power that exists up in that region and all [00:22:00] the way down in, in the North Sea. To prevent this from happening, the sabotage is ridiculous. At this point,  Joel Saxum: yeah. I mean, even, even with mattresses over the export cables, or the inter array cables or, or rock bags or rock dumps or, or burials, these anchors are big enough to, to cut those, to drag and cut ’em like it, it’s just a, it’s a reality. It’s a risk. But someone needs to be monitoring these things closer if they’re not yet. ’cause you are a hundred percent correct. There’s, so, there’s, there’s private, there’s public sides of the acoustic monitoring, right? So like the United States military monitors, there’s, there’s acoustic monitoring all up and down. I can’t actually never, I looked into it quite a while ago. There’s a name for the whole system. It’s called the blah, blah, blah, and it monitors our coastline. Like ev, there’s a sensor. Every man, it’s a couple miles. Like all, all around the EEZ of the United States. And that exists everywhere. So like you think like in international waters, guarantee that the United States has got microphones out listening to, [00:23:00] right. So, but if you’re in the Baltic Sea, it’s a little bit different of an, of a confined space. But you have Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, all along the southern and eastern coast and the, and Russia. And then you have the Fins, Swedes, Norwegian, Denmark, Germany. Everybody is Poland. Everybody’s monitoring that for sure. It’s just like a postmortem investigation is, is doable.  Allen Hall: Yolanda, how are they gonna stop this? Should they board the ships, pull the people off and sink them? What is it gonna take for this to end?  Yolanda Padron: I don’t know. In the meantime, I think Joel has a movie going on in his head about how exactly he’s gonna portray this. Um, yeah, it’s. I mean, I’d say better monitoring, but I, I’m not sure. I guess keep a closer eye on it next time. I mean, I really hope it’s, there’s not a next time, but there seems to be a pattern developing. Right.  Allen Hall: I forgot how many of those happened.  Joel Saxum: Yeah. The maritime, this is a, this is a tough reality about the maritime world. [00:24:00] ’cause I, I’ve done some work done in Africa and down there it’s specifically the same thing. There’s say there’s a vessel. Okay, so a vessel is flagged from. S Cy Malta, a lot of vessels are flagged Malta or Cyprus, right? Because of the laws. The local laws there that Cyprus flagged vessel may be owned by a company based in, um, Bermuda that’s owned by a company based in Russia that’s owned by a company based in India. All of these things are this way. There’s shell companies and hidden that you don’t know who owns vessels unless they’re even, even the specific ones. Like if you go to a Maersk vessel. And you’re like, oh, that’s Maersk, they’re Danish. Nope. That thing will be, that thing will be flagged somewhere else, hidden somewhere else. And it’s all about what port you go to and how much taxes you can hide from, and you’ll never be able to chase down the actual parties that own these vessels and that are responsible you, you, it, it’s so [00:25:00] difficult. You’re literally just going to have to deal with the people on board, and you can try to chase the channels to who owns that boat, but you’ll never find them. That’s the, that’s the trouble with it.  Allen Hall: It does seem like a Jean Claude Van Dam situation will need to happen pretty soon. Maybe as Steven Segal, something has to happen. It can’t continue to go on it over the next couple of months with as much attention as being paid to international waters and. Everything that’s happening around the world, you’d think that, uh, ships Defense Department ships from Denmark, Finland, Germany. We will all be watching this really closely UK be watching this and trying to stop these things before they really even happened. Interesting times. That wraps up another episode of the Uptime Wind Energy Podcasts. If today’s discussion sparked any questions or ideas. We’d love to hear from you. Reach out to us on LinkedIn and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. [00:26:00] And if you found value in today’s conversation, please leave us a review. It really helps other wind energy professionals discover the show for Rosie, Yolanda and Joel. I’m Alan Hall and we’ll catch you next week on the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast.

Todd recently sold his house of 30 years and moved, so after several months of settling into a new life routine, he and Eric return with new episodes. LeMay Collections at Marymount is home to many unusual vehicles, but perhaps none is more of a historical conversation starter like the big, black Soviet-era GAZ Chaika limousine. Eric and Todd interview George Giese, who sold the car to the LeMay Collection in 2006. Longtime Marymount volunteer Brian Tallon contacted him to find out more about the car and as it turns out, it played a politicl role during Lithuania's independence from the Soviet Union in 1990. It was then "smuggled" to the United Kingdom. Giese also tells us many other fascinating car stories, including two Bentleys he is taking to the Barrett-Jackson auction in January 2026.

In 1940, a Japanese diplomat in Lithuania quietly chose conscience over career, saving lives he would never know. From Chiune Sugihara to the midwives of Egypt, Rabbi Dunner explores how small acts of courage by ordinary people set redemption in motion — long before heroes emerge, miracles unfold, or history reveals what those choices ultimately become.

AMDG. Today, following this Jubilee Year of Hope, we welcome Joan Watson back to the Kolbecast. We've talked about pilgrimages in the past, but with the release of her new book Making a Pilgrimage, a Companion for Catholics, we're able to focus a bit more on approaching life as a pilgrim. We also take the opportunity to live vicariously through Joan's experiences on pilgrimages throughout the years. Links mentioned & relevant:  Making a Pilgrimage: A Companion for Catholics  Follow @stpaulcenter @emmausroadpublishing and @joan.m.watson on Instagram  Opening the Holy Door  Joan's website  Pilgrimage to Poland and Lithuania with Joan Watson October 2026  Related Kolbecast episodes:  235 The Disposition of Pilgrimage and 251 A Year of the Lord's Favor with Joan Watson  183 Gratuitous Gifts: Charisms with Sherry Weddell  Have questions or suggestions for future episodes or a story of your own experience that you'd like to share? We'd love to hear from you! Send your thoughts to podcast@kolbe.org and be a part of the Kolbecast odyssey.   We'd be grateful for your feedback! Please share your thoughts with us via this Kolbecast survey!  The Kolbecast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and most podcast apps. By leaving a rating and review in your podcast app of choice, you can help the Kolbecast reach more listeners. The Kolbecast is also on Kolbe's YouTube channel (audio only with subtitles).  Using the filters on our website, you can sort through the episodes to find just what you're looking for. However you listen, spread the word about the Kolbecast! 

Bea Lurie is the daughter of two child Holocaust survivors, her father, Sol, and her mother, Evelyn Rebecca Lurie, whose parents escaped from Poland with two toddlers. Bea learned by her parents' actions the importance of helping those in need and devoted her career to making a difference in the lives of others as a leader of nonprofit organizations and government agencies, and as an owner of two businesses. Bea also is an active volunteer in her community and at her local synagogue. LIFE MUST GO On is the remarkable story of Sol Lurie, a child survivor of six concentration camps during the Holocaust, who continues to be a beacon of hope. After a bucolic childhood in Kovno, Lithuania, Sol was just eleven when the Nazis invaded and he and his family were forced to move into the Kovno Ghetto. The Kovno Ghetto was one of the only ghettos to later become a concentration camp, and Sol was among just a few Jewish survivors from Kovno. In this inspiring story of tenacity, character, faith, love, and forgiveness, we follow young Sol through heartbreak and fear, torment, and torture. Through Sol's eyes, we learn the history of the communities in Eastern Europe, especially Lithuania, which has in the wider history of the Holocaust. Along the way, we meet the righteous few who helped save young Sol's life. After being imprisoned in six other concentration camps for a total of four years, Sol was liberated from Buchenwald on his 15th birthday. To this day, he still joyfully celebrates every year the day he was born and liberated. Miraculously, Sol's three brothers and his father also survived the Holocaust. Her inspiring story was written with Dr. Steven Leonard Jacobs, also a child of survivors and genocide scholar.

Today we have the pleasure of sharing an episode from one of our favorite podcasts, the Lit Ladies Podcast. Here is more about their show: We are three writers and moms exploring how to live out our faith in our literary lives. We span the country—from the coasts to the Midwest—and with different stages of life, careers, and favorite genres, we are sure to cover the literary landscape. In every episode, we'll discuss books we love, reading life, and writing craft, using the Bible as our guide for beauty, goodness, and truth. New episodes drop every other Friday! Historical Fiction, War Stories, and What We Sip While We Read This Lit Ladies Podcast crossover with the Historical Bookworm team covers why historical fiction matters, how war settings shape stories, and what everyone is reading right now. Key takeaways Historical fiction makes history personal, which helps you see how everyday people lived. Accuracy matters most when it grounds the characters and the social pressures of the era. War settings work best when the focus stays on human cost, resilience, and the ripple effects on families. Reading older books can mean meeting older blind spots, which calls for discernment instead of reflexive dismissal. Lesser-known conflicts can add fresh perspective, especially when anchored in solid research. Welcome to the crossover Karissa: Hello and welcome to the Lit Ladies Podcast. Today we’re doing a special crossover episode with our friends KyLee Woodley and Darcy Fornier and their historical fiction podcast. We’re so excited to have you here today. Darcy: So excited to be here. We have so much fun hanging out with you guys. KyLee: Thanks for the invite. Glad to be here. Karissa: KyLee Woodley is a podcaster and author of the Outlaw Hearts series, adventure romances set in the American Wild West. Darcy Fornier is a podcaster and author of The Crown and the Axe, and they are both the hosts of the Historical Bookworm podcast, which is in its fifth season. It’s for lovers of inspirational historical fiction, and the show features author interviews, bookish and historical segments, and a wide variety of guests, from Christy Award-winners to high-quality indie authors. Favorite reading beverages Karissa: Before we jump in today, I want to know what is everyone’s favorite reading beverage of choice? Christie: I usually drink water, or else I don’t really drink anything because I’m too busy speed reading. But today for the podcast, since we’re doing it in the morning, I get to drink coffee. Darcy: Usually coffee. If I said anything else, my sisters would say I was lying. But I also enjoy hot chocolate or tea. Anything hot. I’m not going to be drinking lemonade even in the summer. KyLee: The nice thing about being in the South is that the AC is always blasting. So it’s hot cocoa, coffee, soup, any time of the day. My current favorite beverage to go with my reading, which I seldom read, but audiobooks, big on audiobooks these days, is the Iced Pecan Crunch Oat Milk Latte. I don’t usually go to Starbucks. I find their coffee very bitter, but this is a blonde espresso. I get it without the foam. It’s too sweet and it takes up too much in my cup. Karissa: I like to drink herbal tea. That’s my main comfort drink. Why historical fiction Karissa: What draws you to historical fiction? KyLee: For me, I like the nostalgia. I grew up very sheltered. We didn’t have a TV until I was 12. My mom would just drop us off at the library, then go shopping, then pick us up whenever. We always had audiobooks or books on tape. When we did get a TV, it was black and white. We watched a lot of black and white shows. For me, I remember those good times with old classic films and literature. There’s also this idea of, “What was.” Historical and fantasy are best friends because there’s that sense of wonder. But historical is like, this really did happen. This was really true. I like to dig into history and see who someone was, and go back to where they were if that’s possible. I love to research the way people lived and thought, the things they invented, and how resourceful they were. Darcy: Mine is similar. It’s about the people that came before, and how their stories influenced our lives today. You can go to historical sites and almost touch the lives that they had there. We tend to study history as the big overview. This person was king, these wars happened, all this stuff. Historical fiction lets you dive into what it was like for the day-to-day person. Even if you’re writing about a king, you’re asking what motivated him and what it felt like. People are people as long as they’ve lived. Karissa: That’s my favorite part too. How did people actually live, what challenges did they face, and what did they wear? KyLee: I also like when an author challenges what we accept as historical norms. Bring out something different that we wouldn’t expect. Like a female rancher who ran a ranch with hundreds of cowboys. I heard on a podcast that there was an African-American college in Waco in the 1860s. I had never heard of that. I want to learn the things that go against what people believe as a whole. I want to see the people who were counterculture in their time. Christie: Whoever wins writes the history book. There’s so much that was lived and done that you don’t know about because it was shut down, or the history books made it seem nice and clean. Favorite eras and the appeal of time travel Karissa: Christie, do you have a favorite era to read or write about? Christie: I haven’t read much historical in a while. I used to read a lot of Jen Turano because her voice is funny, witty, and sharp. For an era, late 1800s to 1940s. If there’s too much work to live, it pulls me out. I’m modern. I don’t want to learn about churning butter. Darcy: A few modern conveniences is okay. Christie: I would do a castle, like medieval, every now and then. KyLee: That’s what’s fun about time travel or slip time. You get the comparison. Especially time travel, when someone modern comes into the past and you see how they react to everything. Karissa: I just discovered Gabrielle Meyer. It’s sort of time travel. KyLee: In those books, the women exist in two timelines until a certain age. Then they have to choose which timeline they’ll live in. What’s fun is that she explores different eras. You get contrast between two past timelines, like the Civil War and the 1920s. Christie: I’d choose the ’20s, not the war. Karissa: I love the Victorian era and the Regency era. I also love reading classics written in the period. You get the perspective of someone who lived in that era and took so much for granted. Darcy: If you read Jane Austen, she doesn’t explain everything because her readers would understand it. Then you read a Regency novel by a modern author, and they explain everything. It’s cool to do both. Karissa: Darcy and KyLee, do you have favorite time periods? Darcy: Medieval is my favorite to read in and write in. Then the Regency era, then the American West. I probably read mostly Westerns. Some people say cowboys are the truest heirs to medieval knights. There are similarities in how unlawful it could feel. There was law in both places, but it only extended so far. Christie: I watch black and white westerns with my mom. The body count is wild. They’re just shooting people in the street and it’s cool. I would never want to live back then. KyLee: I overanalyze it too. It’s set in the 1800s, but it was made in the ’40s or ’50s. So I’m thinking about their worldview and ideologies, and how that shaped what they presented. Christie: They’re pretty racist. Sometimes I’m like, how is this still on TV? Darcy: Everything we write is a product of our time. It’s just more glaring the further back you go. KyLee: I started Gone with the Wind. It’s too long for my taste. Some language made me pause. Karissa: We never see the sins of our own era. Our descendants will look back and see the sins of today. Darcy: Grace Livingstone Hill wrote in the late 1800s and early 1900s. You see elements of racism and classism, and ideas like bloodline influencing character. Looking through modern eyes, it’s horrible. She’s still one of my favorites because her stories are sweet and encouraging in faith, but you see how even a good person is a product of their time. KyLee: That’s why it’s important to be kind. I’m not going to stop reading her because I can see flaws. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. Karissa: That comes up in English teaching too. How do you teach classics responsibly without canceling them completely? War settings in historical fiction Karissa: I wanted to talk about books set during wars. We see a lot set with the backdrop of World War II. Do you have a favorite war setting to read about, and any favorite books? KyLee: I’ve always been drawn to the Civil War. When I was growing up, there were quite a few Civil War movies and books in the Christian genre. The brother against brother aspect pulls me in. As an adult, I look at the events that led up to it and grimace, hoping history doesn’t repeat itself. More recently, the Franco-Prussian War, partly because some of my ancestors' sisters came over during that time. It only lasted about a year. France declared it, and France lost. Their people suffered. Germany demanded huge remunerations in gold. By today’s standards, I did the math before we started, it was about 84 to 95 billion dollars. (FACT CHECK – In today’s purchasing power, estimates for that 5 billion francs generally range between $80 billion and $100 billion USD.) France had promised not to tax people during the war, but afterward they charged back taxes. There was a civil uprising in Paris, and a week-long massacre called the Bloody Week. That history comes into book one of the Outlaw Heart series. It’s lesser known French history. My people were German, and my characters are French, but I was fascinated by it. You don’t hear about that war as much. Darcy: That’s obscure for Americans because it didn’t affect us directly, so it doesn’t make it into our history books. But it made a huge difference in Europe. KyLee: My dad’s side always wrote Prussia on census records, not Germany. That led me to dig into where Prussia was and how that history unfolded. Writing trauma and war without being gratuitous Karissa: What challenges did you find writing about something so difficult in a way that worked for your story? KyLee: The main character in book one, Lorraine, lived through the Bloody Week. She’s in America now. I looked at where she is as an immigrant and how she tries to settle when there is nothing left for her in France. People were rounded up, imprisoned, and shipped off to New Caledonia, a penal colony near Australia, I believe. No trial. Later, there were pardons, but many people were still imprisoned because they were never tried, and their names were never even taken down. Lorraine is haunted by the past and has post-traumatic stress disorder. She refuses to speak English even though she understands it. She holds tightly to French roots, clothing, and food, and stays close to other French people. Jesse challenges her to put down roots in a country where she feels like an alien. That Bible phrase kept coming up to me, be kind to the immigrant, the alien, the foreigner. Remember when you were in Egypt and you were a stranger in a strange land. For research, I relied on as many documents as I could find, plus academic papers written about the Bloody Week and why it happened. I want to respect history and the people who lived it. Karissa: I love how you included the war because we feel the weight she carries without putting everything on the page in an overly graphic way. Christie: The Bandit’s Redemption is the first in the series. It has such a pretty cover too. Darcy: It’s such a good one. Darcy's pick: World War II Karissa: Darcy, do you have a favorite war setting? Darcy: Probably World War II, because it’s so vast. You have the European theater and the Pacific theater, plus the home front in America and Britain. Every time I pick up a World War II book, it’s like, “I did not know that.” The Civil War is hard for me. I grew up in Georgia, and in some places it feels like it happened this century. It was my country. World War II lets me detach a bit more. I did read one Civil War book by Rosanna M. White that was fabulous, Dreams of Savannah. It handled the loyalty conflict very gracefully. Karissa: What makes a good war book? Christie: Accuracy doesn’t matter much to me because I’m not going to catch mistakes. I want characters and their journeys, battles and close calls, romance, and a happy ending. Darcy: I appreciate historical facts because I want to be grounded in the setting. But if I’m reading fiction, I’m there for story and characters. I want to see what the war is doing to them, to their society, to their family, and how it changes their lives. KyLee: I want it at the character level too. I also like seeing people on both sides. I want everyday heroes, and small choices that mattered. I also love surprising historical technology I didn’t know about. Karissa: Accuracy matters to me, but not at the expense of story. I just want what happens to feel believable for the era. In Regency romances, for example, two people being alone in a room can be a big deal. A kiss behind a barn could ruin lives. Darcy: Historical characters in books sometimes have a modern disregard for societal pressure, which is inaccurate. We all feel societal pressure today too. It’s just different pressures. When classics meet modern retellings Christie: Karissa, you like reading the Brontës because they wrote in that time. Do they have stolen kisses, or is it different because they were writing then? Karissa: If it’s Emily and Wuthering Heights, it’s more dramatic and Gothic. With Jane Eyre, I think it’s more bound by the era. Darcy: If someone did a modern retelling, I think they’d put stolen kisses in. KyLee: It depends on the character and how they were raised. There were orphanages and homes for widows who were pregnant, and women who had gotten pregnant outside marriage. There are records showing pregnancies starting before marriage dates in some places in the 1700s. On the whole, the societal expectation mattered. So you need to look at your character. If she’s proper and ladylike, she probably won’t have modern levels of physical intimacy. Karissa has proofread my stuff and told me, this would never happen. She was right. It pushes you to be creative. Make the little things special too. Karissa: What might seem small to us might be very steamy to someone in the Regency era. Like touching a hand without a glove. Darcy: He’ll be proposing within the week. War book recommendations and lesser-known conflicts Christie: I read The Ice Swan by J'nell Ciesielski. That was during the Russian Revolution in 1917. I remember really liking that one. Darcy: Rosemary Sutcliff does this well in her books about Britain after Rome officially withdrew. It spans generations. The first is The Eagle of the Ninth. It’s technically YA and she wrote in the 1950s or ’60s. Sword at Sunset is an adult book with some adult content. She personalizes the conflict and shows conflicting loyalties, and friendships across cultures. It’s history, not fantasy. Karissa: Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. Not to be confused with anything else. It’s YA historical set during World War II, but it focuses on Stalin’s reign and deportations to Siberia. It takes place in Lithuania and the Baltic states, where there were multiple occupations. It’s about a girl whose family is sent to a prison camp. I studied abroad in Lithuania, so that history sticks with me. Ruta Sepetys researches a lot and her books are well done. Kelly mentioned The Women by Kristin Hannah, set during the Vietnam War. Darcy: I had someone tell me she read The Women three times because it was so good. It's on my list. My sister highly recommends Kristin Hannah. She read The Nightingale and said it was worth the pain. Christie: I need happy ones. I can only do one super tearjerker a year. What everyone is currently reading KyLee: I borrowed The Dark of the Moon by Fiona Valpy. I’ve read The Dressmaker’s Gift and The Beekeeper’s Promise by her. They're World War II, like French resistance. Melanie Dobson does this well too, like The Curator’s Daughter, a time slip about a woman married to a Nazi soldier. I like books that feel sobering, like they changed my life. I also borrowed Angel from the East by Barbara A. Curtis. I borrowed The Winter Rose by Melanie Dobson, a World War II story about a lady who helps rescue Jewish children. Darcy: I just finished The Bounty Hunter’s Surrender by KyLee Woodley. I had never read it cover to cover. I helped brainstorm, and apparently the villain is my fault. I enjoyed it so much. I’m also reading a contemporary by Becky Wade, Turn to Me, in her Misty River romance series set in Northeast Georgia. I know exactly what she’s describing. Christie: I’m reading The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena. Karissa: I'm listening to the audiobook of Long Bright River by Liz Moore. It’s about a police officer in Philadelphia. Her sister struggles with addiction, then goes missing. There are flashbacks and a modern timeline, plus mysterious murders. I can't stop listening. Where to find Historical Bookworm and Lit Ladies KyLee: You can connect with us at HistoricalBookworm.com. You can find me at KyLeeWoodley.com and Darcy at DarcyFornier.com Darcy: I’m most active on Instagram, DarcyFornierWriter Karissa: Thank you for joining us today on our literary journey. If you love the podcast, share it with a friend and rate and review. And don’t forget to follow us on social media at Lit Ladies Pod. Our quote today is from Barbara Tuchman: “Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled. Thought and speculation are at a standstill.”

WWIII Begins End of 2025 (1) (audio) David Eells, 12/28/25 Allison Pound 7/31/25 (Davids notes in red) The Lord began to speak to me about what He is doing and what is to come: Be not afraid of what I Am doing in the earth dear one. Draw near to Me. Though none go with you, run to Me. Come right up under My Wings. Just as I tell you in My Word. Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High Psalm 91 is in play. I have begun to speak to My prophets about this year of 2025. I have only just begun to say what I want to say. If you will sit with Me, I will tell you much, much more. And you will tell the people. This is how I want it. Remain in My Presence. Write all that I tell you. 2030 is a year I have not spoken to you about. But I have to some. I will tell you about 2030. This is just 5 years away from where you are now. I assure you that you will still be here, on earth, in that year. (That time is pointed out because it brings us to the mark of the beast that most think they will rapture before.) Remember, you are still in the labour pains, pre-tribulation. You shall still be here. And beyond a little while. (Past 2030 to the end of the tribulation.) Yes, I know many are expecting to be raptured this year in September. Or any day before or soon after. They are foolish. I have not told them the day or the hour of My return. And I will not. But as time goes on, the wise who have prepared themselves to endure the tribulation will come to know when to expect Me. They will have this knowing in their spirit. It will build to a climactic point. The wise also know at what time of year to expect Me. This is why My feast days are so important. They teach My beloved to watch, to set a watchman. It will be important to know the time and date in the coming days because the moon and the sun will be dimmed at some point. (Because of war, earthquakes, and volcanic activity.)  It will not be easy to tell by simply looking up. Darkness and thick clouds on the Day of the Lord. Remember My word says this. (There is a Day of the Lord at the end of the Brides tribulation just as there is at the end of the Churches tribulation. If you do not know the difference read Song of Soloman and Esther, which are parables.) I will not set aside My Word and come on a day that is not an appointed feast. Why would I do that? I Am the Lord. My Word and I are one. The World War will begin to get into full swing at the end of this year of 2025. (At the end of the brides tribulation and beginning of the Man-childs reign and Churches tribulation.) Christmas in Europe will not be a happy time. I will have the middle to the northeast of Europe out in the streets this Christmas. (Their paranoia is pushed by the left and NATO that Russia is prepared to attack while their DS Kazarians are the ones trying to make this war happen because they think the U.S. will be forced in on their side. Ukraine and Russia are still bombing each other and taking down ships and oil tankers that belong to other nations. Are we not becoming ripe for a WW? It will not be stopped but pray for good to happen, which I will explain.) (This is Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland, Ukraine, Belarus, Finland, Latvia, Estonia, and Czechia) (Will it spread? It appears we are at the time of the Man-child ministries anointing. What happens just after that? Rev 6:2  And I saw, and behold, a white horse, and he that sat thereon had a bow; and there was given unto him a crown: and he came forth conquering, and to conquer. (This is Jesus in the Man-child reformers, whose prophetic words and actions will conquer the  World.) 3  And when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, Come. 4  And another horse came forth, a red horse: and to him that sat thereon it was given to take peace from the earth, and that they should slay one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. This is a World War. Pray!) Bombs will fall in countries that do not expect war. (Because their DS Kazarian leadership must die; they are a part of Babylon.) No bombs will fall in America. (Because America will not effectually join with NATO to defend their DS Kazarians who will be bundled by the angels as tares to be burned. It is understood that the Europeans and Scandinavians are not our or the Russians enemies; their leadership is.) That (bombing of America) will happen after the WW. (To take down our own bundled tares.) I want you to see the order of things. Something many dont know is that the main forces of the Alliance of Nations headed by Cyrus/Trump are the U.S., Russia, and China. These are held together by NESARA/GESARA dividing up the money taken from the DS Kazarian leadership who rules NATO and its nations. Our old alliance with NATO to defend Europe from the Russians is flimsy at best. Although we dont flaunt it, we have more in common with the Russians, which have also been at war with the DS Kazarians for many years. So, these satanists want a war between U.S. and Russia to take out their strongest enemies. Initially, I dont believe this will happen but later it will.) There has, historically, been an agreement of no bombs (ceasefire), no war on Christmas day, yet this will no longer be the case anymore. (It appeared Russia and Ukraine continued without ceasefire. The Ukrainian Nazis will be conquered by Russia because the people are theirs.) Peace is being taken from the earth. I do not like Christmas. I abhor the practice. I Am making an example of Christmas. This is a purely pagan practice in some of the countries of Europe. I Am targeting these places. I want you to know that there are goat nations and there are sheep nations. I Am causing a separation. Those who want to be sheep will have to leave the goat nations because they will not be safe places for My people to reside. There is going to be a great migration of peoples. The turmoil of this WW will irrevocably affect the whole earth. It will change all the nations. Some nations will not be able to cope or accommodate the people arriving there looking for a safe place to reside. There will be much finger-pointing. (Islaam, as usual, will turn against the nations who are taking them in.) Australia, which has been criticized much for the boat people fiasco, will open its arms and welcome war refugees. But there will be a cut-off point, where leaders will say they can accommodate no more. This will be an overwhelming time for many and it begins at the end of this year of 2025. Safety will be found personally in those who abide in Christs Word. Psa 91:1-16 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of Jehovah, He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in whom I trust. 3 For he will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, And from the deadly pestilence. 4 He will cover thee with his pinions, And under his wings shalt thou take refuge: His truth is a shield and a buckler. 5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, Nor for the arrow that flieth by day; 6 For the pestilence that walketh in darkness, Nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. 7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, And ten thousand at thy right hand; But it shall not come nigh thee. 8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold, And see the reward of the wicked. 9 For thou, O Jehovah, art my refuge! Thou hast made the Most High thy habitation; 10 There shall no evil befall thee, Neither shall any plague come nigh thy tent. 11 For he will give his angels charge over thee, To keep thee in all thy ways. 12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. 13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: The young lion and the serpent shalt thou trample under foot. 14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. 15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble: I will deliver him, and honor him. 16 With long life will I satisfy him, And show him my salvation. Joel 2:1 Blow the rams horn in Zion; sound the alarm on My holy mountain! Let all who dwell in the land tremble, for the Day of the LORD is coming; indeed, it is near 2 a day of darkness and gloom, a day of cloud and blackness. Like the dawn overspreading the mountains a great and strong army appears, such as never was of old, nor will ever be in ages to come. Joel 2:31 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. Zephaniah 1:14 The great Day of the LORD is nearnear and coming quickly. Listen, the Day of the LORD! Then the cry of the mighty will be bitter. 15 That day will be a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness.   We are Now in that Season Where Everything Will Change  Alison Pound- 6/11/25 (Davids notes in red) Tuesday 3rd June 2025 This is to be a year like no other. Many things shall come to pass. Most of them judgment events. The World War will begin in earnest. Europe, all of Europe, will be drawn into this war. As I told you, the French President will draw France into the war. Putin will continue his conquest of lands unabated. (In effect he will liberate nations from the satanic DS Kazarian leadership.) This is why all of Europe will be drawn into the war. Then other nations on other continents will come into the war, sending troops etc. By the end of this year, the world will be a very different place. Much will happen in this second half of 2025. (And even more in 2026.) I want you to understand one thing clearly. When war breaks out later this year, this is not the beginning of the great tribulation. I have told you what kicks off the tribulation. I Am not pleased with what some are saying, leading My flock astray on this matter. Especially those saying the tribulation is behind us. The foolishness I Am seeing in My people is to be stopped. It will be stopped when they are dropped right into the middle of tribulation events. Monday 9th June 2025 Remember what I told you those things you have been awaiting to come to pass, time is speeding up. You will not be waiting long, as you waited 10 years ago. I will speak to you now and say it is time. And it will come to pass. Perhaps in the very day I tell you that it is time. Or it will be weeks, of 7 days rather than months and years. There is no time for months and years now , I will no longer allow matters to resolve over lengthy time spans. I Am bringing all things quickly to pass, quickly to a head. My judgments are in the earth now. This is the time of the end. All things come to pass. In a short span of time, they come to pass. This is why I say to you, do not be afraid. Because you are going to see some things come to pass very shortly. We are there. It is time. Tuesday 10th June 2025 Today is the day. I have spoken and it shall come to pass. This is how it shall be in these days at the end of all things. I will speak to My prophets, My true obedient prophets and say today is the day, and when they speak My words out, they shall come to pass instantly, on that very day when I say today is the day. I have told My prophets that everything is about to change. I have been telling them this, I have been telling you this, dear one, for many months, even many years. We are now in that season, at the end of all time, when everything will change. The landscape, the people, everything. We go from peace to war, from quiet streets to riots in the streets. In America, this will not be in LA only, but riots will be started, they will be organized in many of the cities across America. (This is being fomented by the DS Kazarians.)  This is just the beginning of the riots. Remember, civil war will break out. This is just the beginning. All of the above is taken directly from my journal. These are Gods words, written down as He spoke them to me. They are not my thoughts. If anyone has difficulty digesting them, I recommend going to your prayer closet and waiting there for Him. Humble yourself. Leave your own desires and personal beliefs outside. They will block you from hearing His voice. Confess your sins. Repent. You will not hear from the Lord if you do not. There is a right way and a wrong way to approach the Throne of Grace. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.   War Has Begun Alison Pound - Australia -6/25/25 (Davids notes in red) While I was preparing to publish this, the Lord reminded me of that time when I began hearing military march tunes in my head. It went on for days until Anzac Day, 25th April 2019, when I finally asked the Lord about it: He said: Get ready, America, for war! Get ready to hear military marches, to see military parades, for shows of strength and power from your nation. Prepare to see posturing of such a magnitude you will almost laugh if it were not so very terrifying. For America goes to war. But I Am not with her. I am not with this nation. I have shut the book on this place. For Babylon is fallen. (She is both secular and religious and both are fallen.) She has become the place of crying wolves. Desolation, desolation is upon her. Weep and wail and mourn, you who know what is coming. Anzac Day specifically commemorates the anniversary of the landing of Australian and New Zealand forces at Gallipoli in 1915 during World War I.    WAR HAS BEGUN Monday 23rd June 2025 I woke to news headlines this morning: Donald Trump says Israel and Iran have agreed to a ceasefire. (It happened) Apparently, the bombing Mr. Trump ordered his air force to carry out has brought about peace! He promotes himself as a peacemaker. He says!, God bless Iran, Israel, America, and the whole world. Which is NOT AT ALL WHAT THE LORD SAID to me when He woke me in the night! While you have slept, in that short time, much has happened. The Straight of Hormuz has been closed. More bombs have been dropped. War has begun. The war that will take the whole earth to war has begun. These are the final days before I return. Nothing will ever be the same again. But do not think that this is The Tribulation! We are not quite there yet. First, this war between Israel and Iran. (It happened) And now America. Then more nations will come in. Egypt will come out in support of Iran. Britain will come out in support of Israel. And so it will grow. The nations will pick sides. Things will heat up in the Ukraine also. Remember I told you that France will be pulled into the war by their President. And then there is America. America, the brave. With their oh so brave and bold leader. He has put his nation to war and painted a target on himself and the nation. You will not have long to wait, to see My Words fulfilled. Because time is so very short now. Much, much will happen this second half of the year. And there will be cities that are not recognizable, bombed into oblivion. Yes, I speak of Tel Aviv and Tehran. (This happened) And then will come the shot to the head. (This happened) Keep watching dear one. Australia will send troops to war at the end of this year. Britain, the US and France also. There will be patrolling of your coastlines and you will hear more from your air base here. Not test flights anymore but surveillance. Tuesday 24th June 2025 I Am the Lord your God. There is none beside Me. My Son shed His blood for all mankind. He paid the debt of sin. That heavy weight which was upon the whole earth. And still, mankind rejects My offer of Salvation. War! The drums of war are sounding. Mankind wants to wage war. There is hatred and distrust. There is pride and arrogance. There is fear. And all manner of wickedness at work. The hour is late. I Am coming to make recompense. Before I come, the world will go to war. The cup of iniquity must be filled before I can come and make recompense. Because it is written. And all of My Word shall/must be fulfilled. And so, the season you are entering is the season of war. The red horse has ridden across the earth. Peace has been taken from the earth. Whatever nations that have been at peace will no longer feel at peace. All nations will be on alert. People who never had to watch their back before will be watching their back. The news reports and all media will be full of war talk, speculations, fear mongering, false reports. War will dominate the headlines. And very shortly, all eyes will be on America. The eyes of the Arab world, the muslim world, the eyes of Russia, of China. Canada will be watching. Germany will be watching. The Governments of the nations will be paying special attention to America, to their claims, and to their actions. In the end, no one will come to her aid. And she will desperately need aid. In the time to come, America will be under attack from within and from without. And none will come to her aid. Revelation 18:9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, 10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. NOTE: When God speaks, He will say a thing is done. Whilst we may see nothing happening, when God speaks, it IS done, it has happened. Because God lives outside of time, He sees the end from the beginning. We must wait for His Words to manifest here on the earth. Some of you may say the Straight of Hormuz is not closed, that there is an agreement to a ceasefire. But wait, watch. If God says that War has begun, it surely has. Watch, wait and pray. Put all fear of man out! Pray for your families and loved ones that their eyes be opened to see Gods purposes and get in line with Him. His ways are higher than man's. Draw nearer to the Throne of Grace.   The Drums of War and the Decline of Nations  Alison Pound 12/14/25 (Davids notes in red) Babylon will fall. I Am the Lord. This is the time of the end. It is time for Babylon to fall. The earth will wage war. War will erupt, like a volcano erupting. What is happening now is nothing compared to what will shortly happen upon this earth. I have told you that Mr. Putin will not stop his incursion. He will advance. He will cross into other countries. And I will allow him. I Am giving him favour to conquer. For a short while. I understand that this is distressing. But these are My Ways. My purposes. The enemy is under My control. I can snuff him out in a moment, in a milli second. But My purposes, My ways are not your ways. Everything written in My Word shall come to pass. There is a time for everything, every season under heaven. And there is a reason for everything to exist, to be born, to die. All of this is not for nothing. Britain will decline. She will continue to decline until she is no more. Prince Charles, who became King Charles, he will be gone. His son William will not reign, but rather he will decline along with Britain. This is the nation that gave birth to America. Her wickedness is known. She will fizzle out. Like a candle, the wick has burned down and is ready to snuff out. Time is up for Britain. She who birthed America will watch her die and be snuffed out herself. The House of Windsor is finished. The Royal line is finished. I Am finishing it. (They were a root of the DS Kazarian empire.) The succession of wickedness , the flow of wealth, I Am finishing it all. I Am exposing all that they are. These people are the filthy scum of the earth. Andrew (former Prince) is only the beginning. Bosnia Herzegovina will not survive as a nation. War, war is coming. The earth will be overtaken by war. Christmas this year of 2025 will be a very uncertain time across the whole earth. Putin will cross into Poland. (It happened by air) I have told you. He will not stop. Poland is next. Peace will not reign in Israel. Gaza will not be at peace. Trump, the peacemaker, will be exposed. He is a liar. (Lies will be told concerning the true nature and allies of this war. His plan to make peace for Gaza will not come to pass.) He is like his father. (So, are we all until we are born of God? Cyrus, like Trump, wasnt a Jew or Christian. But God used both of these men to deliver the people from the Babylonian beast.) Before the year is out, the drums of war will be heard. They will be louder. And who will come to the aid of those countries being threatened by Putin and Russia, the mighty bear? Certainly not Britain. She is in decline. It will not be like WWII. The United Nations is not really united. The NWO is coming down. (through this war) The plan was laid out long ago. The system of the beast. (And believe it or not; each beast is succeeded by the next beast. Babylon was conquered by Cyrus of Medo-Persia.)   Unstoppable LaTonya Canada Christ- 12/24/25 (Davids notes in red) youtu.be/CAQAMoGGp8k I will begin todays prophetic message with Isaiah 26:20-21: Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation is past. For behold, the Lord comes out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will also disclose her blood and will no more cover her slain. (From the same text we see: Isa 26:10  Let favor be showed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness will he deal wrongfully, and will not behold the majesty of Jehovah.)  Over the past two months, the Lord has instructed our group to get tucked away and to brace ourselves in the Word and in the presence of the Holy Spirit, increasing our time praying in the Holy Ghost. As Jude 20 says: But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost. The Lord gave me a night vision that connected with a dream I had years earlier. I will first share the recent vision. I was in an earthquake that would not stop shaking. This was in Los Angeles, California. The people I saw anxiously waited with anticipation for the shaking to stop, but it did not. It continued for an extended period of time. The people were terrifiedshaken to their core. (I believe the plate/craton in the U.S. is sliding towards the west coast, and faster with the breaking of the New Madrid, which we were shown would be the time of the Man-child bodies anointing. A confirmation.) It was as though I could see different individuals in various parts of the city. Each person appeared to be wondering what was happening, what to do, and when it would stop. Their faces seemed to be silently asking, What is going on? After some time, everyone came to the same conclusion: evacuate as quickly as possible. At that point, the vision transitioned into a portion of an earlier dream, which I will now share. My family and I were having a reunion. We were sitting in lawn chairs on a golf course. It was lush, green, and beautifulvery vibranton a sunny day. We were talking, and the children were playing. Suddenly, we heard a loud noise. A vehicle crashed about 25 feet away from us. We all noticed it, then returned to our conversations and relaxed again. A short time later, it happened againthis time, a truck. It landed closer, about 15 feet away. We looked at it, wondering what was going on, but again we sat back down and continued talking. Then it happened a third time. This time it was a race car, red in color. It flew in the same way but came extremely closewithin a foot or two of where we were sitting. Everyone scrambled in alarm. The next scene I saw, which the Lord connected in this vision, was a U-Haul truck. All of us were throwing clothes, belongings, and whatever we could into it as fast as possible in order to move out. That was how the vision ended, and then I woke up. This prophetic dream is a follow-up to the Lords judgments against California for its continued, flagrant, and abominable sins that have reached to the heavens. Prophets around the world were given numerous messages concerning earthquakes in California. In recent weeks, even secular media have begun warning residents of the West Coastbut not with urgency or a call to evacuate. Rather, it has been presented in a casual, nonchalant, and inconsequential manner. I have personally experienced several earthquakes in my life, and this vision was especially heart-stopping because the shaking never stopped. Anyone who has been in an earthquake knows that it usually lasts seconds to a minute or so, and you wait for the ground to stop shaking so life can return to normal. During those moments, people often feel frozenlike a deer in headlightsmotionless and dumbfounded. That is exactly how the people appeared in this vision. At another time, the Lord gave me a message for a resident of California. I will read portions of what was given: Thus says the Lord: The hour is latevery late indeed. I want your yes without hesitation, regardless of who goes with you. I am judging the nation of California, a Sodom nation. There are no two ways about it. One cannot serve two masters. He will either love the one and hate the other, or love the other and hate the first. Time is very short. I have given this vessel a set period of time for her family to extract themselves from California. It is only a short distance away, but I know I am asking for everythingyour entire life. I mean what I say. Move away from California. She is doomed, and I want you to win. Hurry. It is God alone. As I was concluding this correspondence, the Lord instructed me further: there must be repentance. Those who wish to come must leave sinful lifestyles behind and depart from California. God is a good Father. Many earthly fathers have gone missing, but people often do not want God the way He truly isprotective, corrective, and authoritatively loving. God receives much criticism, yet many people desire Santa Claus rather than Jesus Christ as Savior. God will be vindicated in His judgments when all the books are opened. Psalm 19:9 says: The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. It is the Lords mercy to warn, to wait, and to hold back correction, giving opportunity to repent. Ezekiel 33:11 tells us that the Lord takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. However, to everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven. This prophetic dream is titled Unstoppable. Once again: Come, my people, enter your chambers and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourself for a little moment until the indignation is passed. Get into the ark of safetyJesus Christand away from the West Coast. The Lord has a controversy with the nation of California. May the Lord bless you.   Great Quake & Tsunami Shirley Hinkle - 9/1/2006 (David's notes in red) Word given on 9/1/2006 - Do You Trust Me? It's with a heavy heart that I write this. God has spoken into my heart again that the day is coming very quickly of a massive earthquake that will cause a great, massive tsunami. There is going to be massive destruction; no place to bury the dead. He said to me again, It's Time! Out of death will come resurrection life! (Resurrection life as a revival comes, more or less, after every catastrophe like this.) We will be surrounded by death and destruction, but it will not come nigh unto us if we dwell in the secret place. Great fear will come, overwhelming even the strongest, but with this God will pour out His peace and His perfect love will come and cast out all fear. He has set us apart to be His voice in the last days. Those who have been obedient to come out from among them and be ye separate. When the flood of destruction comes, remember the words I have spoken in Isaiah 54. (This chapter emphasizes endurance in trial, protection and perfection.) A massive flood will sweep over the land and as in the natural so shall it be in the spiritual, I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh! (This also came at the beginning and end of the Gospels. An outpouring of the Former Rain came to the Man-child, Jesus, at the beginning and to the saints at the end, symbolizing the Latter Rain coming before on the first-fruits and after the first 3 1/2 years of the tribulation.) The judgment on this state, this nation, is to redeem fallen man, the backslidden church. It is to awake, stir, shake, and change His people! It is the end of all things as you know it; all shall be new. Even though you are reading the last chapters and the end of the book, it is really just the beginning. For I am the Beginning and the End... (Notice once again the Beginning and End are emphasized. He will come as the Latter Rain in the beginning to anoint the man-child ministry and at the end of 3 1/2 years to anoint those raised up by them. He will come after two days or 2000 years, on the morning of the third day or third thousand years. Hos 6:2 After two days will he revive us: on the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live before him. 3 And let us know, let us follow on to know Jehovah: his going forth is sure as the morning; and he will come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain that watereth the earth. He will begin the last 3 1/2 years with the mark of the Beast to separate the righteous from the wicked, the Latter Rain outpouring and judgment.) There is no time to eternity... Wow, what a thought. His Name will be glorified again. His Word will become flesh again through His Repentant Church! God will be Glorified! He is a Father to the fatherless, so when you can't reach out to man in this time, remember to call upon your Heavenly Father, and He will be an ever-present help in the time of trouble. As with Jesus when he was raised from the dead, the angel rolled the stone away and there was a great earthquake... again God is going to roll away the stone of death in the church, with an earthquake and resurrection life will come forth. Mat 28:2 And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled away the stone, and sat upon it. Jesus will reveal Himself again. Truth will be spoken from the pulpits and in the streets again. The church will repent and cry out for righteousness. She will hunger for His presence. He will be manna from heaven again to His people. Great darkness is here, but God in all of His Glory is going to shine upon His children. The Church, the True, Repentant, will Stand in these final days. We are to remain in the city... (of God) We are going to be endowed with power from on high. We are not going to run away in fear but STAND and be a witness to this final generation, in this final hour. It's Time, and the question He is asking all of us in this hour is... DO YOU TRUST ME?   Earthquakes and Gods Mercy David Eells We have shared warnings of Gods judgments we received from the Lord about earthquakes and other disasters. Because God is merciful and has heard the prayers and intercession for mankind, He is going to lessen the severity of the earthquakes and tsunamis that we know are still coming.   Huge Quakes Bring Man-child I believe there will begin a domino effect of earthquakes that travels across the U.S. and the world. Now we will look at the U.S. portion. I believe the DS has prepared the groundwork for this domino effect of quakes by fracking, tunneling and explosions, HARP, Military Tectonic Weapons, etc., under the U.S.. I believe we have learned that the Lord will use what they have done to make them guilty but He controls how and when and he will lessen the effects of the revelations given below. This threat is likely coming from the DS to cause the Alliance to back down but they are constantly arresting the DS, Kazazians and sooner or later they will take them all down. Either way the Lord said this judgment will happen for the sins of the people.   DS Scientists Conspire to Set Off Huge Earthquakes Sandy Shaw - 10/18/11 (Davids notes in red) I dreamed I was sitting and listening to a group of scientists argue, and they were talking over my head with their scientific words. Half of the scientists were arguing, We should not do that because we don't know what the ramifications of that are, nor do we know what chain reactions will take place. In the dream, I didn't know what that was referring to. The other half of the scientists begin arguing that they do know the outcome of that, as they have calculations and results from the previous times they have done it. One man from the group speaking against it interjected loudly with, Not of this magnitude. (Magnitude, of course, speaks of earthquakes. They set off a chain reaction of faults that all affect one another. Sandy Shaw and Rick Sergent had almost the same revelation that quakes would cross the US in a chain reaction. Eve Brast had a revelation that 7 big quakes would go around the world. I believe they would use a combination of HAARP, fracking, and their underground tunneling and explosions down those tunnels to connect faults, as they have already done. DS will use High Grade Military Tectonic Weapons; they would use their Tesla earthquake machines that we have heard they have underground.) Many scriptures, dreams, and visions speak of Jesus coming in the Man-child body of reformers at the time of large earthquakes crossing the US. From scripture, we see that history always repeats. Ecc 1:9 That which hath been is that which shall be; and that which hath been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Jesus was the first New Testament Man-child Reformer, Who was a type for the coming Man-child body of reformers. Scripture shows that Jesus died with an earthquake and was risen to the throne with a great earthquake in three days. Jesus resurrection was also accompanied by the out resurrection of saints who appeared to the people. Php 3:11 if by any means I may attain unto the out-resurrection from the dead. (The Numeric pattern is in the original Greek words out-resurrection.) Isa 64:1-3 Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might quake at thy presence,(Gods presence is coming with quakes. He is coming in His Man-child body by Word and Spirit, as it was with Jesus, as time will surely tell. This will be a great judgment on the wicked of the U.S. and the world.), 2 that the nations may tremble at thy presence! (A great revival will spring from this. Many lost or apostate will turn to the Lord of the Bible.) 3 When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains quaked at thy presence. Psa 97:5 The mountains melted like wax (Volcanic activity follows earthquakes.) at the presence of Jehovah, At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. I received this text that points out that when the Lord comes in spiritual Judah as the Man-child, the waters recede. Psa 114:1-8 When Israel went forth out of Egypt, The house of Jacob from a people of strange language; 2 Judah became his sanctuary, Israel his dominion. 3 The sea saw it, and fled; The Jordan was driven back. 4 The mountains skipped like rams, The little hills like lambs. (The presence of the Lord will cause earthquakes and the sea to flee away.) 5 What aileth thee, O thou (Red) sea, that thou fleest? (Looks like an earthquake and tsunami at the beginning of the wilderness tribulation.) Thou Jordan, that thou turnest back? 6 Ye mountains, that ye skip like rams; Ye little hills, like lambs? 7 Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, At the presence of the God of Jacob, 8 Who turned the rock into a pool of water, The flint into a fountain of waters. I received this about a witness with a video showing the Gulf waters receding as far out as you could see out of Tampa Bay and Coral Bay and other areas for over 12 hours. (This is proof that God can do this. This was seen in areas of the world where there wasnt a hurricane, too, like it was at the Red Sea.) - HURRICANE IAN UPDATE - NO WATER AT THE COAST IN THE GULF OF MEXICO We will notice that the great shaking is accompanied by the coming of Jesus in the Man-child and the change of fortunes from the Egyptians for God's people as they go into the wilderness tribulation. It is all coming soon and we need to be ready. Hag2:7 and I will shake all nations; and the precious things (or desired) of all nations shall come (This is Jesus in the Man-child who is typed by Zerubbabel in this chapter, and He comes with the shaking.); and I will fill this house with glory, saith Jehovah of hosts. 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith Jehovah of hosts (As we have seen Cyrus conquered Babylon and freed Gods people giving a gift of Babylons gold and silver to rebuild the temple) 9 The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, saith Jehovah of hosts; and in this place (The true house of God) will I give peace, saith Jehovah of hosts. This shaking of all nations happens at the birth of the Man-child ministry. It is only to happen once more since the time Paul wrote of it in Heb 12:25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not when they refused him that warned them on earth, much more shall not we escape who turn away from him that warneth from heaven: 26 whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more will I make to tremble not the earth only, but also the heaven.) 27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been made (I.e., by man), that those things which are not shaken may remain. 28 Wherefore, receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken (The Kingdom of heaven is where God rules and we submit.), let us have grace, whereby we may offer service well-pleasing to God with reverence and awe: Back to Hag 2:3 Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes as nothing? (i.e. The Church, the house of God, is a fake mess because it has departed from His Word.) 4 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel (meaning: born from Babylon which represents the first fruits Man-child leadership to come out of apostasy to rebuild the Kingdom), saith Jehovah; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith Jehovah, and work: for I am with you, saith Jehovah of hosts, 5 according to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt (through the Red Sea where the wicked were judged), and my Spirit abode among you: fear ye not. 6 For thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; 7 and I will shake all nations (As we saw this was also spoken of by Paul in Heb 12:25-29 as the great shaking that separated those manmade kingdoms who could be shaken from those who could not for they are in the Kingdom of God.); and the precious [things] (desired) of all nations shall come; and I will fill this house with glory, saith Jehovah of hosts. (This is the glory of the Lord's presence in the rebuilt temple of Gods people) 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith Jehovah of hosts. (Cyrus/ Trumps gift, which is happening now.) 9 The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, (Because the Latter Rain is greater than the Former Rain) saith Jehovah of hosts; and in this place will I give peace, saith Jehovah of hosts... 21 Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth; 22 and I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms (The Deep State Kazarian throne in all the nations is falling now); and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; (The beast army is destroyed as at the Red Sea), every one by the sword of his brother (As when the nations came against Jerusalem, the Bride, and were divided against each other.). 23 In that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith Jehovah, and will make thee as a signet; for I have chosen thee, saith Jehovah of hosts. (A signet is a sign of Authority such as Mordecai and Joseph received as types of the Man-child body.) (I am convinced that we must be entitled to the Passover of this judgment, which was paid for by Jesus, when it does come. Make sure your heart is right with God and your brethren by abiding in Jesus Christ. But as we have heard, God is going to have mercy because it was asked of Him.)

An upcoming listener survey, the Engine Cowl aviation news, Christmas Trees and B-17’s, Spirit Airlines' debtor-in-possession (DIP) credit agreement, Poor Little Lambs (The Baa Baa Black Sheep Story), and making the Airplane Geeks Podcast. Rytis Beresnevicius, the Engine Cowl Rytis Beresnevicius is an independent aviation journalist who started the Engine Cowl on September 1, 2025, to provide the latest news about the aviation industry through daily posts and newsletters. He previously worked at AeroTime and Simple Flying, and has also written for AirInsight and other publications. Rytis is based in Lithuania. Although not originally an AvGeek, Rytis developed a passion for the industry. He tries to go to the source of stories and does not simply rehash press releases or rely on the reporting of others. There is no AI at The Engine Cowl. Airplane Geeks Listener Survey As we prepare for a listener survey, we invite you to submit your questions for Airplane Geeks listeners. Christmas Trees & B-17’s Originally aired in 2022 and written for the Plane Talking UK podcast Christmas show, Micah tells the story of Si Spiegel, who was still alive at the time of the writing. He flew west on January 21, 2024, at the age of 99. From the New York Times: Si Spiegel, War Hero Who Modernized Christmas Trees, Dies at 99. Spirit Airlines' debtor-in-possession (DIP) credit agreement Previously, we talked about Spirit Airlines and the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process. Specifically, we mentioned the Spirit Airlines' debtor-in-possession (DIP) credit agreement and wondered who was providing the additional funding to Spirit. Spirit Airlines entered into a Debtor In Possession Term Loan Credit and Note Purchase Agreement with Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB, which acts as both administrative agent and collateral agent. The actual lenders are the various DIP creditors that become parties to the agreement, with Wilmington Savings Fund Society representing their interests. In Spirit's restructuring, the DIP financing is being provided by existing bondholders and senior secured noteholders, who are referred to as the “DIP creditors” in the agreement. Those noteholders, acting through Wilmington Savings Fund Society as agent, supply the money that adds up to several hundred million dollars to fund operations during Chapter 11. In other words, no single bank is the economic lender; instead, the financing is syndicated across Spirit's existing secured noteholders and bondholders, with Wilmington only acting in an agency capacity. Form 10-K, Commission File No. 001-35186, Spirit Airlines, Inc. Debtor In Possession Term Loan Credit and Note Purchase Agreement. Poor Little Lambs, The Baa Baa Black Sheep Story Author Stephen “Chappie” Chapis spent nearly two decades researching, conducting interviews, and collecting rare materials to write Poor Little Lambs: The Baa Baa Black Sheep Story. This is a comprehensive account of the beloved 1970s television series Baa Baa Black Sheep. Brian and Micah spoke with Chappie about his book. See: POOR LITTLE LAMBS: The Definitive Baa Baa Black Sheep Book Lands on the 49th Anniversary of Flying Misfits. Making the Airplane Geeks Podcast If you've ever wondered how we make the Airplane Geeks podcast, listen to this “behind the curtain” description. Hosts this Episode Max Flight, Brian Coleman, and our Main(e) Man Micah.

By way of Lithuania to Australia to the Garden, comes Kristina Dryza. She's a master of archetypes and mythology with a new age flair. Of course, new age is really just ancient age. Dryza helps us with our goddesses. Especially, those of Greece and Egypt. We discuss Hera and Athena. A bit about Demeter and Aphrodite. A touch of Artemis. Toss in a little Romanization too.We go across that pond and visit Hathor and Isis. Then we make stops at Inanna and some others.But we really explore archetypal themes rather than textbook definitions and descriptions. It's another far ranging and fun conversation with a new friend.

A slow weave of some of the past year's Field Recordings, from a child playing in the snow to a brass band playing Christmas carols in the street. Father and daughter build a snowman in the backyard, Copenhagen, Denmark on 2nd January 2025 – by Joyce de Badts Cracking the ice underfoot over a frozen puddle, Low Bentham, North Yorkshire, UK in early January 2025 – by Charlotte Petts Ice on Queen's Park Pond, Glasgow, Scotland in January 2025 – by Katie Revell “Recorded using a contact microphone at Queen's Park pond on the Southside of Glasgow, during a cold snap in January. The pond had frozen over (which doesn't happen often), and people were walking and skating on it. One person asked if I was measuring the thickness of the ice. I handed my headphones round a group of kids, and it was fun to watch their reactions to the sci-fi noises…” Snow slowly melting from a bridge next to Ribblehead viaduct, North Yorkshire, UK in early January 2025 – by Charlotte Petts Listening to the river flow as the snow melts into the water from the fields nearby,  River Wenning, Bentham, North Yorkshire, UK in early January 2025 – by Charlotte Petts Tawny Owls voicing the starry dark, the foot of Dartmoor, UK at 5am on 3rd January 2025 – by Kirsteen McNish “I stood on the doorstep to look at the stars because of the ice bright visibility and heard them calling to each other.” Primal scream atop Bernal Hill, San Francisco, USA on 20th January 2025 at 9am – by Kristina Loring “A group of organizers had distributed flyers in our neighborhood for a timely cathartic moment atop the large mountain park that overlooks the city of San Francisco and the bay. It was organized to coincide with the swearing-in of the newest conservative American regime on Inauguration day. But one's rage can't be limited to whoever is in the presidential office. We scream for a litany of injustices—an endless list that cannot be exhausted here. Many rages filled my lungs that day and escaped my mouth in an inarticulate howl. Beneath the rage was a yearning for: Justice for Palestinians everywhere. Justice for trans folks everywhere. Justice for refugees everywhere.” Dead leaves on a silver birch, Stanton Moor, Derbyshire, UK on 5th February 2025 – by Rose de Larrabeiti “I took myself to Derbyshire for a few days in early February. I walked up to Stanton Moor with my dog Rosie (not named by me!) looking for a Bronze Age stone circle called the Nine Ladies. Nearby were silver birches with their dead brown leaves rustling in the wind.” Babble of Ta Ta Creek spring, British Columbia, Canada in early February 2025 – by PJ Howe “Here is a little recording of our local spring. We hiked through 2ft of snow in the -10 temps to the head of our local creek. Due to the deep cold we are in, the ice formations around the spring are spectacular. The quiet babble of the creek makes this such a special place.” Geothermal mud pools in Rotorua, Aotearoa (New Zealand) on 8th February 2025 – by Will Coley Woodpecker in back garden, south-east London, UK on 14th February 2025 – by Cesar Gimeno Lavin “This morning I was delighted to find that, after quite a few months, this woodpecker has returned! Back to the very same tree. I love how the sound echoes around the garden.” ‘Silence' in Doubtful Sound, Aotearoa (New Zealand) on 15th February 2025 – by Will Coley Steam train arriving and then departing, Haworth, West Yorkshire, UK on 17th February 2025 – by Cesar Gimeno Lavin Walking in the dry, squeaky-crunchy snow on Elm Street in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada on 22nd February 2025 – by Laura Nerenberg “The snow was delightfully squeaky and I took every chance I could to stomp around…” The last performance of the world's largest pipe organ, Philadelphia, USA on 22nd March 2025 – by Alex Lewis “Thousands of people gathered on Saturday, March 22nd at Macy's in Philadelphia, PA to hear the last performances of the Wanamaker Organ – possibly the world's largest pipe organ – as the department store marked its final weekend in business. This is an excerpt from the final recital by John Wanamaker Grand Court Organist Peter Richard Conte. My wife gave this piece the unofficial title: ‘an elegy for in-person shopping'.” Squeaky frogs, Watcarrick, near Eskdalemuir, Scotland on 25th March 2025 – by Geoff McQueen ‘Hands Off' March, New York, USA on Saturday 5th April 2025 – by Jon Moskowitz Nightingales at Knepp, Sussex, UK in April 2025 – by Charlotte Petts “…from my camp out at the Knepp estate last week – managed to creep up pretty close to a nightingale singing in the shrubby hedgerows. Absolutely gorgeous to fall asleep to them calling out to each other through the night.” Cows in Los Lagos de Covadonga, Asturias, Spain in May 2025 – by Sarah Kramer and Nina Porzucki  Bells heard through a window, Vilnius, Lithuania in the morning on 26th May 2025 – by Eleanor McDowall Creek bed, Lerderderg State Park on Wurundjeri Country, Australia in May 2025 – by Camilla Hannan Bingo on a roasting Saturday evening in Derbyshire, June 2025 – by Andrew Conroy ‘Little Tibet', Parco nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise, Italy in June 2025 – by Cosmin Sandu River through wood, Boise River, USA on 22nd June 2025 – by Ariana Martinez “This tape was gathered in Boise, Idaho with a contact microphone affixed to a tree root partially submerged in the Boise River.” Dawn chorus, Lopez Island, USA in 2025 – by Joe Harvey-Whyte Primary night watch party after Zohran Mamdani's win, Brooklyn Masonic Temple, New York on Wednesday 26th June 2025 – by Rachel Humphreys Protest after the vote, Westminster, London, UK on 2nd July 2025 – by Eleanor McDowall Ringing the peace bell, Hiroshima, Japan on 14th July 2025 – by Lisa Hack Knossos Palace, Crete, Greece on 17th July 2025 at 11.30am – by Giles Stokoe Pans protest outside Downing Street, London, UK at 6pm on 25th July 2025 “Hundreds gather outside Downing Street banging pots and pans as Israel's blockade continues to cause the starvation of Palestinians in the Gaza strip. 120 people – 80 of them children – have been confirmed dead from famine as of 26th July. In the last 24 hours two babies have died from malnutrition. Nearly 1000 Palestinians have been shot to death by Israeli soldiers whilst queuing for food.” Goats going home, Sabugueiro, Serra da Estrela, Portugal, late evening on 13th August 2025 – by Katherina Lindekens Gongs, Glastonbury Tor, Somerset, UK on 21st August 2025 – by Barny Smith Waves on a shingle beach, St Leonards-on-Sea, UK, late September 2025 – by Eleanor McDowall New York Mayoral Election Results, Paul's, Brooklyn, NY, USA on 4th November 2025 – by Brian Pester Democratic Socialists of America election night party, Bushwick, NY as Hell Gate NYC livestream called the race at 9.44pm on 4th November 2025 – by Kalli Anderson Inside a rainwater collection tank, London, UK on 10th November 2025 – by Cesar Gimeno Lavin 2 minutes silence from the rooftop of St Paul's Cathedral, Rememberance Sunday at 11am, 2025 – by Joe Harvey-Whyte Unknown instrument in the subway at two minutes to midnight, Metropolitan / Lorimer St station, New York, USA on 12th November – by Jonah Buchanan “Descending the stairs, I was disappointed to see a two-digit number in the wait time for the train. the music started a couple minutes later. they had a pedal and an instrument i couldn't identify. i wouldn't say it was dreamy, and there's not really a synonym i can find that captures it. maybe bewitching…” UK farmers tractor protest on the day of the budget, Rupert Street, Soho, London, UK at 14.29 on 26th November 2025 – by Clare Lynch “16th century Soho fields being ploughed in protest by 21st century musical tractors.” Cows grazing in the fog, Cerro, on the Lessini Mountains, North of Verona, Italy in late November 2025 – by Davide Erbogasto “…some cows were grazing in the field, regardless of the rain, fog or snow. Their bell kept me company through the week.” Crystal Palace Band playing at the Crystal Palace Christmas Tree lights turn-on, London, UK on 29th November 2025 – by Alan Hall First big snow of the season, Pittsburgh, USA on 2nd December 2025 – by Dennis Funk “This first big snow was really dreamy. It started late in the night after I'd gone to bed, and had already stopped by morning. When I woke up there was the shock of a white, white world and a few inches on the ground. I got lost in the stillness of the day, and watched little heaps tumble from branches when a breeze rattled through.”

What is a call? How does a person know if God is calling them to mission service? Join in a discussion as these and other questions are addressed.

Belonging is not something you arrive at. It is something you build. In this episode of Walk-In Talk Media, Carl Fiadini sits down in studio with Marina Baronas, hospitality leader and author of A New Life, A New Menu: An Almanac of Belonging. Raised across Lithuania, Russia, and Azerbaijan, Marina came to the United States at nineteen without speaking English and built a life through the unseen work of hospitality. Her journey moves through kitchens, dining rooms, leadership, motherhood, burnout, and reinvention, offering an honest look at service as lived experience, not performance. Joining the conversation is Chef Carl Riding, who came up through hotels and kitchens before stepping away from the line to build Crab Island Seafood, a small, independent, chef-driven company producing elevated crab dips. Together, they explore dignity in invisible labor, identity beyond titles, redefining success without leaving hospitality, and why this industry continues to feel like home even after it takes its toll. This episode is for anyone who has carried their roots across borders, worked until they were unseen, or searched for belonging inside the hospitality industry. What to Expect From This Episode Immigration, identity, and finding belonging through hospitality The emotional cost of invisible labor and long-term burnout Front of house and back of house perspectives shaped by hotels and kitchens Redefining success without walking away from the industry Why hospitality continues to feel like home, even after reinvention Brand Partners Crab Island Seafood https://www.crabislandseafooddip.com Metro Foodservice Solutions https://www.metro.com RAK Porcelain USA https://www.rakporcelain.com/usa Pass the Honey https://www.passthehoney.com Trade Show & Event Partners New York Restaurant Show https://www.nyrestaurantshow.com California Restaurant Show https://www.californiarestaurantshow.com Florida Restaurant Show https://www.flrestaurantshow.com Pizza Tomorrow Summit https://www.pizzatomorrow.com U.S. Culinary Open (NAFEM Show) https://www.usculinaryopen.com Cause Partners We Support The Burnt Chef Project https://www.theburntchefproject.com Operation BBQ Relief https://operationbbqrelief.org Hogs for the Cause https://hogsforthecause.org Sustainable Supperclub https://www.sustainablesupperclub.org

How Gen Z-led protests toppled the Bulgarian government, a close look at Denmark's hardline asylum policies, and what should be done about the Dutch housing crisis. Then: A Scottish island castle for sale, Vilnius' bid to become Europe's biggest start-up hub, exhumations of political prisoners in Prague, and how the French Post Office tries to stay relevant.

Lithuania has been beleaguered by balloons drifting into its airspace from neighbouring Belarus. What are the military advantages of this seemingly whimsical mode of transportation? And how severe is the threat? Andrew Mueller explains. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Day 1,390.Today, after another weekend of intense diplomatic activity, we take you to Berlin, where President Zelensky is meeting the American delegation – joined by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz – as Europe seeks to reassert itself in the peace process. We also examine the surge in military activity over the weekend, which saw multiple cities plunged into blackout, before turning to Germany's rapidly evolving position, where comparisons are increasingly being drawn between today and the events that sparked the Second World War.ContributorsFrancis Dearnley (Executive Editor for Audio). @FrancisDearnley on X.Dominic Nicholls (Associate Editor of Defence). @DomNicholls on X.James Rothwell (Berlin Correspondent). @JamesERothwell on X.SIGN UP TO THE ‘UKRAINE: THE LATEST' WEEKLY NEWSLETTER:http://telegraph.co.uk/ukrainenewsletter Each week, Dom Nicholls and Francis Dearnley answer your questions, provide recommended reading, and give exclusive analysis and behind-the-scenes insights – plus maps of the frontlines and diagrams of weapons to complement our daily reporting. It's free for everyone, including non-subscribers.CONTENT REFERENCED:Zelensky gives up Nato ambitions in peace deal concession (The Telegraph):https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/12/14/zelensky-gives-up-nato-ambitions-in-peace-deal-concession/ MI6 chief warns Putin: We won't abandon Ukraine (The Telegraph):https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/12/15/mi6-chief-warns-putin-we-wont-abandon-ukraine/ FBI boss met with Ukraine's top peace negotiators (The Telegraph):https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/12/12/fbi-boss-ukraine-top-peace-negotiators/ Lithuania in state of emergency over smuggler balloons linked to Russia (The Telegraph):https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/12/09/lithuania-in-state-of-emergency-over-smuggler-balloons-link/ German tank-shaped Christmas calendar ‘glorifying war' (The Telegraph):https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/12/10/german-tank-shaped-christmas-calendar-glorifying-war/ New Ukrainian Polling:https://kiis.com.ua/ Chess-FIDE reinstates Russian and Belarusian teams in official contests (Reuters):https://www.reuters.com/sports/chess-fide-reinstates-russian-belarusian-teams-official-contests-2025-12-15/ ‘Disrupting Russian Air Defence Production: Reclaiming the Sky' (RUSI):https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/research-papers/disrupting-russian-air-defence-production-reclaiming-skyComprehensive approach to security: Federal Council launches consultation on Switzerland's security policy strategy (Swiss Government)https://www.news.admin.ch/en/newnsb/BLkWfUbUsXtBFoSj-krgUUN Press Page:https://press.un.org/enLISTEN TO THIS PODCAST IN NEW LANGUAGES:The Telegraph has launched translated versions of Ukraine: The Latest in Ukrainian and Russian, making its reporting accessible to audiences on both sides of the battle lines and across the wider region, including Central Asia and the Caucasus. Just search Україна: Останні Новини (Ukr) and Украина: Последние Новости (Ru) on your on your preferred podcast app to find them. Listen here: https://linktr.ee/ukrainethelatestSubscribe: telegraph.co.uk/ukrainethelatestEmail: ukrainepod@telegraph.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Miracle On Route 34: Part 3 Being naughty can be a very good thing, if he needs help getting jolly. Based on a post by BiscuitHammer, in 3 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories. "Just when I thought it couldn't get better;" Ginny sighed, lost in bliss. "You certainly know what a woman wants." "I aim to please." Santa said cheerfully, putting one arm around her waist and holding her close while he guided the sleigh. "Think we might've sated you for a while?" "Hmm, maybe for a bit, right?" she purred, stretching like a cat before sitting forward and looking down over the earth, lit by clusters of lights that punctuated the darkness of Christmas Eve. It wasn't long before she began to giggle. "Schilling for your thoughts." Santa said, giving her tit a squeeze. "Well, you probably don't remember, but we've met before," she mentioned lightly, turning her head to wink at him. "I sure remember it." "Oh? Do tell." "Well," she said casually, her thoughts drifting back. "I was sixteen and my girlfriends and I were at the mall. We saw you and decided to sit on your lap. So Cari and I were sitting on you at the same time, squirming our asses on you and kept whispering naughty things in your ears, things we wanted to do to you, you know?" Santa didn't respond for several moments. "See?" Ginny said, smirking. "Told you that you didn't remember." "What; was the date of that, Virginia?" he asked warily. "December fifteenth, eight years ago, about seven-thirty pm," she said. "I still have a photo. Why?" "Because I wasn't in your city on December fifteenth eight years ago," he said with reluctance. "I was in Lahina on Maui, judging a naked limbo contest at a luau." She was silent for some time. "You're; you're sure?" Santa nodded. "Oh, God;" Ginny whispered, her eyes distant. "That means that Cari and I were grinding on some creepy mall Santa; oh, shit, I could feel him getting hard and everything!" Ginny scrunched her face up in revulsion and was flapping her arms in horror. "Oh, God. Blah! Blah! Blah!" Santa's roaring laughter echoed through the darkness as his date for the evening struggled to not puke off the side of the sleigh and onto the unsuspecting town below. Silent Runnings. She always kind of assumed that the sleigh made little or no noise when it touched down on a roof. After all, what kept some survivalist gun nut from trying to blow Santa away with his collection of automatic rifles when he heard some noise he couldn't account for? The sleigh glided silently onto the roof, the blades letting out little more than a hiss and the patter of the reindeer's hooves barely audible. Santa leapt out lightly and assisted her in exiting the sleigh before grinning at her. "Now, I won't be long, just hang tight and stay near the sleigh, if you're within the Gellar Field, you'll keep warm, alright?" Ginny raised an eyebrow in his direction, nonplussed. "Um, 'excuse me? I'm here with Santa Fucking Claus on Christmas Motherfucking Eve. How many times can a girl say that? If you think for one second I'm not delivering presents with you, then you're even more stupid that Krampus. I'm coming." Santa seemed hesitant. "Virginia, I've been at this since Proto-Hittite times, one way or another. I'm kind of an expert and I don't want you to hurt;" "Oh, get real," she snorted, pushing past him toward the chimney. She was glad to note that the 'Gellar Field', whatever the hell that was, seemed to be keeping her warm at this distance. "If your fat ass can fit down a chimney with that huge bag, so can mine." She clambered over the lip of the chimney and eased herself down inside it. Santa watched silently as she wriggled out of sight. There was no noise for several seconds. Finally Ginny spoke, her voice coming up the flue. "Okay, kinda stuck here, with my nose pressed into my own asshole. Little help?" Santa chuckled lightly and reached for a can of grease. Piloting a Ginny. "You're getting better at this, I must say," Santa remarked as he rummaged through his bag of presents while Ginny guided the sleigh. "Last person who drove the sleigh for me, the reindeer resisted a lot. They like you." "Oh?" Ginny replied, twisting the reins slightly and veering the sleigh team southwest. "Who was she?" Santa cleared his throat. "Actually, it was Krampus. Well, he was Pete back then, and it was over six hundred years ago." It took Ginny a moment to recover from her shock and concentrate on guiding the sleigh. Fortunately, the reindeer seemed to know where they were going. "Six hundred;" "Yup," Santa confirmed. "The Belgian monks were still getting the recipe for Stella Artois right the last time one of my kids helped me out." "But what about all your wives you were telling me about?" she asked. "They must've been in the sleigh before." Santa shrugged. "Yeah, people have been in it, I've taken them places, but you and Pete are the only two who have ever helped me on Christmas Eve." She felt herself grow warm, and for once it wasn't because she was wet and horny. "I'm really helping you?" He nodded. "It may be that I'm late because of the donnybrook back at your place, Virginia, but that wasn't your fault, it's just what was meant to be. I was meant to be put behind and now you're meant to be driving this sleigh while I get organized. No matter how many me's there are out there, it won't make a difference unless you're here tonight. It's fated to be that way." Ginny didn't know what to say. She just calmly guided the sleigh, feeling a contentment she'd never quite known before. She was dimly aware of some other shadowy iteration of Santa's sleigh streaking by some miles to the north and waved absently. She couldn't explain why any of this made sense, but it did. She really was different after all. A house below them shone with a golden light in the dark and she turned the reigns easily to guide the reindeer in its direction. There were over a dense residential area, the streets lined with endless numbers of small homes and semis. They glided onto a roof and clambered out. She followed Santa and his present sack down the chimney. In spite of his bulk, he slid down the tight shaft in a way that made her cunt inexplicably wet. "Now that I think of it," she whispered as she wriggled down with him. "How do we get into houses where there's no chimney?" "It was a lot easier before central heating," he answered, almost upside down as he worked his way toward the ground. "For lack of a better term, it's just B & E, I guess. I've got the keys and security codes for every residence on earth." "Wow," she grunted as she twisted and wiggled, her tits squashed to her mouth. If they'd had more time she would have sucked on them for a bit as a reward to herself. "Even Kim Jong-Un?" "Yeah, but he's not getting anything you want to know about for Christmas," Santa muttered. "He's a very bad boy." "So, what, like a leaky bag of flaming panda shit?" she mused, occupying herself as she strained to keep up. "Because that's what he kinda deserves." "Christmas is the one night of the year we don't discuss politics, Virginia." Santa mentioned as he finally freed himself of the confines of the flue and dusted himself off. He helped Ginny out as well, smiling and kissing her nose as she held her off the ground. She blushed and let him put her down, moving to a corner of the living room and watching intently. The house they were in was not big, a modest home for a small family. Santa was rummaging around in his bag, absently noshing on the cookies left on a table near the tree. The tree itself was rather sparse on gifts, something Santa seemed to be rectifying. Ginny didn't notice the other person in the room until it was too late. "So there you are, big man;" Ginny started at the voice but Santa merely stood and turned around, smiling warmly. At the entrance to the room was a woman in a robe. She was older than Ginny, but not more than in her late twenties or early thirties. She had the look of a tired mom. "Been waiting a long, long time to prove to myself that you were real and the presents I couldn't account for just came out thin air," she sighed, nodding. She had sandy-brown hair, done in a long bob. Her face was pretty enough, but you could see in her eyes that sleep was more of an afterthought than anything. "But here you are." "It's good to see you, Linda." Santa said warmly, moving toward her and hugging her. She sighed as he embraced her and Ginny smiled, knowing exactly how content and relieved Linda felt at the moment, whoever the hell she was. "Whoa, did I just get jealous of some girl hugging Santa?" "I can't believe you're here in all your chubby glory," Linda remarked, smiling up at him. "It's a dream come true." Santa nodded. "Little Karen's been very good this year, Linda. She's a real blessing. I brought her the puppy she wanted." Ginny frowned and looked down at a small object that was obviously a puppy, wrapped prettily in Christmas paper and sporting a golden bow on its snout. The puppy panted happily, curled up and went to sleep beneath the tree. "She'll love it," Linda said quietly, her eyes shining. "She'll be so thrilled." "I know she will." Santa said, smiling and placing a hand on Linda's cheek. "Sorry things didn't work out with Bob. He doesn't know what he's missing." "Thanks, I keep telling myself that too," Linda said, dabbing at her eye. "Have you got an STD for his stocking, maybe?" "No," Santa chuckled. "But you need to know that everything's going to be fine, Linda. You've made it this far, you're raising an amazing girl and you own this place now. If I could give you Mother of the Year, I would. But I can't, not my department, so that leaves me to ask; what do you want for Christmas, Linda?" Linda looked into his eyes before her hands reached down and began fumbling with his wide, black belt. Ginny shook her head and sighed, knowing exactly why Linda's reaction was so instinctual. The mother turned her head and seemed to notice the girl in the abbreviated elf costume for the first time. "Oh," she said, her hands still undoing the belt. "Is she your chaperone, to make sure we behave?" "No, she's not my chaperone," Santa said, smiling and shaking his head. "She's my indispensable helper, without whom Christmas wouldn't come this year." Ginny blushed at his description of her. "Oh, okay," Linda said, kneeling and shimmying his red pants down and freeing his monstrous cock. "As long as she doesn't interrupt me enjoying my present." Ginny blushed again, but this time the hair on the back of her neck went up and her eyes narrowed. She folded her arms across her chest, leaned against the wall and watched silently. Very silently. "Wow," Linda mused, taking his cock in both hands and staring at it. "Just when I thought nothing could get longer than that white beard of yours." Ginny blinked and frowned for a moment. White beard? It suddenly occurred to her that Linda was seeing the Santa she had always expected to see, a fat, jolly old man with a long white beard, rosy cheeks and the rest of the Dickensian nonsense. To Ginny, he still looked like the towering, red-bearded lumbersexual she knew him to actually be. Whatever sort of glamour he radiated, it worked even in sexual situations. Without a pause, Linda took Santa's thick cock into her mouth with a sigh and began bobbing back and forth along its length. Her wet lips formed a tight seal around the shaft, her hands holding on to Santa's thighs for balance. "She's doing that all wrong," Ginny sniffed to herself. "He likes it when one hand is pumping along the shaft behind your mouth and the other one is teasing his balls. I should know." Santa turned his head, smiled at her and nodded. Ginny blushed and shut up. He took Linda's head gently in his hands, caressing her hair while she sucked his cock, letting her take all the time she liked. She undid her robe with one hand, letting it fall to a puddle at her knees, now naked. She had a mom bod, Ginny noted, not bad, she was trying to keep herself fit, probably with Tae Bo and jogging or spinning, if she could find the time. Her tits were somewhat pointy, but she wasn't repulsive by any means. Ginny felt herself getting warm as she watched, one of her hands coming up to caress her tits while the other snaked down inside the short green skirt she was wearing and beneath her thong, teasing her understandably gooey cunt. She watched intently as Linda pushed farther and farther down Santa's seemingly endless shaft, breathing through her nose as she tried to reach the root. The hand she kept on his thigh for balance squeeze his pale flesh while the other was massaging her tits, pinching the nipples. She moaned around his cock as he grew harder in her mouth. Ginny leaned her head against the wall, trying to not make noise as she pleasured herself, fingers teasing through her slippery folds or circling her throbbing clit. The hand she had on her tits mimicked Linda's squeezing and pinching her nipples, causing little needles of stinging delight to shoot through her. Linda's hand moved down between her legs and her fingers began churning inside her cunt. She moaned loudly as she pleasured herself. Normally Ginny would have thought she'd wake her kid, but Santa probably had some weird sound-dampening field just to keep things like this from happening. Typical. Ginny bit her lip as she watched, her skin blushing pink as she worked herself into a silent frenzy, her wet core beginning to blossom as Linda sucked and bobbed on Santa's cock faster and faster; Both women let out a loud moan as they came, pleasure bubbling up through Ginny's body while her fingers worked madly inside her clenching, slippery tunnel. Her knees buckled and she went to the floor, still fucking herself. Linda grunted and began swallowing as Santa came, finally pulling her mouth off and panting heavily, jerking his throbbing cock frantically and splattering his pearly cum across her tits with great eagerness. Ginny slowly lifted her head, gazing at Santa and Linda through heavily-lidded eyes. She'd cum so hard just from fingering herself. Was it her proximity to Santa that caused all her sensations to be so heightened? Santa knelt as well, hugging Linda to himself and whispering in her ear. She slowly pulled her arms up and embraced him, smiling against his shoulder and nodding gently, her eyes still closed. After holding her for some time, her took her by the chin and lifted her gaze to meet his. "Okay, back to bed with you," he said gently. "You'll sleep very well tonight and Karen will come to wake you." Linda smiled dreamily and rubbed her nose against Santa's before giving it a kiss. She stood, slipped her robe back on, winked at him and left without another word. Santa watched her leave and nodded in satisfaction. "Just what she needed," he said to himself. "Okay, Virginia, I'm going to finish these last few presents and then we're; Virginia?" But Ginny was still kneeling, slumped to one side against the wall and snoring. Santa chuckled and finished the presents before picking her up and holding her limp body under one arm and his giant sack over the other shoulder before disappearing up the flue in the blink of an eye. Carnal Knowledge. "Taip! Taip! Mano Dievas!" Kuni moaned loudly as she sat on her sister's face, grinding her cunt eagerly down onto Minna's mouth. Her blonde twin clamped her arms around her sister's thighs tightly as she lapped hungrily at the slick lips above. Santa was kneeling between Minna's legs, holding them wide and thrusting back and forth, his cock plunging in and out of her. Ginny was leaning against the wall once again, trying to not look exasperated. The Lithuanian girls were writhing and grinding in a frenzy, clearly enjoying their early Christmas present. It wasn't like they'd crept down and surprised Ginny and Santa, as Linda had, they had actually written to Santa, saying that their parents were away for the holiday and they wanted him to come and fuck them for Christmas. They'd been waiting patiently in the living room when Santa and Ginny appeared out of the chimney, the twins wearing nothing but their little cheerleader uniforms. Minna groaned shamelessly while she lashed her Kuni's twat with her tongue, shuddering as Santa's iron-hard rod nearly split her in half. Ginny had to admit, the blonde twins had rocking bodies, trim and tight from whatever activities they were involved in. She'd have to get into P90-X or Crossfit if she was ever going to compete with these two. "Senelis!" Minna gasped, sliding a finger up inside her sister, which Kuni ground on shamelessly. She gyrated her hips, fucking back against Santa, her fingernails digging into her sister's ass cheeks as she endured the battering waves of pleasure. "Ah, Duok man sunku!" "Pasakykite pra¨ome;" Santa replied, smiling slyly. "Pra¨om!" Minna wailed, her body almost thrashing. "Pra¨om pra¨om pra¨om! Nekankink manęs!" Santa nodded and leaned forward, pressing Minna's legs almost back against her body, his weight over her now as he sank his cock down inside her. The blonde girl almost screamed in pleasure. Kuni grappled onto Santa's neck and kissed him greedily, churning her cunt down onto Minna's glistening face. "Unreal," Ginny muttered. "And I thought I was a relentless horny machine. But you, sir, take the cake." "I would expect you of all people to understand by now," Santa said cheerfully. "Minna and Kuni have been very good this year. They're both at the top of their class, they've been socially active regarding building homeless shelters, they're both” "Over the age of eighteen?" Ginny bit out. "It's Lithuania, that wouldn't matter," Santa pointed out. "They've been very good girls and I'm duty-bound to give them what they want for Christmas." "So no point deductions for incest?" Ginny asked somewhat testily. "There weren't for you and your brother, were there?" he replied while Kuni nipped at his skin. Ginny blushed again and stopped talking. She watched while Kuni pulled herself off her sister's mouth and hastily clambered around to lie on top of her, kissing her sister while squirming her wet cunt down on Minna's. She groaned loudly when Santa pulled out of the girl below and pushed deep inside her. "Dear diary," Ginny muttered. "Having a great time in Vilnius, watching Santa skewer Lithuanian sisters;" Santa grunted and pushed in hard, his hips trembling as he started to cum. Kuni and Minna screamed into one another's mouths, hips bucking furiously. He pulled out of Kuni and slammed back into Minna, filling her with cum as well before both sisters scrambled to their knees while he stood. They swallowed his cock greedily, taking turns pumping the shaft while the other sucked on it. They kissed around the throbbing cock, licking the pearly cum off one another's faces. "Esate labai geros mergaitės," Santa breathed, holding them both gently by the back of their heads while they sucked hungrily. "Keep up the good work and Santa will see you again next year;" "If we're not still here with these two whores next Christmas;" Ginny thought darkly. Santa’s copilot. Ginny was guiding the sleigh, but she kept looking back at Santa, trying not to smirk. He was sitting beside her, a rather blank stare on his face, his eyes a little red around the edges. "I'm still sorta hungry;" he said somewhat absently. "So you actually thought 'Colorado Gold' was a brand of flour used to make baked goods?" "Note to self," he murmured. "Do not eat the brownies left out for you in Denver;" Basement Bound. Ginny followed Santa as they crept down the stairs toward the basement apartment, a prismatic glow on the wall ahead of them indicating a tree was nearby. They rounded a corner and paused. A young man dressed in X-Men boxers and a white t-shirt almost walked into them as he rubbed his eyes. He stared at them for a moment, saying absolutely nothing. After a long, awkward pause, Santa reached back into his sack and pulled out a wrapped gift which he slowly handed to the kid. The kid took it equally slowly and unwrapped it, his eyes widening as several deluxe editions of the newest PC games were revealed. The kid smiled sheepishly and sighed. "Thanks, now that I know you're real." "You don't seem happy, Kevin," Santa said, obviously concerned. "You've been great all year and these are what you wanted, right?" "I; yeah, they are," sighed the kid. "At least, that's what I told everyone I wanted. My friends and I, we're all gamers, and this is amazing, but;" "But;" Santa pressed. "Well, Christmas is also my birthday," Kevin said. "Here I am, eighteen finally, and I still haven't had sex with a girl yet." Santa smiled. "Well, I normally deal exclusively in Christmas wishes rather than birthdays, but perhaps this year I can help you out there, Kevin." Kevin raised an eyebrow. "Virginia," Santa stated, looking at her. "I give you Kevin the Boy. Return unto me Kevin the Man." Ginny couldn't believe what she said next. "Thought you'd never ask, Big Red;" She walked forward and took the games out of Kevin's hands, tossing them over her shoulder. Santa grabbed them hastily out of the air as Ginny poked a finger into Kevin's chest and pressed him up against the wall. His eyes were wide, not at all sure what was happening. "Santa's already given you your Christmas presents," Ginny said as she knelt in front of him and tugged at his boxers. "Which means it's up to me to give you a happy birthday;" She pulled the boxers down and tossed them aside. His cock was limp but she could already tell it was swelling with excitement. Rather than teasing the poor virgin, Ginny stroked his shaft and slid her mouth all the way down, deep-throating him. Kevin shuddered and groaned loudly. "Make all the noise you want, you won't wake your parents upstairs," Ginny mentioned, pulling her mouth off his cock for a moment and pumping the shaft with her hand while she looked up at him. "The big man here has some sort of sound-dampening field or some shit so that he doesn't get caught busting into people's houses." Kevin's hands flattened against the wall and his fingers flexed as she slid her mouth down his length again before bobbing back and forth in a slow rhythm. She felt his fingers take her by the hair and begin kneading, lost in this clearly new delight. She hummed gently, vibrating her mouth around his sensitive skin. "Well, look at you," she remarked, smiling as she pulled back and gazed at his now hard and throbbing cock, glistening with the wetness of her mouth. "That's a nice dick you've got there, Kevin. You're a grower, I'm impressed." Kevin took a deep breath. "Maybe, but it doesn't look like much when it's limp. The one time I let a girl at school see it, I was nervous and it shrunk, so she was laughing at me." "Then I'll give you a tip before I fuck you, Kevin," Ginny said, stroking the shaft and spitting on it, to keep it moist while she instructed him. "Girls can be hideous cunts about that sort of thing sometimes, but they have their own insecurities. So never bring your insecurity to the ballgame. You need to be turned on and your Johnson here on the rise by the time you get naked for her." "Uh-huh?" he said somewhat uncertainly, shivering as she bent her thumb so that the pad pressed against the top of his mushroom head every time she stroked down. He couldn't believe this was happening. Some hot Elf-chick who looked like a Warcraft mod was blowing him! "So from now on, you dominate, you got it?" Ginny said. "Make her get naked or make her turn you on so that she can see how big your cock is before you ever get out of your boxers. No girl is gonna say no to this thing when it's fully inflated, I promise." "R-really?" Kevin asked. Ginny kept her eyes locked with his but reached down under her panties for several moment before bringing her fingers up for display. They glistened wetly in the dim light. "It's made me horny, champ. And because of that cock, I need to fuck you. You with me?" Kevin just thunked his head back against the wall, closed his eyes and nodded. "Oh, and don't worry about trying to last," Ginny added. "Being around the Red Machine makes you want to fuck and cum all night. You'll be fine." She swallowed his cock with a will, determined to give this kid the best first time anyone had ever had. Her hand followed her mouth along the shaft and she hummed, swirling her tongue along its length. The kid wasn't Santa, but this would be a perfectly good ride for any girl worth fucking once he had his confidence. Her free hand worked its way back inside her panties and began fingering, teasing her wet folds and slipping inside, getting her ready for the main event. "Umm, do you want to fuck me, Kevin?" she asked, smiling up at him. "Do you want to fuck my cunt good and hard?" "Uh; yes;" he whimpered. "Say it like you mean it, Thor," she insisted, pressing her thumb along the throbbing vein on the bottom of his thick shaft. "The girl wants confidence. This cock is worth your best effort." He took several deep breaths before looking down at her and nodding. "I want to fuck you." "You do?" she asked before sliding him back down her throat. "No," he said finally, taking her under the arms and pulling her up. Ginny exhaled suddenly as his cock popped out of her mouth unexpectedly and he spun her around to press up against the wall. "I don't want to fuck you; I will fuck you." "That's my boy," Ginny breathed, her eyes flashing with sudden lust and delight. She spread her legs and tilted her hips forward, eager to feel him inside her. "Fuck me good and hard, Kevin!" "K-zon," the boy almost growled, pressing his throbbing cockhead against her entrance. "My gaming tag is K-zon and that's what the girls will call me when I fuck them!" Ginny nodded eagerly. "Good. Give it to me, K-zon;" She moaned loudly as he pushed inside her, heedless of any sense of timing or technique, but eager to be deep in a woman. He squeezed her sides as he trembled, overcome by the wet, tight sensation of her cunt gripping him. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders and one leg slung over his hip as she looked into his eyes. Ginny began a pumping motion with her hips, sliding back and forth on his cock while K-zon was paralyzed by the flood of pleasure. "Alright, slugger," she whispered in a husky voice as she fucked herself on him. "Let's bust this first nut of yours quick, so you know what to expect. Don't hold back, just pound my cunt until you blow, got it?" He nodded as he buried his face in her shoulder and started pumping awkwardly with his hips, his whole body trembling. Ginny felt an unreal flush of heat coursing through her already, an intense orgasm building up inside. Holy shit, was she turned on and about to get off because she was mentoring a virgin? She pulled Kevin tight against herself and shivered, letting out a gasp while he moaned and jammed his hips up tight against hers, she could feel his cock twitching inside her as he spunked, Her own orgasm flooded over her, molten bubbles of ecstasy popping by the millions throughout her sweating, slick frame. He almost buckled at the knees, collapsing against her, panting like he'd run a marathon. Ginny smiled and caressed his hair, feeling his still-hard cock throbbing inside her. She ran her fingers over his cheek and looked into his eyes. "Ready to keep going?" she asked. "Second one's usually even better." He nodded and she pulled him down to his knees while she got on all fours, wiggling her invitingly. She winked back at him. "You know what to do, K-zon," she purred. "Show me what you're gonna do to the girls this coming year;" Without another thought, he took Ginny by the hips and slid his cock deep inside her again. Ginny moaned loudly, lowering her head to the floor and pushed back against him. She felt him begin to push back and forth and matched his rhythm by squeezing her cunt muscles around him as he slid in. His fingers dug into her hips and ass cheeks delightfully. She could tell he might last a little longer this time, but not by much. Then again, she wasn't here to teach him to be a sex god, she was here to pop his cherry and give him a birthday to remember. "Umm, right there, big man;" she panted, surprised that she meant what she was saying. She wasn't just stroking his fragile ego, she was quite serious, because he was hitting a spot in her cunt that she really liked. He had a long enough cock that it touched her pleasure spot and he was just wide enough to pleasantly stretch her so that she knew she was being fucked properly. With confidence, this kid would be a good lay. Kevin slapped his thighs against her ass cheeks and she squeaked and yelped in response. Her gooey cunt clenched him tightly, utilizing those vaginal contractions she seemed to be so damned expert at tonight. "Fuck;" Kevin grunted as he pumped his hips, his chest now glistening with sweat. "This is so much better than my hand or a fleshlight!" "Uh, and you feel a lot fucking better than a vibe," Ginny panted, still face-down and ass-up. "You're gonna make them scream, K-zon;" He seemed encouraged by her words and pumped harder, determined to make Ginny and himself cum again. He seemed to have found his rhythm and fucked her steadily, his eyes closed as he lost himself in the unreal sensation of sex with a live girl. Ginny bit at the knuckle of her middle finger, aware of how flushed and warm her body was. She could feel her wetness trickling down over her stomach from her cunt, since her ass was perched in the air. The slick, sucking noises of her sex were unmistakable. "Oh, you're doing really good, K-zon," she said breathily. "You're gonna have me cumming again before long!" Kevin seemed to be beyond words as he merely nodded hastily and kept fucking her, eyes closed and back arched. The slapping noise of his thighs against her ass was a wet one now, since they were both sweating profusely. She could feel the damp perspiration in her hairline, her mouth open and she wiped at it when she realized she was almost drooling. "Yes, K-zon!" she gasped, using the name he wanted again, pushing back against him but still letting him control the action. "Fucking make me cum! Don't hold back! Uh, fuck!" Kevin jammed his hips against her suddenly and cried out, a sound that Ginny echoed half a second later. Rapture splintered through her as she came, feeling him slamming against her as he climaxed, his pearly offering now deep inside her. Through glassy eyes, she looked around for Santa, to see if he was watching, but he was nowhere in sight. Kevin seemed ready to fall over, exhausted, but she gently pushed backward until he sat on his behind with her in his lap, facing away. Slowly she turned around and laid him on the floor, his cock still deep inside her. She put her hands on his shoulders and smiled down at him, her nipples tracing little patterns over his chest as she did so. "That was amazing, K-zon," she said quietly. "A really great addition to my night." He was still breathing heavily but nodded at her. "Thanks. It was more than I could have hoped for. I;I guess it's been a busy evening for you this way?" "Well, you're my only virgin to this point, if that's what you're asking," Ginny sighed. "The big red machine has fucked me more times tonight that I care to remember and I was nearly raped to death by Krampus, so this was exactly the sort of change of pace I needed, you know?" She sat up, still straddling him and impaled on his cock, a thought occurring to her. "Hey, Big Red," she called out. "I just let him bust in me twice, do you have any fixes dated from yesterday?" A tiny white pill flew out of the other room. She caught it deftly in her hand and popped it in her mouth. "I'm getting good at this 'time-is-fluid' shit," she giggled to herself. "Maybe I'll teach quantum physics." "You don't need a glass of water or anything?" Kevin asked, looking up at her. "Trust me, Kevin, if there's one thing I'm good at, it's swallowing." Ginny replied, smiling down at him somewhat haughtily before carefully pulling herself off his cock, causing them both to shudder and moan quietly. She knelt over his waist and sucked on his cock, cleaning their mingled cum off him and then helping him to his feet. She slipped her thong back on while Kevin retrieved his boxers. They were just straightening themselves out when Santa appeared from the other room. "Did you enjoy your birthday present, Kevin?" he asked cheerfully. "Yessir," the newly-minted young man said. "Best birthday present anyone ever received." "Glad to hear it," Santa said, nodding. "And I know it doesn't compare to what Virginia just gave you, but I think you'll be pleased with your new rig I just set up. Five terrabytes of hard drive space, thirty-two gigs of DDR4 RAM, an overclocked quad-core CPU that'll put the i7 to shame, eight fans, a nickle and copper piping coolant system and L E D to make sure everyone knows you're in the house. Oh, and I've upgraded your server to be multi-line, WAN and load-balancing. You and your guild will never lag again as long as you host." Kevin's eyes went wide. "I've got fat pipes?" Santa nodded while Ginny shook her head, understanding none of this geek talk. It only figured that Santa was a giant nerd. Kevin looked like he might faint. "Well, I've just done what you deserved," Santa mentioned. "It's Virginia who should get the credit for your night being so spectacular." "Yeah," Kevin said, blushing and smiling at her. "Thanks." "My pleasure, trust me," she said easily. "Somebody have a pen I can use?" Santa handed her one and she looked at Kevin. "Your number, dude." Kevin managed to stutter out his number, which she wrote down on her wrist before nodding in satisfaction and giving the pen back to Santa. "Alright, if I ever happen to be in Ohio for some godforsaken reason, I can look you up and give you a booty call. Sound good?" Kevin nodded dumbly. "Just remember this," she said, poking him in the chest, her voice serious. "You've got a lot to learn still. You've got a nice cock between your legs, don't treat it like a Louisville Slugger and just beat the hell out of her with it, you're better than that." He nodded. "And if a girl wants you to fuck her, she'll give you signals, so watch." Ginny added, poking his chest with her nail. "Don't assume you can just force yourself on anyone or next year it's dead spiders in your stocking, you got it?" Kevin nodded again. "Excellent," she said sweetly. "Now go to sleep, champ. Merry Christmas and happy birthday. C'mon, Santa, we have a holiday to save!" "Yes, my lady!" Santa laughed, following her out of the basement. They were back on the roof when Santa smirked at her as they climbed into the sleigh. "Dead spiders in the stocking?" She shrugged. "Isn't that what you'd give a guy if he forced himself on a girl?" "Well, no," he replied as he snapped the reins and they took off into the cold night air. "That's more of a legal issue. If he was considering it, I wouldn't have mentioned dead spiders, I'd' have been more inclined to point out that he'd spend the next few years in a cell as some fat, greasy tattooed bastard's buttery cornhole." The sleigh lurched to one side as Ginny burst out laughing. A Pretty Man. Santa stared awkwardly, making a wry face while Ginny stood off to the side, smirking. Standing in front of Santa was a very pretty young man in pale pink pajamas, his hands behind his back, one knee turned in, twisting his toe into the rug and blushing expectantly. Ginny wiped a tear away from her eye, she was trying so hard not to laugh. "Yeah, that ain't happening." Santa said finally. "But I've been so good;" the young man cooed, smiling coyly and winking. "C'mon, Santa," Ginny urged, clearly enjoying his discomfiture. "He's been so good, and you always reward your good children, don't you?" "Nice try, lady," Santa said, pressing behind his ear, apparently activating a communicator. "Get Agent 641 to me, I need a pinch hitter, stat." Santa threw a small disk on the floor while Ginny and the young boy in pink watched curiously. The device oscillated and expanded, becoming a larger disk. Seconds later it began to glow and hum. A column of rainbow light radiated up from it and a kneeling shape appeared. Seconds later, the rainbow light faded away and a lithe, comely figure stood. He had the same slender, beautiful features as the warrior-elves who had fought earlier that night, his eyes a piercing violet color, his impossibly long raven hair held in gold rings. His pale body was naked except for a tiny thong. "Holy shit snacks;" Ginny breathed as she gazed stupidly at the new arrival, feeling her thong get wet. "Ylmarin, young Trevor here has been an extra-good boy, perhaps you'd care to reward him?" Santa suggested as the inhumanly graceful being stepped off the platform. The tall being looked down at the young man named Trevor, assessing him and then nodded. "Yes, sire, I can absolutely do this." Trevor blushed furiously and giggled, covering his face. Ylmarin reached over and took the boy's hand before leading him back to the bedroom. Santa nodded and began rummaging around in his toy sack, putting items under the tree. "Okay, we got that out of the way," he said, squatting and putting items under the decidedly pink-lit tree. "Virginia, if you could hand me the, Virginia? Ginny?" He frowned and turned to look for his helper, finally sighting her. She was standing in the doorway to the bedroom and looking in. One of her hands squeezing her tits while the other had snaked down inside her panties. "Alright, go on, you little voyeur." Santa chuckled, shaking his head. "Yum yum!" she squeaked and skipped into the room, from which moans were now emanating. Seeking to be naughty. "You weren't worried about being on the Naughty List if you waited up for me?" Santa asked the dark-haired girl as she sat on her floor, watching him intently. She pushed her glasses up her nose and shook her head, pretty curly locks spilling over her shoulders as she did so. "Not worried, hmm?" he mused, observing her. "So you think you're already on the Naughty List?" The girl nodded. Ginny blinked and pursed her lips. "Why isn't she talking? Is she mute or doesn't she speak English?" Santa shook his head. "No, Ellie's just shy. She doesn't speak much at first, but once she gets going;" He knelt down in front of the girl and smiled. "Well, here I am. What is it you wanted to ask me, Ellie?" The tan girl turned her head and looked down at the floor sheepishly for several seconds before working up the nerve to speak. "I; I want my daddy, Santa." Ginny blinked. "She what, wants him back from deployment for Christmas, she wants her father to move back home;" "No, Virginia," Santa said cheerfully. "She doesn't want her father, she wants her daddy." "Oh," Ginny said, suddenly understanding. "So, now what?" "That's all she wanted for Christmas, so we give her, her daddy." Santa said simply. The girl's eyes lit up in delight and she sat up straight, looking very excited. Santa pointed behind Ellie and she turned to look behind herself; Her daddy stood in the doorway, his green-hazel eyes mirroring her excitement and a big grin on her face. His long, sandy-blond hair fell down to his shoulder blades. "Daddy!" Ginny squealed as she scrambled to her feet and threw herself against her daddy, kissing him feverishly. He held her tight, returning the kiss while she began pulling his clothes off him. "I missed you so much!" "Missed you too, baby;" he murmured through the kiss as he pulled her top off, exposing her lush tits. "I never had a daddy." Ginny sighed as she watched the couple get increasingly naked and feeling the now-familiar tingle building. "I should take care of that at some point." "I've got some other deliveries in the immediate area," Santa mentioned. "How about I go take care of them while you have a little fun with these two?" "Well, I'm not attracted to girls." Ginny said in a non-committal tone. "You just didn't know you were until tonight." Santa replied, smiling. "Just trust me on this, Virginia." "Well, like you said earlier, I've had you inside all my orifices, so what's the harm in trusting you now, right?" she admitted, shrugging. Would being bisexual be such a bad thing? It certainly widened her options for dating. Santa nodded and walked out of the room. Ginny turned to look at the couple she was left with, who were already splayed out on the rug, naked and pleasuring one another. Ellie was lying on top of her daddy, facing down his body and sucking on his cock hungrily while he was pulling her slippery cunt lips apart and sliding his tongue up and down her twat, making her shiver and moan. "Fuck it," Ginny said finally, stripping out of her skimpy outfit and walking up to the two of them. She laid down beside Ellie's daddy and smiled at her, both their heads over hips. "Feel like tag-teaming, babe?" Ellie looked up for a moment and nodded readily. Ginny smiled and leaned in, flicking her tongue against the tip of his cock. The curly-haired girl giggled and joined Ginny in teasing the throbbing cock, taking turns sliding their tongue up and down the shaft while the other swirled her tongue around the head and took it into her mouth, starting to bob up and down. Ginny felt herself getting really wet and pressed her lips to Ellie's around the head of her daddy's cock, kissing her. They both moaned as their tongues tangled around the glistening head. Ginny's hand slipped into the girl's hair, wrapping in it to hold her in place. Ellie smelled like strawberries and Ginny felt herself getting wetter as she took in the scent. "Daddy," whimpered the girl. "Fuck me;" Ginny knelt up while the other girl straddled her daddy's hips, facing down his body. Her sticky cunt was positioned over his throbbing cock and Ginny took hold of it and guided it home. Ellie sighed almost in relief as she sank down, his cock filling her. Smiling wickedly, Ginny made Ellie lie back along her daddy's body and the girl gasped as her put his hands on her tits and held her. As Ellie and her daddy began to squirm and writhe, her glistening cunt swallowing his cock greedily, Ginny bent down and tongued at the shaft as it slid back and forth through her lips. She pressed her thumb gently on Ellie's clit, causing her to shudder and moan loudly. Then her tongue traced a slow route around the engorged cunt lips, teasing her new girl lover. Ellie whimpered and panted, begging her daddy to fuck her harder. Ginny sucked Ellie's clit into her mouth and was rewarded with a strangled cry from above. She fondled the sac in front of her gently and pressed on the throbbing vein. Her cunt was getting wetter with each passing moment and she needed to know if Ellie would share; Without another word, she crawled over Ellie and settled down on top of her, her tits squashing into the succulent set below. She moved around until she felt her cunt pressed to Ellie's and the magical, rhythmic motion of the cock still pumping in and out of her. She shuddered as their lips and clits met and they wrapped their arms around one another, kissing shamelessly. Tongues snaked and writhed as they moaned into one another's mouths. "Daddy," panted the younger girl. "Fuck Santa's elf-girl; fuck her please;" Ginny felt her own ferocious desire rising as the cock slurped out of Ellie and pressed against her. She groaned gutturally as she felt the head penetrate and then she pressed down eagerly, taking it deep inside her. Still sandwiched between them, Ellie took one of Ginny's tits and sucked the nipple into her mouth, swirling her tongue around it. Ginny arched her back and hissed through clenched teeth, squeezing hard on the invading cock. She ground down on Ellie's daddy, gyrating her hips and her fingers digging into the other girl's skin. Ellie sucked and bit her nipples, the delicious sting heightening her ecstasy. She body was streaming with sweat while he fucked her, Ellie's soft flesh undulating against hers. She could hear him panting and feel him stiffening and knew what happened next. With great haste and even greater reluctance, she pulled herself off the cock and knelt, pulling Ellie up into a kneeling position. She helped her daddy stand quickly while Ellie took his cock and pumped it eagerly with her hand. Once he was standing, they both attacked his cock with their mouths and hands, pleasuring him beyond endurance. He put his hand on the back of their heads and groaned loudly, his hips shuddering as he came. Both girls pressed their faces in, letting him spurt on their mouths and cheeks, hands still working the shaft quickly. The warm, sticky cum brought with it a warm flush of memories, how it always felt on her skin, the tingling, scintillating pleasure she always felt in the ardor of others. Ellie's soft tits pressed to hers, their cheeks meeting as they accepted the pearly offering, on their chins and now glazing their tits; she loved it all. She was never happier than when she was in the throes of passion with others. Was this what she was truly meant to do? Was this a Christmas epiphany? Ellie and Ginny began kissing hungrily, licking the cum off one another's faces with a fervor, then off each other's neck and tits. They returned their attention to the still twitching cock, kissing and sucking it dry. Once Ellie's daddy was spent, she laid him down and Ginny helped her snuggle into his warm, loving embrace. The girl smiled at her and giggled before blowing a kiss. Ginny gathered up her outfit and exited the apartment quietly. Not surprisingly at this point, the sleigh was just pulling back onto the roof as she arrived. Santa smiled at her. "So did you know I was bi all these years?" she asked as she clambered into the seat and beside him and snuggled into his side as they took off. He nodded. "Not my place to rob you of your journey of self-discovery, though." "Maybe," she sighed. "But think about all the fun I've missed out on, not playing with girls too. Doubling the size of my dating pool might have made a difference." "You've always been who you're meant to be, Virginia," he said cheerfully. "And your little epiphany tonight is going to have big implications in the year to come. Trust me." Her eyes widened. "For real?" "Would I lie?" Santa laughed. Ginny in the sleigh. Ginny was lying back in the plush red seat of the sleigh, her chest heaving as she stared at the pre-dawn sky. Her little elf-outfit was almost in shreds and she was missing one of her shoes. Even Santa looked a little worn. "So that's what sex with an entire sorority house feels like;" she said distantly. "Kinda gives me a new respect for those college quarterbacks. Those girls are animals." Santa nodded. "I have to admit, that wore me out a little too, which is saying something. And before you ask, yes, they have all been good this past year and they sent me one letter asking for Santa to fuck them as a sorority, so that really was their Christmas present." Ginny nodded. "That and the four metric tons of vibrators, dildos, eggs, anal beads, ben-wa balls and lingerie I saw you drop off; and about thirty Sybians." "They're a really good sorority house." Santa admitted. Ginny just stared at the sky. "Hard to believe that you're brought up a certain way, being told that good kids act a certain way, only to find out that being a total mega-slut is not grounds for being added to the Naughty List but sneaking cookies when mom told you not to is." "I didn't make the rules," Santa said, shrugging, but then he paused. "Oh, wait; ya know, I probably did, a long, long time ago." Ginny giggled tiredly. "This has been the longest and most oversexed night of my life, and that's saying something for me. Where are we headed, Big Man?" "Well, it's almost dawn." Santa said, looking east. "I'm going to have to drop you off before long now that my rounds are done." "Yeah," Ginny said somewhat reluctantly. "Since I don't have a house, I guess you should drop me off at my parents' place. I can't exactly tell 'em that my house was destroyed in a massive battle between Santa's elves and Krampus, but maybe they'll believe a gas main exploded." "You can't lie, Virginia, we've been over this." Santa said firmly. "Well I can't really tell them the truth either, can I?" Ginny pointed out, hoping she didn't sound too quarrelsome. "I know;" he said quietly, still guiding the sleigh. The soared through the dark sky for some time, saying nothing. Eventually, Ginny began to make out shapes in the night, sleek silhouettes that looked almost like slender, jet-powered Skidoos, being ridden by beings in strange armor with glowing runes and wild mans of hair. "Just my guardians," Santa said in an assuring tone. "Making sure there are no last-minute attempts to thwart us." The earth far below them took on a white cast and Ginny knew that they were above a region covered in snow. She couldn't feel it, but she could sense the cold air around them as the sleigh angled down, heading to the ground. The landing was predictably smooth and they finally came to a stop, flanked by the jet bikes and their unsettling warriors. Santa jumped out and helped Ginny down, smiling at her and wrapping her in a warm, furry red blanket from head to toe. When he pulled it off her, she was no dressed in a stylish red velvet dress, trimmed in white and ending on her upper thighs to show lots of leg. Her calf-high boots were red and edged with white, with adorable little poms dangling from the side. She even had a white poof to keep her hands warm and the Santa hat she now wore kept her ears toasty. "You look beautiful," he said as he waved in front of himself to conjure an ice mirror that reflected her image perfectly. "And without you, Virginia, there wouldn't have been a Christmas this year. You need to understand that." Ginny blushed prettily and walked alongside him, petting the reindeers as she walked by. She even gave Donner a kiss on the nose and the beast snorted and blushed, pawing the ground. They walked casually through the snow, holding hands until they were approached by several people. Ginny's eyes went wide, these were all women, clad in black armor with baroque chest plates reminiscent of bustiers. They all wore their hair bobbed, universally black or platinum in color and they carried savage-looking rifles or flamethrowers. They all knelt reverently as Santa approached. "Do I want to know?" Ginny breathed. "My personal guard," Santa said, nodding to the women as he passed through them. "Orphan girls I've saved from a cruel world. They're fanatically devoted to me, even beyond my elves." Her mouth was somewhat dry when she asked the next question. "Do you; you know;" "Yes, Virginia," he said, saving her the difficulty of asking. "They're also my lovers. When they're not fighting for me or standing guard, they live in the bliss I seem uniquely capable of giving women." "That doesn't sound like such a bad life," Ginny said, a hopeful tone in her voice. "I mean, I'm no orphan, but I'd say we pretty compatible sexually. Aren't we?" He turned and took her gently by the arms, smiling warmly down into her eyes in that way that made her knees go weak. Other people may have seen the fat old jolly man, but she could see only the copper-haired and bearded giant with eyes deeper than a galaxy and a boyish smile that she knew she'd always love. "You're right, Virginia, you're not an orphan," he said quietly. "These girls had no future. I have no right to rob you of yours. And believe me, you don't want to miss it." He took her hand and kept walking, snow gently falling as they walked through the stands of tall trees. When they emerged on the far side, he grinned and gestured grandly in front of them. Ginny's eyes went wide. Across the clearing was her lovely home, looking as good as new. Squads of warrior-elves stood guard menacingly around the perimeter while other, smaller beings she more associated with the Christmas story elves scampered around, making final adjustments to the domicile. "Like the whole thing never happened," Santa declared. "And there are even some improvements, I might add." "Ya don't say," Ginny said somewhat absently, still staring in disbelief. All sign of the titan battle fought on her property less than twelve hours ago were gone. "Uh; improvements?" Santa nodded. "We added solar panels and some subtle wind turbines, so you can officially live off the grid. Water's hooked up to a local artesian well. Improved your internet connection, you get about two hundred megabits per second, not to mention the fact that we connected you to our servers, so the Tor Network and the Deep Web have nothing on you for security and anonymity." "Wow;" was all she seemed to be able to say. "Let's see, we reinforced the frame and the roof, you could probably get hit by a meteor and barely notice," Santa continued. "Windows are made of transparent aluminum, they're durable, to say the least." "No bugs crashing through my bay windows?" she asked. "Actually got a nifty physics trick for you

Belarus has freed 123 prisoners, including prominent opposition activist Maria Kolesnikova and Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski, after the US agreed to lift sanctions on the country. Also on the programme, Cambodia has shut its border crossings with Thailand, as fighting continues despite US President Donald Trump earlier saying they had agreed to a ceasefire; and, how the British novelist Charles Dickens is being celebrated this Christmas in a small Dutch town.(Belarus released over 100 political prisoners form prison, Vilnius, Lithuania - 13 Dec 2025. VALDA KALNINA/EPA/Shutterstock)

Amidst ongoing U.S. efforts to mediate a Russia–Ukraine peace and the release of a new U.S. national security strategy that has sent shockwaves through Europe, I'm sitting down with the foreign minister of Latvia, Baiba Braze, to get her unique perspective.Latvia is a small Baltic country bordering Estonia, Lithuania, Belarus, and Russia. In the 1940s, the Soviets occupied Latvia and its neighboring countries—a reality that has made Latvia hyper-vigilant against potential Russian expansionism.Latvia joined both the EU and NATO in 2004, alongside Lithuania and Estonia.Latvia is one of the few NATO countries that spends considerably more than 2 percent of its GDP per year on its military.“We keep reminding [other NATO countries] that it's possible to do that, and we are showing you as our example. In our case, it's 5 percent hard defense capabilities,” Braze said.Latvia is working to reallocate state funding to hit a target of 4.91 percent of GDP in defense spending by 2026 and 5 percent in subsequent years.In our wide-ranging interview, Braze discusses the Ukraine war, how she sees a potential peace agreement taking shape, and how pressure can be mounted on Russia. She's traveled four times to Ukraine in the 18 months since her appointment as Latvia's minister of foreign affairs.Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Help us reach our goal of 75 podcast patrons! Join us at www.patreon.com/talkeasterneurope.Adam and Alexandra open this episode with the latest news from the region. They look at the importance of the mass protests in Bulgaria and later discuss Czechia's new/old prime minister and balloons over Lithuania. They also briefly discuss the latest developments surrounding the peace process aimed at ending Russia's invasion of Ukraine.For the main interview, Adam is joined by Georgian activist Mariam Japaridze to discuss a turbulent year of mass protests and growing authoritarianism after the Georgian Dream government halted the country's EU integration in 2024. She describes the dramatic escalation of repression, from rigged elections to the use of violence and even chemical agents against demonstrators as uncovered recently by the BBC. Despite the challenges, she shares why activists remain determined and what international support Georgia urgently needs.  Read more on the Bulgarian protests in this week's Brief Eastern Europe: https://briefeasterneurope.eu/p/december-8-2025Read "One year of Georgia's unbreakable resistance, as told by its prisoners of conscience" https://neweasterneurope.eu/2025/12/05/one-year-of-georgias-unbreakable-resistance-as-told-by-its-prisoners-of-conscience/To learn more about the political prisoners in Georgia you can visit a site set up by the IliaUni Student Movement: https://politpatimrebi.ge/?lang=en

Mick is a Professor of Counselling Psychology at the University of Roehampton, a Chartered Psychologist, and an internationally recognised author, trainer, and consultant in the fields of humanistic, existential, and pluralistic therapies. This is Mick's sixth appearance at The Weekend University, and I can think of very few people on the planet that have both the breadth and depth of knowledge in counselling and psychotherapy as him. This particular conversation focuses on his research into working at relational depth in counselling and psychotherapy. Here are some of the key things you'll learn: — What relational depth is and why it's critical for anyone working in the helping professions to be aware of — Martin Buber, the difference between “I - It” and “I Thou” Modes of Relating and how Buber's philosophy can enhance therapeutic work — The biggest barriers to relational depth and how to avoid them — The best practices for creating the conditions of relational depth with clients, and why you can't force it — Mick's advice to his younger self before becoming a psychotherapist. And more. You can learn more about Mick's work at www.mick-cooper.co.uk --- Professor Mick Cooper is an internationally recognised author, trainer, and consultant in the field of humanistic, existential, and pluralistic therapies. He is a Chartered Psychologist, and Professor of Counselling Psychology at the University of Roehampton. Mick has facilitated workshops and lectures around the world, including New Zealand, Lithuania, and Florida. His books include Existential Therapies, Working at Relational Depth in Counselling and Psychotherapy, and The Handbook of Pluralistic Counselling and Psychotherapy. His latest work is Integrating Counselling and Psychotherapy: Directionality, Synergy, and Social Change. Mick's main areas of research have been in shared decision-making/ personalising therapy, and counselling for young people in schools. In 2014, Mick received the Carmi Harari Mid-Career Award from the American Psychological Association. He is also a Fellow of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and the Academy of Social Sciences. You can follow him on twitter: @mickcooper77 --- Interview Links: — Working at Relational Depth in Counselling and Psychotherapy - Dave Mearns & Mick Cooper: https://amzn.to/38liKax — Existential Therapies - Mick Cooper: https://amzn.to/3PJXDiN — I and Thou - Martin Buber: https://amzn.to/3apzCh0 — Further resources on relational depth can be found on Mick's website: https://mick-cooper.squarespace.com/relational-depth --- 3 Books Mick Recommends Every Therapist Should Read: — Bergin and Garfield's Handbook of Psychotherapy and Behaviour Change - Michael Barkham, Wolfgang Lutz & Louis Castonguay: https://amzn.to/39WQFqd — Psychotherapy Relationships that Work: Therapist Contributions and Responsiveness to Patients - John Norcross: https://amzn.to/3t0iCnP — The Gift of Therapy - Irvin Yalom: https://amzn.to/3yX33Be --- — Get our latest psychology lectures emailed to your inbox: http://bit.ly/new-talks5 — Check out our next event: http://theweekenduniversity.com/events

PREVIEW — General Blaine Holt (USAF, Retired) — Russian Tactical Nuclear Weapons Deployment in Belarus. General Holt confirms credible intelligence reports documenting Russian Federation deployment of tactical nuclear weapons throughout Belarusian territory as part of a calculated strategic deterrence framework. Holt characterizes this nuclear positioning as a deliberate Russian strategic communication, intentionally ensuring that American intelligence collection systems detect these weapons systems to credibly demonstrate Moscow's resolve and existential commitment to military confrontation, thereby distinguishing this deployment from hollow threats or bluffing tactics. Holt emphasizes that this nuclear weaponization of Belarus represents a fundamental escalation in regional threat posture and North Atlantic Treaty Organization security concerns. 1910 VILNIUS, LITHUANIA

A divided Federal Reserve meets for its last meeting of the year as U.S. President Donald Trump ramps up his focus on affordability. The Supreme Court grapples with campaign spending limits. Japan scrambles jets to monitor Chinese and Russian air forces' joint patrols. And a wave of cigarette-smuggler balloons from Belarus disrupts Lithuania's airspace. Plus, where in the world is Maria Corina Machado? Listen to Morning Bid podcast ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Find the Recommended Read here. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Belarussian weather balloons are testing the patience of Nato member Lithuania, with the latest incursion raising fresh security concerns and prompting the government to declare a nationwide emergency. Monocle’s Andrew Mueller and exiled Belarussian journalist Hanna Liubakova discuss how much harassment Europe is prepared to tolerate from a Moscow ally.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Morse code transcription: vvv vvv Mutated H3N2 flu virus is circulating so should you buy a vaccine this year TV faithful Claudia Winkleman made MBE by the King at Windsor Castle UK Armed Forces member dies in accident in Ukraine Turner Prize 2025 Nnena Kalu earns historic win Trump criticises weak European leaders over Ukraine and immigration Lithuania declares emergency situation over risks from balloons from Belarus Some schools disrupted amid rise in flu cases European nations to begin major talks on ECHR migration rule changes Storm Bram brings flooding and travel disruption to UK Nigel Farage meets French far right leader Bardella in London

This session will examine key considerations for leaders, senders, and international travelers/workers in the areas of duty of care, risk assessment, contingency planning, security, and common pitfalls ("lessons learned") in international mission work.