Podcasts about Lookout

Uncovering lost files from Anime NYC 2026, Meelz is joined by his friends to talk about the event, at the event, including what went on.– 9:49 Discussing Friday at Anime NYC including the Kaiju No. 8 panel with Mitch– 30:56 UGLYNEWYORK & CrazyCoolDee about Anime NYC Saturday– 46:24 Bril talks about Kagurabachi Panel

Guest Elizabeth Pickett (Co-Executive Director of Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization) shares many ways a household can help to prevent the spread of wildfires and it begins with creating a clear-from-debris five-foot perimeter surrounding your house, office building, storage unit, and garage.  Everyday intentions can help a community become more resistant to the spread of wildfires.Jason Scanlan (Senior Project Manager for Wildfire Risk at Ke Kula 'o Kamehameha) talks on how Kamehameha Schools and their properties are at work educating their staff on what to look for across the many land use types to maintain healthier vegetation and safely clearing debris. Removing invasive plants and reintroducing (in some cases) native plants to an area helps to reduce soil loss following heavy rains. The Wildfire LOOKOUT! Campaign includes evacuation planning guidance, ways to prepare your home and property, as well as “Ready, Set, GO!” information.  Kathy With a K is your host."Hawaii Matters", a community program that airs on Sundays at 6:30 a.m. Hawaii across Pacific Media Group Oahu radio stations:KDDB 102.7 Da Bomb | KQMQ HI93 | KUMU 94.7 KUMU | KPOI 105.9 The WaveTo be featured or for inquiries on "Hawaii Matters", please email: kathywithak@1059thewavefm.com## Hawaii Matters, Hana Hou ##

What does it look like to live with peace and presence in a world that never stops demanding our attention? In Luke 10, Martha welcomes Jesus into her home and serves Him faithfully, but anxiety begins pulling her in every direction. Mary, meanwhile, sits at Jesus' feet and listens. Jesus isn't condemning Martha's work. He's inviting her to recognize what's happening inside her—and to remember that His presence matters more than the pressure to keep up.This message explores what it means to abide in Christ and build a life rooted in His presence rather than anxiety. Through Scripture, the example of Jesus, and practical rhythms of prayer, time in God's Word, and Sabbath rest, we'll discover how to return our attention to God in the middle of everyday life. Because peace isn't found in finally getting everything done. It's found in learning to live with Jesus, where doing flows from being.This sermon was recorded at a Sunday morning gathering at Church of the Lookout in Longmont, Colorado.Speaker — Luke HumbrechtVisit our websiteFollow us on FacebookFollow us on Instagram

KGMI's Adam Smith and Dianna Hawryluk chat about Improv and Dragons at the Upfront Theatre, Oktoberfest at Trackside, Run with the Chums in Birch Bay, the Lynden Whiskey Event and Pallbearer performing at Shakedown.

Welcome back to Facts vs. Feelings! On today's episode, Liz Loza and Daniel Dopp are here to get you set with everything you need to know ahead of Week 1. Is Jaxson Dart a must-start player? What are realistic expectations for Rashee Rice? Is Juwan Johnson a hidden gem? Plus, Liz and Dopp answer all your latest questions in Fantasy Therapy! Liz's week 1 article: https://www.espn.com/fantasy/football/story/_/id/49880596/facts-vs-feelings-fantasy-advice-week-1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Last time we spoke about the battle of Hong Kong. On the night of December 18th, six Japanese battalions crossed Hong Kong harbour under cover of darkness and burning oil tanks. The Rajputs fought stubbornly but were overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Maltby fatally underestimated the assault, holding reserves against a frontal attack that never came. The breakthrough sparked a cascade of disasters. Elderly British businessmen and World War I veterans—the Hughsiliers—heroically held the North Point power station for 18 hours, delaying the entire Japanese advance. Private Geoghan, wounded but undeterred, charged a Japanese officer and killed him, incredibly surviving. The battle's focal point became Wongneichong Gap, where Brigadier Lawson died defending his headquarters. Desperate, piecemeal counter-attacks by Canadians and Scots failed amid chaos and poor coordination. Finally, a single Canadian company under Lieutenant Blackwood held the position for four days against overwhelming odds, killing over 200 enemy soldiers before surrendering. The Japanese suffered 800 casualties but seized the island's strategic heart.   #218 The Battle of Hong Kong Part 3: Black Christmas Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. By dawn on December 20, the Japanese Army had consolidated its position across Hong Kong Island. The 1/229th and 2/228th prepared to sweep southeastward from Taitam and Saiwan toward Stanley. The 2/229th and 3/229th, positioned near Stanley Gap, readied themselves to advance toward Repulse Bay. East of Wongneichong Gap, the 1/228th poised for the push toward Deep Water Bay, while the 3/228th, one of the original reserve battalions, had just arrived on the northern shore. On Jardine's Lookout, two fresh battalions—the 1/230th and 2/230th—prepared to advance westward across the gap. The West Brigade, meanwhile, held a fragile, ill-defined line: Z Company of the 1st Middlesex and Rajput survivors at Leighton Hill in the north, the 2 Royal Scots on the northern slopes of Mount Nicholson, and the Winnipeg Grenadiers, minus D Company, still clinging to pillboxes at Wongneichong Gap. The 228th Regiment moved first, tasked with clearing Postbridge House of its remaining defenders. Simultaneously, the 229th dispatched reconnaissance teams past Violet Hill toward the cliffs overlooking Repulse Bay Hotel—that opulent five-star resort now transformed into an impromptu fortress sheltering evacuees, soldiers, and sailors. What awaited was an epic three-day siege. Despite their gains, the Japanese later confessed that British resistance proved far stiffer than anticipated. They spent much of the 20th consolidating positions and bringing up supplies rather than pressing forward. Maltby, determined not to cede the initiative, dispatched a Royal Rifles company and two HKVDC platoons to the hotel with orders to attack the Gap from the south via Violet Hill. They recaptured the garages and outhouses but lacked the artillery support necessary to advance further. Growing anxious, Maltby sent a desperately weak platoon of the 2/14 Punjab—only 25 men—to reinforce them and push along the southern coast. Colonel Kidd, commanding the Punjab regiment, personally led an assault on Shouson Hill to link up with besieged sailors. He was killed in the attempt, and the mixed force of sailors and Punjabis fell back with severe losses. By the 22nd, after pressing forward from Shouson Hill, the Japanese seized Brick Hill and systematically beheaded all survivors. Yet the Japanese conquest contained stubborn pockets that refused to crumble. The HKSRA gunners held one end of Brick Hill. A ragtag force of HKVDC, naval personnel, Canadians, and Middlesex under Major Dewar maintained Little Hong Kong's ammunition store. HMS Cicala, providing artillery support from Deep Water Bay, was struck from the air and scuttled, eventually sinking in the Lamma Channel. Colonel H. B. Rose, the HKVDC commander, assumed control of the West Brigade following Brigadier Lawson's death. He spent much of the 20th preparing an ambitious counter-attack: the 2 Royal Scots and Winnipeg Grenadiers would drive toward the Gap from the west, supported by B Company of the Grenadiers, brought up from Pokfulam on the island's western coast. The operation commenced poorly. B Company arrived late to find that the Royal Scots had already departed Mount Nicholson's eastern slopes for reasons no one could later explain. The Grenadiers attacked alone through pitch darkness and torrential rain, splitting into two groups that circled Mount Nicholson from opposite directions, meeting above the Gap at dawn. Colonel Doi's tactical instinct struck again. Observing the undefended summit of Mount Nicholson—lost through British inattention—he seized the moment. That afternoon, under cover of heavy rain, he ordered the 1/228th in a three-company formation to take the position without opposition. When B Company blundered into the Japanese, a savage close-quarters battle erupted that cost the Grenadiers all their officers, seven NCOs, and 29 men. Overwhelmed, B Company retreated to Mount Nicholson's western slope as Doi prepared to exploit his success and assault Mount Cameron. At dawn on the 21st, Wallis proposed a new coordinated attack on the Gap. Major T. G. MacAuley of the Royal Rifles led a combined force of Canadian and HKVDC troops from Stanley Mount at 0915 hours. Accurate mortar fire from Red Hill met them immediately. Hand-to-hand combat erupted at Bridge Hill and Notting Hill before the force could push toward the Gap via Violet Hill. By 1700 hours, MacAuley and all HKVDC officers were wounded. Wallis ordered withdrawal. That same morning at 1030 hours, the Japanese launched a second amphibious assault, driving toward Victoria City itself and reaching the east side of what is now Victoria Park. The anti-aircraft gun at Watson's factory in Causeway Bay was silenced. The naval yard suffered devastating mortar bombardment; all its guns fell silent. Major C. R. Templer, assigned to command at Repulse Bay, had successfully repulsed numerous probing attacks. When ordered to assault the Gap with two platoons of Canadian infantry and two HKVDC machine-gun sections, he encountered such overwhelming Japanese force that he abandoned the operation and withdrew beyond Middle Ridge. By dawn on the 22nd, the Japanese finally established heavy artillery on Hong Kong Island. Two battalions of the 229th concentrated on Repulse Bay Hotel. The divisional reserves—1/229th and 1/230th—deployed against the East Brigade as it fell back to its last bastion: Stanley Peninsula. Stanley's defenses were organized in three concentric zones. The forward area, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Home, comprised elements of the 1st Middlesex, Royal Rifles companies, and HKVDC troops, supported by a single 2-pounder gun. Stanley village, under Lieutenant Colonel Wilcox, held the second line with artillery pieces and mixed infantry. A final reserve at Stanley Hill and Fort, under Lieutenant Colonel Shaw, contained the last of the artillery and the 1st and 2nd HKVDC batteries. To the west, British forces barely held their positions. The 2/14 Punjab, 1st Middlesex, 4/7 Rajputs, Royal Scots, and Winnipeg Grenadiers stretched along Mount Cameron and the northern heights—a thin, exhausted line facing Japanese battalions concentrated along a kilometer-long front. At noon on the 22nd, Japanese forces attacked Stanley Mound and Sugarloaf, held by B Company of the Royal Rifles augmented with platoons from HQ and D Companies. Despite multiple repulses, ammunition shortages forced the Canadians to retire to the southern slopes. The situation at Repulse Bay Hotel deteriorated daily, yet Major Templer continued to hold against repeated assaults. As Christmas Eve dawned, all defenders faced grim circumstances. The Royal Rifles of Canada, shattered from bearing the brunt of Japanese attacks, withdrew into Stanley Fort—but not before a heated confrontation between Lieutenant Colonel Home and Brigadier Wallis in which the Canadians bitterly accused their comrades of not "pulling their weight." In the evening of december 21st, Lt Colonel Home, now the senior surviving Canadian officer, spoke to Lt Colonel Sutcliffe, learning about the plight of the Winnipeg grenadiers trying to hold the crest of Mount Cameron. Sutcliffe reported that "his battalion was decimated and yet the high command was ordering his men to make counter attacks. So he asked Home if he could not do something to stop what he considered a useless waste of lives." Home took this to heart and began to inform Brigadier Wallis that he wanted to see the Governor. He said to Wallis "his battalion was exhausted; further resistance would only result in the waste of valuable Canadian lives; as senior Canadian officer he felt a grave responsibility" Wallis persuaded Home to wait until morning. Home the next morning was more than ever convinced of the futility of resistance. Its important to note the relationship between senior Canadians and British officers were all but poisoned in Hong Kong, let alone imagine how the Indian or Chinese volunteer forces felt. The Canadians distrusted the British commanders who for the most part got everything wrong in the whole damn operation. Home was threatening a separate Canadian surrender as they had lost confidence in Brigadier Wallis of the east brigade, Maltby and other British staff officers. It seemed to the Canadians they were being sacrificed to ensure the honor of the garrison. As Royal Rifles Major John H price put it  " There were plenty of Canadian officers who had battle experience in the first war who were competent to judge as to the possibility of a successful outcome of the defence of the island. Consider the facts - The Island had been split in two by vastly superior Japanese forces. On the eastern brigade front, which included the Stanley Peninsula, the Royal Rifles and one company of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Force were the only troops who had fought continuously day and night, without rest, since the landing on the 17th and were still carrying all the fighting. By the 21st they had been greatly reduced in fighting strength and by the 23rd to a strength of around 500 all ranks. (It might be interesting to note that when troops in this sector were marched out of Stanley fort as Prisoners of War, they numbered over 2000). It required no great military genius to predict the outcome of the battle once the Japanese had landed on the island with their control of sea and air and great superiority in weapons and men. He felt, I think rightly, that he would be derelict in his duty to his men and to the Canadian Government if he did not communicate his conclusions to the highest authority. Also neither Home nor his officers had any faith in Brig. Wallis' judgement or in his conduct of operations. And who had better right than he had? He and his men were bearing the brunt of the fighting and knew from first hand knowledge the strength and armament of the forces against them. The Higher Command had consistently shown an inability to grasp realities of the situation and to pursue tactics which might have prolonged the struggle but could not have altered the final result."  Stanley's defenses were reorganized into multiple lines. HKVDC companies held scattered positions at Chung Honkok, near the police station, and throughout the village. The 1st Middlesex manned pillboxes with medium machine guns. The second defensive line crossed Stanley Peninsula near St Stephen's College, defended by British, Chinese, and Indian policemen alongside HKVDC troops under Corporal E. C. Drown—all senior officers and NCOs having fallen. The final reserve stretched across St Stephen's Prep School north of the prison, held by Sergeant Murphy's HKVDC section and Captain F. G. Rees's 1st Battery HKVDC. By this stage, prison staff, wardens, and inmates had been pressed into the HKVDC. Among them was "Crumb" Chattey, a former captain of the 1st Middlesex serving a court-martial sentence for homosexual offences under the law of the time. Chattey assumed command of forty jailers and assorted men, including the colony executioner, who mounted a spirited defense. Japanese forces massed on Taitam Road with obvious intent to crush Stanley's remaining defense. Their first assault failed but destroyed two 18-pounders and two 2-pounder guns. Shortly before 2100 hours, a second attack commenced, this time supported by three tankettes. Two were destroyed by 2-pounders, yet No. 2 HKVDC Company was forced back to Stanley village with most of its men lost. Major H. R. Forsyth, the company commander, was recommended for a Victoria Cross for his stubborn defense against overwhelming odds. After midnight, a pillbox manned by C Company of the 1st Middlesex was overrun; Sergeant Sheehan and most of his crew were killed. The HKVDC line fractured. During all of this chaos, at midnight of the the Japanese made it to the field hospital at St Stephens College and this is where our story is going to take one of its darkest turns. In the early hours of Christmas day, the Japanese approached St Stephen's hospital which held approximately 96 wounded soldiers. Doctors and nurses stepped forward to surrender. Two doctors in charge, Lt Dr Colonel Black and his second in command Captain Dr Witney Barred the front door and Black called out 'You can't come in here' 'this is a hospital'. With deliberate aim, one of the Japanese soldiers raised his rifle and shot the doctor through the head.The Japanese mob then surged into the hospital ward, the body of Dr Black was repeatedly bayoneted as he lay at the door. The Japanese proceeded to enter the building and a massacre of unprecedented ferocity took place. The Japanese ripped the bandages off the wounded patients and plunged their bayonets into the amputated arms and legs before finishing them off with a bullet. In half an hour fifty-six wounded soldiers had been massacred while the nursing staff looked on helplessly.  They cut off ears, gouged out eyes, beat and raped the nurses. I want to read to you some testimony made by Sister Miss Amelia Fleming Gordon who witnessed what we now call the St Stephens College Massacre, something probably unknown to many outside Canada or Hong Kong. "Just before dawn there was a terrific howl and shortly afterwards Japanese arrived in large numbers at the front entrance. Captain Scotcher was pulled out and shortly afterwards he instructed me to come out and put my hands above my head. They took my steel helmet and cracked me over the head with it, searched my pockets, took off my red cross band and removed my watch that I had. They shouted for everyone to come out and everyone did except Sgt Parkin, who attempted to run past but was shot dead. We were marched single file into one of the adjacent classrooms, the patients also being brought in. Here we remained for about an hour or two, crowded and huddled together with no room to lie or sit down. Several of our patients between 50 to 60 I imagine were killed during the day. After 2 hours we were marched in single file upstairs and saw dead bodies and blood covering the stairs. We were then put into different classrooms, I went into a small room with four VADS (Mrs smith, Mrs Begg, Mrs Buxton and Mrs Simmons) where there were 5 chinese women. At 4:30m some Japanese soldiers came in and removed Mrs Smith, Begg and Buxton, I never saw them again. One of the Chinese girls told Mrs Simmons they had taken out the 3 women to kill them and would return for us. We were later ordered to bandage wounded Japanese soldiers. They took us to another room overlooking the tennis court, where there were five dead bodies of Red Cross personnel. We were made to sit on these dead bodies. I and Mrs Fideo were taken to other rooms. In my room there were two dead bodies, and I was made to take off all my clothes whilst they removed theirs. Before touching me they apparently became afraid someone was coming and made me put my clothes on again and I was returned to the room where Mrs Simmons and Mrs Andrews-Levinge still were. Mrs Fideo joined us almost immediately in a weeping state and told us she had been raped. We were left in peace for a short time only, 3 soldiers came in and took me in a small adjacent bathroom, knocked me down and all raped me one after the other, and then let me return. Mrs Fideo was then taken and underwent a similar experience. Both Mrs Fideo and I were then taken out a second time and raped as before Mrs Simmons and Mrs Andrews-levigne remained untouched. We were all now desperate and discovering there was a Yale lock on the door we pulled it locking ourselves in. They returned several times during the night but did not force an entrance."   Rifle man Sydney Skelton of "D" company of the Royal Rifles had this to say. ""The Japs stormed the hospital throwing grenades and bayoneting the wounded. I had rolled under a bed and lay as still as I could. A Jap turned me over, kicked me in the face, and tore off my bandages. I didn't move, or make a sound. The guy must have thought I was dead and took off. I heard screams coming from outside, terrible screams I can still hear in my head twenty years later. I saw a Jap coming into the hospital and take men outside at random. One of the wounded they dragged from his bed, cut off his ears, and ripped out his tongue. Then they took him outside and shot him. There was a lull in the din and he heard a British officer shout: "If you can walk or crawl to the door you may be allowed to live."  At this point Skelton tried to crawl to the door: "I was really confused from the anesthetic and I started to crawl, dragging my blanket, towards the door. A guy just ahead of me, a Hong Kong Volunteer, with a clasp knife in his belt, but his hands raised, was bayoneted as soon as he went out the door. The Padre grabbed me and slapped me to my senses. I'm alive today, thanks to him." A Japanese officer entered the hospital, saw Skelton with his wounds bleeding. He tore off Skelton's watch, hit him with the flat side of his sword and ordered him to go upstairs. Though badly wounded, Skelton crawled up the stairs and into a room that would be his prison for the next two days. Skelton spent nearly four years as a captive, first in Hong Kong and later in Japan where he worked as a slave labourer in a coal mine. Somehow, he made it home, where he lived in Scarsboro, Ontario. In a 1961 interview, he said: "Twenty years have passed, but I can never forget Christmas, 1941." On Christmas morning, Brigadier Wallis ordered C Company of the Royal Rifles of Canada to lead a counter-attack retaking the bungalows on Stanley village's ridge. Lieutenant Colonel Home refused. Wallis deployed D Company of the Winnipeg Grenadiers under Major Parker instead. At 1300 hours, the attack went in without artillery support. The 18th Platoon under Sergeant McDonnell penetrated to Stanley village, inflicting heavy casualties in savage hand-to-hand combat, but was eventually driven back to the fort. Of 148 men who attacked, only 44 answered roll call at day's end. Urban defense collapsed in stages. Using mines and a Bofors 40-millimeter gun in an anti-personnel role, the 230th Regiment pushed into Wanchai, held up briefly at the China Fleet Club. At Wanchai Market, an 18-pounder was destroyed. Japanese forces reached the Naval Dockyard's western boundary. The Rajputs fell back west of the racecourse. Mount Parish fell, opening the final approach to Victoria City. Back on December 21st, General Maltby sent a communique to the war office indicated that resistance was almost at an end. According to Sir John Kennedy, the director of Military operations in London "We had to decide whether to order the troops to fight it out or give the Governor permission to surrender as he wished to do... the psychological aspect was of overriding importance, particularly with an Oriental enemy. If we fought to the last round and the last man at Hong Kong, we should gain an indirect military advantage, in that the Japanese would judge our powers of resistance elsewhere by the same standard. Therefore my opinion was that, although it was an unpleasant decision, the garrison should be told to fight it out.". When Prime Minister Churchill was informed he sent a typical churchillian message "there must be no thought of surrender..the enemy must be compelled to expend the utmost life and equipment. There must be vigorous fighting in the inner defenses, and, if need be, from house to house. Every day that you are able to maintain your resistance will help the allied cause". Both the Governor and General had little choice but to agree, on Christmas the governors message was "fight on. Hold fast for king and empire".  By the afternoon it was clear further resistance was futile. At 1530 hours on December 25, Governor Young officially surrendered. A white flag rose over the colony. Young and Major General Maltby crossed Victoria Harbour from Queen's Pier to meet General Sakai at the Peninsula Hotel, renamed "Toa" by its new occupants. It was the first occasion on which a British Crown Colony had surrendered to an invading force. The garrison had held out for 17 days, the day is known in Hong Kong as "black christmas". Lieutenant Colonel R. G. Lamb and Lieutenant J. T. Prior descended from Fortress Headquarters to Stanley to order Brigadier Wallis to lay down arms. Wallis refused without written confirmation. When Major Harland arrived with official orders, Wallis finally capitulated. At 0230 hours on December 26, 1941, he and 2,000 men crossed the lines in surrender. Two days later, on the 28th, the Japanese staged a 2,000-man victory parade led by Lieutenant General Sano on a white horse. While the general paraded, his troops—officially granted three days of "rest and recreation"—embarked on systematic rape and pillage across the fallen colony. Rear-Admiral Chan Chak arrived in Hong Kong in 1938 as an unlikely businessman—General Manager of a stockbroker's firm—but his true role was far more consequential. The one-legged Chinese admiral commanded the Military Mission tasked with coordinating China's war effort with British operations. Working seamlessly with the police special branch and intelligence services, Chan orchestrated a shadow campaign against Japanese sympathizers and traitors, drawing on a network of Nationalist agents, many of whom carried Triad connections. His inner circle included Col. Yee Shiu Kee of Chinese intelligence (posing as an insurance salesman), Lt. Cdr. Henry Hsu as aide-de-camp, and Coxswain Yeung Chuen as bodyguard. As Governor Young prepared to sign the unconditional surrender on Christmas afternoon 1941, Chan received permission to lead an escape attempt. The 2nd MTB Flotilla—vessels MTBs 7, 9, 10, 11 and 27—waited in hiding near Aberdeen Island, but Chan's perilous journey through Victoria's ruins delayed his arrival. Finding the MTBs absent, he boarded HMS Cornflower II instead, only to come under withering machine-gun fire as the launch attempted to reach open water. Abandon ship was called. Chan removed his wooden leg and surrendered his lifebuoy to his non-swimming bodyguard, diving into the chaos with Lt. Cdr. Hsu. Almost immediately, a Japanese bullet tore through Chan's wrist—a crippling wound for a one-armed, one-legged swimmer fighting through hostile fire. The Japanese, sensing they had their quarry, ignited the hillside grass with tracer rounds to drive the men back into the sea. Col. Yee remained aboard the bullet-riddled vessel and was last seen attempting to hide; he would eventually make his way to unoccupied China after several harrowing days. The other escapees scattered across Aberdeen Island in desperation. Hearing the gunfire from their concealment on the far side of the island, the MTBs approached cautiously, rescuing survivors as they went. By 2130 hours on Christmas Day, sixty-eight survivors were racing toward Mirs Bay to rendezvous with Communist guerrillas. There the MTBs were scuttled after valuables were salvaged, and the escape party was welcomed as heroes and guided safely to Huizhou in unoccupied China. This dramatic flight marked the first of many escapes and signaled the beginning of Allied cooperation with the Chinese Communist forces. As British forces withdrew from Kowloon, a new force emerged from the shadows. The Guangdong People's Anti-Japanese Guerrillas East River Column (ERC)—a battle-hardened Communist organization founded in 1938—took up the struggle against the Japanese invaders. The ERC had consolidated various local anti-Japanese forces that sprang up after Guangzhou fell to Japan, anchoring itself on two formidable core units: Zeng Sheng's Baoan People's Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Main Force and Wang Zuorao's East Baoan regiment. By the eve of Hong Kong's invasion, the Third and Fifth Column fielded fifteen hundred fighters—seasoned veterans who had waged three years of resistance across Guangdong Province. Even as the British capitulated, Chinese Hongkongers—farmers and fishermen mostly—took up arms alongside their Communist allies. By year's end, over one hundred ERC members operated clandestinely in Hong Kong. In February 1942, to better organize this growing force, the HKKIB was formally established under Cai Guoliang's command, with Political Commissar Chen Daming answering to Zeng Sheng as overall commander of the ERC. The ERC's first mission was audacious in scope: rescue prominent Chinese and foreign VIPs trapped in Hong Kong. While China burned, the colony had remained a haven for industrialists, politicians, authors and dignitaries fleeing the war—now all vulnerable to Japanese occupation. Between December 1941 and June 1942, the ERC spirited over eight hundred key figures past Japanese lines to safety, while simultaneously escorting more than two thousand overseas Chinese volunteers eager to join the anti-Japanese war effort. The guerrillas also became architects of POW liberation. In March 1942, when British prisoners were forced to labor at Kai Tak Airport, the ERC deployed English-speaking operatives disguised as street vendors to infiltrate the airfield and extract Captain Thompson and four comrades through the rainwater culvert system. Among notable rescues were Lt. Col. Ride of the HKVDC (who would establish the British Army Aid Group), naval officers including Lt. J. W. Hurston of the Royal Navy, artillery officer Lt. G. D. Clagne, Indian soldiers such as Lashkar Singh and Mehnga Singh, and key civilians: the HSBC banker T. J. J. Fenwick, Police Superintendent W. P. Thompson, and foreign nationals—Russians, Danes, Norwegians—who found sanctuary in the unoccupied interior. Most were escorted to safety in China, but two Royal Scots soldiers—Joseph Gallaher and Daniel Hodges—remained with the ERC for six weeks, training guerrilla fighters in the use of British weapons and medium machine guns. These two Scottish soldiers became among the few Westerners to fight alongside Chinese Communist forces, a testament to the bonds forged in shared struggle against the Japanese occupier.   The casualty figures for Hong Kong remain contested. General Maltby's immediate post-war reports claimed 2,123 defenders dead or missing with 1,332 wounded, but these were later deemed inflated. The Chief Signal Officer, imprisoned after the surrender, compiled a more credible tally: 2,721 dead and missing. Modern estimates place military casualties around 1,600, including medical personnel from St John Ambulance. Civilian losses proved far grimmer—estimates suggest approximately 7,000 killed. Japanese records tell a different story. The Defence Agency historical section documented 1,720 Japanese deaths, while the Japanese occupation authority's own newspaper, Hong Kong News, reported 1,966 dead and 6,000 wounded on 29 December 1941. On 20 February 1942, Major-General Isogai Rensuke took office as Governor, commanding occupation forces under Brigadier Okada Umekichi. Three independent infantry regiments and supporting artillery maintained control of the colony. The occupiers' brutality would not escape Allied judgment. Major-General Ito, commander of the division's infantry, faced war crimes convictions. More prominently, Lieutenant-General Sakai, the 38th Army's commander and temporary governor, was tried, convicted, and executed by firing squad in 1946. Major-General Isogai received life imprisonment for war crimes but was released in 1967. Lieutenant-General Tanaka, final Japanese Governor and commander of the 23rd Army, was executed in 1947. Of the senior commanders, only Vice-Admiral Niimi survived the war, living to age 106.  General Maltby endured captivity throughout the East, moving from Hong Kong to Shanghai and Taiwan, finally reaching a camp near the Chinese-Mongolian border before repatriation from Shenyang (Mukden). His tenure received no official recognition despite the stubborn defense he had mounted. Lieutenant-Colonel White of the 2 Royal Scots survived internment but died shortly after returning to Britain, his health shattered by cancer. Governor Young resumed office in late 1946, attributing the colony's rapid loss to insufficient Chinese support for the British war effort. His attempts to introduce representative government alarmed London, which promptly replaced him with Sir Robert Black. Young retired in 1947. Maltby, too, retired from the Army soon afterward, also without honor. Not all were forgotten. Rear-Admiral Chan received an honorary KBE from British Ambassador Sir Horace Seymour. Colonel Yee was granted an honorary CBE, and Lieutenant-Commander Henry Hsu an honorary OBE. Hsu, a gifted athlete, became a member of the International Olympic Committee representing Chinese Taipei. Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart of 1 Middlesex died from illness in 1942. Three HKRNVR men—Petty Officer J. W. Fallace, W. C. Johnstone, and civilian Arthur Evans—escaped from the Lisbon Maru and reached Chongqing (Chunking). Of 1,834 POWs aboard that transport, only 716 returned home. Lieutenant Walda, responsible for brutal treatment of prisoners, died before sentencing; Captain Koyda, the Lisbon Maru's commander, received seven years' imprisonment. The British authorities formally acknowledged the East River Column's role—without its aid, no escapee would have survived the treacherous journey to freedom. When future Prime Minister James Callaghan raised questions in Parliament, the government responded with generous monetary awards, free medical care, and employment opportunities for survivors and their families. Many settled in the United Kingdom; others remained to serve in public and private sectors until Hong Kong's return to China in 1997, when the ERC liaison office became the local branch of the New China News Agency. Zeng Sheng, the ERC commander, rose to become Deputy Chief of Staff of the South China Military Region, then Deputy Provincial Governor and Mayor of Guangzhou. Purged during the Cultural Revolution, he was rehabilitated and became Minister of Communication in 1979. He died in Guangzhou in November 1995. One hundred twenty-eight HKVDC members, forty-nine soldiers of the British Army, and fifty personnel from transport and civil defense units escaped to Free China. The RAF transported them to Assam, then Calcutta, via the British Army Aid Group. The first groups joined the 9th Battalion of the Border Regiment at Fort William; the third and fourth joined the 1st Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment. Initially relegated to non-combatant roles, their fortunes changed when Brigadier Michael Calvert—who had served in pre-war Hong Kong commanding the Chinese Sappers—called for volunteers to fight the Japanese in Burma. All stepped forward. After months of intensive training, they were formally enrolled on 14 February 1943 as the Hong Kong Volunteer Company, integrated into Wingate's legendary Chindits, where they would see action deep behind Japanese lines in the jungles of Burma. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me.   During Hong Kong's 1941 Christmas invasion, Japanese forces committed atrocities against wounded soldiers and nurses. After seventeen days of brutal resistance, Governor Young surrendered on December 25th. Rear-Admiral Chan Chak escaped through machine-gun fire, while the East River Column guerrillas conducted daring rescues, extracting over 800 VIPs and 2,000 volunteers to safety in unoccupied China.          

Are you tired of trying to change and feeling like nothing is actually sticking? You are not alone. Most of us carry an unexamined theory of how transformation works, but the Bible offers a better way.Rooted in 2 Corinthians 3:18 and Isaiah 64:8, this teaching explores how God transforms us from the inside out. We become what we behold, and God, the potter, is actively shaping us into the image of Christ.Three key elements drive genuine spiritual transformation: **paradigms, practices, and people.** Our paradigms—the deep stories and beliefs we live by—must be renewed by truth. Our practices create space for the Holy Spirit to reshape our habits and desires. And our relationships provide the community where love, patience, forgiveness, and generosity are actually developed.Transformation is not a self-improvement project, and following Jesus was never meant to happen in isolation. Whether you are new to faith or have followed Jesus for years, this teaching offers a practical, biblically grounded framework for understanding how God is changing you—and why lasting change can be so difficult.This sermon was recorded at a Sunday morning gathering at Church of the Lookout in Longmont, Colorado.Visit our websiteFollow us on FacebookFollow us on Instagram

KGMI's Adam Smith and Dianna Hawryluk chat about the Lummi Island Art Tour, Mercadito Fresco at Trackside, trivia and movies on Labor Day, and Magic Sword performing at Wild Buffalo.

Send us Fan MailMy guest today is Bonnie Blaylock, author of The Water Women, listed in the Textile Arts category on Art In Fiction.Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/oQagNFbwEzIPremise for the novel: three generations of Sardinian women guard the ancient craft of byssus weaving, golden "sea silk" harvested from a mollusk, until a 1942 wartime secret changes what gets passed down the family line.Byssus 101, or the beard of the world's largest mollusk: how a single photo of the Pinna nobilis, a clam that grows up to four feet tall off the coast of Sardinia, sent Bonnie down the research hole that became this novel, and why the last woman still practicing the craft isn't sure she'll pass it on.Researching a place she's never been: how Google Earth, Street View, and D.H. Lawrence's century-old travelogue Sea and Sardinia stood in for a research trip that kept getting cancelled, including a would-be crossing of her own that she and her husband missed by literal hours.The mothers-and-daughters engine underneath it all: how losing her own mother at 24 and gaining her first granddaughter mid-manuscript shaped a novel about what parents hand down to their children, intentionally or not, and whether the children get to choose what they keep.Sardinia's hidden World War II history: churches built over synagogues, Mussolini's presence on the island, and the mysterious prehistoric Nuraghi ruins Bonnie used as a setting Writing a character readers love to hate: why Zaneta, the second-generation "water woman," divides readers, and Bonnie's case for giving her grace.Duty to those before us versus responsibility to those who come after, or, as Bonnie puts it, "can I say both are true?"Reading from The Water Women: an excerpt from Mira's perspective, a fishing line, a hum you can feel in your chest, and a mother trying to let her daughter become whoever she's going to become.Queen Berenice and the real rule of sea silk: the tradition, said to trace back to a queen referenced in the New Testament, that byssus can only ever be given as a gift, never sold.Why textile arts don't get their due: a conversation about "women's work" being just as worthy of serious treatment as anything hanging in a gallery.What's next: The Lookout, to be published in March 2027, based on the real first woman fire lookout in the northern California mountains and the sister who hiked up supplies to her for fourteen summers.Read more from Bonnie Blaylock at bonnieblaylock.comAre you enjoying The Art In Fiction Podcast? Consider giving us a small donation so we can continue bringing you interviews with your favorite arts-inspired novelists.  Click this link to donate: https://ko-fi.com/artinfiction.Also, check out Art In Fiction at https://www.artinfiction.com and explore 2500+ novels inspired by the arts in 11 categories: Architecture, Dance, Decorative Arts, Film, Literature, Music, Photography, Textile Arts, Theater, Visual Arts, & Other.Want to learn more about Carol Cram, the host of The Art In Fiction Podcast? She's the author of several award-winning novels, including The Towers of Tuscany, A Woman of Note, The Muse of Fire, and The Choir. Check out her website...

Annette Prince, Director of Chicago Bird Collision Monitors group, joins Lisa Dent to talk about the millions of birds that are gathering as we get closer to migrating season. They later address why Chicago is an important area for bird migration, but simultaneously, a dangerous one.

Last time we spoke about the beginning of the Battle of Hong kong. Japan's rise as a threat to British interests accelerated through the 1920s and intensified after invading China. Britain's response remained contradictory—diplomatically conciliatory yet militarily apprehensive. While Singapore and Malaya received substantial reinforcements, Hong Kong was acknowledged indefensible, yet the 1936 Defence Scheme attempted to fortify it as an island fortress. Governor Northcote urgently advocated evacuation, recognizing the futility of defense. London rejected this, fearing it would demoralize China and forfeit sovereignty claims. Reinforcement requests from commanders like Grasett fell on deaf ears until Grasett independently lobbied Canadian leaders. This persistence finally convinced Churchill to dispatch two additional battalions. On December 8, 1941, Japanese forces attacked across three fronts with overwhelming force. Within hours, the RAF was destroyed on the ground, demolitions proved ineffective, and British units rapidly retreated toward the Gin Drinkers Line, facing an enemy that outnumbered and outmaneuvered them from the opening moments.   #217 The Battle of Hong Kong Part 2: the Island Aflame Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. Around 1500 hours on 9 December, Colonel Doi of the 228th Regiment arrived at Needle Hill, just north of the Gin Drinkers Line, ahead of his main force. For two hours he studied the British defensive positions through binoculars, noting trenches and bunkers—and to his surprise, washing lines fluttering with white clothes. The sight spoke volumes about the 2 Royal Scots' lax discipline. Then fog descended, reducing visibility to barely twenty meters, and heavy rain obscured the landscape. Doi sensed a fleeting advantage but lost radio contact with his battalions. Worse still, the Shing Mun Redoubt lay outside his regimental boundary, making an unauthorized attack a serious breach of protocol. When his units finally arrived, supporting artillery remained unavailable, held up by demolished roads. Doi chose to attack anyway. Doi ordered the 2nd Battalion to scout the eastern approach while the 3rd Battalion spearheaded the main assault. Major Nishiyana commanded the 3rd, sending Lieutenant Wakabayashi and Kasugai with 150 volunteers to lead. The Shing Mun Redoubt itself comprised five concrete pillboxes and an artillery observation post, connected by underground tunnels named after London landmarks—Piccadilly, Haymarket, and others. The whole complex sat on small rises above Jubilee Dam, then the British Empire's tallest. Defending the redoubt was A Company, 2 Royal Scots, under Captain Jones—just three officers and 39 men. One platoon of 25 soldiers under 2nd Lieutenant Thompson held the forward positions. Against this stood 150 Japanese attackers, with another 1,500 troops in reserve. Battalion orders forbade using the concrete works as fighting positions; they were meant for the Vickers machine-gun team and artillery protection. No mines could spare the redoubt's perimeter. On the night of the 9th, roughly half the defenders sheltered in the observation post while the remainder manned pillboxes 401b and 402. At 2000 hours, Thompson led a nine-man patrol northward to check Needle Hill and Shing Mun Valley. Despite two and a half hours in the field, the patrol returned at 2220 hours without detecting the Japanese force massing just 500 meters away. By that time, Lieutenant Kasugai's assault group had crossed Jubilee Dam undetected, bypassed unmanned Post X, and assembled below Pillbox 401b. At 2200 hours, Japanese sappers cut through two lines of wire. At 2300—H-Hour—Lance Corporal Laird heard movement in the bushes and opened fire. The Japanese answered with grenades and rushed the pillbox lines. One team entered the tunnel system; another hurled grenades through the air vents. Corporal Campbell swung his Vickers toward Pillbox 401, catching Japanese headquarters personnel in the open. Sergeant Robb mustered a counter-attack force of thirteen men. Five fell as casualties—Laird, Basnett, Coyle, Casey, and Jardine. Casey was killed; only Jardine escaped. The alert triggered gunfire from the observation post's defenders, and Forward Observer Wilcox called down 4.5-inch and 6-inch artillery fire. Without strong reinforcement and leadership, four Royal Scots and an Indian sentry abandoned the northern positions and withdrew to the observation post. Captain Jones received orders from Brigade to counter-attack, but delegated the task to Thompson. As Thompson attempted to leave the observation post, he found the gate locked from outside. This calamity had a backstory: just before the attack, Thompson had admitted a civilian at the request of Force 163 (SOE's sabotage unit in Singapore). Private Wylie had taken the observation post key from Lance Naik Kishan Singh and, upon exit, locked the gate behind him. The three officers were now literally locked out of the battle. Second Lieutenant Mochizuki and his platoon infiltrated through open trenches and began attacking the observation post from above, attempting to breach the hatches. The defenders held for three hours before Japanese sappers forced explosives down the air vents. At 0230 hours, the blast killed two Indian signallers inside. Thompson sustained a severe eye wound from grenade shrapnel; Jones and Warrant Officer Mead were both wounded. The remaining fifteen defenders surrendered; eleven became casualties. Meanwhile, a Rajput patrol engaging Japanese forces in the river valley managed to drive them back toward the redoubt. One final pillbox endured for another eleven hours before suffering the same sapper treatment. By 0400 hours on 10 December, the entire redoubt was lost. For just two killed, the Japanese had achieved a decisive victory—the breakthrough that would shift the entire campaign's trajectory. By dawn, a Japanese flag flew triumphantly from Point 255.   Major-General Maltby's assessment was stark: "This was calamitous, for Shing Mun was the key to the whole of the left position." Yet the Japanese perspective differed sharply. Having achieved a breakthrough, Colonel Doi received astonishing orders to withdraw—his success had transgressed into the 230th Regiment's sector and violated the meticulously prepared war plan. Doi refused. After heated confrontation with Major-General Ito and Lieutenant-General Sakai, his insubordination was later censured, though a divisional staff officer, Oyadomani, bore the scapegoat's burden of rebuke for failing to restrain Doi's initiative. With Shing Mun secured, Doi methodically fed reinforcements into the position. Throughout December 10th, the Japanese remained uncertain of their advantage and adopted a cautious strategy, probing British lines to exploit the evident disorder. Brigadier Wallis ordered the Royal Scots to mount an immediate dawn counterattack supported by the Rajputs and artillery. Lieutenant-Colonel White demurred; his battalion lacked any reasonable prospect of success. The resulting counterattack proved half-hearted at best. At first light on December 11th, the Japanese pressed Golden Hill forcefully, only to be repulsed by Captain Newton's Rajputs and gunfire from HMS Cicala. White positioned D Company in shallow shell scrapes and rusted wire—inadequate defenses against Japanese assault. Captain Pinkerton led a desperate bayonet charge that morning, temporarily clearing the Japanese and enabling the evacuation of wounded. Yet B, C, and D Companies absorbed devastating losses; Captains Rose and Richardson fell commanding their positions. With the Royal Scots collapsing, X Company of the Winnipeg Grenadiers and armored support rushed westward to seal the widening gap along Castle Peak Road. Meanwhile, Maltby grappled with alarming reports: Japanese landings on Lantau Island southwest of Hong Kong. Heavy artillery drove them back. A second probe at Aberdeen, where Special Naval Landing Forces approached within 300 yards of the naval base, was repelled by Canadian machine-gun fire. In hindsight, these were mere feints—never intended as the primary thrust. The stratagem succeeded. Maltby retained his island reserves—the Middlesex and two Canadian battalions—precisely where they would be needed. Had Wallis executed a forceful counterattack on December 10th with the Royal Scots and brigade reserves, the Rajputs might have retaken Shing Mun while the Japanese remained disorganized. Instead, Colonel Doi faced a furious Sakai, who had flown down from 38th Division headquarters at Taipo for what amounted to a pre-court-martial examination. The moment passed. After only 48 hours of combat, Maltby concluded the mainland was indefensible. The three battalions would withdraw intact to Hong Kong Island to assume their fortress defense roles. The naval commodore objected—demolitions, supply transfers, and troop ferrying required more time. The evacuation order was deferred 24 hours until noon on December 11th. At that hour, the decision was finalized: the mainland would be abandoned under cover of darkness. Further demolitions followed—the China Light and Power Station, the cement works on Tsing Yi Island, the docks. Yet Brigadier Wallis believed this merely a precautionary measure; he anticipated holding the mainland for at least another week. The withdrawal avoided Kowloon's congested streets, where street fighting and fifth columnists might have entrapped the British—a calculation that proved prescient, as an IJA advance column of 350 men from the 3/230th infiltrated Kowloon on the morning of December 12th to cut off the retreating garrison. The Royal Scots and Canadians retired south to Shamshuipo Barracks and Jordan Road Pier in western Kowloon; the Rajputs and supporting gunners withdrew eastward to Ma Lau Tong, which anchored the fortified Devil's Peak Peninsula. Maltby intended to hold this commanding position permanently—it was easily supplied across the narrow Lyemun Strait. The evacuation proceeded largely as planned. The Canadians and Royal Scots embarked on the afternoon and evening of December 11th under Punjabi covering fire. The Punjabis faced a harder journey—a moonlit scramble along steep Kowloon hills laden with supplies but critically short of mules. One group lost its way at a crucial junction, splitting into two columns. One proceeded toward Devil's Peak as planned; Battalion Headquarters descended into Kai Tak Airport, threaded through Kowloon City, and was evacuated by Star Ferry at Tsim Sha Tsui, fighting until the final moment as the last man boarded. The Rajputs' commander, unable to reach his Punjabi counterpart, abandoned Ma Lau Tong for the closer Hai Wan line near Devil's Peak. By 0400 hours on December 12th, the Punjabis and one Rajput company, accompanied by the gunners of the 25th Medium Battery, crossed Lyemun Strait to Hong Kong Island. Morning evacuations continued with minimal Japanese interference—a surprising restraint. Naval support proved crucial. The withdrawal completed by the morning of December 13th, though 170 mules were lost to the desertion of Chinese laborers—a deprivation that would haunt the subsequent campaign. During this passage, the IJN attempted shore bombardment. The Japanese cruiser and supporting vessels found themselves outranged by the defenders' 9.2-inch guns. The damage inflicted proved sufficient to discourage future naval adventures; for the remainder of the battle, the IJN maintained a cautious distance and played only a peripheral role. The speed and execution of the withdrawal apparently caught the Japanese unprepared. Their most probable expectation had been a full-scale assault on Devil's Peak accompanied by heavy bombardment—a day earlier, an assault without artillery preparation had been driven back with severe losses. The British appeared stronger than anticipated. The defense of the mainland had lasted only five days. With the mainland secured, the Japanese pivoted toward Hong Kong Island. The first move was diplomatic rather than military. At 0900 hours on December 13th, a small boat bearing a white flag crossed the harbor. It carried Colonel Toda, Lieutenant Mizuno, Mr. Othsu Dak, and two European women—the prominent and heavily pregnant Mrs. Macdonald and Mrs. C. R. Lee, wife of the Governor's secretary, accompanied by her two dachshunds. The surrender terms were flatly rejected. Major Boxer delivered the written refusal personally. Mrs. Macdonald remained in Hong Kong to give birth; Mrs. Lee and her dogs returned to Kowloon. The Japanese commenced systematic shelling of selected targets. On December 13th, a 9.2-inch gun on Mt. Davis was silenced; Belcher's Fort sustained damage. The following day, a 3-inch mount on Mt. Davis was hit, killing Chinese gunners and triggering morale collapse; some deserted. On December 15th, the barrage shifted to the northern shoreline, deliberately targeting pillboxes. At 2100 hours that night, approximately three Japanese companies attempted crossing the harbor in rubber rafts toward Pakshawan but were driven off by machine-gun fire. Fifth columnists intensified their operations—signaling with mirrors, sniping from concealed positions, spreading propaganda to encourage Chinese desertion. Their impact might have been catastrophic had not Rear-Admiral Chan and Colonel Yee, armed with tommy guns and grenades, systematically eliminated many of these saboteurs. By December 16th, half the pillboxes between the racecourse and Lyemun Strait lay destroyed. The intended crossing site was unmistakable. On December 17th, the Japanese dispatched a second peace mission—Colonel Toda's team now accompanied by Mrs. Lee with her dachshunds and a pregnant Russian woman. Again, the overtures were rebuffed. On December 18th, the bombardment reached new intensity. Oil storage tanks ignited, sending dense black smoke cascading across the northeast corner of the island—perfect concealment for what was to come. All signs pointed to imminent assault.  I want to note something here, you sometimes hear about how race played a role in the Pacific War and indeed it did. Racist attitudes were found on both the western and Japanese side of the war. There is a fantastic book dedicated to this by the way called, War without Mercy by John Dower, highly recommend it. What is interesting is how these racial attitudes actually affected decision making during the war. Take General Sakai's night amphibious assault for example. Western soldiers such as the Canadians in Hong Kong reported they were told by their commanders that quote "Don't worry about the Japanese, they can't see at night, they all wear glasses" another Canadian soldier wrote in a diary "They don't see well, especially at night we knew this as a matter of fact." Indeed the week before the outbreak of the battle of Hong Kong, Canadian officers attending a briefing by a British officer were informed that "Japan's aircraft were mostly obsolete, its air force had little practice in night flying, and its pilots were myopic and thus unable to carry out dive-bombing attacks". You might be asking yourself, why did they think the Japanese were myopic? The scientific explanation of the day was this "That the Japanese suffered widespread inner-ear damage. What caused this? Japanese motherhood, the practice of strapping babies to their mothers backs, it was explained caused their heads to bounce about, like when they harvested rice and permanently impaired their sense of balance". I particularly love this quote, one of my professors dedicated an entire class to the bizarre racial attitudes before and after the pacific war. There was a belief the Japanese could not see well at night, many western air force commanders actually believed there were times of day like at dawn or dusk where Japanese pilots would not operate because of this hindrance. American military commentator Fletcher Pratt in 1939 analyzed Japan's military strengths and explained it had four major weaknesses. The first was scarcity of resources such as iron, and steel. The second was that the Japanese "can neither make good airplanes nor fly them well" as a result of " the Japanese as a race have defects of the tubes of the inner ear, just as they are generally myopic. This gives them a defective sense of balance, the one physical sense in which an aviator is not permitted to be deficient.". The third was that the Japanese were short-tempered and were inclined to waste men unnecessarily when operations did not go well. The fourth was that the Japanese would simply never date to provoke a war with the US. Again Mr Pratt was an American military commentator whose information came from multiple accounts given by high ranking military officials! The British military maintained that the Japanese avoided night operations on land because they were simply incapable of caring them out well, while they avoided nighttime aerial attacks, as well as dive-bombing for the same reasons Pratt said quote "their pilots were poor and their aircraft inferior.". So take this all to mind when I talk about how certain ranking officers go about making their decisions. By the evening of 14 December, evacuated mainland units had regrouped on Hong Kong Island. The defensive structure was restructured into two brigades: Brigadier Wallis commanded the East Brigade from Taitam Gap, while Brigadier Lawson headed the West Brigade from Wongneichong Gap. This reorganization placed the 5/7 Rajputs across the north-east perimeter, defending over 3,500 metres of coastline with B Company positioned on the hills behind Taikoo Docks. The Royal Rifles of Canada held the north-east corner from Stanley to points south, with reserve positions at Lyemun. Two HKVDC companies supported from Taitam Valley and Pottinger Gap, while the veteran Hughsiliers manned the North Point power station. British and Canadian artillery provided fire support across the northern approaches. The West Brigade held the north-western and south-western shores. The 2/14 Punjab stretched from Causeway Bay to Belcher's Point, protecting Government House and General Maltby's headquarters, with battalion headquarters at Mid-Level. The Winnipeg Grenadiers covered the south-west from Wanchai Gap, with one company detached to the brigade headquarters at Wongneichong Gap. The 2 Royal Scots, severely mauled at Shing Mun, were held in reserve with fresh replacements from the HKVDC. The Middlesex Regiment's companies were dispersed along 72 pillboxes encircling the entire shoreline, while an improvised Z Company of clerks, musicians and cooks defended battalion headquarters at Leighton Hill. Supporting artillery included 9.2-inch and 6-inch guns on Mt Davis and 4.7-inch guns at Belcher's Point. As darkness fell on 17 December, Japanese reconnaissance swimmers reached Taikoo, confirming the crossing site despite detection. Reinforcements arrived: 18 additional heavy bombers from Guangzhou and 26 fighters from Taiwan joined the aerial assault. The crescendo of artillery fire on the 18th, combined with masses of small craft gathering across the harbour, signalled the imminent invasion. Japanese divisional headquarters shifted to Ma Tau Wei near Kai Tak Airport; the 23rd Army moved to Taipo. The invasion force disposed itself with the right flank embarking from east and west of Kai Tak, the left from Devil's Hill area. At 1800 hours, the invasion order was issued; by 1930 hours Sakai himself arrived in Kowloon to oversee the crossing. At precisely 2000 hours, the 2/228th Regiment silently paddled their collapsible craft toward Taikoo Docks and the nearby sugar factory as artillery support commenced. Colonel Doi embarked with 80 headquarters personnel aboard a large barge, leading the second wave. The conditions favoured the invaders—a moonless night, sporadic showers, and thick black smoke from burning oil tanks obscured their movement. They reached the midpoint undetected before searchlights and machine-gun fire scattered the small boats, separating commanders from their units. Despite this chaos, the assault pressed forward. At 2140 hours the artillery shifted to deeper targets; at 2145 hours the first wave of 3/230th landed at North Point, followed minutes later by 2/228th and then 2/229th. Three red flares signalled a successful landing. All six Japanese battalions were ashore by midnight, though wire fencing delayed their advance and Bren carriers added to the confusion on the beach. General Sano arrived at Taikoo one hour later. The 5/7 Rajputs bore the initial brunt of the assault. Despite days of preliminary shelling, the Rajputs mounted a stubborn defence; Japanese casualties mounted rapidly. The anti-tank company suffered so grievously that only a single gun remained operational. The Japanese plan was tactical rather than frontal—bypass isolated positions for later elimination and push rapidly toward high ground. Overwhelmed by numerical superiority and losing most of their officers, Rajput resistance gradually crumbled. Contradicting all evidence, Maltby remained convinced the main Japanese assault would strike directly at Victoria from Kowloon. He therefore withheld the counter-attack, instead dispatching a platoon of Middlesex troops, Royal Marines, naval personnel, and the Rajputs' reserve company—supported by artillery—to establish a defensive line blocking the Japanese advance toward Central District. Three HKVDC armoured cars were sent to protect East Brigade headquarters; two more reinforced the Middlesex battalion headquarters. It was manifestly inadequate against six Japanese battalions. In post-war dispatches, Maltby conceded his grave miscalculation: he believed he faced at most two battalions, not a full division. As the 3/230th broke through D Company of the 5/7 Rajputs, the 2/230th came ashore nearby and wheeled westward toward Victoria. Their advance halted abruptly at the North Point power station, held by an extraordinary force: four officers and 36 men of the HKVDC Hughsiliers Platoon—alongside 39 civilian volunteers from China Light & Power and Hong Kong Electric, including the station manager Vincent Sorby—plus eight Free French soldiers commanded by Captain Jacques Egal, a Shanghai businessman turned soldier. Without exception, these men were World War I veterans, many aged 55 or older. Some had fought in the Boer War. Major J. J. Patterson, the Hughsiliers' commander, had served with Allenby's Camel Corps and been mentioned in dispatches six times; he was chairman of Jardine Matheson and a legislative councillor. Private Sir Edward Des Voeux, 8th Baronet, a millionaire bullion trader and secretary of the Hong Kong Club, had enlisted as a private when deemed too old for mobilization. Private T. A. Pearce, 67 years old, was chairman of J. D. Hutchison & Company and secretary of the Hong Kong Jockey Club. Captain Bruch, the second-in-command, aged 60, chaired a major trading house. The list extended through Hong Kong's business elite, each choosing to fight rather than flee. These old men held an entire regiment at bay. When Patterson called for aid, Maltby dispatched an HKVDC armoured car with a platoon from Z Company, 1 Middlesex, but the reinforcement was ambushed before reaching the station; only nine soldiers, including 2nd Lieutenant Caruthers, broke through. Unable to dislodge the defenders by assault, the Japanese resorted to bombardment. By 0145 hours on 19 December, surrounded and ammunition exhausted, the defenders withdrew to King's Road behind a disabled bus. The Japanese deployed three machine guns, killing or mortally wounding all but Private Geoghan. A Japanese officer, believing all dead, cautiously approached—only to have Geoghan, despite his wounds, surge from cover and charge. He killed the officer and four soldiers before collapsing from wounds. Somehow Geoghan survived. Those old men—civilians and reservists, businessmen and veterans—held the entire western Japanese advance for 18 hours, buying Maltby precious time to withdraw forces and establish a new defensive line. Their stand at North Point became one of the campaign's most improbable acts of defiance. As the 2/229th Regiment advanced southward toward Mt Parker, the 3/229th landed at Aldrich Bay and turned eastward toward Lyemun, where they seized an HKVDC 6-inch gun. Major Bishop of the Royal Rifles of Canada, unaware of the landings, dispatched 15 Platoon under Lieutenant Scott to check on A Company of the Rajputs. Unexpectedly, they encountered armed men in civilian clothes at Lyemun's gate—the first indication of the Japanese presence on the island. Yet senior officers dismissed initial reports of landings and lost positions as exaggerated, a critical miscalculation that proved catastrophic. At Lyemun Fort, the 5th Anti-aircraft Battery of the HKVDC was caught completely unaware and surrendered after minimal resistance. The Japanese then committed one of many atrocities that would characterize the battle, bayoneting 29 survivors. Alerted by 15 Platoon's report, Bishop attempted a counter-attack with two platoons to retake the fort, but the defenders could not scale the six-meter wall and withdrew with nine men killed. As the 2/229th pressed southward toward Mt Parker, they overran the Salesian Mission, which had been converted into an Advance Dressing Station. No. 8 Company of the 2/229th systematized a massacre of medical personnel and the wounded—an atrocity that would later become pivotal evidence at Colonel Tanaka's war crimes trial. Yet amid the chaos, several medical staff and wounded survived to testify: Gunners Y. K. Chan and Martin H. C. Tso of the 5th Battery, Captain Osler Thomas of the HKVDC, Captain Martin Banfill of the Royal Canadian Medical Corps, and Corporal Norman Leath of the Royal Army Medical Corps. C Company of the Royal Rifles, reinforced with captured Japanese machine guns abandoned by fleeing Rajputs, inflicted heavy casualties on the attackers, with one Japanese company suffering over 65 percent losses. Yet overwhelmed by superior numbers and suffering nearly two platoons worth of casualties themselves, the Canadians were forced to withdraw, leaving only a reinforcement platoon under Lieutenant Blaver on Mt Parker. When Captain Clerke arrived at dawn with 16 Platoon to reinforce the position, he found over 100 Japanese already entrenched. With no artillery support and only two platoons available, Clerke had no choice but to withdraw, abandoning Mt Parker to the enemy. By dawn on the 19th, the East Brigade faced catastrophe. Infantry strength had been halved, and losses of artillery were equally devastating. A series of misunderstandings and misinterpreted orders led coastal gun crews at Capes D'Aguilar and Collinson to destroy their own guns in confusion or lose them to the advancing Japanese. Of the entire artillery complement, only one 18-pounder and two 3.7-inch field guns remained operational. Wongneichong—literally "yellow muddy creek" in Chinese—occupies the center of Hong Kong Island, a valley separating the eastern hills (Mt Parker, Mt Butler, Jardine's Lookout) from the western massif (Mt Nicholson, Mt Cameron, Victoria Peak). This narrow gap formed the critical artery linking northern and southern Hong Kong, making Brigadier Lawson's decision to place West Brigade Headquarters there strategically sound yet tactically vulnerable. Recognizing the exposed position after the landings, Major Lyndon had located an alternative site south of Mt Nicholson, scheduled to open the following day. In response to the Japanese landings, Lawson dispatched three platoons of Winnipeg Grenadiers to block the advance. Lieutenant C. D. French took 18 Platoon to Mt Butler, Lieutenant G. A. Birkett's 17 Platoon moved to Jardine's Lookout, and Lieutenant L. B. Corrigan's platoon took the north-west approach to the Gap. As on Mt Parker, both French and Birkett were killed almost immediately, their small forces overwhelmed by battalion-strength enemy forces with artillery support. By morning on the 19th, two battalions each of the 230th and 228th Regiments were pushing for the high ground. The 2/230th rapidly occupied Jardine's Lookout while the 3/230th moved to Mt Nicholson and the 2/228th advanced toward the Gap itself. No. 3 Company of the HKVDC under Major E. Stewart held pillboxes around Jardine's Lookout, while No. 1 Company under Captain Penn defended Taitam Valley with forward positions at Quarry Gap. The pillboxes, despite heavy bombardment, held longer than anticipated—some for as long as 24 hours. Stewart maintained his company headquarters until the 22nd, four days of continuous fighting without adequate ammunition, food, or water. No. 3 Company suffered 80 percent casualties and ceased to exist as a cohesive unit. Realizing that the enemy had penetrated to Mt Butler, Brigadier Lawson decided counter-attack was essential. Major A. B. Gresham of A Company, Winnipeg Grenadiers, was ordered to retake Mt Butler and clear Jardine's Lookout. The Canadians initially succeeded, with Warrant Officer 2 J. R. Osborne leading a bayonet charge, but a strong counter-attack by three Japanese companies drove them back by 2200 hours. The Canadians held firm until 1500 hours, when Gresham attempted surrender despite waving a white flag—the Japanese shot him regardless. In the chaos that followed, a Canadian killed a Japanese officer in response, triggering a grenade barrage. Warrant Officer Osborne caught the grenades and hurled them back as fast as they came, but one landed in an impossible position. Without hesitation, Osborne threw himself on the grenade to save his comrades. This act of supreme self-sacrifice earned him a Victoria Cross—the first Canadian VC of World War II. At dawn on the 19th, Maltby dispatched A Company of the 2 Royal Scots under Captain K. J. Campbell to reinforce the Gap, but they lost all their officers with only 15 men reaching Lawson's headquarters. A group of sailors under Commander A. L. Pears came from the south, but were ambushed en route; only a few reached the Postbridge—a house just south of the Gap—which became an isolated strongpoint. The 3/230th captured the police station perched on a mound at the southern point of the Gap, then swept eastward to seize the anti-aircraft guns of 7th Battery (barely 250 meters from brigade headquarters) and continued uphill toward Taitam Hill to capture additional 6-inch and 3.7-inch guns. Maltby's response was to call down final protective fire from the HKSRA in Happy Valley, inflicting massive casualties on the 3/230th. At 1000 hours on the 19th, Lawson reported that his headquarters was surrounded and he was about to "go outside and shoot it out." Captain H. A. Bush provided covering fire as Lawson and his entire staff, including Middlesex signallers, were cut down by machine-gun fire across the Gap. Lawson's body was discovered two days later halfway up the hill behind his headquarters, dead from a gunshot wound to the thigh. Lieutenant Kerfoot of the 2/14 Punjab with his three Bren carriers arrived minutes too late to save him. IJA who saw the fight made a note stating "he died heroically". At 1330 hours on the 19th, Maltby issued "Operation Order No. 6" calling for a massive counter-attack to commence 90 minutes later. The plan was ambitious: A and D Companies of the 2/14 Punjab were to attack east from Victoria to North Point to relieve the Hughsiliers, while HQ Company of the Winnipeg Grenadiers and the 2 Royal Scots were to attack the Gap and Jardine's Lookout. Eight field guns were promised but never materialized. There was no reconnaissance, no proper orders, and minimal coordination. The Canadians were to rendezvous with the 2 Royal Scots at Middle Gap at 1530 hours, but the Scots were late; the Canadians advanced without them. Captain Pinkerton of D Company, 2 Royal Scots, was ordered at the last minute to attack up Wongneichong Gap Road—the same route A Company had taken only seven hours earlier and been decimated—because it was reported as "lightly held." Captain A. M. S. Slater-Brown led the advance with three Bren carriers and attached engineers, followed by D Company of the Winnipeg Grenadiers. Just as the carriers reached the burnt-out trucks of A Company, they too were ambushed. Mortars and machine-gun fire rained down from Jardine's Lookout, where the Japanese occupied captured HKVDC pillboxes. Slater-Brown and 2nd Lieutenant Bell, the battalion intelligence officer, were killed instantly. The Royal Scots waited in the roadside ditches until 0200 hours before launching an attack on the police station, reaching the steps before Pinkerton was severely wounded. Captain Ford's composite company attack at 0300 hours also failed. Simultaneously, C Company under Lieutenant F. L. Stanier attacked Jardine's Lookout—also unsuccessfully. This series of piecemeal assaults cost the Royal Scots eight officers and 68 soldiers. Growing increasingly desperate, Maltby ordered Major Hodkinson, Officer Commanding HQ Company of the Winnipeg Grenadiers, to attack the Gap and proceed to Mt Parker. Requesting reinforcements from A Company and the Royal Scots, Hodkinson launched his assault with covering fire from Lieutenant Corrigan on Mt Nicholson. The Grenadiers managed to reach Mt Nicholson with only five unwounded men, though Corrigan's group advanced to within 300 meters of the Gap road. Then came an unexpected stroke of fortune: while skirting Mt Nicholson, Hodkinson's group stumbled upon approximately 500 Japanese—probably from the 3/230th—eating lunch without posting sentries. The Winnipeg Grenadiers unleashed devastating fire, inflicting heavy casualties. By 1745 hours, Hodkinson's force was only 100 meters from Repulse Bay Road. With four men and a 2-inch mortar, Hodkinson worked his way to the abandoned brigade headquarters, bringing 20 walking wounded with him. He established a foothold at the Gap, receiving orders to attack the police station at 2200 hours. Two HKVDC armoured cars with Vickers machine guns came in support, but accurate enemy fire disabled both. Like Pinkerton before him, Hodkinson reached near his objective before being severely wounded. For this action of determination and courage, Hodkinson was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. By the morning of the 20th, the Japanese had consolidated control of the Gap, but elements of D Company, Winnipeg Grenadiers, still held various pillboxes north of the position. Initially, 17 and 18 Platoons occupied forward positions with Company Headquarters and 16 Platoon in reserve, positioned across Wongneichong Road almost directly opposite brigade headquarters. Forward positions were rapidly overrun and cut off from the company. They fought without officers until withdrawal to battalion headquarters became necessary. With Captain A. S. Bowman killed and Captain R. W. Philips wounded, command fell to Lieutenant T. A. Blackwood. An attempt by B Company to relieve D Company on the evening of the 20th failed catastrophically, killing all officers and 29 men. With fewer than 50 men remaining—all wounded—Lieutenant Blackwood continued inflicting heavy casualties on the Japanese until 22 December, when exhaustion and the complete absence of ammunition, food, and water forced surrender. D Company killed over 200 Japanese soldiers. Post-war Japanese reports refused to believe that a single company had held the Gap for so long. For their stubborn defense, Philips and Blackwood were awarded the Military Cross, and three enlisted men received the Military Medal. The battle of Wongneichong Gap was characterized by fragmented planning and poor coordination. On the night of the 19th-20th, no fewer than three separate companies attacked the police station, with another company assaulting Jardine's Lookout—all within five hours, all independently organized by local commanders. Had these disparate actions been coordinated into a single simultaneous assault, fortress headquarters' objectives might well have been achieved. By the end of the 20th, the British had lost the vital ground of Wongneichong, though Postbridge House remained as an isolated holdout. For the Japanese, Wongneichong became the single costliest engagement since the invasion began, with over 800 casualties and the regimental commander of the 3/230th seriously wounded. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me.   Japanese landings on 18-19 December overwhelmed the East Brigade. Brigadier Lawson died defending the vital Gap. Desperate, uncoordinated counter-attacks by British and Canadian troops failed to dislodge the enemy. D Company Winnipeg Grenadiers held the position for four days against overwhelming odds before surrendering. The Japanese suffered 800 casualties but secured this critical strategic ground.

Richard and Judith sail a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 410. They were on the show in June of 2025 and have a YouTube Chanel "Sailing Helios" and a Vimeo chanel "Sailing Helios Naturally," where they may or may not be clothed.  Richard and Judith were in Cartagen, Spain when I spoke with them, and we talk about Cartagena and the marina, learning foreign languages, the people and culture in Spain, whether to stay longer in the Med or go to the Caribbean, the pros and cons of visiting new places vs familiar places, the Balearics, Air B&B and how it's changed the tourism industry, storms in the Med, a windlass problem, dragging anchor in a storm, ditching the anchor to save the boat, an angle grinder, the friendliest people, dinghies, outboards both gasoline and electric, watermakers, induction stoves, Lookout mast cameras, Sailproof tablets, Smartboatia, their YouTube channel, their OnlyFans channel, and more. Support the show through Patreon Links and Photos are at https://www.paultrammell.com/offshoresailingandcruising Shop dinghy lights at https://showmeyourdinghy.com/ Sail with Sailing Resolution Shop or list sailboats at SailboatsforSale.com Shop tankless dive systems at diveblu3.com

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Are you being shaped by the love of God or by the world around you? Most people never stop to ask that question, but the answer is forming them every single day.Romans 12:1-2 calls us not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewal of our minds. The Greek words behind both conformed and transformed describe ongoing processes, not one-time events. You are always being formed by something. The real question is what.In this message, we explore what the Bible teaches about spiritual transformation, spiritual formation, and what it means to be intentionally shaped by God rather than passively shaped by culture.Topics covered include:    What Romans 12:1-2 actually means for everyday life    The difference between transformation and deformation    Three hidden forces quietly shaping you: hurry, hostility, and hyper-individualism    Why information alone is not enough to change us    What the Desert Fathers and Mothers can teach us about counter-formation    What a rule of life is and why it matters for modern Christians    How to organize your whole life around the love of GodThis message draws on key passages including Romans 12:1-2, Galatians 4:19, 1 John 2:15-17, and Isaiah 64:8, as well as insights from the early church, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and the ancient practice of a rule of life.Whether you are new to faith or have been following Jesus for decades, this message will challenge you to stop drifting and start presenting yourself intentionally to the God who is already at work shaping you.This sermon was recorded at a Sunday morning gathering at Church of the Lookout in Longmont, Colorado.Visit our websiteFollow us on FacebookFollow us on Instagram

Look Out!Series: Mark: The Beginning of the GospelPreacher: Dr. Daniel HeeringaDate: 30th August 2026Passage: Mark 9:30-37

KGMI's Adam Smith and Dianna Hawryluk chat about standup comedy at Larrabee Lager, a wiffleball tournament in Bellingham, a hot rod show at Bellewood Farms, a dahlia festival in Everson, and live music on Railroad Ave.

This week we talk about the shows, movies, and books we consumed this month. St. Jimmy - The Island of Doctor Moreau, Survive, Lookout, The Healing D'Viddy - Interstellar, Apocalypto, The Sheep Detectives, SAS: Rogue Heroes, The Green Knight, Renaissance Man, Play Dirty, Daybreakers, Napoleon Dynamite, The Cunning Man Master Z - Lucky, Dungeon Crawler Carl, The Queen's Poisoner, Travis Barker: Louder Than Fear Music Provided By: Greg Gibbs / Most Guitars Are Made of Trees Cotton Jones / Place at the End of the Street

For the finale of this Summer at Kame House 2026, the boys are joined by Versace Vegeta/Jay of Subs Lie, Dubs Lie to dive deep beneath the surface of Yu Yu Hakusho's Chapter Black arc. They spend the first half hour recapping the news in the world of anime including an avalanche of ONE PIECE news, Hajime No Ippo news, and much more. Then they dive deep into Chapter Black Saga by running through the plot, the highs, the lows, the evil Sensui, and how this becomes an influential piece of anime for future Shonen.

High above the wilderness, fire lookouts spend long nights alone, watching the horizon for the first signs of danger. In tonight's episode, two isolated lookouts discover that some threats are much closer than they appear.Follow the show for new scary stories every week!Linktree: https://linktr.ee/its_just_creepyStory Credits:►Sent in to https://www.justcreepy.net/Timestamps:00:00 Intro00:01:24 Story 100:41:11 Story 2Business inquiries:►creepydc13@gmail.com#scarystories #horrorstories

Trey and Brandon break down a New Jersey ruling that's putting the D&O "capacity exclusion" back in the spotlight — what happens when a board member accused of wrongdoing sits on multiple boards, and why insurers can deny coverage if the alleged conduct ties back to a different company. They also cover a reinsurance 101 for producers: what reinsurance actually is, the difference between treaty and facultative coverage, who the major players are (Munich Re, Swiss Re, Lloyd's, the Bermuda market), and why retail brokers should care about reinsurance pricing even though they never touch that market directly......Resources & Links:

What if your biggest competitor isn’t another business, another leader or someone offering exactly what you do? What if it’s irrelevance? In a world where customer expectations, technology, workplaces and buying behaviour are constantly changing, being good at what you do is no longer enough. The bigger question is whether the value you bring is still relevant to what people need today - and where they’re heading tomorrow. In this episode of Leading You, I share a snapshot of my keynote on relevance and explore why successful people, leaders and businesses can be particularly vulnerable to becoming irrelevant. Using Kodak as an example, I look at what happens when we become more focused on protecting what made us successful than questioning what needs to come next. I also explore two of the biggest threats to relevance: busyness and playing not to lose. When we’re constantly delivering, reacting and managing what’s immediately in front of us, we stop looking up at what’s changing, out at what our clients or organisations need and ahead at what we need to become. In this episode: Why irrelevance may be your biggest competitor How yesterday’s success can become tomorrow’s limitation Why busyness can make us dangerously short-sighted What happens when we start playing not to lose Why staying relevant doesn’t mean chasing every trend The importance of communicating your value, not simply what you do Why your thinking demonstrates your future value My Relevance Reset: Look Up, Look Out and Look Ahead Time Stamps 00:00 Welcome and Setup01:02 Irrelevance as Rival02:07 Kodak Cautionary Tale05:06 Why Leaders Disappear06:48 Two Relevance Killers10:46 Relevance Reset Framework11:18 Look Up and Position12:13 Look Out and Communicate13:24 Look Ahead and Adapt14:35 Choose Relevance Daily15:24 Wrap Up and Invitation Links: Learn more about my group coaching program hereGet the Clarity Compass here Connect with Julie:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-hyde/Instagram: @juliehydeleadsWebsite: https://juliehyde.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are you exhausted even though you have everything you need to rest? You're not alone. We've become a generation obsessed with rest, productivity, and even tracking our sleep—and somehow, we're still tired.In Matthew 11, Jesus gives one of Scripture's most personal invitations: “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” But then He offers something unexpected: a yoke.Why would Jesus offer a work tool to people who are already exhausted? Because the rest He offers isn't simply an escape from difficulty. It's a new way of carrying life with Him.This message explores what it means to find true rest in Jesus, the burdens we carry through pressure, fear, failure, and the need for approval, and how those burdens shape our relationships and decisions. We'll look at what Jesus' yoke actually means, how to live yoked to Him in everyday life, and what Psalm 23 reveals about the way God restores our souls.Whether you're burned out on busyness, burned out on religion, or simply tired of carrying things you were never meant to carry alone, Jesus' invitation is the same:Come to Me.This sermon was recorded at a Sunday morning gathering at Church of the Lookout in Longmont, Colorado.Visit our websiteFollow us on FacebookFollow us on Instagram

Welcome to the Old Ozarks with Dr. Brooks Blevins... This week, we head out looking for "ary" trace of the Great Depression left on the Ozark landscape — and it turns out, once you know what to look for, you can hardly go "nary" a mile without finding one. We'll start in Grandpa's hayfield with the hillside ribs known as Mangum terraces, tracing their spread from a North Carolina farm in the 1880s to the terracing craze that swept the Ozarks under FDR's New Deal. Along the way, our short sweetenin' digs up the backwoods twins "ary" and "nary," archaic descendants of "ever a" and "never a" that once peppered everyday Ozark speech. Then it's on to the long sweetenin': a whirlwind tour of just how much New Deal alphabet-soup labor — the CCC, WPA, PWA, CWA, and NYA — physically remade this region, from state park lodges and courthouses to WPA schoolhouses, Razorback Stadium's earliest bones, and post office murals still hanging in Berryville and Fredericktown ninety years later. Let's dive into this episode of The Old Ozarks... What is The Old Ozarks? The Old Ozarks is your gateway to the forgotten history of the Ozarks. Hosted by renowned historian Dr. Brooks Blevins (the leading authority on the region's history), this podcast explores the lives, legends, and landscapes that have shaped this unique region. Whether you're a native Ozarker, a new resident, or a curious listener, join us as we share the stories that make the Ozarks special and connect us to our past.

KGMI's Adam Smith and Dianna Hawryluk chat about the last weekend of the Northwest Washington Fair, Downtown Distilled in Ferndale, Paranormal Cirque at Bellis Fair, Creative Currents at Cordata Gallery, and Adamantis performing at the Shakedown.

Checking in with residents of Grizzly Flats five years later. We'll also hear how CapRadio reporters went about covering the Caldor and its aftermath. Plus, lessons learned from the Caldor and Dixie fires and how they can be applied today.

LOOK OUT! It's the Axe Cop, Dave DeAndrea, the original voice of Axe Cop and voice of many of your favorite ads, etc. All the way down from Coos Bay on his way to Disneyland, Dave took time to share his career path and advice with the Tell Ya Later Show.

Sometimes the most important step of faith is one you cannot fully explain yet. In Acts 8, Philip was called away from a successful ministry and sent down a desert road with no details and no destination. He simply obeyed—and that obedience led him to an Ethiopian official who was searching for answers.This message explores what real obedience to God looks like, why He often gives us direction without the full explanation, and how one simple “yes” can have an impact far beyond what we can see. If you've been waiting for the whole plan before taking the first step, this is a reminder that God doesn't need you to see the entire picture. He asks for your next step of faith.This sermon was recorded at a Sunday morning gathering at Church of the Lookout in Longmont, Colorado.Visit our websiteFollow us on FacebookFollow us on Instagram

In this episode of Innovation Meets Leadership, host Natalie Born continues the Set It On Fire: The Art of Innovation series with Chapter 9: Funding Innovation. Joined by Moriah Hidden, Natalie explores why smart investment matters more than simply spending more, how clear constraints can fuel creativity, and how leaders can determine whether an idea should move forward, pivot, or stop. From balancing transformative, breakthrough, and disruptive innovation to using stage gates and studying the larger ecosystem, this episode offers practical guidance for funding ideas wisely and building for the future.[00:00 - 04:13] Funding Innovation: Lessons from Nokia and AppleWhy greater R&D spending does not automatically lead to better innovationHow Nokia spent significantly more while Apple created the stronger outcomeThe danger of funding a slow-moving train wreck of projectsWhy investment must be connected to strategy, focus, and customer value[04:14 - 11:28] Freedom Within a FrameworkHow organizational capabilities create useful boundaries for innovationWhy limited resources and beautiful constraints can spark creativityUnderstanding transformative, breakthrough, and disruptive innovationRecognizing when changing customer preferences require a new category[11:29 - 16:31] Stage Gates, ROI, and the Innovation EcosystemUsing customer feedback to decide whether to invest, pivot, or stopBuilding a little, learning a little, and testing demand before scalingKnowing when a promising idea has become something customers do not wantLooking beyond a single product to create value across the entire ecosystem[16:32 - 19:35] Look Back, Look Out, and Look UpLooking back to learn from mistakes and failures without repeating themLooking out to understand competitors, market signals, and the wider landscapeLooking up to plan for the future through three-, five-, and ten-year strategyHelping visionary leaders see around corners before change arrives[19:36 - End] Turning Innovation into ActionBringing intentionality to the teams, funding, and insight behind an ideaConnecting stage gates and investment decisions to meaningful executionChoosing who an innovation is for before bringing it to lifeUsing practical frameworks to move ideas from concept to funded realityKey Quotes“Funding alone doesn't determine your success.” — Natalie Born“Oftentimes, it's through the constraints that we get creative and through that creativity, we're able to build the future.” — Natalie Born"If you don't disrupt yourself, you'll be disrupted by somebody who's thinking about that." - Natalie BornResources & LinksLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nataliebornWebsite: https://innovationmeetsleadership.comBook & Resources: https://setitonfire.coIf this episode encouraged you, share it with a leader who wants to invest in innovation wisely, evaluate ideas with clarity, and build for the future.Be sure to subscribe to Innovation Meets Leadership for more conversations on leadership, innovation, culture, and growth.

KGMI's Adam Smith and Adam Smith chat about the Northwest Washington Fair, two author talks at Village Books, the Noisy Waters Mural Festival and Sean Hayes performing at the Blue Room in Bellingham.

The West faces extremely high fire potential this season, with a number of major wildfires already burning across the region. No single fire is the same as any other, yet public information about wildfires often lacks geographic specificity and historical context — which are critical to understanding both specific fires and our broader fire reality. Zeke Lunder started The Lookout during the Dixie Fire in 2021 to communicate more nuanced information about wildfires to the general public in real time. He has worked in wildfire for almost 30 years, including two decades as a wildfire mapping specialist and analyst on many of the largest fires in California history. Zeke has also designed and managed wildfire fuels reduction projects, and worked as a prescribed fire instructor and burn boss. He joins Terra Verde host Fiona McLeod to discuss our current fire reality and what we can all do to improve fire literacy and preparedness. The post How to Talk About Wildfire appeared first on KPFA.

Today we are joined by Kainan from  @GhostPirateEntertainment  to talk about the recent controversy related to Nikki from Obsession and her inclusion at Halloween Horror Nights. Lookout for the next episode with Kainan where we talk about underrated horror films.Find us on Patreon for spoiler talk, early access, and exclusives.patreon.com/scaretalkSupport a new video rental store! Let's bring Blockbuster and Hollywood video back!https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/verygoodvideo/very-good-video-store-sacramento?ref=discover_saved_projects&category_id=11#obsession #halloweenhorrornights #hhn #horror #horrormovies #horrormoviepodcast #horrormoviereviews

A vivid depiction of what has been happening during the last eight weeks of resistance of border wall construction in Arizona's San Raphael Valley. It took several attempts to get this podcast interview with Kate Scott, cofounder and director of the Madrean Archipelago Wildlife Center. On one of the attempts, the people gathered in Lochiel, Arizona, to protect the one remaining cottonwood tree on the U.S.-Mexico border were dealing with a low-flying Customs and Border Protection helicopter that shook the treetop where a person precariously sat, as the group has been doing in rotation now for two weeks. On July 27, an excavator from the contractor Fisher Sand & Gravel killed three other ancient cottonwoods, who they say were obstructing border wall construction. Another podcast attempt was thwarted by a ferocious hailstorm, a staple of the rainy southern Arizona monsoon season. In other words, Kate is in it, in one of the biggest battles of our time, with the weather, with a multi-billion dollar Homeland Security force. People have been gathering at Lochiel since June 23, approximately eight weeks ago, when they got word that CBP was coming for the cottonwoods located in the Roosevelt Reservation, a 60-foot buffer zone from the international boundary inland owned by the U.S. federal government. In this podcast, Kate goes into detail about all of this: the double border wall construction, the contractors, the destruction, the overall resistance, and what they plan to do going forward. We get stories of communion in what Kate calls the grandmother trees. And at the end, Kate reads a moving poem by nine-year-old Aurelia Neils Bugbee who insists that “our love will bring down this wall!” To supplement this podcast, we recommend that you check out this article by John Washington at LOOKOUT that came out this week.

Batter up. The Summer at Kame House is playing the field this episode, as they review LJ's pick for the summer: Ace of Diamond. It's rare for Meelz, LJ, and AD to get together to talk about a sports anime, but we're fully embracing it this episode discussing both LJ and AD's baseball backgrounds, what makes this a great anime, why the hell this isn't dubbed, and much more.

I pray that the moons watch over you everywhere you go. I also pray that you listen to us talking to the walls that are falling apart, losing Ben the Lookout, making sure we keep knitting, letting Alan fix everything, yearning to topple an empire with a tiny boat, driving my shitboat into danger, dropping in a sky whale, remembering how Chris feels about whales, absorbing a mechanical gut punch, picking up boxes and then putting them back down, and then adding an old man to our party before bringing him home to mom. Stand tall, my son. 00:00:00 Podcaster 00:01:12 Intro 00:02:45 Pirate Island. Again. 00:07:00 Pirate Underground. Again. 00:09:49 Departure Island 00:17:06 World Map / Sudden Storm 00:28:47 Shipwrecked On Another Ship 00:32:54 Moving Boxes 00:46:12 Return to Pirate Island Yet Again 00:48:21 Real net 00:56:05 Outro Patreon: patreon.com/retroam Bluesky: @retrogradeamnesia.bsky.social YouTube: www.youtube.com/@RetrogradeAmnesia E-Mail: podcast@retrogradeamnesia.com Website: www.retrogradeamnesia.com  

Who are the people and voices influencing your life—and are they leading you toward wisdom or away from it? Proverbs 13:20 reminds us that “whoever walks with the wise becomes wise,” challenging us to take a closer look at the relationships, influences, and environments shaping us.This message explores how Proverbs calls us to respond wisely to the wicked, our enemies, and fools, while also challenging us to examine our own hearts. True wisdom includes surrounding ourselves with people who will speak truth, sharpen us, and point us toward God. And ultimately, we find the perfect friend in Jesus, who knows us completely and never leaves us.This sermon was recorded at a Sunday morning gathering at Church of the Lookout in Longmont, Colorado.Visit our websiteFollow us on FacebookFollow us on Instagram

David's film work includes: Drugstore Cowboy, My Own Private Idaho, City of Ghosts, The Lookout, Race, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Afraid, and Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die. David's Production Design work on the acclaimed television series Little Bird garnered him a Canadian Screen Award. 

KGMI's Adam Smith and Dianna Hawryluk chat about the Skagit County Fair, A Community Festival in Ferndale, Radical Root MTB hosting mountain biking classes, The Princess Bride at Fairhaven Outdoor Cinema, and a punk show at the Shakedown.

Finally, we get to get away, even if it's just vicariously through ghost stories. Welcome to tropical Kaneohe, HI. We sure try our best on these pronunciations, but you see, we're simple folk from Indiana, and darn it if it's not a struggle. But we're still respectful, just as you should be. No need to get naked and piss yourself about it... just listen to the episode.   Check out our affiliates: Javvycoffee.com Use code ORSO77605 to get 15% off every order. Venomscent.com Use code ORSO28248 to get 10% off every order. Donate monthly here: https://www.patreon.com/orsotheysaypod Or a once off here: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=T22PHA8NAUTPN  And don't forget to swing by here: https://www.redbubble.com/people/orsotheysaypod/shop

Look Out! The Holy Spirit Directs the Particulars MESSAGE SUMMARY: On this day of Pentecost, we're invited to explore the profound significance of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The message takes us through Jesus' teachings in John 14, where He promises the coming of the Helper - the Holy Spirit. We learn that the Spirit is not just a distant force, but a personal presence that dwells within us, bringing the very essence of Christ into our hearts. This indwelling Spirit transforms us, making us more like Jesus and empowering us to do His works. As we reflect on this, we're challenged to consider how we're allowing the Spirit to work in our lives. Are we grieving or quenching the Spirit through unforgiveness or sin? Or are we opening ourselves fully to His guidance and power? This Pentecost, let's renew our commitment to living Spirit-filled lives, recognizing that God's desire is for His presence to be with us always, not just now, but for eternity.   TODAY'S PRAYER: Lord, I now take a deep breath and stop. So often I miss your hand and gifts in my life because I am preoccupied and anxious. Grant me the power to pause each day and each week to simply rest in your arms of love. In Jesus' name, amen.    Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 132). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, Because of who I am in Jesus Christ, I will not be driven by Resentment. Rather, I will abide in the Lord's Compassion. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5). SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Number 11; 2 Chronicles 15:1; 1 Samuel 10:16; 1 Samuel 16; Luke 2:25; Acts 2:42; Acts 2:2-4; John 14:6 A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “Christians in the Church Must Become Christians in the Marketplace of Unbelievers” at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Our main feature is Redux Redux. We're also reviewing The Good Son, The Hardy Boys Meet Dracula, The Devil's Mouth, Do Not Enter, Lookout, and Widow's Bay. The Good Son ► https://www.netflix.com/title/60036152 The Hardy Boys Meet Dracula ► https://youtu.be/Ghrz-Ex9vzs?si=7LxAYZPmtX34MpdT The Devil's Mouth ► https://amzn.to/4cnDNXB Do Not Enter ► https://amzn.to/45Cf8uG Lookout ► https://amzn.to/4heAqWr Widow's Bay ► https://amzn.to/4xmdp8I

What does it mean to have a good name? In a world obsessed with personal branding, online reputation, and social media image, the Bible offers a completely different perspective on what makes a name worth having.Drawing from Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, James, and Philippians, this message explores the biblical meaning of a name, why God calls people by name, and what it actually takes to build a life of lasting character and legacy.Whether you are thinking about the legacy you are leaving for your children, working through the consequences of past mistakes, or carrying a label that someone else placed on you, this message speaks directly to the question of identity, character, and where to find grace for a fresh start.This is a message for anyone asking questions like: How do I build a life of integrity? What does the Bible say about legacy and character? How do I recover from a damaged reputation? What does God think about my identity? How do I leave a meaningful legacy for my family?This sermon was recorded at a Sunday morning gathering at Church of the Lookout in Longmont, Colorado.Visit our websiteFollow us on FacebookFollow us on Instagram

Seth highlights the alarming rate at which people are being systematically misinformed, with at least half the population receiving false information. This has led to a situation where people are living in different realities, making it challenging to have a national conversation about critical issues. The speaker emphasizes the need for institutions like the media and courts to maintain their independence and serve as guardrails to protect an open society. We should always be watching out for the next Dr. Fauci, to prevent the abuse of trust that happened during the Coronavirus Pandemic with the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The WNBA suspended the co-owner of The Seattle Storm after a public exchange with two teenage girls holding signs in favor of Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham’s stance on transgender athletes in women’s sports at a recent matchup between the two teams. We're joined by Johnny Estes, Vice President of Operations, and Shannon Estes, President of CMI Gold & Silver. Emma Camp’s piece “Gen Z Isn’t Screwed” at The Wall Street Journal.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tebrukunna  rangers in the states far north east are stepping up their beach patrols, in preparation for the arrival of h5 bird flu.

Meelz, LJ and AD are continuing their Summer at Kame House series with the incredibly grim and revealing, Anime of the Year nominee – Takopi's Original Sin. They begin the episode discussing the new Mobile Gundam Series, Sakamoto Days' manga ending, and Crunchyroll's new store policy. They then talk about the premise of Takopi's Original Sin, the hate for Takopi, the crazy events that unfold, and how the real villain of this series is neglect 

How do we make decisions that are not just wise by the world's standards, but aligned with God's will? In Proverbs, we find a clear picture of biblical wisdom: trusting God, seeking His direction, and allowing His Word to guide our choices.In this message, we explore what true wisdom looks like, how to seek God's guidance in everyday decisions, and the lessons we can learn from Solomon's life. Through Proverbs, Paul's missionary journeys, and practical steps for seeking God's direction, we discover that wisdom is not just about making the right choice—it's about living in a way that brings glory to God.This sermon was recorded at a Sunday morning gathering at Church of the Lookout in Longmont, Colorado.Speaker — Mary Jean PowersVisit our websiteFollow us on FacebookFollow us on Instagram

Time to Get Up with the countdown to kickoff - 50 days till opening night - you've got questions, this morning we've got answers! Like this one - Will the Ravens re-up the face of their franchise or will HIS future become the biggest storyline in the sport this season! Plus - speaking of stories - you will hear the head of the SEC say college football as we have always known it is on the verge of being over - we'll tell you what it means!!! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Lookout's Summer at Kame House series continues with the most wholesome, earnest, 10/10 anime to ever exist... Mob Psycho 100.After some banter surrounding nature animal attacks, Naruto's live-action, Demon Slayer coming to digital, and Blue Box's ending, they dive deep into Mob Psycho 100's final season and discuss what makes it so good. The characters, the powers, the comedy, the plot, and the feels are all discussed during this episode. 

In this episode of the Church Planter Podcast, Peyton Jones is joined by Andrea Jones and Pamela Nelson for a conversation on ministry burnout, emotional health, and the inner life of a leader.Pamela brings her experience as a pastor, biblical counselor, coach, and spiritual director to help church planters recognize the warning signs they often ignore: anxiety, numbness, overwork, isolation, unprocessed grief, and the pressure to keep performing when their soul is running on empty.Together, they talk about why emotional health is not optional for leaders, how identity can become tangled up in ministry success, and why pastors need safe people, honest confession, rhythms of rest, and space to bring hidden beliefs into the light.The conversation also gets personal as Peyton reflects on his own experience with exhaustion, anxiety, and the cost of pushing too hard for too long. If you are planting, leading, or carrying the weight of ministry, this episode is an invitation to slow down, pay attention to your soul, and let God restore what has been depleted.Resources and Links Mentioned in this Episode:Pamela Nelson: pamelanelson.orgNewBreed TrainingThanks for listening to the Church Planter Podcast. We're here to help you go where no one else is going and do what no one else is doing to reach people no one else is reaching.Make sure to review and subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast service to help us connect with more church planters

A slow, sensory story about elevation, silence, and the particular peace of a job that asks only for attention. We'll follow a weary traveler up a two-day mountain trail toward a fire lookout tower, where the noise in his mind quiets before he ever notices it happening. You can get my new book, Awaken Your Myth, at https://awakenyourmyth.com/book/. Please leave a review on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Awaken-Your-Myth-Discover-Purpose/dp/1797235257/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0#averageCustomerReviewsAnchor To leave a review on GoodReads, click here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/238747993-awaken-your-myth#CommunityReviewsYour support is the cornerstone that allows me to continue crafting tranquil stories and meditations for you. For less than the price of a cup of coffee, you'll unlock an oasis of over 500 ad-free Listen To Sleep episodes, including 8 subscriber-only full length sleepy audiobook classics like Winnie the Pooh and Alice in Wonderland. To pledge your support, visit⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://listentosleep.com/support⁠⁠ or subscribe right in Apple Podcasts and get a 7 day free trial. Want to change your story? Take the free Path Assessment at https://jointhecabin.org. In two minutes, you'll see your personalized journey and know exactly where to start. To join my email group and get a bunch of goodies, go to ⁠⁠https://erikireland.com Sleep well, friends.

As the Girl of Steel soars into cinemas worled wide our Supergirl Mega Episode celebrating all things Kara Zor-El, the character surrounding her, and best stories ever told in her name! In this out of this world episode celebrating the last daughter of Krypton we touch on everything from her comic book history, to the iconic 80s movie, to the Arrowverse tv show there is so much to cover! Here's what's in store for this week's super-powered lineup:Top 5 Supergirl Stories (GHL 215) - Hear Sterling Gates join in the discussion of the Best Supergirl Stories ever told!Supergirl (GHL 87) - Discover the origins of Superman's cousin, Kara Zor-El, the Supergirl!Cat Grant (GHL 129) - Half journalist, half gossip monger, we explore Cat's unique place in DC Comics journalism history,Mon-El (GHL 156) - Explore the life of Supergirl's television crush and key member of the Legion of Superheroes - Mon-El! The birth of the retcon alert!Whether you're a die-hard Supergirl fan or just discovering the rich history of the Girl of Steel with the movie on the horizon, this episode is packed with epic moments, fascinating discussions, and nostalgic deep dives into the stories that lead to: "Look Out. Truth. Justice. Whatever. Watch out universe." Listen now and join us next week for even more Geek History Lesson adventures.Follow Sterling Gates on BlueSky ► https://bsky.app/sterlinggates.bsky.socialFor more exclusive bonus podcasts like our Justice League Review show, our Teen Titans Podcast, and our GHL Exclusive Discord, join the Geek History Lesson Patreon ► https://www.patreon.com/JawiinGHL RECOMMENDED READING from this episode► https://www.geekhistorylesson.com/recommendedreadingFOLLOW GHL►Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geekhistorylessonThreads: https://www.threads.net/@geekhistorylessonFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/geekhistorylessonGet Your GHL Pin: https://geekhistorylesson.etsy.comYou can follow Ashley at https://www.threads.net/@ashleyvrobinson or https://www.ashleyvictoriarobinson.com/Follow Jason at https://www.threads.net/@jawiin or https://bsky.app/profile/jasoninman.bsky.socialThanks for showing up to class today. Class is dismissed!