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Yes!  You are in!  Have you been judged lately?  This broken planet has gone bonkers on judging each other...super fueled by biased media and algorithims to feed you only one side of a story.  Everyone is convinced they are correct.  So how do you stand out?  If you are so brave, here you go...Thank you Kenton Beshore, guest speaker at SW Church in Indian Wells, CA.  Kenton is one of my favorite teachers.  I so appreciate how God has wired him.  He's edgy yet comes with the Word and Truth.  Tough love.  Makes his audience respond.  Very interactive.  You can hear more about that message at the YouTube link right here, in the show description...https://youtu.be/ZAiEf_uhMEg?si=3YbuSdQ1ReA7aR0NSo how about you?  I know you are being judged too much.  How about in return?  How's your judging ratio?Confession, I can improve.  My two weak points seem to be politics and the road.  Matt 7: 1-61 “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. 2For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.3 “And why worry about a speck in your friend's eye  when you have a log in your own? 4How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,' when you can't see past the log in your own eye? 5Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye.6 “Don't waste what is holy on people who are unholy.  Don't throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you.Matt 7: 1-6, NLThttps://www.bible.com/bible/116/MAT.7.NLTOne of my favorite sayings, "We are all religious...in something(s)."  That is a fact Jack and the truth Ruth.  Some of you say religion is a crutch and I'll ask you back, what is your crutch?  You don't get to say nothing...for it is something:  love interest, money, sex, drugs, alcohol, politics, cars, boat, house, a movement, pick your topic du jour., free this or that change or no ______.    We can see via your social media or just give me 10 minutes with you and I'll be able to tell real quick what is your religion.  For with any hard core religious person comes...judgement!  They will judge you...whether you be blue or red or purple.  So when someone is coming down hard on you, simply say, ooooooh, religious.  You are really religious with that.  If you happen to call Christianity your religion, well are your Jesus' words in Matthew enough for you?  They should be.  Me too.  I'm going to work on that...every day until the day I die.  Matt 22:  36-40.

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Angel Studios https://Angel.com/ToddBecome a Premium Angel Studios Guild member to watch The King of Kings, stream all fan-curated shows and movies, and get 2 free tickets to every Angel Studios theatrical release. Alan's Soaps https://www.AlansArtisanSoaps.comUse coupon code TODD to save an additional 10% off the bundle price.Bioptimizers https://Bioptimizers.com/toddEnter promo code TODD to get 10% off your order of Berberine Breakthrough today.Bizable https://GoBizable.comUntie your business exposure from your personal exposure with BiZABLE.  Schedule your FREE consultation at GoBizAble.com today.  Bonefrog https://BonefrogCoffee.com/toddThe new GOLDEN AGE is here!  Use code TODD at checkout to receive 10% off your first purchase and 15% on subscriptions.Bulwark Capital https://KnowYourRiskPodcast.comBe confident in your portfolio with Bulwark! Schedule your free Know Your Risk Portfolio review. Go to KnowYourRiskPodcast.com today.Renue Healthcare https://Renue.Healthcare/ToddYour journey to a better life starts at Renue Healthcare. Visit https://Renue.Healthcare/ToddLISTEN and SUBSCRIBE at:The Todd Herman Show - Podcast - Apple PodcastsThe Todd Herman Show | Podcast on SpotifyWATCH and SUBSCRIBE at: Todd Herman - The Todd Herman Show - YouTubeDid someone say “No Kings!”? // The Incelling of Fiction. // God Made Brains Changeable.Episode Links:“Do I own three residences? Yes I do.” A beautiful home in Burlington. A place in Washington. And a “summer camp”. “That's it!” -No King SandersHere's Randi Weingarten leading a "No Kings" rally today. Abolish teachers unions.Why is big government trying to shut down #amosmiller, a 5th-generation Amish farmer with zero complaints in 25 years? Big tech and pharma! The Amish way threatens their control. Makes you think, doesn't it?Young Adult authors have been told their audience doesn't read books written in “Third-person, omniscient” perspective. This thread explains why and WHY it's important.Scene from Adolescence Negative thoughts might be changing your brain in surprising ways, study suggestsResearch shows negativity bias correlates with depression, anxiety and memory problemsBen Zeisloft on Twitter - Read the testimony of my friend, Kyle Hacker, as he describes his journey from homosexuality and transgenderism to freedom in Jesus Christ, and most recently to the joys of marriage!Dr. Miriam Grossman: “We are seeing the detransitoners stand up after a few years of so called gender affirming care and saying Why did you let this happen to us? How did you doctors do this to me?”What Does God's Word Say?Philippians 4:8 8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Walking through the 10 most important aspects of Trump's Big, Beautiful Bill. I cover the aspects I believe are beneficial as well as the biggest downside. A concerning increase in the national debt...0:00 Introduction0:10 Makes 2017 Tax Cuts Permanent1:14 MAGA Savings Accounts For Babies2:00 Stricter Work Requirements for Medicaid2:16 Tax-Free Tips, OT Pay & Car Loan Interest3:37 $70B for Security Border3:54 $150B Boost in Military Spending4:38 Ends Clean Energy Incentives5:44 SALT Cap Raised from $10k - $40k6:40 Judicial Oversight Limited6:55 Adds $4 Trillion to National DebtWant a Life Insurance Policy? Go Here: https://bttr.ly/bw-yt-aa-clarity Want FREE Whole Life Insurance Resources & Education? Go Here: https://bttr.ly/yt-bw-vault______________________________________________ Learn More About BetterWealth: https://betterwealth.comDISCLAIMER: https://bttr.ly/aapolicy*This video is for entertainment purposes only and is not financial or legal advice.Financial Advice Disclaimer: All content on this channel is for education, discussion, and illustrative purposes only and should not be construed as professional financial advice or recommendation. Should you need such advice, consult a licensed financial or tax advisor. No guarantee is given regarding the accuracy of the information on this channel. Neither host nor guests can be held responsible for any direct or incidental loss incurred by applying any of the information offered.

Year C – Trinity Sunday – June 15, 2025 Pastor Megan Floyd John 16:12-15 Athanasian Creed   Grace and Peace to you from our Lord, Jesus Christ, who is God and the Holy Spirit… the Three-in-One. Amen. Today is Holy Trinity Sunday… now I have several clergy friends who prefer to gloss over this one, but given how cloudy our understanding of the Trinity is, I thought we should dig in, yes? So today… Trinity Sunday… is a different sort of festival… in that what we are celebrating is actually… our church doctrine… it is the church's explanation of God's nature as three-in-one… one-in-three… or rather, we should say… Today we celebrate our almost understanding of God's nature. I say almost, because… it isn't perfect… no description we can imagine or create will truly capture who God is… and that's also the point. Nothing we can say about God will fully describe God's being because God is massive and ultimately beyond our full understanding. God is mystery… and wonder… and awe… And yet… This massive and mysterious God yearns for a relationship with us… a personal relationship with humanity… God wanted that so much that God came and walked with us in the person of Jesus Christ. Our great and powerful God… in a poor and humble human body. God came and shared our joy and our pain… lived a human life with us… and submitted himself to our most incredibly violent actions… all to show us how much God was invested in this relationship. And after Jesus defeated death, and was resurrected from the tomb… he continued to share life with us before ascending to heaven, but not before drawing our attention to the Holy Spirit… Our advocate… the Holy Spirit of God… the very breath of God that fills our lungs and permeates our lives… God who surrounds us… and lives within us. God, the mighty and powerful creator… Jesus… our humble redeemer and friend… and Spirit… the one who sustains us and saturates our world… Distinct in their divinity but together as one… one God. “One God in trinity, and the Trinity in unity, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the divine being… the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one, equal in glory, coeternal in majesty.” Makes perfect sense, yes? As humans, in a relationship, we want to set parameters… we want to understand and know the other person… We like to believe that fully knowing another is actually possible. For example… my parents have been married for forty-nine years. I'd say they know each other very well… they can anticipate each other's reactions and moods. But occasionally, they still surprise each other… And my husband and I have been married almost twenty-two years… we respond in unison so often that we suspect we might share a brain. But we are still – all of us – separate people with different perspectives on life. Think about your closest relationship… perhaps with your spouse… or a sibling or cousin… maybe a life-long best friend. You know this person through and through… you can describe and anticipate this person's thoughts and reactions… You have laughed together… cried together… and yet, you are not them… they are not you… Even the person you know the most is distinct from you in such a way that prevents you from ever fully understanding what it is… to be them… And your person… the one you have in mind now… is human… How much more than that is our God? With God… full knowledge and understanding will always be… just beyond our reach. And that's ok. For us to be invested in our relationships with anyone, but particularly with God, we must invest our time in them. We must share our full life with them… laugh and cry together… learn and grow together. With God… Jesus… Spirit… we dwell in our learning and growing through prayer, worship, and spending time in the Scriptures… laughing together… crying together… giving thanks for God's enduring faithfulness. In our scriptures, we read and relive God's interactions with our ancestors so that we can be attuned to God's interactions with us. Because God did not stop acting after Revelation was written! We come together in worship and praise, and we wait for the Lord to come to us… to meet us in our lives… we nurture our relationship with God so that when God shows up, we recognize the one who calls us beloved. Our doctrine of the Trinity… our best attempt at describing God's three-in-oneness… wasn't handed to the disciples as a list of terms and conditions to accompany the Holy Spirit… This doctrine… this way of understanding… developed over a few hundred years of faithful followers of Jesus trying to make sense of what happened… trying to understand how these events fit in with the Hebrew scriptures and laws, and with the writings and teachings they'd gathered since Jesus's death and resurrection… The Trinity is our best attempt at describing God's divine presence in and with and through all things in all places… for all time and even outside of time. Our understanding of the Trinity came from those who dedicated their time and attention to their relationship with God… and allowed that relationship to reveal new discoveries about our Creator… Redeemer… and Sustainer. The Three-in-one… One-in-three. However, what we celebrate today is not the doctrine itself per se, but that this idea gave us a new lens through which to revisit Scripture… a new perspective to help us understand our interactions with the Divine. This new perspective helped us realize that God… Jesus… Spirit… have always been… and were always there… and will be until the end of time… eternally together, yet separate… and eternally one. And so, this doctrine is the lens through which we now hear Jesus's parting words to his disciples… on the night in which he was betrayed. Jesus knows they cannot fully grasp the meaning of all that is about to occur… and that they won't fully understand everything he has taught them up until that point, until after he has defeated death. He knows that they will need to remember his words to understand… but he promises them that they will have help. God's Holy Spirit will surround them and guide them toward truth… will guide them in their continued living as disciples of Jesus. God's Holy Spirit will permeate their lives and continue to glorify God… to make God known for them… just as the Holy Spirit continues to glorify God for us. Jesus says of the Holy Spirit that it will continue to make Jesus known to them… because it will guide them in his teaching… just as Jesus' teaching has made God the Father known. The inspiration and guidance we receive from the Holy Spirit is not independent of God or Jesus… for the Spirit and Jesus and God are one. And yet… exactly how it is that God… Jesus… Spirit so saturates our very being remains a mystery that we know is true. We know it is true because we feel God all around us, we share stories of encountering God, and we do our best with our limited language to describe God's awesomeness… knowing that the full scope of God is just beyond our grasp. Kallistos Ware was an English bishop and theologian of the Eastern Orthodox Church, and he wrote, “We see that it is not the task of Christianity to provide easy answers to every question, but to make us progressively aware of a mystery. God is not so much the object of our knowledge, as the cause of our wonder.” It is our wonder that keeps us invested in this amazing relationship with our Creator… and it is our awe that reminds us who we are and whose we are… We seek the triune God who reveals themselves to us as three… and yet one… the source of our life and our salvation… A divine mystery that we can explore for our whole lives, knowing and accepting that full knowledge is not for us in this life. And that's ok. We can celebrate our almost understanding, using the doctrine of the Trinity as our lens through which we read, and grow in awareness of God's story… Always leaving room for wonder and awe for our Creator… Redeemer… and Sustainer… the three-in-one… and one-in-three. Amen.

A 5 - Year Game Plan To Mortgage Freedom For Millennials - AJ Scott & Nicole Kichko   On this episode I welcome relatively new investors AJ and Nicole, who are young but are already on the right path to financial and mortgage freedom, and on the way to a very early retirement. They started investing only 5 years ago, already own 3 properties and are here to share their incredible story and journey so far! The strategy they've used so far is house hacking, where you purchase a home but either renovate to add additional rental units, or purchase an already renovated duplex, so that it actually MAKES you money the moment you move in. Your expenses drop dramatically while your tenant pays down your mortgage for you! Have they made mistakes? Yes, but willing to share to help others avoid some of them. We talked about how they saved for their down payment; what are their monthly costs, and it's incredibly low; managing risk; mindset; and MORE! And a tip of the week from Gary!   If you are someone who thinks it will be hard to purchase a home, this is the episode for you. House hacking is a strategy that allows you to find a home and help it pay for itself.    This episode proudly sponsored by Our Neighbourhood Realty - ONRI.ca    Realtors, are you looking for a brokerage that truly supports your growth? At Our Neighbourhood Realty, we offer training programs created by experienced agents to help you succeed. Our 'Pathfinder Course' is designed to guide you through the real estate landscape, giving you the tools and knowledge to excel. We also host events featuring top industry experts to ensure you stay ahead in this competitive market. Join a community that values mentorship, innovation, and your success. Visit ONRI.ca  to learn more and become part of our team today!   Please a leave a review, as it helps Gary understand if he's bringing on the right guests that you want to hear from!   To learn more about Gary's mentorship program, visit https://garyhibbert.ca 

 (From a TED talk, link at the end.)No law or regulation could stop to sell sex!Every regulation and law have made sex-workers unsafe and vulnerable:1.) For exploitation from the police, clients, pimps, and brothels.2.) Homicide through the clients, pimps, and brothels.3.) To take Drugs because of forced prostitution. 4.) Trafficking of immigrants, kids for prostitution and working under slavery.  This means the laws and regulations for prostitution were mainly created to exploit the women who like to have an extra income!!!Even if prostitution is allowed under specific rules… the laws make it unsafe…For instance, they stop a woman with condoms and when she is a not a registered prostitute she is going to jail! Makes that sex safe? Or if a female needs fast money… First, she needs to pay big money for the registration, health check… How can she pay for that? What is if you are a very poor woman from the Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and you need money for your kids, and one kid needs surgery? If you make prostitution, you are a bad woman and a criminal. If your child dies, you are a bad mother! If you work in an unlawful brothel, you lose your freedom…What is if you can't sleep with everybody and want to have a choice?  As a prostitute, you don't have a choice because it is dangerous to offer your service and it is difficult to choose!  If you can't choose your customer, it is much more dangerous.If the police get you, you get raped in any case, and you will go to jail. For instance, prostitution is forbidden in Thailand, and the police are making a fortune from the prostitutes. They have to pay 6000 THB every month to the police, the bar pays 20000 THB to the police, and the police can rape them… If the prostitutes can't work together with friends or a pimp like in England, they risk getting killed by their clients.In Sweden, it is forbidden to buy sex… Every prostitute like to have protection and safety. In Sweden, the Clients are afraid to tell their name… because they don't like to get punished through the law… And again the prostitutes live dangerously… Without knowing anything from their client, the prostitutes can easily be killed. Every law and every regulation leads to exploitation and to a risk for the prostitute. Because of that, New Zealand has decriminalized prostitution…. Still, this is not good enough. A prostitute should have the same rights as any other employee! My Video: Criminalization of Sex-workers doesn't work. https://youtu.be/TSdXTYyOTKEMy Audio: https://divinesuccess.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/Podcast.B/Criminalization-of-Sex-workers-doesn't-work..mp3

Join WhoSoc as we delve into the first episodes of the brand new season of Doctor Who, featuring Missbelindachandrabots, Alan Cumming and a bunch of Doctor Who fans (us) considering how Doctor Who considers how Doctor Who fans consider Doctor Who. Makes sense right?Featuring: Ollie, Cormac, Scout, J

Makes me SO MAD!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Many people are moving to other countries where the cost of living is lower and their money goes farther. This is called currency hacking or geo arbitrage, and many people are doing this to have more time and financial freedom. Makes economic sense, right? The question is: how do we practice geo arbitrage without being a colonizer asshole? In this episode I explore the underlying dynamics/attitudes/practices that contribute to the soft colonialism that is modern currency hacking and offer 8 ways to move to your dream country and also contribute to the people, culture, environment, and local economy of where you are being hosted. This is an ongoing exploration, not easy answers.  Download my 3-session money magnetism activation, PROSPER, to increase your financial confidence and cash flow:  https://ishavela.com    Apply to book your free financial strategy session: https://vortex-financial.ck.page/71853aa421   Apply to join my team of financial revolutionaries on a mission to empower women with financial education and resources: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScjU5QXtEnJiBA6kNK46JB4C9M5zJGOHhY2RsZJXwK66gYqjQ/viewform   Access free content on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@isha_vela   Follow me on IG:  https://www.instagram.com/isha_vela

Wow, we take one week off, and now we have twice as much to discuss! (Makes sense.) First, the Asian baseball world mourns the passing of Yomiuri Giants legend, Shigeo Nagashima, "Mr. Pro Baseball." Then, into the nitty gritty. With June underway, it's that time of the year for the trade rumor mill to get up and running...and it seems like almost all the Asians on the Red Sox are possible trade chips. In other moves, we've got guys called up, guys on rehab stints, guys on the IL, and even a guy on a new team.In position player news, Asians are MASHING. Seiya Suzuki is the first player in MLB to reach 50 RBI, Trevor Larnach is delivering on the Twins, Kim Hyeseong stays above 400, and Tommy Edman's son Eli is the newest Asian in Baseball as he throws out the first pitch on Dada's bobblehead night. And in pitching, Tommy Sugar still leads Orioles pitching, Yusei Kikuchi and Yoshinobu Yamamoto get the Ohtani treatment, and Bryan Woo and Kodai Senga remain dominant. Lastly, Ohtani tries to have it all as a three-way player: DHing, ramping up his pitching regimen, and juggling dad life. Don't forget to vote for our guys for the All Star Game! https://www.mlb.com/all-star/ballot?affiliateId=asb-mediawall-asg-2025

LA is burning again, but this time it's due to ICE. We cover the "grassroots" movement and the upcoming No Kings protests scheduled for this weekend. Coincidentally, there is a counter protest at yeskings.org. A couple of updates on the situation in Ukraine with some insider drone knowledge. Greta found her floatilla stunt cut short by the IDF. Israel and Iran want to destroy one another, but not on the Orange man's watch. RFK is the new Dr. Mengele according to a Facebook Tier Boomer take. Mark Rutte thinks Russia could eliminate Europe in the next 5 years. Turns out giving your kids phones is bad for their brains, perhaps consider a table saw instead? IDK, it was a weird week, but none the less MMO drops another banger.   Art: Woof has done it again with his rendition of (Hel) LA Think you can do better? Send your art to dan@mmo.show & john@mmo.show   Associate Executive Producers for MMO #173: John H. From Tennessee Cousin Vito Sam S. Of Bourblandia & Beargrass Eli the Coffee Guy, BUY COFFEE, USE CODE : OTO20 Sharky Shark Michael W. From Missouri Nail Lord of Gaylord Wiirdo   This weeks Boosters: tac | 2,222 | BAG DADDY BOOSTER! coincat | 1,902 mrh | 1,000 kvartbeerborn | 250   Dan's Sources: Colombia presidential hopeful shot in head at rally Russia unleashes record number of missiles and drones on Ukraine Iran claims it obtained secret Israeli nuclear and military documents, state media reports How Screen Time Is Damaging Your Childs Brain Massive 'No Kings' protest expected to rain on Donald Trump's (military) parade Rutte: 'Russia could be ready to use military force against NATO within five years' | DW News BREAKING: US military confirms 700 Marines deployed to Los Angeles as protests grow | BBC News Trump and Netanyahu discuss Iran in call as U.S. works toward nuclear deal IDF seizes Greta Thunberg’s Gaza boat—Makes her watch Hamas atrocities Colombia presidential hopeful shot in head at rally Russia unleashes record number of missiles and drones on Ukraine Iran claims it obtained secret Israeli nuclear and military documents, state media reports     John's Shownotes: HELL A            ABC Report            Who is Rioting            >>Map of Riots            Pick A Side Waters            ABC Fun Watching Cars            Weeeeeeeeee The People ISO            Calling Trump on You   Politics            >Trump Account would equal about $5,500 after 17 years using a 10.5% average annual return     Israel            Sanctions   Healthcare            CDC Vaccine Panel Canned   Ukraine            Bribes for Bodies   Media            ABC Terry Moran Suspended            Paramount 60 Min Update   Politic            Paul World Cringe   

Google is slow. Bob can't get into Streamyard, and his 1980s computer equipment is on the fritz. Tom's camera is turning itself off. Makes you feel like you're in the Twilight Zone. But not all is lost: the Tony awards were apparently surprisingly watchable. You know, if you actually like broadway theater.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

There is something about the upcoming Fantastic Four movie that just doesn't sit well with us. Makes us itchy in all the wrong places. On this episode we talk about it.

Occult reasons or blackmail, somebody better move. A brief word, good to be back. Hello. The Complacency will not hold. If Trump does not begin to arrest people for obvious crimes the Midterms, like the Titanic, sinks. A brief bit about why Musk was triggered and went after Trump. Makes sense.

Occult reasons or blackmail, somebody better move. A brief word, good to be back. Hello. The Complacency will not hold. If Trump does not begin to arrest people for obvious crimes the Midterms, like the Titanic, sinks. A brief bit about why Musk was triggered and went after Trump. Makes sense.

Occult reasons or blackmail, somebody better move. A brief word, good to be back. Hello. The Complacency will not hold. If Trump does not begin to arrest people for obvious crimes the Midterms, like the Titanic, sinks. A brief bit about why Musk was triggered and went after Trump. Makes sense.

These are ridiculously good and they just happen to be gluten-free! Chewy, densely rich and very, very moreish. Perfect to make for Coeliac Awareness Week – 9-14th June 2025. Makes 12–15 Ingredients 3/4 cup sugar 1 cup peanut butter 1 large egg 50g dark chocolate, roughly chopped 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional) Method Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a baking tray with baking paper. With an electric beater or a food processor, mix sugar, peanut butter and egg until combined. Add the chopped chocolate and vanilla and mix briefly. Roll dough into balls about the size of a walnut or golf ball, depending on how big you like your cookie. Flatten with your palm. Bake for 14–16 minutes, flattening again at the 8-minute mark. Cool on a rack. Store in an airtight container. Note: These cookies are very filling as the peanut butter adds plenty of protein. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Recently I was asked to review a forthcoming book for American Scientist magazine. The book was entitled, Sweet and Deadly: How Coca-Cola Spreads Disinformation and Makes us Sick. I did the review, and now that the book has been published, I'm delighted that its author, Murray Carpenter, has agreed to join us. Mr. Carpenter is a journalist and author whose work has appeared in publications such as the New York Times, and the Washington Post, and has been featured in places like NPR's All Things Considered and Morning Edition. Interview Summary So, let's start with your career overall. Your journalism has covered a wide range of topics. But a major focus has been on what people consume. First, with your book Caffeinated and now with Sweet and Deadly. What brought you to this interest? My interest in caffeine is longstanding. Like many of us, I consume caffeine daily in the form of coffee. And I just felt like with caffeine, many of us don't really discuss the fact that it is a drug, and it is at least a mildly addictive drug. And so, I became fascinated with that enough to write a book. And that really led me directly in an organic fashion to this project. Because when I would discuss caffeine with people, mostly they just kind of wanted the cliff notes. Is my habit healthy? You know, how much caffeine should I take? And, and in short, I would tell them, you know, if you don't suffer from anxiety or insomnia and you're consuming your caffeine in a healthy beverage, well, that's fine. But, what I realized, of course, is that by volume, the caffeinated beverage people consume most of is sodas. And so that led me to thinking more about sodas because I got a lot of questions about the caffeine in sodas. And that led me to realize just the degree to which they are unhealthful. We've all known sodas not to be a health food, but I think that the degree to which they are not healthy surprised me. And that's what led me to this book. Yes, there's some very interesting themes aren't there with addiction and manipulation of ingredients in order to get people hooked on things. So let's talk about Coca-Cola a bit. Your book focuses on Coca-Cola. It's right there in the title. And certainly, they're giants in the beverage field. But are there other reasons that led you to focus on them? Other than that, the fact that they're the biggest? They're the biggest and really almost synonymous with sodas worldwide. I mean, many people don't say ‘I want a pop, I want a soda.' They say, ‘I want a Coke.' I quote a source as saying that. You know, what that means is you want a sugar sweetened beverage. And it's not just that they're the most successful at this game, and the biggest. But as I started doing this research, I realized that they have also been the most aggressive and the most successful at this sort of disinformation that's the focus of the book. At generating these health campaigns, these science disinformation campaigns, we should say. This is not to say Pepsi and Dr. Pepper have not been at this game as well, and often through the American Beverage Association. But it is to say that I think Coca-Cola has been the most sophisticated. The most invested in these campaigns. And I would argue the most successful. And so, I really think it's a league apart and that's why I wanted to focus on Coca-Cola. That makes good sense. So, in reading your book, I was struck by the sheer number of ways Coca-Cola protected their business interest at the expense of public health and also the degree to which it was coordinated and calculated. Let's take several examples of such activities and discuss exactly what the company has done. And I'd love your opinion on this. One thing you noted that Coke acted partly through other organizations, one of which you just mentioned, the American Beverage Association. There were others where there was sort of a false sense of scientific credibility. Can you explain more about what Coke did in this area? Yes, and one of the organizations that I think is perhaps the exemplar of this behavior is the International Life Sciences Institute. It's a very successful, very well-funded group that purports to you know, improve the health of people, worldwide. It was founded by a Coca-Cola staffer and has, you know, essentially carried water for Coke for years through a variety of direct and indirect ways. But so front groups, the successful use of front groups: and this is to say groups that don't immediately appear to be associated, say with Coca-Cola. If you hear the International Life Sciences Institute, no one immediately thinks Coca-Cola, except for people who study this a lot. The International Food Information Council, another very closely related front group. This is one of the ways that Coke has done its work is through the use of front groups. And some of them are sort of these more temporary front groups that they'll establish for specific campaigns. For example, to fight soda taxes in specific areas. And they often have very anodyne names, and names again that don't directly link them to Coca-Cola or a beverage, the beverage industry. And the reason that this is so important and the reason this is so effective is journalists know if they were saying, Coca-Cola says soda isn't bad for you, of course that raises red flags. If they say, the International Life Sciences Institute says it's not bad for you, if they say the International Food Information Council says it's not bad for you. The use of front groups has been one of the very effective and persistent, strategies. It almost sounds like the word deception could be written the charter of these organizations, couldn't it? Because it was really meant to disguise Coca-Cola's role in these things from the very get go. That's right. Yes. And the deception runs very deep. One of the things that I happened onto in the course of reporting this book, Sweet and Deadly, is Coca-Cola two different times, organized three-day seminars on obesity in Colorado. These two attendees appeared to be sponsored by a press organization and the University of Colorado. They were funded and structured entirely at the behest of Coca-Cola. And it wasn't until after people had attended these seminars and reported stories based on the findings that they'd learned there. Much, much later did people find out that yes, actually these were Coca-Cola initiatives. So yes, deception, runs deep and it's a huge part of their public relations strategy. It's like reputation laundering, almost. Well, it is, and, you know, I make frequent analogies to the tobacco industry in the book. And I think one of the things that's important to remember when we're looking at tobacco and when we're looking at Coca-Cola, at the soda industry writ large, is that these are industries that are producing products that science now shows unequivocally are unhelpful. Even at moderate levels of consumption. So, in order for the industry to continue selling this product, to continue leading, they really have to fight back. It's imperative. It's a risk to their business model if they don't do something to fight the emerging health science. And so, yes, it's very important to them. You know, it's easy, I guess, to ascribe this kind of behavior to ill meaning people within these organizations. But it's almost written into the DNA of these organizations. I mean, you said they have to do this. So, it's pretty much be expected, isn't. It is. I think young people when they hear something like this, they often shrug and say capitalism. And, yes, there's something to that. But capitalism thrives also in a regulated environment. I think that's maybe a little bit too simplistic. But the aspect of it that does apply here is that Coca-Cola is in the business of selling sugar water. That's what they're there to do. Granted, they've diversified into other products, but they are in the business of selling sugar water. Anything that threatens that business model is a threat to their bottom line. And so, they are going to fight it tooth and nail. So how did Coca-Cola influence big health organizations like the World Health Organization and any equivalent bodies in the US? Well, so a few different ways. One of the ways that Coca-Cola has really extended its influence is again, through the use of the front groups to carry messages such as, you know, a calorie is a calorie. Calories and calories out. That's, that's one of the strategies. Another is by having allies in high places politically. And sometimes these are political appointees that happen to be associated with Coca-Cola. Other times these are politicians who are getting funding from Coca-Cola. But, yes, they have worked hard. I mean, the WHO is an interesting one because the WHO really has been out a little bit ahead of the more national bodies in terms of wanting soda taxes, et cetera. But there's a subtler way too, I think, that it influences any of these political entities and these science groups, is that Coca-Cola it's such an all-American beverage. I don't think we can overstate this. It's almost more American than apple pie. And I think we still have not sort of made that shift to then seeing it as something that's unhealthful. And I do think that that has, sort of, put the brakes slightly on regulatory actions here in the US. Let's talk about the Global Energy Balance Network, because this was an especially pernicious part of the overall Coca-Cola strategy. Would you tell us about that and how particular scientists, people of note in our field, by the way, were being paid large sums of money and then delivering things that supported industries positions. Yes. This was a Coca-Cola initiative. And we have to be clear on this. This was designed and created at the behest of Coca-Cola staffers. This was an initiative that was really an effort to shift the balance to the calories outside of the equation. So energy balance is one of these, sort of, themes that Coca-Cola and other people have, sort of, made great hay with. And this idea would be just calories and calories out. That's all that matters. If you're just balanced there, everything else is to be okay. We can talk about that later. I think most of your listeners probably understand that, you know, a calorie of Coca-Cola is not nutritionally equivalent to a calorie of kale. But that's what the Global Energy Balance Network was really trying to focus on. And yes, luminaries in the field of obesity science, you know, Stephen Blair at the University of South Carolina, Jim Hill, then at the University of Colorado's Anschutz Center, the Global Energy Balance Network funded their labs with more than a million dollars to specifically focus on this issue of energy balance. Now, what was deceptive here, and I think it's really worth noting, is that Coca-Cola developed this project. But once it developed the project and gave the funding, it did not want to be associated with it. It wasn't the Global Energy Balance Network 'brought to you by Coca-Cola.' It appeared to be a freestanding nonprofit. And it looked like it was going to be a very effective strategy for Coca-Cola, but it didn't turn out that way. So, we'll talk about that in a minute. How much impact did this have? Did it matter that Coke gave money to these several scientists you mentioned? Well, I think yes. I think in the broader scheme of things that every increment of scientific funding towards this side matters. You know, people talk about the science of industrial distraction or industrial selection. And, you know, partly this is this idea that even if you're funding legitimate science, right, but it's focused on this ‘calories outside of the equation,' it's sucking up some of the oxygen in the room. Some of the public conversation is going to be shifted from the harmful effects of a product, say Coca-Cola, to the benefits of exercise. And so, yes, I think all of this kind of funding can make a difference. And it influences public opinion. So how close were the relationships between the Coca-Cola executives and the scientist? I mean, did they just write them a check and say, go do your science and we will let you come up with whatever you will, or were they colluding more than that? And they were colluding much more than that. And I've got a shout out here to the Industry Documents Library at the University of California at San Francisco, which is meticulously archived. A lot of the emails that show all of the interrelationships here. Yes, they were not just chatting cordially - scientists to Coca-Cola Corporation. They were mutually developing strategies. They were often ready at a moment's notice to appear at a press conference on Coca-Cola's behalf. So, yes, it was a very direct, very close relationship that certainly now that we see the conversations, it's unseemly at best. How did this all come to light? Because you said these documents are in this archive at UCSF. How did they come to light in the first place and how did shining light on this, you know, sort of pseudo-organization take place? Well, here we have to credit, New York Times reporter, now at the Washington Post, Anahad O'Connor, who did yeoman's work to investigate the Global Energy Balance Network. And it was his original FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests that got a lot of these emails that are now in the industry document library. He requested these documents and then he built his story in large part off of these documents. And it was a front-page New York Times expose and, Coke had a lot of egg on its face. It's then CEO, even apologized, you know, in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal. And you know, the sort of a secondary aspect of this is after this funding was exposed, Coca-Cola was pressured to reveal other health funding that it had been spending money on. And that was, I think over a few years like $133 million. They spread their money around to a lot of different organizations and in some cases the organizations, it was just good will. In other cases, you had organizations that changed their position on key policy initiatives after receiving the funding. But it was a lot of money. So, the Global Energy Balance Network, it is sort of opened a chink in their armor and gave people a view inside the machine. And there's something else that I'd love to mention that I think is really important about the Global Energy Balance Network and about that initiative. As Coca-Cola seems, and this became clear in the reporting of the book over and over again, they seem always to be three moves ahead on the chess board. They're not just putting out a brush fires. They're looking way down the road. How do we head off the challenge that we're facing in public opinion? How do we head off the challenge we're facing in terms of soda science? And in many cases, they've been very, very effective at this. Were Coca-Cola's efforts mainly to influence policies and things in the US or did they have their eyes outside the US as well? I focused the book, the reporting of the book, really on Coca-Cola in the US. And also, and I just want to mention this tangentially, it's also focused not on non-nutritive sweetened beverages, but the sugary beverages. It's pretty tightly focused. But yes, Coca-Cola, through other organizations, particularly the International Life Sciences Institute, has very much tried to influence policy say in China, for example, which is a huge market. So yes, they've exported this very successful PR strategy globally. So, the corporate activities, like the ones you describe in your book, can be pretty clearly damaging to the public's health. What in the heck can be done? I mean, who will the change agents be? And do you think there's any hope of curtailing this kind of dreadful activity? Well, this is something I thought about a lot. One of the themes of the book is that the balance of public opinion has never tipped against Coca-Cola. And we talked about this earlier, that it's still seen as this all American product. And we see with other industries and other products. So, you know, Philip Morris, smoking, Marlboro. Eventually the balance of public opinion tips against them and people accept that they're unhealthful and that they've been misleading the public. The same thing happened for Exxon and climate change, Purdue pharma and Oxycontin. It's a pattern we see over and over again. With Coca-Cola, it hasn't tipped yet. And I think once it does, it will be easier for public health advocates to make their case. In terms of who the change agents might be, here we have a really interesting conversation, right? Because the foremost change agent right now looks like it's RFK Jr. (Robert F. Kennedy), which is pretty remarkable and generates an awful lot of shall we say, cognitive dissonance, right? Because both the spending of SNAP Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funds for sodas, he's opposed to that. He has just as recently as the week before last called sugar poison. He said sugar is poison. These are the kinds of very direct, very forceful, high level, initiatives that we really haven't seen at a federal level yet. So, it's possible that he will be nudging the balance. And it puts, of course, everybody who's involved, every public health advocate, I think, who is involved with this issue in a slightly uncomfortable or very uncomfortable position. Yes. You know, as I think about the kind of settings where I've worked and this conflict-of-interest problem with scientists taking money and doing things in favor of industry. And I wonder who the change agents are going to be. It's a pretty interesting picture comes with that. Because if you ask scientists whether money taints research, they'll say yes. But if you ask, would it taint your research, they'll say no. Because of course I am so unbiased and I'm so pure that it really wouldn't affect what I do. So, that's how scientists justify it. Some scientists don't take money from industry and there are no problems with conflicts of interest. But the ones who do can pretty easily justify it along with saying things like, well, I can help change the industry from within if I'm in the door, and things like that. The universities can't really police it because universities are getting corporate funding. Maybe not from that particular company, but overall. Their solution to this is the same as the scientific journals, that you just have to disclose. The kind of problem with disclosure as I see it, is that it - sort of editorializing here and you're the guest, so I apologize for intruding on that - but the problem with disclosure is that why do you need to disclose something in the first place because there's something potentially wrong? Well, the solution then isn't disclose it, it's not to do it. And disclosing is like if I come up and kick you in the leg, it's okay if I disclose it? I mean, it's just, there's something sort of perverse about that whole system. Journals there, you know, they want disclosure. The big scientific association, many of them are getting money from industry as well. So, industry has so permeated the system that it's hard to think about who can have any impact. And I think the press, I think it's journalists like you who can make a difference. You know, it wasn't the scientific organizations or anything else that got in the way of the Global Energy Balance Network. It was Anahad O'Connor writing in the New York Times, and all the people who were involved in exposing that. And you with your book. So that's sort of long-winded way of saying thank you. What you've done is really important and there are precious few change agents out there. And so, we have to rely on talented and passionate people like you to get that work done. So, thank you so much for sharing it with us. Let me just end with one final question. Do you see any reason to be optimistic about where this is all going? I do. And I've got to say maybe you're giving scientists a little bit of short shrift here. Because, as the science develops, as it becomes more compelling and a theme of the book is that soda science really, over the past 15, 20 years has become more compelling. More unequivocal. We know the harms and, you know, you can quantify them and identify them more specifically than say, 15 years ago. So, I think that's one thing that can change. And I think slowly you're seeing, greater public awareness. I think the real challenge, in terms of getting the message out about the health risks, is that you really see like a bifurcated consumption of Coca-Cola. There are many people who are not consuming any Coca-Cola. And then you have a lot of people who are consuming, you know, say 20 ounces regularly. So, there is a big question of how you reach this other group of people who are still high consumers of Coca-Cola. And we know and you know this well from your work, that soda labeling is one thing that works and that soda taxes are another. I think those are things to look out for coming down the pike. I mean, obviously other countries are ahead of us in terms of both of these initiatives. One of the things occurred to me as you were speaking earlier, you mentioned that your book was focused on the sugared beverages. Do you think there's a similar story to be told about deception and deceit with respect to the artificial sweeteners? I suspect so, you know. I haven't done the work, but I don't know why there wouldn't be. And I think artificial sweeteners are in the position that sugary beverages were 10 to 15 years ago. There's a lag time in terms of the research. There is increasing research showing the health risks of these beverages. I think people who are public health advocates have been loath to highlight these because they're also a very effective bridge from sugar sweetened beverages to no sugar sweetened beverages. And I think, a lot of people see them as a good strategy. I do think there probably is a story to tell about the risks of non-nutritive sweeteners. So, yes. I can remind our listeners that we've done a series of podcasts, a cluster of them really, on the impact of the artificial sweeteners. And it's pretty scary when you talk to people who really understand how they're metabolized and what effects they have on the brain, the microbiome, and the rest of the body. Bio Murray Carpenter is a journalist and author whose stories have appeared in the New York Times, Wired, National Geographic, NPR, and PRI's The World. He has also written for the Boston Globe, the Christian Science Monitor, and other media outlets. He holds a degree in psychology from the University of Colorado and a Master of Science in environmental studies from the University of Montana, and has worked as a medical lab assistant in Ohio, a cowboy in Colombia, a farmhand in Virginia, and an oil-exploring “juggie” in Wyoming. He lives in Belfast, Maine. He is the author of Caffeinated: How Our Daily Habit Helps, Hurts, and Hooks Us and Sweet and Deadly: How Coca-Cola Spread

Episode 260 for the week of June 2nd, 2025 ... and this is what is going on in our Disney World...Reminder: the 2025 ParkStop Stop Hate Fundraiser is live! >> Link

Author and financial expert, Chris Whelan, joins Keith as they explore the intricacies of the housing market's potential future. Chris drops an intriguing prediction of a possible 20% price correction. They dive deep into the complex world of real estate, examining the pandemic's significant impact on mortgages and economic trends. The conversation reveals the behind-the-scenes challenges of the housing market, from government interventions to the nuanced effects of interest rates and forbearance programs. They unpack the struggles in commercial real estate, particularly highlighting the unique challenges in markets like New York's rent-controlled properties. Chris's new book "Inflated: Money, Debt, and the American Dream" promises an insightful journey through America's economic transformation, tracing how the nation evolved from an agrarian society to a global economic powerhouse. Show Notes: GetRichEducation.com/556 For access to properties or free help with a GRE Investment Coach, start here: GREmarketplace.com GRE Free Investment Coaching: GREinvestmentcoach.com Get mortgage loans for investment property: RidgeLendingGroup.com or call 855-74-RIDGE  or e-mail: info@RidgeLendingGroup.com Invest with Freedom Family Investments.  You get paid first: Text FAMILY to 66866 Will you please leave a review for the show? I'd be grateful. Search “how to leave an Apple Podcasts review”  For advertising inquiries, visit: GetRichEducation.com/ad Best Financial Education: GetRichEducation.com Get our wealth-building newsletter free— text ‘GRE' to 66866 Our YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/c/GetRichEducation Follow us on Instagram: @getricheducation Complete episode transcript:   Automatically Transcribed With Otter.ai    Keith Weinhold  0:01   Welcome to GRE. I'm your host. Keith Weinhold, what's the state of the housing market for the next five years, and could what's happening in the foreclosure market affect it? I see relative housing market price stability. My guest sees cracks. This could be somewhat of a debate today, then two great new cash flow and real estate markets in the same state that we're helping your portfolio with on get rich education, mid south home buyers, I mean, they're total pros, with over two decades as the nation's highest rated turnkey provider. Their empathetic property managers use your ROI as their North Star. So it's no wonder that smart investors just keep lining up to get their completely renovated income properties like it's the newest iPhone. They're headquartered in Memphis and have globally attractive cash flows and A plus rating with the Better Business Bureau and now over 5000 houses renovated. There's zero markup on maintenance. Let that sink in, and they average a 98.9% occupancy rate, while their average renter stays more than three and a half years. Every home they offer has brand new components, a bumper to bumper, one year warranty, new 30 year roofs. And wait for it, a high quality renter, remember that part and in an astounding price range, 100 to 180k I've personally toured their office and their properties in person in Memphis, get to know Mid South. Enjoy cash flow from day one. Start yourself right now at mid southhomebuyers.com that's mid south homebuyers.com.   Corey Coates  1:56   You're listening to the show that has created more financial freedom than nearly any show in the world. This is get rich education.   Keith Weinhold  2:12   Welcome to GRE from Edison, New Jersey to Edinburgh, Scotland, where I am today, and across 188 nations worldwide, I'm Keith Weinhold, and you are back for another wealth building week on get rich education. Today's guest came to me recommended. It came from a guest that we've had on the show here before, Jim Rickards and his daughter Ally Rickards. His name is Christopher Whelan. He has a distinguished background. Comes from a prominent family, and he's the author of a new book that just published a few weeks ago. His father, Richard Whelan, was the biographer of Joe Kennedy, and was advisor to presidents and Fed chairman and today's guest, his son there, Chris. He has done a lot of work in DC. He lives just north of New York City today. So I guess coming recommended from Jim Rickards and learning a few things about today's guest helped me want to host him on the show. So though I'm just meeting him for the first time right here on the show, as it turns out, I learned that he has mentioned on other channels that real estate prices could correct down 20% and fall back to 2020 levels. I absolutely don't see how that's possible in any way. I'm going to bring that up with him, so we'll see. This could turn into somewhat of a debate. Like I said last week, I believe that significantly falling housing prices. That's about as likely as grocery store prices falling back to 2020 levels. Yes, I am in Edinburgh, Scotland today. It's my first time here. My mom, dad and also my brother's entire family came over from the US to meet up. It's been great. We're taking in all the best sites, Edinburgh Castle, other castles, the Scottish Highlands, Loch Ness, though I don't believe in any Loch Ness monster at all. I mean, come on, what a hoax. And we're seeing some other sites, though it didn't really interest the others, which I could understand. I visited the home where Adam Smith once resided, and I might put my video about that on our get rich education YouTube channel, so you could check that out over there. Of course, Adam Smith is considered the father of modern day economics for his work on supply versus demand and the GDP concept, the invisible hand, concept, much of that work conveyed in his magnum opus, The Wealth of Nations, published in 1776 as for the present day, let's meet this week's guest, including me, meeting him for the first time.     I'd like to welcome in a first time guest. He's the author of a widely acclaimed new book. It's named inflated money, debt and the American dream. It just released, and the book couldn't be more timely with the multitude of challenges related to inflation, many involving the housing market in his earlier books, he's been known, frankly, for just telling his readers the truth. He's worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in politics and as an investment banker for more than 30 years. Today, he runs Whalen Global Advisors. You've seen him on CNBC in the Wall Street Journal, and now you're hearing him on GRE Welcome to the show. Chris Whalen.   Chris Whalen  5:43   Thank you, Keith, appreciate your invitation.    Keith Weinhold  5:45   Whalen is spelled W, H, A, l, e, n, if you're listening in the audio only, Hey, Chris, we're in a really interesting time in the economic cycle. We all know the Fed has a dual mandate, high employment and stable prices. What's interesting to me is, late last year, they cut rates by a full 1% and this is despite inflation being above target. Makes me wonder if they care more about high employment and they're rather willing to let inflation float higher. What are your thoughts?    Chris Whalen  6:18   I think historically, that's been the case. You know, the dual mandate Humphrey Hawkins, that drives the Fed's actions today was a largely socialist compromise between the Republicans and the Democrats. The Democrats wanted to guarantee everybody a job after World War Two, the legislation was really about soldiers and people who had served their country in many, you know, places around the world, for a long time, and then you would have the depression. So you had a whole generation or more of people that were looking for help when they came home. And that's what this was. But today, you know, there's another mandate, which is called keeping the treasury bond market open. We saw it was during COVID in 2020 President Trump got up, declared that people didn't have to pay their rent or their mortgages, and then didn't do anything. There was no follow up. At the time, folks in mortgage industry kind of looked at each other funny for about 60 days and said, What's going to happen? Because they have to advance principal, interest, taxes and insurance to protect the house. The first rule in mortgage finances protect the asset. But it all worked because the Fed dropped interest rates to zero and we had a boom. We refinanced two thirds of every mortgage in the United States, and that cash flow allowed the finance forbearance for millions of Americans. Now the unfortunate part, of course, was home prices went up double digits for six years. So why we had no affordability today? So, you know, it helped, but it certainly didn't help in some ways,   Keith Weinhold  7:48   mortgage loan forbearance back in the COVID era about five years ago, where you could basically just skip your mortgage payment and then they increase the overall duration of your loan period.   Chris Whalen  8:00   That's right. So you know, your government market, your conforming market, were falling. They also had various schemes, state forbearance for non agency loans. Nobody thought at all about the multifamily sector and the developers that didn't get paid for two years. And we're feeling the impact of that. Of course, today, that's probably the biggest pain point in US economy today is commercial real estate and multi family real estate, and neither one of them involves a consumer. So it gets no attention at all. You read about it in the specialty press, but that's about it.    Keith Weinhold  8:34   And by talking about multi family not affecting the consumer, you're just talking about who's on the owner side there?   Chris Whalen  8:40   precisely if all of the consumers have problems, you'd hear about it, and you do, especially in some of the blue states. I live in New York, so we have some of the more aggressive rent stabilization, rent control laws in the country. And they go back to World War Two. They go back almost a century,   Keith Weinhold  8:58   right? It's those people in the one to four unit space in residential real estate investing that really got the help there.    Chris Whalen  9:06   Well, at least, you know, the world didn't end. Imagine if all of those people had gone to foreclosure. The industry wouldn't have done that. Of course, they would have thrown up their hands and cried for help. But the point is, they made it work. But the cost of making it work that zero interest rate regime that the Fed put in place is still being felt today. If you look at banks which typically have prime large mortgages on their books, the loss given default is zero. Home prices are so high that if somebody actually goes to foreclosure, they sell the house, they pay off the loan easily, and there's usually a large residual left, which would go to the homeowner. So today, you know, if somebody gets in trouble, we do a short sale, we do a deed in lieu, and off they go. And that's why the stats don't show you the pain that many American families are feeling today, because about 60% of all payoffs of one to four family mortgages are people who. Are exiting the market, they're not going to buy another house. So what that means is that the cost of home ownership, or whatever other factors are involved, has made them make the decision not to go to another home mortgage.    Keith Weinhold  10:13   Yes, we have this historically low affordability that's beginning to be reflected in the home ownership rate. It's trended down from about 66 to 65% recently, we continue to be in this environment here, Chris in the one to four unit space, where those existing homeowners are in really good shape. They have record high equity levels of over 300k A lot of them have their home paid off. About 40% of American homeowners own their home free and clear, and of the remainder, those borrowers, 82% still have a mortgage rate of under 5% and of course, that principal and interest payment stays fixed. So even if there's economic hardship, it's pretty easy for people to make their payments and stay in their homes.   Chris Whalen  11:02   Well, it certainly is for most of the marketplace. If you look at the bottom 20% the FHA market, also the VA market, there's a little more stress there. There's still an awful lot of people who are in various types of forbearance in that market. That's going to end in October. So the Trump administration is pushing most of the rules back to pre COVID approaches for delinquency, for example, what we call the waterfall. And what that basically means is that if an FHA borrower gets in trouble, they'll have one shot at a modification where they lower the loan cost and stick part of the loan out the back to be paid off when the house is sold. If that doesn't take, if they don't re perform, then they're going to go to a foreclosure. We just ended another program for veterans. You know, they had three weeks notice, so now you're going to see a lot of veterans going to foreclosure. Unfortunately.   Keith Weinhold  11:56   yes, this administration is basically making sure that people are responsible or resume their payments. We've seen that student loan repayments needing to resume as well. Most foreclosure rate types are still pretty low, but yes, FHA foreclosure rates are higher than those for conventional loans.    Chris Whalen  12:15   Yeah, the interesting thing is, the veterans delinquency rate is half of the FHA rate, and even though people in uniform don't make a lot of money, they pay their bills. Yeah, it's quite striking.   Keith Weinhold  12:25   Why don't you talk to us more about areas where you see distress in the housing market before we talk about more inflation? Chris, the   Chris Whalen  12:34   key areas of housing stress at the moment are commercial real estate that has become underutilized. COVID drove a lot of this, but also the fact that industries could change their work practices. It could have people work from home. Look at housing. We sent everybody home in 2020 while we increased headcount by a third to address a surge in lending volume. It was insane. I gotta tell you, we were hiring people that we didn't see for months that changed the business model assumptions for a lot of industries. A lot of them moved out of blue states and went down to Florida and Texas. In the mortgage industry particularly, and so we have a lot of older real estate particularly, that is suffering. It has dropped in terms of appraised values. You also have higher interest rates and higher cap rates, that is to say the assumption of returns on the part of investors. So that hurdle has made a lot of these properties impaired, essentially. And then the other subclass is older multifamily properties. Think about those beautiful old apartments in the middle block up on the east side or the west side of Manhattan. They're not big enough to be viable, and so they have become this kind of subprime asset class, much in the way if you recall the signature bank failure, they typically bank these sorts of real estate properties, and now there's nobody that wants them. I think you're going to see some very specific pain coming out of HUD, and also Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac because they bank some of these smaller properties that really aren't bankable by commercial banks. That's what it comes down to. If you're going to read about this and hear about it a lot in the commercial market over next several years. And again, you know, the losses on bank owned multifamily properties today are averaging 100% so that means that there are a lot that have more expenses than simply losing the full loan amount. And you know, if you want to have a bank loan, they're not taking these properties. They don't want them, right? So the bank, REO rate, if you look at the data from the FDIC, is zero. And what that tells you is that they can't sell the properties they don't want them, because if they take ownership, the city's not going to let them abandon the property. They'll have to keep it and maintain it. It's a tough situation. This is. Has evolved over the last 20 years or so, because consumer incomes have been kind of stagnant in real terms. But the cost of operating a property in New York City is not going down. It's going up quite a lot, and the legislation we've seen from Albany doesn't allow owners to recapture expenses, doesn't allow them to renovate apartments. So if I have a rent stabilized apartment, I'll use a real example, in a beautiful building on Central Park South right, to renovate a unit that's been occupied for 20 years, new kitchen, new bathroom, sir, everything services. That's $150,000 so if I'm the owner and I can't recapture that cost. What do I do? I lock the door, I gut the apartment, and I lock the door, and I hope that the laws will change in the future, because I can't rent it, my insurance underwriter will not allow me to rent out an apartment that's not brought up to code. That's New York law, but the folks in Albany don't care about that. We have some really unreasonable people in positions of authority, unfortunately, in some of these states, and you talk to them about these issues, and they don't care. They just pander to consumers, regardless of whether or not it makes sense or not. And that's just the way it is.   Keith Weinhold  16:15   Those evil landlords, quote, unquote, most right evil. They're just mom and pop investors that are trying to beat inflation with real assets, and they have real expenses. Rent Stabilization basically just being a genteel term for rent control, which gives no one an incentive to improve a property for sure   Chris Whalen  16:35   and it reduces the availability of housing ultimately, because nobody builds. You see that in New York right now the home market is pretty tight, up to the conforming limit for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac so you figure a million, 1,000,002 here in New York. But above that, it's quieted down quite a lot. There's compression in some of the higher end homes. And you know, if you go down south, you see a different problem, which is over building. They didn't want to build here, so they went down to the Carolinas and Texas and Florida. There's a huge amount of both multi family condo type developments and single family homes too. But above that average price level way above half a million dollars.   Keith Weinhold  17:15   Sure, it's made this dynamic where things have been flip flopped in the Northeast and Midwest, where the populations aren't growing very fast, those markets have been appreciating more than those in the high growth southeast, all coming back to supply. They're not bringing on enough new supply in the Northeast and Midwest, Chris has just laid out a few reasons for that, due to this high regulation. And then in the southeast, a high growth area, even though that's where people are moving, we're not getting much appreciation there, because you're able to build and that supply is able to keep up with demand. Well, Chris and I are going to talk more about the housing market and about inflation. When we come back, you're listening to get rich education. Our guest is Chris Whelan, the author of a great new book. I'm your host. Keith Weinhold.   the same place where I get my own mortgage loans is where you can get yours. Ridge lending group and MLS, 42056, they provided our listeners with more loans than anyone because they specialize in income properties. They help you build a long term plan for growing your real estate empire with leverage. Start your pre qual and even chat with President Caeli Ridge personally. While it's on your mind, start at Ridge lendinggroup.com. That's Ridge lendinggroup.com.    You know what's crazy? Your bank is getting rich off of you. The average savings account pays less than 1% it's like laughable. Meanwhile, if your money isn't making at least 4% you're losing to inflation. That's why I started putting my own money into the FFI liquidity fund. It's super simple. Your cash can pull in up to 8% returns and it compounds. It's not some high risk gamble like digital or AI stock trading. It's pretty low risk because they've got a 10 plus year track record of paying investors on time in full every time. I mean, I wouldn't be talking about it if I wasn't invested myself. You can invest as little as 25k and you keep earning until you decide you want your money back. No weird lockups or anything like that. So if you're like me and tired of your liquid funds just sitting there doing nothing, check it out. Text family to 66866, to learn about freedom. Family investments, liquidity fund again. Text family to 66866.   Kathy Fettke  19:45   this is the real wealth network's Kathy Fettke, and you are listening to the always valuable get rich education with Keith Weinhold.    Keith Weinhold  20:00   You welcome back to get rich education. We're talking with the author of a great new book, Chris Whelan, it's called inflated money, debt and the American dream. Chris, I see the residential housing market and their price points as being resilient. I'm kind of looking around and seeing if you have any places where you think that there are any cracks in that? I've heard you talk elsewhere about a housing price correction. Were you talking in the one to four unit space? And how do you think that could happen?   Chris Whalen  20:31   I didn't come up with that idea. I did a biography of my good friend Stan middleman, who's the founder of freedom mortgage. It's a real rags to riches story of a successful entrepreneur, a great guy, by the way, is a beloved man in the mortgage industry. And so what he believes is that cycles are about a decade in terms of human behavior. And he says misery on the eights, which is kind of a cute way of saying it. And what Stan is basically saying is you eventually see so much price appreciation that affordability goes to zero. You run out of buyers, is another way to put it. And then once the Fed gooses it, he thinks we see an interest rate decline this year next year, perhaps you get rates to run a little bit. You get volumes to jump the way they did last summer. You remember, in the third quarter, we had great volumes in the mortgage industry, carried everybody through to the end of the year, and then after that, he says, we get a price correction, maybe back down to 2020 21 levels. So we're talking about a 20% price correction, and we're talking about the loans that have been made in the last few years being underwater. That's something we haven't talked about in a long time. We haven't talked about that since 2008 so I think that Americans inevitably have to see some kind of a correction. What the Fed did was wrong, what they did was excessive. I write about that in the end of my book, but unfortunately, the result is home prices that have galloped along, and eventually you got to reset it. Part of its supply coming online. Part of it is simply, like, I say, you run out of buyers, and when it's simply that purchase buyer who is either all cash or happens to have the deposit, and that's all you have. And there's no flexibility for people that want to get into the market. You know, that's tough. I could recall Paul Volcker years ago, we were talking about that in the book too. He ratcheted down home prices. He raised interest rates so much that home prices went down, and a lot of builders went out of business who had had a lot of snls go out of business, and, you know, the previous decade. So that was a tough time. We didn't even start to do that this time around, because they were afraid to the Fed is worried about keeping the Treasury market open, so they are afraid of deflation, which unfortunately means you don't get those opportunities to get into the market. I remember my parents, when I was very young, they would buy busted homes in Washington, DC. It was a great way to make a lot of money, and in five years, the House would double. That's the kind of market Washington was   Keith Weinhold  23:05   in my opinion, I don't see how there could be any substantial residential home price correction. Historically that happens when there's a wide swath of homeowners that get into financial trouble, like I was talking about earlier, the homeowner is in great financial shape today. In fact, since World War Two, we've only seen home prices drop substantially during one period. That was that period around 2008 and that's when we had conditions that are opposite of what they are today. We had loans underwritten with liar loans. We had an over supply of homes, like I was saying earlier, inflation can't touch one's principal and interest payment. We're still under supplied with homes. Most experts don't think we'll get that into balance for at least five years. I really don't see how home prices could fall substantially. I also don't see how they could rise substantially, like, say, 10% due to that low affordability, but I expect continued stability in prices?    Chris Whalen  24:02   Well, we'll see. I'm not as sanguine about that, because a lot of people feel house rich on paper, but when the bottom of the stack is really hurting as it is now, FHA delinquency rates really are in probably the mid teens. You don't see that yet in the middle with the 727, 40 FICO type borrowers. But I think over time you could, and if, again, it depends on the economy and some other factors, but I'll tell you right now, you're already seeing a correction in the hyad the bottom half, no. And there's a supply problem here, which I agree with you on. It's going to keep those home price is pretty firm. And even where I am in New York, for God's sake, Keith, there's no construction here. So we just had a house across the street from me go from million one. I live in Sleepy, hollow New York, and you know, this is typically around the conforming limit for prices for most of these homes, and it went for 150 $1,000 over the ask, it was crazy. Went in two weeks now, during COVID, we saw this sort of behavior, and we thought, Well, okay, you had zero interest rates. I got a 3% mortgage, by the way, awesome. But here we have a situation when markets cooled down a lot, and yet the lack of availability is really the driver. So in that sense, I agree with you, but I do think the high end could correct rather substantially.   Keith Weinhold  25:24    And of course, in multi family apartments, that's different. That's where values in a lot of markets have been depressed by more than 30% they were subject to those interest rates being jacked up, and we're still going to see balloon loans mature and people default on those in apartments. The pain is not over with air, but at some point that's going to bottom out, and that'll be a buyer opportunity in apartments.   Chris Whalen  25:47    Well, the thing is, new stuff is going fine. It's what happens is when the new gets built, the older assets down the road get discounted. That's really what's going on. People love new as you know, these kids love a new house, as opposed to an older house.   Keith Weinhold  26:02   Yes, that'll help reset the prices in the new market when you can compare those to what existing values are. Well, Chris, talk to us more about your new book and what the overall thesis of the book is in these critical times.    Chris Whalen  26:16   Inflated is meant to help people understand how our country went from agrarian, sleepy, isolationist America in the 1900s to being the dominant economy in the world and the provider of global money. We talk about how we got here. We talk about Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt and many other characters. Obviously, we had to talk about Andrew Jackson, who is now embodied in our president, Donald Trump. We try and frame how this is all going to evolve in the future. And my thesis is basically the global currency role is something you get during or after a war. We took the baton from Great Britain after the First World War, and then by the end of World War Two, everybody in the world was broke, except for us. It was last man standing. And so rebuilt the world. We let everybody take advantage of us, and now President, who's saying, Nope, we got to change this. I think if it wasn't Trump, it would be somebody else. To be honest with you, Americans are tired of high inflation. They're tired of some of the other costs that come along with being the global reserve currency, so we try and frame all of this in an understandable way. And I particularly talk about housing during COVID and how that all really, I think, changed things for many Americans. Home ownership has been one of the basic ways we create wealth in this country, and the fact that we didn't have an opportunity for people to get in cheap with a fixer upper or a house that was foreclosed. You know, I think it's unfortunate, but the system just can't tolerate it. We've gone in 2008 and then in 2020 through two very significant crises when the government bond market stopped working. So we talk about that as well.   Keith Weinhold  28:03   I don't predict interest rates. I think it is really difficult to do you mentioned earlier about the prospect for lower interest rates coming. Everyone wants to know about coming. What's your outlook for the future of interest rates and inflation for just say the next five years? Chris,    Chris Whalen  28:19   I think interest rates will drop. That is to say what the Fed controls, which is short term interest rates. In the next year or so, we'll have a little bit of a boom as a result. But I think the concern about the federal deficit and US debt, the volatility caused by President Trump's trade strategy, and just general I think a sense of uncertainty among investors is going to keep long term interest rates higher than we saw during COVID And really the whole period since 2008 the Fed bought a lot of duration and took it out of the market, so they kept rates low. They're not going to do that as much in the future. I don't think they'll buy mortgage securities again, they are very chastened by that experience. So if they don't buy mortgage backed securities, and if the banks don't become more aggressive buyers, and I don't think they will, then you know, the marginal demand that would drive mortgage rates down is just not going to be there. Banks have been holding fewer and fewer mortgages and mortgage backed securities on their books for 35 years. If you look at the growth in the industry, the dollar amount of one to four family mortgages hasn't changed very much. So when you look at it that way, it's like, you know what's wrong? Two things. They want to only make mortgages to affluent households. They want to avoid headline risk and litigation and fines and all of that. And I think also, too some of the Basel capital rules for banks discourage them from holding mortgages and mortgage servicing rights, which is an area I work in quite a lot.   Keith Weinhold  29:55   It seems to me, like increasingly, the powers. It be the United States government just won't let the homeowner fail. They want to do so much to promote home ownership over the long term, we see relative ease with getting a mortgage. We've seen lower down payment requirements during other times, including COVID. We see the government jump in with things like mortgage loan forbearance and an eviction moratorium for renters. They just don't want to let people lose their homes. It just seems like there's more propensity to give homeowners a greater safety net than ever. Well,   Chris Whalen  30:29   we've turned it into an entitlement. Yeah, and Trump is changing that at the federal level. The states, the blue states, are going to continue to play that game at the state level, and they can even have state moratoria. But what's going to happen, and I think sooner rather than later, is you may see the federal agencies start to tier the states in terms of servicing fees, simply to reflect the cost. It takes over 1400 days to do a foreclosure in New York. Gosh, that is a big problem. You can lose the lien in New York now, it takes so long. So I think that, you know, from an investor perspective, from a developer perspective, it's not an attractive venue. That's just the reality. Then you even California is as progressive and as activists as it is, you can still get a foreclosure done very quickly using the trustees. It's just a totally different situation. If there are complications, you can get into a judicial foreclosure, which will take longer. But still, California works. New York is deliberately dysfunctional. We have people in the state legislature who are in foreclosure themselves, and they keep passing these laws. So, you know, I think at the federal level, you're going to see it roll back to pre COVID, but I will say that forbearance, both with respect to the agency and conventional market and private loans, is kind of the rule. Now we work with the borrower much more than we would in the past. It's it is really night and day.   Keith Weinhold  32:00   Chris, your new book has gotten a lot of acclaim. Let us know anything else that we should know about this book, and then if we can get it in all the usual places   Chris Whalen  32:10   you can buy it at Barnes and Noble Amazon. I have a page on my website, RC, waylon.com, with all the relevant links. But the online is the best way to get it. Most of the sales are on Kindle anyway, but well over 90% are online, so we don't have to worry about physical books. I think we'll be doing some book signings in the New York area. So we'll definitely let you know about that.   Keith Weinhold  32:33   One last thought is that the rate of inflation means more to a real estate investor than it does to a layperson, maybe five times as much or more, because when we borrow for an income property, our asset floats up with inflation. That part's really just a hedge on inflation. Our debt gets debased by inflation, which is really a mechanism for profiting from inflation over time. And then, thirdly, our cash flow tends to go up even faster than the rate of inflation, since our principal and interest stays fixed, so real estate investors can often be the beneficiary of inflation. It's sort of strange to go root for a force like inflation that can impoverish so many people. But what are your thoughts with respect to real estate investors and inflation?   Chris Whalen  33:19   Well, you know, it's funny when Jerome Powell at the Fed says that they have a 2% inflation target, my response is, well, we better have at least 2% inflation if we're going to make commercial real estate work. Commercial real estate went up for 75 years after World War Two. I can remember when I was in the rating business at Crowell bond ratings going to see some of the banks here in New York, their multifamily books had only seen the equity underneath the asset go up and up and up. In other words, the land ended up being 90% of the value, you know, 1520, years after the purchase and the improvements were almost worthless simply because the land appreciated so much. Now that has changed since COVID. A lot of commercial real estate, particularly has gotten under a bit of a cloud. You've seen falling prices. However, in parts of the country that are growing where you have a positive political environment, positive economic environment, you're still seeing fantastic growth in both commercial and multifamily markets. So I think being very careful and patient in doing your homework in terms of picking venues is more important now than ever before. You know, I'll give you an example. Down in Florida, we're building new malls every day. The mall down the road that's 15 years old. There's nothing wrong with it, but it's 15 years old. And so the price discounts that you're seeing for existing assets are rather striking. Same thing down in the Carolinas, down in, you know, Atlanta, and going down to the Texas growth spectacle, I'm always astounded by what's going on in Texas. They built so much in that whole area around South Lake, out by the airport. It, they're going to basically subsume used it. So, you know, in those markets, you have great opportunities, but you also have over building. And so we're going to see some cycles where they're going to be deals out there for projects that maybe were a little too ambitious have to get restructured, and astute investors can come in and do very well on that   Keith Weinhold  35:20   like we often say around here, in real estate investing, the market is typically even more important than the property itself. The name of Chris's new book, again, is inflated money, debt and the American dream. It has an awful lot of intersections with real estate investors and how they can play inflation. Uh, Chris has been a terrific conversation about the real estate market and larger market forces. It's been great having you here on the show.   Chris Whalen  35:47   Thank you, Keith. Let's do it again.   Keith Weinhold  35:49   Yeah, some good insights from Chris, a smart guy. And gosh, what a really sad state for rent stabilized apartments in New York City, where landlords of some of those properties, they would have to spend sometimes hundreds of 1000s of dollars in order to bring them up to code, but then they couldn't charge enough rent to offset those expenses due to government intervention and price fixing, so landlords just lock up the property vacant. And this sort of harkens back to when we were talking about some of this last year, when we had documentary film maker jen siderova on the show with her film called shopification, and it was about how rent control slowly makes neighborhoods fall into disrepair. All right, Chris and I had some difference of opinion there on the prospects for a home price correction. I think I made most of my points. He did, though, talk about running out of home buyers. If I have him back, maybe I'll pick up right there. More buyers are baked into the demographics, like I think I shared with you one time the US had its highest ever birth rate years between 1990 and 2010 more than 4 million births per year for a lot of those years. Just to review this with you, you might remember that 2007 was the US is peak birth year. Add 38 years to that for the average first time homebuyer age, and that housing demand won't even peak until 2045 and it will continue to stay high for a few years after that. So that's where the demand is just going to keep coming from, just piling on. And when I say that loan conditions have eased for American homeowners, like I did there during the interview, of course, what I'm talking about is the long term. I mean, lending conditions got more rigid after 2008 and with the adoption of Dodd Frank. What I'm talking about is, before the Great Depression, it was most common to have to make 50% to 60% down payments on property, and you had to repay the entire note in five to 10 years. I mean, can you imagine how that would hurt affordability today and then later, by 1950, 15, year loans were the common one. I mean, even that would impair affordability today. Today, 30 year loans are the common one, and you can put as little as 3% down on a primary residence. A lot of people don't know that either. It does not take 20% on a primary residence. So that's what I mean about the relative ease of credit flow today. Now, Chris has knowledge about other parts of the real estate market that I don't for his work inside DC and in other places like the foreclosure market. We talked about some of that right after the interview. For example, He was letting acronyms like NPL roll off his tongue, and I had to ask him what that meant. That's a non performing loan. Check out Chris's new book. Again, it's called inflated money debt in the American dream. And again, his website is RCwhalen.com and Chris also has a great sense of history, which we didn't get into, longtime real estate guys radio show co host Russell gray and I will discuss monetary history here on the show soon. Like I said, I'm coming to you from Edinburgh, Scotland this week, even if you don't see great sites, you know, it's interesting just walking the historic streets here, if you're an American that's visited here before, you surely know what I mean. And I told you that I'd let you know, the current real estate transaction I'm involved in is paying $650 a night for the hotel here in Edinburgh. Yes, that's a lot. I've actually paid less for fancier places in Dubai, but this hotel here is on the Royal Mile. Of course, I could have found less expensive accommodations elsewhere.    Speaking of less expensive, here's an announcement. And we have new investment property providers at GRE marketplace, two of them, the markets are both in Oklahoma, and they are Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma as a state, is known for landlord friendly eviction processes and legal systems, kind of the opposite of New York. So this makes your property management more predictable. Now, when we look at this city, OKC has the lowest priced new single family rentals. I can think of it under 160k Yes, that really puts the exclamation point on inexpensive and favorable rent to price ratios often exceeding 1% which is obviously attractive for cash flow, meaning a 150k single family rental could yield over $1,500 in rent. There's high rental demand in certain sub markets. We have scouted out those exact places for you in the OKC metro, like Edmond Moore spelled M, O, O, R, E, and Midwest City, all supporting consistent rent income, though it was once really oil dependent, OKC has diversified economically, reducing your risk tied to commodity cycles and ok sees local economy that's supported by industries including aerospace, energy, health care and logistics. Then there's Tulsa. Tulsa has the highest cash flowing new build duplexes, perhaps anywhere in the US that I know about. On the single family rental side, a lot of Tulsa investors can find properties under 150k with monthly rents again exceeding 1% of the purchase price, clearly ideal. So yes, both Oklahoma City and Tulsa are now on GRE marketplace. You can either visit the pages and see them there, or one of our qualified, experienced GRE investment coaches. Meet with them. They can help guide you to the very best deals and show you the specific property addresses available right at this time for whatever best meets your needs. If you're looking to either start or expand to another market and you seek cash flow, you really need to consider Oklahoma. Yes, it is free to have a strategy session with an investment coach, whether that's for Oklahoma or other investor advantage regions. I often like to leave you with something actionable. You can start at GREinvestment coach.com start book a meeting for a free strategy session remotely. That's at GREinvestment coach.com, until next week, I'm your host. Keith Weinhold, don't quit your Daydream.   Dolf Deroos  42:51   Nothing on this show should be considered specific, personal or professional advice. Please consult an appropriate tax, legal, real estate, financial or business professional for individualized advice. Advice, opinions of guests are their own. Information is not guaranteed. All investment strategies have the potential for profit or loss. The host is operating on behalf of get rich Education LLC exclusively.   Keith Weinhold  43:14   You know, whenever you want the best written real estate and finance info, oh, geez, today's experience limits your free articles access and it's got pay walls and pop ups and push notifications and cookies disclaimers. It's not so great. So then it's vital to place nice, clean, free content into your hands that adds no hype value to your life. That's why this is the golden age of quality newsletters, and I write every word of ours myself. It's got a dash of humor, and it's to the point because even the word abbreviation is too long, my letter usually takes less than three minutes to read, and when you start the letter, you'll also get my one hour fast real estate video. Course, it's all completely free. It's called the Don't quit your Daydream letter. It wires your mind for wealth, and it couldn't be easier for you to get it right now. Just text gre to 66866. While it's on your mind, take a moment to do it right now. Text, gre to 66866.   The preceding program was brought to you by your home for wealth, building, getricheducation.com.

So Oakland's broke city government spent five hours and eight employees removing $3,000 worth of citizen-installed speed bumps that actually stopped sideshows for eight months. Makes perfect sense, right? While residents dealt with stolen cars racing through neighborhoods, frightening children and creating chaos, the city ignored four years of complaints—until neighbors took action themselves.We break down how Oakland's Department of Transportation prioritized removing effective DIY safety measures over addressing the actual problem: reckless sideshow participants terrorizing communities. The city claims the speed bumps were a "hazard" while allowing the real hazards—spinning cars, shootings, and mayhem—to return the very next day. Meanwhile, homeless encampments operate without permits, but law-abiding taxpayers get penalized for protecting their neighborhoods.Is this really how cash-strapped Oakland should spend taxpayer money? Why remove solutions that work instead of fast-tracking legal replacements? What does it say when citizens have to choose between following the rules and protecting their families?

YUH 207 - Rotisserie Cinema - The Movies of Val Kilmer. We lost one of the last "old hollywood" style actors earlier this year, and we are just getting around to the movies of Val Kilmer. Joining us to nominate their own preferred Kilmer pictures are old friends Jeremy and Harley from Maniacal Musics and Harley and the Joker, plus a couple of newcomers. Dan Bugbee is a horror writer with a couple of published books, and Big Daddy Dean from the Family Plot podcast! Makes sure to watch to the end to see which Val Kilmer movies takes om the coveted Felix! #willow #thedoors #realgenius #tombstone #topgun #batmanreturns #valkilmerYUH Theme by David T and Mojo 3https://www.amazon.com/Insanity-Sobri...Anti Social Network on Youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1NrDN795E7qwmKL5wS6z7wFamily Plot Podcasthttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/family-plot/id1522581107Dan Bugbee on Linkedinhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-bugbee-363701275?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bing.com%2FManiacal Music Musings on Spotifyhttps://open.spotify.com/show/1JnX3TTMFK1h6gudKtn4s0?si=701603d56f4c40a8Harley and the JokerYeah Uh Huh Social Stuff:Yeah Uh Huh on TikTokhttps://www.tiktok.com/@yeahuhhuhpodYeah Uh Huh on Facebookhttps://facebook.com/YeahUhHuhPodYeah Uh Huh on Twitterhttps://twitter.com/YeahUhHuhPodYeah Uh Huh on Spotifyhttps://open.spotify.com/show/7pS9l716ljEQLeMMxwihoS?si=27bd15fb26ed46aaYeah Uh Huh on Apple Podcastshttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/yeah-uh-huh/id1565097611Yeah Uh Huh Website:https://yeah-uh-huh.wixsite.com/yeahuhhuhpod

In this AppleVis Extra episode, David Nason and Thomas Domville (AnonyMouse) interview Sarah Herrlinger, senior director of Global Accessibility Policy and Initiatives at Apple. They explore Apple's ongoing dedication to accessibility, spotlighting exciting new features designed to better support users with disabilities. The conversation covers several highlights, including Accessibility Nutrition Labels, Braille Access Mode, Magnifier for Mac, and the role of AI in accessibility enhancements.Key Highlights:Accessibility Nutrition LabelA new initiative that provides standardized accessibility info for apps.Developers will showcase features like VoiceOver and captions.Designed to increase awareness and help users easily find accessibility details.Braille Access ModeAvailable on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Vision Pro.Enables quick note-taking, calculations, and BRF file access with Braille displays.Supports live captioning for DeafBlind users to improve communication.Magnifier for MacTurns your iPhone into a magnifier for Mac users.Uses a secondary camera to enlarge physical objects.Includes zoom, color filters, brightness controls, and OCR with text-to-speech via Accessibility Reader.AI and AccessibilityAI remains a vital tool in accessibility advancements.Enhances image recognition and descriptive capabilities.Continues to be integrated to improve experiences for visually impaired users.User Engagement and FeedbackHighlights the value of user feedback in shaping accessibility features.Encourages users to send suggestions to accessibility@apple.com.Share Accessibility SettingsA new feature lets users temporarily transfer their accessibility settings to another device.Makes it easier for family members to help with troubleshooting and tech support.Listeners are invited to share their thoughts on these features and suggest any other accessibility needs they'd like Apple to consider.TranscriptDisclaimer: This transcript was generated by AI Note Taker – VoicePen, an AI-powered transcription app. It is not edited or formatted, and it may not accurately capture the speakers' names, voices, or content.Dave: Hello there, and welcome to another episode of the AppleVis Extra. My name is David Mason, and I am delighted to be joined once again by Thomas Domville, also known as AnonyMouse, of course. And this is an exciting episode that we, I want to say, annually, semi-annually do, and that is an interview with Apple's Global Head of Accessibility, Sarah Herrlinger. So, looking forward to this one, Thomas.Thomas: Right. I mean, you're right. That is a mouthful. What is your, I had to look that up. Director of Global Accessibility Policy and Initiatives. I'm like, wow. I wonder if that actually fits on her business card in one line. There's no way. They only respond so small.…

Charlotte, the Sage of Abby HillBased on the work of BradentonLarry, in 6 parts.  Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels.The Sage and  a Kind of Good-Bye"The Sage is ready to see you now," said Wei, the tall Asian man who they had learned was the Abbot of the brown-robed monks – or the Order of Record Keepers, as they called themselves.Don gently urged Nicole to release his cock from her mouth and promised they would get back to playing soon. As he tied his grey robe about himself, Don saw that Toshia, who had been riding up and down on Alan's lap only a moment before was also hurrying to make herself "presentable". After waking up hours ago, and the following, almost routine, morning sex (Well, that's definitely the right way to start the day, particularly when you wake up sandwiched between two naked, sexy women! Don thought to himself with a happy smile), they had had a bite of breakfast and been asked to wait until they were called for. While they learned a little bit more about the Order, most of the morning was spent in lazy sexual play. It was now shortly after midday, and at least two of them were quite eager to meet this person whom they had been awaiting, and had gone to such lengths to find.They followed Wei to the foot of a winding staircase and proceeded up. At the top, behind a modest door, they were admitted to a good sized study, complete with shelves filled with row upon row of books. Windows all around the room let bright sunlight in. There were a few comfortable chairs, and a nice desk, behind which, in a brown robe, sat a middle aged woman with thick, dark brown hair falling down around her shoulders. She was apparently reading the last page of a stack of typed material.Wei gestured to a set of chairs that had been drawn into a circle of four, and said, "Please, make yourself comfortable, she will be right with you."Sure enough, right after he had closed the door behind himself but before they could get comfortable in their chairs, the woman looked up at them and smiled. "Hello," she said as she stood up and came around the desk. "You're obviously Don, and I'm guessing you're Toshia and you're Nicole.""That's right, and you're 'the Sage'?" Toshia asked."That's what they call me," she smiled as she sat down in a high-backed chair."I admit, I was expecting someone a bit ... more wizened," Don smiled."Well, it's really just a title, like 'the Crone', though I suspect the similarities end about there. You can call me Charlotte if you prefer.""Pleased to meet you, Charlotte," Toshia said."Likewise," Charlotte smiled again. "I know you must have many questions, but let me just say, I've just finished reading your various reports, and I've enjoyed them very much. Our scribes are chosen for their skill at asking the right sorts of questions and their ability to flesh out the stories they're given, but in this case they've had very good material to work with. The three of you have had some very interesting adventures. I particularly enjoyed reading about your encounter with the Bull, Toshia.""So, everyone who comes here looking for you tells their story and you read it?" Nicole asked."Yes, that's right. I confess, my personal 'kink' is to get off reading about, and sometimes watching, the exploits of others. I would have finished reading your reports earlier, but I had to keep stopping to masturbate.""Wouldn't it have been more efficient for us to just tell you directly?" Nicole asked with a twinkle in her eye that the Sage seemed to miss."Well, yes, but there are two problems with that," Charlotte answered. "One, we keep all the stories, as a record and a source of study...""You could just have someone type it up as we told you," Toshia pointed out.Charlotte nodded, "That's quite true, but then the narrator would be bristling with questions for me, which would slow things down and cause all kinds of complications.""Is that the second problem?" Don asked."No, the second one is that there seems to be some benefit to having each person tell his or her own story, and then comparing them.""How have our stories diverged?" Don wanted to know."Well, I've only just read the three of them, and haven't had hardly any time to think about them, but Don's way of looking at your time here in Eros involves a lot of digressions and interconnections, while Toshia's is more straight-forward. Nicole's is actually rather journalistic."Don could see that Nicole had half a mind to object to this, but he cut in with, "OK, but what's the point of all this anyway?"Charlotte the Sage frowned slightly and said, "I assume you mean the record-keeping?""Well, for now, yes.""At some point, long ago, the first Sage decided that one way of trying to make sense of the whys and wherefores of Eros was to start recording the experiences of people who, like him, remembered their lives before waking up here.""And, has it helped?" Toshia asked."Well, it certainly makes for some stimulating reading," Charlotte laughed. Then she added, "It definitely has served to build up some generalizations that seem to be helpful.""Such as?" Don prodded."Every single person who has come here, to this Abbey, and this goes back for 450 Erosian years, has spoken English rather fluently. Now, the only people who we interview are those who remember their lives prior to waking up here, but none of them has ever reported meeting anyone who doesn't speak English. This suggests that either the people who don't remember spoke English before they arrived here, were somehow rewired to speak English upon being brought over, or are native Erosians. This all seems to strongly suggest that whomever or whatever is responsible for selecting people for Eros speaks English, and that seems quite surprising and noteworthy to me.""So, which is it, were they brought here or are they natives?" Nicole asked."They were brought," Don said quietly, remembering his and Toshia's visit to the Library in the Manor."Well, the evidence does suggest that," Charlotte nodded. "They seem to have various personality traits and interests that wouldn't make sense for native Erosians, for one thing.""That's what I was thinking," Don added."Also, some people have actually met people they recognized or even knew quite well from Earth, but who seemed to have no memory of that other life.""That must have been bizarre," Toshia said."It has sometimes been ... awkward, to say the least," nodded Charlotte."All of this is very interesting, but you mentioned whomever, or whatever, is selecting people from Earth – English speaking people from Earth," Don said as he leaned forward. "Who or what is doing this, and why? What's the point of it all?"Charlotte smiled again, "I honestly can't say. I admit that the question puts me in a philosophical frame of mind. Imagine if I asked you what the point of it all was on Earth. Anyway, there are theories, of course. Some Sages have thought that we were being held prisoner here as lab rats, running countless experiments on human sexuality, others that there is some power, or powers, who feed off human eroticism, or who have lost the ability to generate it for themselves – the ultimate voyeurs. There seems no question that there's some intelligence behind it, though.""Why do you think so?" Toshia asked."Well, it only selects people who are quite dissatisfied with their Earthly sex lives." Charlotte held up her hand to forestall Toshia's objection. "The fact that it is very hard to sort out exactly what counts as such dissatisfaction seems to lend weight to this consideration. No doubt, Toshia would hesitate to say that she was dissatisfied in any way with Sarah, but it seems clear from reading her story that she would hardly think of the sex life she was having before as being satisfying now. Almost every single person who has found his or her way here has thought that being brought to Eros was a wonderful gift, which has led some to speculate that this was some kind of heaven."Don couldn't resist scowling at this notion, and Charlotte noticed. "I don't buy that either," she said with a smile. "On the other hand, it's the best afterlife I've ever heard of. Going back to the question of intelligence, one of the most telling bits of evidence is the two of you, Don and Toshia."After taking a moment to scowl thoughtfully at this suggestion, Toshia asked, "What do you mean?""As far as our records indicate, the two of you are unique. No pair of friends has ever woken up together like you have. Before you ask, I have absolutely no idea what that might mean. Perhaps it's for the purposes of one of those psycho-sexual experiments."There was a moment of silence before Don decided to ask, "What's up with the black robed figures?""The Watchers," Charlotte nodded. "Another indication that there is some kind of intelligent process going on. After 450 years of accumulating data, there has never been anyone – anyone recorded, anyway – who has managed to talk to, or even catch hold of, one of those bastards. They watch for a bit; then, when you think you're going to get your hands on one, they're gone.""Is it science or magic?" Toshia asked."I'm inclined to follow Arthur C. Clarke on this one and say I don't really know that there's a difference in this context.""There are so many questions," Don muttered, shaking his head. "How many people remember their lives? What's the distribution of their wheres and whens? Is there anything they all have in common besides being sexually frustrated?""Is there a way to get home again?" Toshia asked resolutely.Charlotte, knowing this was the issue that had motivated them in seeking her out, turned to Toshia with a serious expression and said, "Yes, or so it would seem anyway. There are apparently at least two ways. The first is to become bored with life in Eros. It seems that when that happens you will simply go missing, and it's presumed that you return to your Earthly life. As to the other, more proactive, way, the lake outside is the headwater of a river that runs several hundred kilometers to an ocean or a sea – we haven't been able to get anyone to engage in any kind of systematic exploration. Along the coastline to the left of mouth of river...""To the left facing the sea?" Don asked."Yes," Charlotte smiled again. "Go down the river, then turn left, and proceed along the coast, until you find a place called the Grotto of Ishtar, or just the Grotto. There, according to two people who have accompanied others seeking to leave, you'll find a way to return home."Toshia looked like she was ready to head off immediately, but a couple of concerns occurred to Don. He said, "I'm troubled by something: how can anyone here know that people return home safely? And, now that I'm saying that, how did the Scholar know that time moves differently here in Eros? It doesn't seem to make sense that we could know these things unless someone has been able to return home and then come back.""Very good, Don," Charlotte nodded, and Don found himself thinking that she must have been a teacher back on Earth. She explained, "There seems to be a way to go back and forth between Eros and Earth more or less at will. One of the more enterprising people who have visited the Abbey several times, a Stephanie Ayers, found someone with this ability and talked to him at great length. She then tracked down two more people, and in doing so was able to confirm these rumors and suppositions.""How are they able to do it?" Don asked intently."Stephanie says they have 'magic rings' that allow them to 'decide' to wake up in either Eros or Earth; or, should that be 'on'?""Where do they get those rings, and what do they look like?""I cannot answer the first, Don, but apparently they are simple rings of a shiny black material, something like hematite."Don sat back in his chair. That sounds familiar! After a moment of reflection, he smiled broadly and said, "I think I've seen someone with one of those, and I'm pretty sure I can find her again."Charlotte gave Don a long look and said, "I can guess what you have in mind, Don, but I should warn you that these ring people are not only very possessive of their rings, but also very evasive about how they came to acquire them. Stephanie hasn't been able to get any useful information so far, and she's been at this a while."Toshia brought the discussion back to the main topic with, "I wanted to ask another question – our flying carpet stopped working and several hundred kilometers is a long way – do you know of any way to make the trip quicker?""Well, yes," Charlotte answered, "I would take the riverboat.""The riverboat?""Yes, there's a riverboat that goes from the Resort down to the city on the coast, Rendezvous, and back. You might have to wait for it sometime, it doesn't keep to a schedule very well, but it docks just outside of the Resort, through the gate opposite the one you used to come here.""Wait," Don cut in, "there's a city?""Well, it's a town, really, but it's the biggest one in Eros as far as I know."This prompted what felt like a dozen questions in Don's mind, starting with those of economics. He was still having a hard time coming to grips with the weirdness of how Eros worked."Thank you for your time, Charlotte," Toshia was saying.Although Don wanted to interject with, "Are we leaving already?" he realized how important it was for Toshia to stay on the task of returning to Sarah, so he set aside the questions he was dying to ask and stood, saying, "Thank you very much." Nicole followed suit.The Sage stood up as well, and said, "If you decide to stay longer in Eros, please feel welcome to return to the Abbey anytime."Don smiled warmly at this suggestion, and thought it was a bit odd that he was leaving this attractive, intelligent woman without having had the pleasure of, well, pleasuring her. Eros had definitely altered his way of thinking.At the foot of the winding staircase, Wei met them with one of his smiles and their clothing. Once they had changed, Wei led them back to the entrance-exit. The other "monks" seemed particularly scarce. Similarly, the huge guardian of the bridge was nowhere to be seen as they crossed it.Toshia set the pace down the trail for the Resort. She was clearly in a hurry to get on the road, or river, as the case may be, to this Grotto of Ishtar. Don kept up with her easily, but also kept an eye on Nicole, who didn't walk as fast as Don and Toshia even when they weren't hurrying. He could tell that something was troubling the pretty young woman, but his own mind was still bustling with too many questions for him to ask her what was on her mind. Still, he wasn't surprised when, as they came around the last corner and saw the Resort's gate ahead, Nicole asked them to stop for a moment."I thought I should tell you this before we found the others," Nicole said, taking a moment to sit down on a nearby rock."What is it?" Toshia said with obvious and honest concern."I'm not going back," Nicole said. "Well, not yet. I'm going to wait until I'm tired of this place. I don't really have anybody back home to hurry back to, Toshia, and I fucking love it here. I'd come along to make sure you get to the Grotto safely, but it sounds like you and Don will be able to do that without me. I don't think you'll be able to shake Shelonda anyway, but you might want to consider leaving Victor and Amy here at the Resort. You know the rest of Eros isn't so nice and friendly, and this place is safe."Don smiled at Nicole and said, "It's been great having you along with us for this long.""If they're right about time, we'll all wake up 'tomorrow' and email each other," Nicole smiled with a bit of sadness. "Well, allowing for the date difference, that is. You better come visit me, Professor."Don laughed, and said, "Of course! I'm already looking forward to it.""You can come stay with us in Florida," Toshia smiled. Don could see a tear in her eye.He decided to make things a bit easier on them all by changing the subject, "You know, she has a good point about the others."Toshia seemed to fasten upon this line of thought, saying, "Well, Shelonda's going to be very hurt if we don't allow her to come with us, I think.""I'm not sure we're in any position to allow or disallow her, actually," Don said."True," Toshia nodded. "So, the most we can do is encourage her to stay here. Probably that's the most we can do for all of them.""We could suggest that they need to stay here to keep an eye on Nicole," Don mused.Nicole laughed, and said, "Oh, I'm sure I'll be quite alright here.""And, what happens if Nicole does eventually get tired of this place and goes missing?" Don nodded. "Do people who don't remember their past lives do that? Damn, I should have thought of asking that earlier."

Aaron Imholte is back from his vacation, and the tales from the beach in sunny Florida are nothing short of remarkable! As predicted, he is commandeering Keanu's victory and rubbing it in to the haters all while struggling to maintain an audience and earn his goal. Let's go over the latest from our favorite cope-and-seeth king! KarmicX is on fire, and the fake war between Kevin Brennan and Chad Zumock has been put on hold while the MLC podcast retools to find out who should be the future stable of re tools. Richard Leland Neal has other YouTube channels, but they don't always make sense. Let's check out the movie review channel where he reviews McDonald's French fries. Makes sense to me! ...

May 20, 2025Have you had your dose of The Daily MoJo today? Download the APP HERE"Ep 052725: AI Never Lies?  - The Daily MoJo"Pop music's cultural significance and a drug bust involving an ex-flight attendant highlight contemporary issues. The conversation addresses the objectification of women, travel costs, and the rapid advancement of AI. Discussions on movies like 'Atlas' and 'Mission Impossible' explore AI's portrayal. Annie Knight's extreme actions raise health concerns, while storage solutions and legislative issues in Texas regarding THC and CBD products are examined. The narrative blends humor with serious commentary on societal challenges.Phil Bell's Morning Update - Democrats - your party doesn't give a hoot about you: HEREDan Andros - host of The QuickStart Podcast and Managing Editor at CBN.com - Makes it clear that he's no fan of the tariffs. Dan on XFaithwireCBN NewsYouTubeOur affiliate partners:Take care of your body - it's the only one you'll get and it's your temple! We've partnered with Sugar Creek Goods to help you care for yourself in an all-natural way. And in this case, "all natural" doesn't mean it doesn't work! Save 15% on your order with promo code "DailyMojo" at AllNaturalMoJo.comCBD is almost everywhere you look these days, so the answer isn't so much where can you get it, it's more about - where can you get the CBD products that actually work!? Certainly, NOT at the gas station! Patriots Relief says it all in the name, and you can save an incredible 40% with the promo code "DailyMojo" at GetMoJoCBD.com!Romika Designs is an awesome American small business that specializes in creating laser-engraved gifts and awards for you, your family, and your employees. Want something special for someone special? Find exactly what you want at MoJoLaserPros.com  There have been a lot of imitators, but there's only OG – American Pride Roasters Coffee. It was first and remains the best roaster of fine coffee beans from around the world. You like coffee? You'll love American Pride – from the heart of the heartland – Des Moines, Iowa. AmericanPrideRoasters.com   Find great deals on American-made products at MoJoMyPillow.com. Mike Lindell – a true patriot in our eyes – puts his money where his mouth (and products) is/are. Find tremendous deals at MoJoMyPillow.com – Promo Code: MoJo50  Life gets messy – sometimes really messy. Be ready for the next mess with survival food and tools from My Patriot Supply. A 25 year shelf life and fantastic variety are just the beginning of the long list of reasons to get your emergency rations at PrepareWithMoJo50.comStay ConnectedWATCH The Daily Mojo LIVE 7-9a CT: www.TheDailyMojo.com (RECOMMEDED)Rumble: HEREFacebook: HEREMojo 5-0 TV: HEREFreedomsquare: HEREOr just LISTEN:The Daily MoJo Channel Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-daily-mojo-with-brad-staggs--3085897/support.

Divorced man is tempted by girls next door.by writemarksmith. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories.I had come back to Houston to put my life back together. I am an oil executive who has had quite a successful career. I started in the business right out of school and rose quickly through the ranks. I married when I was just 26 to a beautiful girl. We moved to the suburbs where we had a big house, a pool…the American Dream.We kept postponing the decision to have kids, then came the expat opportunities. We moved first to Calgary then after a few years on to Dubai. Whereas Calgary had nice people, beautiful land and ice cold weather, Dubai was filled with shady characters, was all city and incredibly hot. My wife and I both kept in shape at the gym, and I wore the nicest suits even in the sweltering temperatures. My wife and I had a beautiful condo, far above the city with a live in maid to serve us. We dined out almost every night at fabulous restaurants. It was a heady time, and to add to the excitement, I was poised for a big role back at headquarters in the USA.This all changed when I found my wife in bed with anther man. Not just any bed, but our bed, and not just any man, but my boss. Cuckolded and furious I quit the company and a week later I returned home with just what could fit in two bags.I had decided to move back to the suburban Houston home my wife and I had left years ago, somehow nostalgic for simpler times. We had rented it out for most of our time away, but we were between renters.As I approached the familiar driveway in my rental SUV, it felt very strange to be back. The home was very familiar, but it felt alien to return to it, deep in America. The house was well managed while we were away, and since had rented it out partially furnished I recognized most of the rather sparse belongings. I walked to the lush backyard and noted the trees that had grown. I admired the familiar pool and dipped my hand in the water. As I did so I hear a voice calling my name.“Jack?! Wow, it's like I'm seeing a ghost!”It was Amy, our neighbor for so many years peeking through the gate to our backyard. As she opened the gate I could see that Amy looked older than I remembered her but she was still very attractive. She had certainly kept up what was always a nice body. I reflectively admired her long tanned legs she showed off in her shorts. Her ample breasts jiggled proudly as she walked in a simple, sleeveless top.We hugged and I felt myself stir as I felt her tits push against me. We caught up and she told me how well her husband Robert was doing at work, and that her daughter Tina was just about to graduate from high school. I told her of some of our travels and told her my wife and I had separated.Any took my hand and told me how sorry she was. She insisted that I come over for dinner. I hesitated then had a better idea.“Why don't you all come over for a barbecue and swim in the pool. It will be like old times, we used to have a lot of fun.”Amy agreed and I told her we could do it on Saturday, three days away. This would give me a chance to settle and buy a barbecue. She said she would take care of everything but the meat, which was appreciated. She gave me a kiss on the cheek and returned home. I felt a tingle again and realized it had been almost 4 months since I had fucked my wife. Perhaps I should have suspected something was going on.I settled in to my new/old home, and Saturday came quickly. Coming just from next door, Amy arrived right on time for the barbecue, along with her husband. I opened the door and greeted them and they both walked in carrying groceries. Behind them was their daughter Tina struggling with a bag of groceries and two big bottles. I went to help her, taking a bag and as I did so I saw that little Tina had developed into a beautiful young woman. She was wearing a little halter top over her bathing suit, which showed off firm 18 year old tits and a flat stomach. Tiffany hugged me with a big smile,“Welcome back Uncle Jack!”I had forgotten she used to call me that and now I felt even more inappropriate for checking out her tits. I told her how much she had grown noting my voice had cracked a little, then turned to shake Robert's hand and give Amy a hug. We all agreed this would be like old times with everyone politely leaving my cheating wife out of the discussion.We went out back to enjoy the sun. I chatted with Robert about his sales job and how fast his business was growing, how I was going to take some time off before I seriously looked for a new job. While we were talking I tried hard not to be distracted by the two beauties sunning in my backyard. I had admired Amy often when she came by to enjoy our pool. Today she looked elegant and beautiful in her white one piece. I was even more taken with young Tina, who was enticing in her bikini. Her tits were small but perfectly perky. The back of her suit was cut high enough that it showed the tan line from another bathing suit on her ass. The contrast of her tanned skin against a sliver of very white, creamy ass was hard not to stare at. I realized I was hardening and tried to refocus on what David was saying.Amy joined our conversation while Tina dove in the water and started to do laps. Amy sat close to me. She had always been very flirty in a fun way, and even with her husband right there she would put her hand on my knee when making a point or teasing me about something. It was innocent, but I twice delayed getting up due to concerns of exposing my erection.Finally I got up to make start of the barbecue. Tina came out of the water to watch me while Amy went inside to prepare the rest of the food. Looking at this nubile young woman, dripping in her little bikini beside me I found I was very self-conscious. Despite myself I knew I was trying to impress her as I went about preparing our meal. I was also very aware that I didn't want my friends to see me checking out their daughters tits, especially while her nipples showed through her little top.“You're quite the swimmer.” I sad dumbly, not sure what to talk about.Tina explained that she had been on the swim team at school but was no longer swimming. She said how she missed all the times they used to come over and swim at my place when she was young.“You're always welcome to use the pool Tina.” I said grandly.Tina's eyes lit up. “Really?! That's great, thank you Uncle Jack!”Tina bent forward and kissed my cheek. As she did so one of her tits brushed against my arm. I felt myself blush even while I knew how foolish I was being.We enjoyed a nice meal in the sun and I felt more at peace than I had in some time. A few beers had certainly helped that along, but so did the familiar company. Robert poured shots for all of us (except Tina) which lightened the mood even more. Tina thanked me for having her over but said she had to head out soon.“Actually,” she said turning to me, “I'm meeting up with Sofia…do you remember her?”My memory was a big foggy but I asked Tina if it was the Latina girl she used to hang out with.“Yes!” Tina said as she looked at her phone and texted. “I'll tell her to swing by here and you can say hi.”Amy and I went for a swim and splashed each other a little. I was feeling no pain after many beers and it felt good to be active. I enjoyed being with Amy and found myself wishing my wife was as easy to get along with.As I got out of the pool Tina called me over. “Uncle Jack,” she said, “you remember Sofia?”I looked at the girl beside her as I toweled myself off. The girl was indeed Latina, but she looked very little like the awkward, slightly chunky girl with braces that I remembered. This girl was a vision with smooth olive skin and big brown eyes. She was smaller than Tina, but curvier. She was wearing a blue sundress with flowers on it that made her look even more feminine. The dress showed only a little cleavage but it was clear Sofia's breasts were very real and very desirable. Her bare legs glistened in the sun a little as if she had applied lotion.Sofia put out her hand tentatively, seeming a little shy. I realized that I had been rather overt about checking out her body and suddenly felt a little naked in my bathing suit.“Hello Mr. Brown.” she said while I shook her hand. I noticed she discretely gave me my body the once over.I stammered a little as I told her how much she had grown up and the two girls giggled sweetly. Sophia told me she would be 18 in just six days which made me feel like even more of a pervert. Sophia gushed about her memories of the fun they all had swimming in my pool when she was younger. Tina told her they were going to come back and enjoy it all summer then winked at me with a smile. I smiled back and tried not to encourage a stirring erection.The two girls then said their goodbyes, Tina left with another kiss on my cheek and I allowed myself to watch their asses sway as they left before returning to more appropriate adult company.We had a few more drinks before Robert and Amy headed home. Rob told me it was good to have me back and Amy surprised me with a kiss on the lips as she made me promise not to be a stranger.That night when I was wandering around my empty house I noticed something. The windows of one of the guest bedrooms looked right into Tina's room. The houses were set apart, and her window was partially covered by a curtain, but there was Tina, walking around in a t shirt and panties while texting somebody. I turned off the light so she wouldn't see me, then realized how wrong it was to watch her like this. I did the right thing and went to bed, but jacked off imagining both mother and daughter next door in my fantasies.Just a few evenings later I was woken from a sound sleep by squeals of laughter. Disoriented I realized they were coming from my backyard. Looking out the bedroom window I could see several kids were in the pool. I groaned and walked downstairs in my boxers. When I opened the sliding door and turned on the backyard lights it was like I had set off a fire alarm. Suddenly four kids, two guys and two girls, scrambled from in or around the pool, grabbed their clothes and ran through the gate. Without my contacts I couldn't see perfectly, but one of the girls was topless and another was Tina, wearing the same bathing suit she had two days earlier.I watched Tina's ass sway as she scurried out of the yard, chuckling at the energy of youth, when I realized there was one more girl in the yard, and she was walking towards me.“Sorry Mr. Brown.” she said.As she came closer I saw that it was Sofia. Her hair was wet which showed off how beautiful her face was, even with no make-up. She was wearing an orange bikini and I could now see just how amazing her body was. Her tits heaved in the tiny top and they were flawless.“We shouldn't have come so late, one of the boys kept insisting”.I shook my head and pulled my focus away from Sofia's tits and back to her big brown eyes which were looking up at me with a guilty look.I reassured her it wasn't that big a deal and she smiled a smile that melted me. I saw that she was shivering slightly, and made the mistake of asking her if she wanted to come inside.As soon as I said it I wanted to take it back, but she smiled and squeezed by me in the doorway. My jaw dropped as I saw her round ass, more exposed than covered in her little bikini bottoms. Her ass cheeks moved back and forth as she sauntered into the kitchen. Sofia looked over her shoulder as if wondering why I wasn't following, and I shut the door and walked behind her.I realized as I walked that I was now sporting an erection that my boxers were doing nothing to hide. I quickly positioned myself behind a chair in the kitchen.“So…umm…none of the guys were your boyfriend?”Sofia giggled and I flushed a little realizing this wasn't the best direction for the discussion to go. She played with her hair and told me that she had never had a real boyfriend, that the boys in school were so immature.I found her not having a boyfriend hard to believe and told her so. Sofia looked up and me a said softly, “I want a man who really appreciates me. Makes me his Princess, you know?”“You want a man to find a glass slipper and place it on your foot?” I asked, trying to make her smile.Sofia looked up at and pouted, “Yes! Why shouldn't I expect that a man treat me great?”She looked genuinely sad, like she would never find a man like this. I wanted to hold her and tell her everything would be ok, but instead my words came quickly, “Oh you should expect that Sofia! You're a beautiful girl. I can't believe men aren't lining up just to kiss your ass!”As soon as I spoke the words I wished I could take them back. My heart started to beat fast as I was at once mortified by what I had said to this sweet young girl, but at the same time consumed with the vision of her sweet ass and how exciting it would be to kiss it.“Really!” Sofia giggled, you think they should line up to kiss my ass?”With that she turned around and ever so slightly jutted out her plump, perfect bottom.I was hard as a rock and trying to diffuse the situation.“I mean, not; just that I think;”Sofia laughed again, but now it seemed to be at me rather than with me, “Oh Mr. Brown, I think you have something there. That's what I really want, a man who would line up just for the privilege of kissing my ass!”She turned around and I reflectively let out a sigh, both at the lightening of the tension, and the disappointment of being denied the view of her ass.“I should be going soon.” she said, “may I have a drink of water?”“Oh, of course.” I said. As I walked towards the fridge I suddenly realized I was rock hard and there was no longer a chair to hide it from this young beauty.“Mr. Brown!” she exclaimed. Then she teased “Someone sure enjoys this bathing suit!”She stared unapologetically at the erection bobbing in my boxers. I was mortified.“I'm…so sorry Sofia” I said simply as I opened the fridge and poured her some water. I reached over to hand it to her so as not to come to close with my throbbing member.She laughed and told me it didn't look like I had anything to be sorry about.“This will be our little secret Mr. Brown she mock whispered. It's nice to get advice from a man.”Sofia stepped towards me and ever so slightly brushed my erection with her arm as she bent forward and kissed my cheek. “We'll have to do it again soon!”With that Sofia walked slowly from the kitchen, surely aware that I had no ability to resist staring at her bottom wiggling as she moved. She gave me a shy wave at the door as she slid it open, then disappeared into the backyard and the night.My adventures had just begun.Jack is tormented by teasing of mom and daughter next door.After Sofia's late night visit I jacked off twice, obsessing about her plump, perfect ass. I couldn't stop thinking about her all night. I felt a little groggy when I got up the next morning and decided to clear my head with a run.I asked myself why I couldn't be a better man. For fuck's sake she is just a teenager! The best friend of my neighbor's daughter! As I ran I lost myself in the rhythm and by the time I got back home I felt a little better. I went directly to the shower and felt re-energized. As I got out of the shower and toweled myself off, I was thinking about all the things I wanted to get done around the house when I heard a voice."Uncle Jack?"I thought I imagined it but I heard it again. I wrapped a towel around myself and went to the top of the stairs. "Who's there?" I called.Suddenly Tina appeared at the bottom of the stairs looking up, "Oh hi Uncle Jack. The door was open and I wanted to talk."My mind spun a little. Did Tina want to ask what I was doing with Sofia last night? Why was she in the house? I was pretty sure I hadn't left the door open."Oh; well; let me put on some clothes." I said half to myself. I moved to my bedroom, put on jeans and a shirt and walked down.When I came back down, Tina was in the kitchen, wearing denim shorts that showed off her legs and a white t shirt. She was standing in almost the same place that Sofia had. She looked a little nervous playing with her hair. She bit her lower lip and said "Sorry, I didn't mean to catch you naked!"I felt nervous just at the mention of naked and stammered a reassurance that it was fine. I asked her what was up as tried to shake off the question in my head as to whether she was wearing a bra.Tina explained she was there to apologize for being in the pool so late with her friends. She pleaded with me not to tell her mom. She said she felt terrible and wanted to make it up to me.I told her I would never tell her mom although while I promised that I had a nagging feeling around sharing another secret with a teenaged girl. I was about to tell her that she didn't have to make it up to me when she cut me off and stretched up to kiss my cheek."Oh, thank you Mr. Brown! I know she seems cool but Mom can be very strict!"Tina then looked around the kitchen with dirty dishes in the sink and suggested, "I know how I can help. I can come over a few times in the next weeks while you settle and clean up for you." She paused and then smirked, "I'm sure you'd enjoy a woman's touch around the house."I tried to figure out if Tina was being deliberately suggestive and she misread my hesitation in responding. "Don't be nervous, Mom leaves early and Dad is never around. It will just be between us." With that Tina kissed me again on the cheek. This time her tits pushed against my chest in a way that confirmed she was not wearing a bra. I hardened and was relieved when she said she had to run. Tina thanked me again, blew me a kiss and walked out into my backyard.I fell into a chair at the kitchen table as my mind raced with how to handle the temptations that I was facing. I was mad that I was allowing myself to have all these thoughts. I reminded myself that these teenagers didn't want me in that way. 'For god's sake she's worried you'll tell her mom', I told myself with a frustrated chuckle.Later that day I was putting together some Ikea furniture in the guest room when saw Tina sunbathing in her backyard. She wore the same little bikini she had worn at my barbecue. I admired how tighter her body was as she applied lotion to her legs. I felt my cock harden a little when she looked up towards my window. I stayed perfectly still, not wanting her to see me run away like I had been doing anything wrong, and my heart sunk a little when she waved. I waved back feebly and I saw her walk towards my gate.I walked down, trying to think of what to say about being caught. When I got downstairs she was already in my kitchen, having let herself in."Hi Uncle Jack! Saw you were home. Are you ok if I use the pool? I'll clean your dishes first?"I started to tell her she didn't need to clean the dishes but she was already walking to the sink. I admired he legs, which were glistening from the lotion, and noticed she had a French pedicure on her toes when she turned and looked at me over her shoulder."This way you can keep a better eye on me." she teased.I felt myself blush and was grateful she turned back around to focus on the dishes. She asked if I could play some music, and I was grateful for the distraction. I tried to select something a little newer, even though I felt a little sleazy trying to make myself look younger for her. She liked it and wiggled her bum a little to the music while she cleaned.When she finished the dishes she asked if I wanted to swim with her. I demurred, thinking that felt like trouble so she told me to just sit in back and keep her company.As I sat in the chair and watched her do laps, I felt like this was still a little inappropriate. I knew her father was out of town, but hoped Tina was right that her mom would be at work all afternoon. Tina finally came out, grabbed a towel and sat at the end of my lounge chair. My toes brushed against the soft skin of her leg until I quickly pulled them away."See, this can work out well. You get a cleaner house and some great company, I enjoy your amazing pool."Tina laughed and sprayed a little water on me. She told me that she wanted to really enjoy this summer before college. She admitted she had lied to her parents that she couldn't get a job so she wouldn't have any stress. She leaned forward and touched my knee."That's just between us, Uncle Jack."I nodded seriously and she laughed freely and stood up."It's good to have you back Uncle Jack." She glanced down at her phone, "Oh, I better get ready for tonight. It's Sofia's birthday party. I am dragging my boyfriend along and if I'm late he'll spank me!"Tina turned and placed her hands on her bum as if protecting her cheeks from a spanking hand. I realized I was staring right at her ass and started to blush again.Tina laughed a knowing laugh, "Ah, I think I know how to handle him."She stepped towards me, and as she kissed my cheek and told me she'd see me soon one tit pushed into my shoulder. I watched her get her stuff and walk away and wished I could watch her get ready in her room, but with it still being daylight and her just having caught me, I couldn't take the chance. Instead I jacked off to the though alone in my room.As I made my simple dinner that night I was starting to think about what my next move in life should be. I supposed I should look for a job, but I honestly didn't have a lot of drive. The company I just quit had indicated they would make a nice settlement with me. I suppose they didn't want me to make a big deal of my boss fucking my wife. It occurred to me that I wanted the same thing Tina did, to take the summer off. My thoughts then drifted to Tina, wondering what she was doing with her boyfriend at this moment. And to Sofia at her 18th birthday party;My thoughts were interrupted by a knock on my back door. I looked over and saw it was Amy in my backyard. She was wearing a sleeveless orange top and shorts. I waved for her to come in and when she did told her it was good to see her and offered her a beer."Thanks Jack, I'd love one."I cracked open a couple of bottles and brought her one as she leaned against he counter. We toasted to 'old friends' but then she became a little serious."So I got a text from Tina."My heart sunk. What had Tina said. Had she told her Mom I had been staring at her body much of the day?"She's worried that you're lonely over here."My eyes widened a bit with surprise but she continued, "I know it must be tough after all these years."I nodded, happy to not be called out on my attraction to her teenaged daughter."Jack, I know we've had a certain electricity between us, but I could never cheat on Robert."My mind raced trying to catch up, "I; um; I never; "She laughed a little but bit her lower lip, just as I had seen her daughter do, "I know, I know, you never said anything but I know you think about it."I had, but the guilty look on my face was more because I had been more recently thinking of her daughter."So; I have an idea."Amy explained that she knew I had needs, and she wanted to help."I know you like my tits. I've seen you staring at them ever since we first met all those years ago." she said softly, then giggled in a way that reminded me of her teenaged daughter. "Today you'll finally get you look at them while you; take care of yourself."I was completely taken aback. I didn't know what to say but I stared at her tits like an idiot and noticed her nipples were poking through her orange top. I saw she was looking at my cock, as if surprised I was not already stroking it."You'd like that, wouldn't you?" she teased? I nodded without even fully comprehending what was happening."I guess I'll go first." she said with a nervous laugh. With that she reached down and slowly lifted her shirt. She was not wearing a bra and her pink nipples were proudly erect. She definitely had very nice tits. I had always thought so, and now here they were, presented to me like a gift just two feet away.Amy looked at me expectantly, "Well?"It seemed we were past the point of no return so I unzipped my shorts and took out my cock. Amy seemed disappointed that it was only semi-hard. I couldn't tell her I had jacked off to thoughts of her daughter just a couple of hours ago. Amy held her tits up to encourage me and I started to stroke my cock while looking at them. I felt a little silly here in my kitchen doing this in front of an old friend, but it was true I had fantasized about them ."That's it" she said as she watched my cock grow in my hands, "Don't be nervous, stroke it for me."The combination of Amy telling me to stroke it for her, and her telling me 'don't be nervous' in the exact same words her daughter had used in this same room earlier today really got me excited. I was now very hard and stroking faster with Amy's soft and sweet encouragement."You've wanted to see these for a long time haven't you? Maybe one night I'll let you see a little more."I could feel I was already going to cum when she sealed the deal as she pinches her nipples, "Don't wait, cum for me Jack, I know you want to."I spurted all over, getting a little on her foot as I did so. Amy laughed, telling me she could tell that she had surprised me, but how glad she was she could help."I'll do my best to help you through this Jack. You just call me if you need someone."I thanked her as I took a paper towel and cleaned her foot. "What a gentleman!" she giggled as she put her shirt back on.When I stood up, Amy kissed me on the lips, pushing my now soft and still exposed cock against me. "This will obviously be our little secret." she whispered in my ear.As Amy left out the back door I fell back into a chair. My head was spinning with all the 'secrets' I now shared with these beautiful women.Jack faces his biggest temptation yet in young SofiaWith all the temptations in my life, it was becoming tough to focus on anything else. The morning after my neighbor Amy had allowed me to jack off while she bared her tits to me, I ran 5 miles. When I returned home I had a call with my lawyer who was negotiating my settlement with my old company. I had a call with my divorce layer scheduled for later in the day, but my mind was not on the legal and financial complexities in my life. Instead it kept flashing back to Amy's tits and the encouragement she gave as she teased me. To her daughter who shared her mother's habit of not wearing a bra, and who seemed all too aware of the powers of her beauty. And finally to Sofia, the most alluring of them all, who had turned eighteen only yesterday. Somehow the milestone of her birthday made me feel better about the constant fantasizing I had been doing about her perfect plump ass.I felt myself harden and remembered Amy's promise to be available if I needed her. If she wasn't at work it might have been tempting to do so right now.I tried to focus on the documents my lawyer had told me to read, but my mind would simply not rest. I finally decided to cool down in the pool. After a few laps I started to lose myself in the rhythm as I went back and forth. I told myself it was normal for a man to respond like this, I just needed to try to tone down the temptations a little. How could I do that?I finished my final lap and as I got to the side of the pool and reached to pull myself out of the water I saw a vision approach me. It was Sofia wearing a t shirt, little skirt and flip flops. I though for a moment I might be imagining it, but she stopped right in front of me, looking down with a smile. From this angle my face was just in front her her pedicured toes and when I looked up to see her I could see right up her white skirt. Her panties were orange and I could see the bottom of her ass cheeks hanging out. I tried to ignore this and gave her a tight smile."Hi Mr. Brown, looking good!""Hi Sofia. You also."Immediately I regretted having said that. I tried to recover."Err; what brings you over?" I said as I struggled to get out of the water."Oh, you said I could come by any time to swim? I hope that's ok?"That was true, and at this moment that promise felt like both a huge mistake and pure genius. I saw the look of trepidation on Sofia's face as I squeezed by her to get a towel."Yes; well; of course. I; ""Great! Thank you, you're sweet. Tina is out of town with her boyfriend and I was bored."I watched as Sofia stripped off her t shirt and kicked off her flip flops. I wanted to look away but I couldn't. She pulled her skirt down and the orange bikini bottoms got pulled down a little with it, revealing a generous amount of her ass crack. Sofia casually pulled it back up, leaving only half of each ass cheek exposed for me."I'll got for a quick swim then let's catch up inside? Tina texted and said you were lonely over here."I was about to respond but Tina dove gracefully into the water and began to swim. I noticed I was rather hard just from looking at her and made sure I kept the towel in front of me as I retreated to safety of my house. I got changed out of my bathing suit into shorts and a t shirt. I noted that I had chosen an outfit I thought I looked good in, even while chastising myself for trying to impress a teenager.When I came down Sofia was letting herself into the house. She was still wet from the pool and I could see her large nipples as her bikini top clung to her tits. God, she was delicious.I asked her if she wanted a water and she looked at me with her big brown eyes as if to tell me she knew exactly what I was really thinking about."You know what I'd really like is to smoke a bit. Do you smoke Mr. Brown?"I knew she didn't mean cigarettes. It had been years since I had smoked but I did indeed enjoy it through most of my life. I nodded without thinking. She probably could have had me agreeing too anything with those eyes."Good!" she smirked. "I'm going to change into dry clothes then we can smoke and talk." she announced as she took panties out of her purse and placed them with her t shirt and skirt."Do you mind rolling while I'm gone?" she asked as she handed me the weed and rolling papers.She saw my hesitation and teased, "It's ok Mr. Brown; I'm 18 now!"With that she turned and I watched her ass wiggle away to the bathroom.My heart was beating fast as I rolled a joint. This was so inappropriate. I tried to rationalize that Sofia was an adult, then tried to remind myself that I had to be responsible when she returned, but mainly I just thought of her ass. I had never seen one quite that perfect. It really was a fantasy in itself.Sofia came back out after what seemed like just a minute. I hadn't had time to form a game plan."Look at you. Rolled two! I don't know if I can keep up with you!"I looked down and realized I had indeed rolled two joints. "Oh; I; "Sofia laughed and plopped herself down on the couch beside me, her knee touching mine. She put her hand on my leg and I felt my erection jump a little in my shorts. "Relax Mr. Brown. Let's smoke."I laughed with her and told her to call me Jack. I added that perhaps she should call me Mr. Brown when others were around which made the whole situation seem somehow more illicit."Light me up Mr. Jack Brown." she said teasingly and I did. She passed me the joint after inhaling and I took in a big hit. I really did need to relax.It may have been a placebo effect but I felt a little high almost immediately. This was definitely stronger weed that I was used to. Or maybe my tolerance had disappeared over the years. Neither Sofia or I spoke for a few hits. I became very aware of my knee touching her leg. Her skin was so soft. I could feel heat coming from her, or my reaction to touching her."So; I thought a lot about what you told me Jack."My mind reeled trying to think of what I might have told her.Sofia took another hit, then continued, "That I should expect men to want to kiss my ass."I could feel myself blushing as I tried hard not to think about her ass. My erection was proudly forming a tent in my shorts, although hoped she didn't notice. "I; well; ""So at my party last night, this boy who has been chasing me around hit on me pretty hard. Later in the night I decided to give him a chance. I told him if he impressed me with how well he kissed my ass I'd see what I could do for him."My cock twitched and I saw Sofia look at my lap. She continued, "He was eager so we went upstairs. He tried to kiss me, but I pushed him off, then turned around, flipped up my skirt and presented my bum to him."I wanted to tell Sofia how inappropriate it was to tell me this. I wanted to stop the conversation and be a better man. I said nothing as I inhaled and nodded."Well, he did it Jack, he kissed both cheeks. It felt good, but honestly I knew he wasn't really into it. He just wanted something in return you know?"I nodded sagely, but all I could think about was how lucky he was to get to kiss her remarkable ass."So I gave him a hand job, which he must have enjoyed because he's been texting me all day. But, I mean you've had a pretty good look at my bum. I think kissing it should be a reward in itself don't you?"I tried to murmur assent, but the words got stuck in my throat. Sofia looked down at the tent again then bent towards me conspiratorially. She spoke in a whisper as she moved her face close to mine, "I think you'd think kissing my ass was a pretty nice reward wouldn't you?"I couldn't pull my eyes away from hers. I had never wanted any girl so much in my life. I knew just how wrong this was but I nodded dumbly.This was not enough for her. Sofia pushed, "Tell me.""Sofia; this is wrong but; I would so love to kiss your ass."She giggled and stroked my cheek then rose so she was looking down at me."That's what I wanted to hear."Sofia turned and lifted her little skirt, her luscious ass less than a foot from my face. She was wearing little pink panties and asked me if I wanted her to pull them down. I sounded like a fool agreeing anxiously and she giggled at my desperation."Ok Jack. Today is your lucky day."She lowered the panties so slowly and I watched like a 5 year old would watch a gift being unwrapped. I had fantasized about Sofia's ass so many times in the last days and now it was right here. Finally it was completely bare and she let the panties drop to the floor. Sofia bent forward a little and I could see her asshole and pussy lips."Enjoy." she said simply.I took this as my cue and started to kiss her plump bottom. I started on the bottom on one cheek and slowly worked my way across it, wanting to kiss every inch. Finally I got to her ass crack and started to kiss along it. Although I had never kissed an asshole before, I wanted to kiss Sofia's with all my being. I was afraid she might pull away if I did so but finally I couldn't resist. I pushed my face between her generous ass cheeks and kissed her asshole passionately. When she simply wriggled and pushed back on my face I murmured a muffled thank you and kissed it again and again like it was my first girlfriend. I eventually pulled away and enjoyed her other ass cheek. While I was kissing it Sofia teased me."This is what I need Jack. A man who wants me so much he is grateful just to kiss my ass. That's all you want, right?"I wanted to fuck her. I wanted to fuck her right here. I wanted her lips around my cock."Yes; thank you Sofia. Your ass is perfect and I know I am lucky to kiss it."Sofia broke into gales of laughter and rose, pulling away from my lips and letting her skirt fall back over her ass."Good boy" she said as she turned and touched my cheek again. "All the years I used to come by hereI thought you were hot. Now you're my desperate little ass kisser.""Thank you." I said, unsure what the right response would be."I think we should keep this to ourselves, don't you?" she taunted.I agreed emphatically and she responded, "No problem, our secret. But I expect you to always be grateful that you are allowed to bury your face in this ass, and always show me deep respect."I assured the teenager that i would, that of course I understood how lucky I was."Good." she smirked. "But I didn't get anything for my birthday. Maybe you should take me out for dinner. We can bring Tina if you like."I agreed readily, even while wondering how I could do this without looking like a fool. And what about Amy?"I like that you're so anxious to please Jack." Sofia bent down to kiss my cheek and as she did so she squeezed my cock through my pants. "Now I guess you should go take care of this. See you soon."To be continued in part 2, by writemarksmith for Literotica.

607 w/ Randy Makes Candy - Robert Palmer - Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley: Chris, Nick, and Andy are joined by YouTube confectioner Randy from Randy Makes Candy to break down the title track from the 1974 album Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley by Robert Palmer. 

Let's talk about something that gets tossed around a lot in the world of women's health — MTHFR. You might have heard it mentioned in conversations about fatigue, fertility struggles, anxiety, or detox issues… but what is it really? And how do you know if it's affecting you? Let's break it down together.

No more auto-bye for conference champions (see: Boise State/Arizona State); instead, seeding and byes go with the ranking the teams are entering the playoff. Makes sense to us all…right? Also, ROLL CALL (sponsored by Madsen's Bowling & Billiards): where are people listening from today? Show Sponsored by SANDHILLS GLOBALOur Sponsors:* Check out Hims: https://hims.com/EARLYBREAKAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Episode 92! Well THAT was awkward... First of all, apologies for Sean. Head cold + meds + can't breath = kind of out of it.  Let's talk a little bit about Thunderbolts* !!!! It was great! In our Roll for Credits segment, We painfully watch the awkwardness of dating and social media that is the 2023 movie, Cat Person. If you hate the idea of dating in this day and age, this movie will, well, make you scared and hate it even more. Funny, awkward, scary, and sad through and through. Makes you think though! And as always, geekery, video games, and chickens. Lots of chickens.   Thanks for listening, and make sure to give us a 5-star review on your favorite podcasting service! Come watch a livestream of the podcast every Friday at 8:00 pm at https://www.twitch.tv/genepoolvarietyhour! Hope to see you soon, and thanks for listening!  Find us anywhere! @genepoolvarietyhour on Threads @genepoolpodcast on Bluesky @genepoolvarietyhour on Instagram @genepoolvarietyhour on Youtube @genepoolvarietyhour on Twitch

In this episode, Tracy unpacks practical ways to help your kids tell the truth—showing how honesty builds trust, honors God, and shapes godly character.--The PursueGOD Family podcast helps you think biblically about marriage and parenting. Join Bryan and Tracy Dwyer on Wednesday mornings for new topics every week or two. Find resources to talk about these episodes at pursueGOD.org/family.Help others go "full circle" as a follower of Jesus through our 12-week Pursuit series.Click here to learn more about how to use these resources at home, with a small group, or in a one-on-one discipleship relationship.Got questions or want to leave a note? Email us at podcast@pursueGOD.org.Donate Now --Teaching Kids to Tell the TruthLying is making an untrue statement with the intent to deceive and gain some advantage. As parents, it's crucial to address this issue from a spiritual perspective because lying is part of our sin nature (Romans 3:23). The Bible mentions lying between 155-180 times, depending on the translation, highlighting its significance in God's eyes.Why Do Kids Lie?Children lie for various reasons, including:To meet a need – They want something, like a cookie on the counter, and lying seems like an easy way to get it.To avoid trouble – They fear consequences, like breaking something and blaming a sibling.For attention – They exaggerate or fabricate stories to impress others.God's Perspective on LyingLying started at the beginning of time. In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve tried to deceive God by hiding after they sinned. This shows that dishonesty is deeply ingrained in human nature.God takes lying seriously, and so should we as parents. The Bible explicitly warns against it:Leviticus 19:11 – "Do not steal. Do not deceive or cheat one another."Proverbs 6:16-19 – "There are six things that the Lord hates… a lying tongue, a false witness who breathes out lies..."One of the 10 commandments “not to bear false witness”Lying damages relationships, erodes trust, and goes against God's nature. As parents, our goal is to train our children to value truthfulness and recognize the long-term consequences of dishonesty.How to Train Kids to Be Honest1. Model TruthfulnessChildren learn by example. If they see parents lying—whether about small things like “I'm not home” when avoiding a call or exaggerating stories—they will assume dishonesty is acceptable.2. Create a Safe Environment for HonestyEncourage open conversations where your child feels safe to tell the truth without immediate harsh consequences. Family discussions and Bible-based resources help cultivate this environment.3. Explain How Lying Hurts OthersHelp children understand that lying damages relationships:Breaks trust – When someone lies, others find it difficult to rely on them.Hurts feelings – Lies can cause emotional pain to family and friends.Makes life uncertain – Example: If parents didn't follow through on picking up their child from school, it would create insecurity.4. Be Gracious But ClearDon't overreact when a child confesses. Instead, affirm their honesty while addressing the wrongdoing.Deliver appropriate consequences without anger, explaining that lost trust leads to fewer...

We celebrate our 250th episode of Comic Timing with…an episode of the show! Makes sense, don’t it? Filling in for Murd this month while he practices his stagecraft is none other than Chris Eberle, along with Ian and Raph, to cover all the May Previews catalogs. This includes Image Catalog Issue 7, DC Connect issue … Continue reading Comic Timing Episode 250 – May 2025 Previews →

Makes no sense.

How do you lead change when you’re not the boss? Casey Sinnema shares what it takes to build trust, influence outcomes, and make Monday feel a little less dreadful. Overview What happens when you give a self-proclaimed utility player the freedom to poke holes in broken systems and lead cross-functional change without official authority? In this episode, Scott chats with Casey Sinema about navigating ambiguity, building trust without a title, and leading impactful change through curiosity, clarity, and a deep understanding of what people actually need. References and resources mentioned in the show: Casey Sinnema Wolf Pack by Abby Wombach The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins Micromanagement Log Subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast Join the Agile Mentors Community Want to get involved? This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input. Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one. Got an Agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com This episode’s presenters are: Scott Dunn is a Certified Enterprise Coach and Scrum Trainer with over 20 years of experience coaching and training companies like NASA, EMC/Dell Technologies, Yahoo!, Technicolor, and eBay to transition to an agile approach using Scrum. Casey Sinnema is a self-described utility player who’s built a career by asking great questions, poking holes in broken systems, and leading meaningful change across teams—without ever needing the official title to do it. With a background in accounting and a talent for cross-functional problem solving, she brings curiosity, empathy, and real-world savvy to every challenge she tackles. Auto-generated Transcript: Scott Dunn (00:01) Well, welcome everyone to another episode of the Agile Mentors Podcast. I am your takeover, not your normal host, of Brian Miller, who's done a smash up job over a hundred plus episodes if you haven't checked those out. But part of the podcast takeover was not only a fresh voice, but also perspective and a lot of what I typically focus on for the people who know me. On leadership and culture and leading change. And I thought of no one better that I'd rather talk to about some of this. Casey Sinnema and I'll give you a little bit of introduction about who she is, what she does. Maybe also I think it'd be fascinating Casey on how you yourself in the role that you have. I think it's kind of a cool role, at least on paper. You can flesh that out a little bit more but I'll hand off to you. Tell us a little about yourself. Casey (00:46) Yeah, hey, thanks for having me. Yeah, so I currently am most often referred to as a utility player. And I'm still trying to figure out my elevator speech for how I talk about what I do because my role, my title is manager, which doesn't say much, right? And I actually don't do a function, but the easiest way to talk about it is I'm a project manager of sorts. I'm involved in a wide variety of projects from a varying level of involvement, from leading the project to leading the change to being a key stakeholder to just being the voice to leaders or executives or that type of thing. So yeah, I am a little bit of everything. And I got here on accident. I have... Scott Dunn (01:32) I was... Casey (01:34) You know, way back in the day when I was, you know, doing the like, what am I going to do for the rest of my life? I'm like, I just want a marketable skill. So I have a business degree and I went into accounting and I quickly became the troubleshooter. So I would go into a company, troubleshoot, fix the process, fix something broken, and then find myself in another company doing the same thing. And, so throughout my career, I've just sort of built this unique set of skills that allow me to poke holes in processes. and help companies fix them and then kind of find the next thing. So that's just kind of how I wound up here. I've been at my current company for almost a decade, which is going to be a record for me. And, but I'm still doing the same thing. I'm moving around the company and finding new places to, you know, rock the boat a little bit. Scott Dunn (02:20) Cool. Very cool. Yeah. It does sound like you have a number of things on your place to where that makes kind of expand on that a little bit and where you comfortably share those stories as we go through some of this because there's a lot, there's a lot more underneath based on what Casey shared before. And I love it that you found yourself like a happy accident and I guess have enough challenges and learning and growth there as long as they move you around that you're, you know, you need to be working on that are meaningful. things to be working on. Casey (02:51) Yeah, absolutely. That's the biggest thing, right? Is to like find work that you find valuable and that has an impact on the people around you, which is, know, squarely aligned with my values. Scott Dunn (03:01) Well, you touched on one thing that I know a number of other people could relate to and I could too as well as the kind of troubleshoots process can just easily see that things aren't working at a larger view. Some of that. maybe add on a little bit. What is it like about your role? For those who are kind of thinking they're in quasi space, they can hear you talk about that role and like, hey, that sounds like me too. What are the points of that different projects, different things you're involved with that that's what really lights you up? Casey (03:27) Yeah, I, it's so interesting because a lot of us find that the things that we're good at are the things that, you know, give us energy and that motivate us, right? I happen to be uniquely skilled at poking holes in things, including in my own life. So it works in my personal life as well. I could just sort of see things from different perspectives and find the gaps. And so it just sort of on accident. I think what's interesting is Scott Dunn (03:43) You Hmm. Casey (03:53) throughout my career and throughout my life, the biggest challenge has been to hone that skill for good, right? To lead with kindness and to manage my expectations along with the expectations of the world around me and troubleshoot the things or poke holes in things that need holes poked in instead of like everything. You know what mean? Scott Dunn (04:15) I love that. Two things that I want to, I guess, add on a little bit more there. One, you mentioned something and the other thing is I think you might just put out there like, same thing from different perspectives. I imagine for the people, we've all been around folks who just they only think their way. And you're just kind of reflecting on that. But Keith, it sounds like you can go into a meeting and you can hear three different state views and you can genuinely understand from their perspective why that's important to them or why that's a problem to them, right? If I'm hearing you. Casey (04:42) Yeah, absolutely. That's really key in all of the different types of projects that I've played a part in, right? Like hearing things from different people's perspectives and really understanding what they're looking to get, what they need and what's in it for them and being able to connect those things across stakeholders. Scott Dunn (04:59) Yeah, that's powerful. Yeah, but looking for commonality, alignment, et cetera. I do think there's a specialness, and we've talked about it a bit, like in the facilitation class, that looking for those folks having common and generating alignment is a unique gift that we just don't see a lot in corporate people kind of lobby for what they want. And actually, it's, it would be an afterthought to think about other people's perspectives and yet who draws different areas of the company together who are to get some new about the door or whatever like that. So you're kind of touching on that, which I think is really powerful. Is there anything that you see as like a go-to mindset that you bring in those situations or go to like tools that you're kind of using, whether that's things you're doing in writing down or in mural or even just how where your head is at when you walk into some of those meetings where you feel they have different perspectives and on the same page, you're supposed to walk out of that session on the same page. Casey (05:51) Yeah, the first one is to sort of leave my ego at the door, right? What I think is the right thing can't come in the door with me, right? Like I, of course I'm influencing, right? Where I feel like it matters. But it's not, I'm probably not the decision maker and the people that are not on the same page, when they need to get aligned, they need to be able to get there on their own. So what I think is the right way, I got to leave it at the door. So that's my number one thing. Scott Dunn (05:57) heheheheh. Casey (06:18) And then the next thing I do is just really stay curious, ask lots of questions, actively listen, model that active listening behavior so that everybody else is also actively listening. That's a big thing. And really just sort of helping people find a common language, I think, is really important. So I do a lot of restating what I'm hearing so that other people can maybe hear it from a different set of words and connect it. Scott Dunn (06:29) Hahaha Casey (06:42) more readily to the way that they're thinking about the topic. Scott Dunn (06:45) Yeah, you say these as if they're like, I mean those are short little pithy statements, but boy, powerful. I think it reflects an attitude beginning with what he said as the ego is like, we might know a whole lot, we gotta leave that at the door. Just at work, awesome. Here and you say something, I'm making notes like this would be good in life too, right? In personal life and relationships, stay curious, active. Don't assume that the way you see it is reality, right? So, I think that's super. The other thing you mentioned though was about Go ahead. Casey (07:17) I will say I'm better at it at my job than in my personal life because, Scott Dunn (07:23) Of course, I think, yeah, for everyone listening, they're like, me too. Why can't I do this? I can tell some stories. So the other one, though, you should just poke holes as if like, it's this little thing we're doing. But there might be something inside. I think I might be able to relate that is driving perhaps towards this isn't running as well as it could, or this isn't running. I think we know that, or this could be better. Something inside you that that you feel is churning, that you're seeing holes no matter what that is, if it's a small process, large process, a team, multiple teams. Tell me a little bit more about what does that mean to you when you say poke holes in things? What's running through your mind? Casey (08:01) Yeah, it's complex, right? Because sometimes it's really easy. This is broken. you know, right? Or there's a bottleneck, something that's really like you can, it's data driven, you can see in the data where something is not working well, that those are the easy ones, right? And you can just start asking sort of the five whys or the finding the root cause of what's happening there. Scott Dunn (08:06) Those are the easy ones, yes. Casey (08:26) But in the case where there's friction or there appears to be barriers or there's just this. any kind of challenge or even when there's not a challenge, quite frankly, I have this unique ability to like listen across people and across like data and technology. That's a weird thing to say is listen across technology, but I sort of just find where things are misconnected or disconnected and start to ask questions there. And so I can find something that maybe isn't working as well as it should without anybody else noticing which. Scott Dunn (08:35) Yeah. Casey (08:59) I've learned I need to be careful with. Scott Dunn (09:01) That's great. So at least the next question was any hard lessons, anything so you could do a redo on that one that you could pass on so someone else doesn't have to learn the hard way from Casey's experience. Casey (09:11) Ha yeah. Everything I learned, I learned the hard way. So if you feel like that's what you're doing, you're not alone. Yeah, the thing that I have learned probably the most often, and I will learn it several more times in my career, I'm sure, is when I think I have found something, go make sure it's true before you start to really socialize it. So like, I'm going to go ask the question of the expert. Scott Dunn (09:20) Ha Whoa. Casey (09:42) before I bring it up because maybe I'm not seeing it from all of the right angles or maybe I don't understand exactly what it's doing or quite frankly maybe I'm missing some context. And so really talking and building relationships with people who are experts on the topic or in the field is really kind of where I start. Scott Dunn (10:00) was great, great period. the number of times we miss out on relationships, especially in that one, really key. Casey (10:00) And. Yeah. Scott Dunn (10:08) I think I'd add to that though. sometimes I'll phrase it as rather wait to be sure than lose capital because if I go out saying things that aren't true. So sometimes we'll jump in on the outing side and they'll be like, why haven't you gotten yet? And I'll be clear, like, I'd rather wait and be sure than hurry and be wrong. And then we got to that mess before we get back to the work we're supposed to be doing. And sometimes it's a while to pick that up, depending on who got affected by We'll put out there sometimes innocuously, we thought, well, here's the numbers results. And someone's like, that's actually not correct. But now everyone knows we have now we have a PR problem, something like that. So I'm not alone in that. I've been there. That's a tough one. But also on the coin, though, what would you point to as wins if you look back like that's talking about? That's why this is important. That's what you feel good about. Casey (10:54) Yes, absolutely. Yeah, I think from a win perspective, the, a really good example, I'm going to go way back in the day. I had a, a chance to work, in a motorcycle dealership and we had huge, was, you know, weird economic times, right? And so there's weird financial things happening in this, you know, motorcycle dealership company and, and, everybody's just trying to stay afloat and You find the like the friction between either the mechanic shop and the, the sales shop. And when you find those and you can solve those problems and make the experience smooth for the, for the client, right. For the customer and make that like walk in the door experience consistent and smooth. This in this case was just people, right? It wasn't even technology. wasn't really a process. It was just people. And the biggest wins are when like. the people start to notice. And then what happens is everybody's life gets better and everybody has more fun doing whatever it is that they're doing. And it just changes the vibe. Scott Dunn (12:08) I love that. I love that. I do believe very much like the work that we could be doing here. People enjoy their work more people enjoy coming to work. doesn't have to be a place that people don't want to be in or watching the class. I love you touching on that's great. Casey (12:21) Yeah, there's a balance there, right? Like, because they call it work for a reason. It's a job. We don't love everything that we do all of the time. But, you know, are we doing the things that we can do to make life good for ourselves and for others? Scott Dunn (12:33) Yes, so nice segue because what I feel like I've learned later in my career, we'll just phrase it that way, that the importance of self-care, taking care of ourselves so that we have the energy and attitude to keep doing work that we're doing, especially if you're a leading changer, in some ways you're a change artist trying to bring that about, change agent, it can be taxing. So are there things along the way that are either You just know a good way that you take care of yourself could be learning, could be space, could be the road you carry, or that you actually do to protect yourself and that work-life balance emotionally, mentally. you aren't kind of aware of, what does it look like to do good self-care and help make sure you're taking care of yourself to deliver good value in the workplace. Share what that means to you and maybe some of the things that you do. Casey (13:21) Yeah, it's so important, right? Like I am also not in the early stages of my career and still learning how to take care of myself and protect myself and, you know, build good boundaries, right? I, yes, yes. So I have good personal routines, right? Like I do yoga, I meditate. I'm a big fan of podcasts and. Scott Dunn (13:31) Hahaha Right. Boundaries is a good word, yes. Casey (13:46) I'm a learner, so I'm always learning. Maybe there's a boundary there too, like how much can you self-improve before it becomes, I don't know, toxic? But when it comes to boundaries, really it's, I start with the relationships, right? Like at work, making sure that my expectations are clear and that of my leadership chain is clear no matter what job I'm in. Scott Dunn (13:47) Hmm. you Casey (14:11) and setting boundaries that are clearly expressed so that I can protect myself and my personal life and that balance, and I can deliver the way that I'm expected to deliver. And that just makes life easier for me. Scott Dunn (14:23) Super, super, super, super. I'm thinking there's a lot of people. I it's a ways back. We cover accommodative and assertive, you know, as far as power styles and the cowl. And what's been fascinating for all these years, most people are all on the accommodative side. When I hear you say something like, hey, the expectations clear or use the word bad, that sounds like someone who has a balance of, no, I'm there for people, but I don't overextend myself to where I no good. Casey (14:23) Thank Scott Dunn (14:50) I burned something like that. So I think that's really great for everyone to hear. It hurt to define the relationship with make sure your expectations are clear for me. And then sometimes, you know, there's someone else that could take that on or might play this role, etc. But sometimes we're so helpful that we overload ourselves and actually don't do good job. We do, you know, average job on a lot of things instead of a job on a few and they could have found maybe someone else. think that's awesome. You said podcasts, there other ways, is that your way of learning? there other things that you, as far as what, for the learning side? Casey (15:26) Yeah, so books are my go-to. I'm somebody who does a lot of highlighting and note taking and flagging in books, because I'm always going back to them. And I love to learn things that are sort of outside of my lane, if you will. It's kind of how I got involved in Agile. I have a business degree in finance, and Agile doesn't really play into that until it does, right? And so I started to like, I'm curious about that, or I'm curious about Six Sigma or those types of things. And so I just sort of go find them and take the nuggets that apply directly to me and put the other ones on the shelf for like when it does apply to me, if you know what I mean. Um, so I just, I'm a learner, so I'm always looking to, to, to learn new things. I'll be frank, podcasts for me, I'm not learning things. I'm entertaining myself. Scott Dunn (16:20) I try, I try to really be focused to get, I like listening, but yeah, the actually applying is not as much. I'm definitely same about I'm a higher. Someone said the difference in studying is the pin. So I'm always like, unless I'm marking it up, am I really digging into this book or, or Kendall? So I'm to hear I'm not alone on that one. So I want to shift a little bit because some of what we've done is leading change. think the conversation we had were around. Casey (16:38) Absolutely. Scott Dunn (16:45) So moving around from just you to the broader culture, how would you describe what a great culture like or feels like? Maybe some of us haven't even been in a great company so they don't know. They can't picture, imagine what that could be like. And you've been to a number of places with different roles. What's good culture, great culture look like in your opinion? Casey (17:06) Yeah, I think that it's gotta be a cliche out there. I'm pretty sure I've seen it on a meme, but good culture is defined by how you feel on Sunday night, right? Like if you're not dreading going into work on Monday, right? Like you probably are in a culture that's a good fit for you because I think culture doesn't have a one size fits all perspective. Like big companies, small companies, different types of work, different groups of people. sort of lend themselves to different kinds of culture. I've been in companies where the culture is great for me and everybody else is miserable. And companies where the culture is great for everybody else and I'm just not a good fit. So I think that in general, good culture is... I talk about it in this like self-awareness perspective. If the culture itself is a little bit self-aware, then it is what they say it is. So if you say your culture is one thing and everybody agrees, including the culture, including the behaviors of what's expected in the environment, if all of those things are aligned, the culture is probably good, even if there are people who aren't good fits for it. I don't know if that answers your question. That's my perspective. Scott Dunn (18:03) Hehehehe That's great. Oh, it's it's better. That one's a good wrap up now. Like that really to me, it's a bit of a mic drop because it's so good. It's simple. But you're right. How you feel on Sunday night? A ton about what's happening with you and the job you have and what's happening around you. Absolutely. And that different like sometimes it is just a fit because a lot of people can be excited about it, but you're bothered by it or might rub you wrong. And I know we've gone through the values in the class as well. I've been at companies where we're absolutely about get stuff done and that's fine. But it's kind of a burnout. I love the very collaborative, but sometimes I'm like, man, I want to get stuff done. I'm getting frustrated that we're like, we really connect and talk a lot. I don't see stuff happening. So you're right. Obviously, you know, some people are sensitive to that. And that last piece about like the behavior. it should be considered. And I do sometimes see like leadership will say something or there'll be things on the walls. But you look around like, yeah, I don't actually think anyone's actually behaving that way. It's like an aspirational vibe about what they want to be, but they're not really doing it. So I think all those lenses are giving are right. And they're simple. Someone can look around and just see what you're saying. And then you make their own calculations of that. Some of the good. Some of that's a bit too. Casey (19:26) Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Scott Dunn (19:32) In the sense like either either change it for the better or You know what I mean? Like I don't want to be the person that's been there seven like this place is terrible What are you doing? What why have you been here 17 years hating it? I don't Casey (19:32) you Yeah, it's really important that we're honest with ourselves as much as our companies are honest with us, right? Like, what do I need from my job? What do I need from my career? And am I at a place that can support that? Scott Dunn (19:45) Good. Yes. Yeah, and and i'll serious in this case. I think there is some point where people I hear them And i'll just straight up. I don't think leadership has any intention to changing in the way you're describing Right. So in the end like so what would you like to do? And it's not even like it's a bad thing really. It's just like that's like It's a bit when you said that part some people are so passionate they forget like Yeah, and you're wrong like you could be wanting this coming to change in a way. It's not who they are or what they're about or you're Found by 80 people who are actually quite good with the way things The fact that you're so passionate doesn't mean you're right. It might just mean this is not a good fit. So don't stay here trying to change everything, which probably wouldn't work anyways if that's, you know, they're comfortable with what are. It's almost like in self-preservation, just say, I just need to exercise my agency and there's not a good guy. What's that song? There Ain't No Good Guy, There Ain't No Bad Guy. It's me and you and we just disagree. You move on to another and they'll be happier somewhere else is what I would think. So I think that's a good perspective. People can get past space about, you know, and agile and all that and then rail against something that's an immovable in some organizations. Casey (21:08) Yeah, being aware of the things that you can control, the things that you can't control, is really the crux of your own sanity, if you will. Scott Dunn (21:16) Yeah, it's a good way of saying it, Yeah, and you can control a lot of that. You can influence it. can influence it. Let me follow up on that because clearly, in my opinion, seems like you've that about bringing about change when you don't necessarily have authority. You can't dictate to some of these folks. What do you think is a key aspect of being successful around influence or people who... I get asked this all the time, how do we influence, how do we manage up, et cetera. What would you prefer as your thoughts on that about influencing others? Casey (21:50) Yeah, I actually listened to a podcast recently about leading without influence. one of the key comments, I guess I am also learning through podcasts, I guess. But one of the comments in the podcast was there are people who lead with a hammer, people who lead with influence. And I kind of love that because I haven't been a people leader in more than a decade. Scott Dunn (21:55) There you go. So they are some good. Casey (22:13) which means I don't have any authority, right? I lead all of my influence. All of my leadership is through influence. And the way that I approach that is I start with. It's a, it's a gooey word, but empathy, understanding the people that I'm talking to and working with and understanding what they need and what their challenges are, and then meeting them where they are. Right. The easiest way to gain influence with. Most people, is to build trust and to build trust, need to build relationships. And so I would say 90 % of my influence comes first from relationships. And probably the other 10 % comes from my ability to stand up and say, I was wrong when I did something wrong or when my perspective was incorrect and when I behaved outside my values, like just owning it up when I'm like, Scott Dunn (22:59) Wow. Casey (23:04) Yeah, I was having a bad day. I apologize. There's a lot of trust that comes from that kind of vulnerability. Scott Dunn (23:11) Yeah, which is not easy to do not easy to do But I've been in meetings where I like I know it like I don't play this year But I like things so in some ways people look at influence about how we phrase things or how we present but you're just saying like look happy build a real relationship Have some humility if you're willing to say we're wrong. So people know you'll also that when you're wrong or made of your core element of strength or something like that. think that's a real nice, everyone, if you think about that, that's not out of any of us to say, you know what, I'm going to try to be more honest and authentic and have some empathy and try to listen. Casey (23:45) Absolutely. It also helps to be able to connect the dots across different people and what they need and the strategy of whatever project you're working on so that you can connect the change to something that is it like what's in it for me, right? So what's in it for the people that you're talking to and being able to connect those things. So it's not just relationships and empathy, right? That's the soft stuff. It's that ability to really critically think about what it is you're driving change for. Scott Dunn (24:08) Mm-hmm. Casey (24:12) and connecting it to how each of these different stakeholders can benefit. Scott Dunn (24:18) Yeah, the part about connecting the dots and this is one thing if I'm ever in a meeting and I feel like I'm not getting it I actually will pause into my head. I'm thinking What is this person's concerns? And if I can't if I can't clear that I'd probably need to ask more questions but for any of us in those meetings just kind of go around through those stakeholders the people sitting around the desk or on the zoom and quick like in a sentence or two what what would be important to them? What are they? What's the win or what's the pain? But if you don't feel like you can articulate, then the good thing is you have to see that asking questions around that is never a problem because they're actually share because you're basically asking them about yourself. Tell me what's important to you. And they would like to share that. And it doesn't hurt to double check that. So I love what you're saying about connected dots. It won't be necessary that they're saying what you're listening and watching. I also watch what they react to. So something might jump out that would be outside of their say their role. but it's about people and there's an aspect that they really do care about how their people feel, not just the, this process is important in terms of our strategy and the technology we're using, but it might come out like, well, all their people would be really excited to put their hands on that new technology too. But they're not gonna say that because that sounds like that's a weak reason to be for a project, but you know it's important to them because they lead those people or that person. So I like what you're saying, connect the dots, think about those perspectives, because the empathy is gonna help them to connect in the dots, right? more is emotional than the logic of that stuff. So think that's great. Really, really great. On this, I believe you're remote, correct? Partially? Okay. ⁓ fully. Okay. Let's talk about that small. It hasn't come up in the last five years, but let's talk remote. So from your experience, it's always a big topic to me. I do care about this. I think we deal with a lot, every company, because some people at least that are remote, or certainly partial remote, Casey (25:45) I am. Fully. Scott Dunn (26:05) What's your thoughts on what to be worried about and what to make that successful? you're seeing more and more almost like these two sides of the aisle, maybe some aspect of demanding people come back. And yet you have a whole generation who can't buy a house. So I'm figuring out where's the balance of remote work. So yeah, your thoughts on remote work, how to make it successful scene. Casey (26:27) Yeah, I mean, I have two different ways I could approach this, right? I have the personal thing that what works for me part, right? But as somebody who is often having these conversations with people who are in various buckets of people who are, know, partially remote, fully remote, fully in the office, that kind of a thing, I find that what I think is less relevant every single day. I for sure feel I have a lot of privilege. Scott Dunn (26:33) Mm-hmm. Casey (26:50) being fully remote. Like that's really cool because it's good for me. I'm at a spot in my career where it makes sense. I'm good at building relationships in lots of different kinds of ways, including through, you know, zoom meetings and that type of thing. But I don't think that there's a right answer. I think that the each company and each team and each group of people need to find what works best for them. and make that happen. I see real benefit to being together, especially when you're early in your career or when you're doing something that you need a whiteboard. I mean, I'm pretty good at Mural. I'm pretty good at using the whiteboard in the Zoom meeting, but there's no replacement for standing at a whiteboard with a bunch of stickies and flowing out process. So I just don't... Scott Dunn (27:33) That's so true. You're so right. Casey (27:40) I don't know that there's a right answer. And I think that different size companies have different complexity of making that decision. And it sort of goes back to that comment we were making before. Like, if it isn't a good fit for you, find something that is. You know, I don't know. That's my thought. That's my thought. Scott Dunn (28:00) Yeah, true. Makes sense. For the folks that are managing or leading these remote work, are things that they do to make that go better in their context. Casey (28:12) Absolutely. are ways to, especially if you have hybrid, it even gets more complex, right? All virtual is the easiest way of virtual, right? Because then everybody's always virtual and you're always on Zoom and you're always on Slack and whatever. That's for sure the easiest way to manage teams that are virtual. When you have that hybrid space, you've got that opportunity to be in a conference room or in a huddle group or in the cafeteria. and on Zoom meetings, and it gets kind of funky, right? Because sometimes you can't hear, or you have those water cooler conversations. The key really is to have what I found is a good working agreement, right? Like, what types of communication are we going to have? How are we going to do that? What happens when we had a really great conversation in the break room? How do we communicate that to the rest of the team who wasn't there? And really just sort of build team trust through a good quality executed working agreement. And sometimes that takes a little bit more effort from the leader or even from every individual, right? But that's part of that culture, right? Scott Dunn (29:16) Right. I think the folks you make me think that's personally in a meeting and it's good that I try to get the groups together in these different locations as they're talking. I can't tell. I talking. I don't know these. I don't know them all that well. So I can't I can't tell by voice yet. If these are different groups are working with each other. The thing is, look, that person's kind of off camera or either they're on camera. They're so far back. Is that is their mouth moving? Is there a delay? I can't tell. So that sets the connection. I'm surprised for me as a more of a relator, how much it becomes a problem like nothing beats in person. So at least get that regularly. get in person. There was another client that saying that very same thing. Like they love it when we all get back together. And so they kind of have their cadence of pulling the whole group better. Could be like you're off site, could be all hands could be, but I think those opportunities to keep connection. I do like remote. I do think you have a good point about depending on the maturity of the career. Some people just know like I know I got to take care of these biopsy that they've noticed other XYZ. So they do too. So if they're new in their career, they may not even catch that I should be probably working. what is this at home on the zoom and in their PJs or something like that. I think it's a good point. Look at those and also the work. The fact that you would take that to the team and say, what do you all think is very empowering. You have an open conversation around what they all think and definitely there's a assumptions that people are making about what it should be, et cetera, but they those explicit and they kind of carry that around with them a little. Right. So that's a yeah, really nice nugget on that. That's everyone for sure. So last thing I'm to add a little bit on the back on leading change. So in this case, it could be remote, could be these other projects that we'll try to adapt. I think you'd say this earlier about there's no company that's not going through this crazy time of change right now. When it comes to change, have you seen something that's helpful, especially if it's a more significant change, you gave some good fundamentals around influence and trust and relationship, empathy, et cetera. Are there other aspects on how that change is rolled out or a process change or the groups that are leading the change that you've seen be like more systemically just successful aside that people might change, but the way we handle change is done this way. That you think there's a tip or two out there that would help out. They're trying to kick off, you know, a new way of working. We're trying to refresh remote policies or how they work, Because a lot of people in the middle of change. Have you seen overarching themes about how this lead that you found have been more successful? Casey (31:57) Yeah, think, gosh, it's the hardest thing, right? Like figuring out a way to roll out change across teams is the most challenging thing that I've ever done. And I've been doing it for a long time. And I'm always learning new ways and new ways not to do things and all that jazz, right? I have this little nugget that I got from a mentor. Scott Dunn (32:11) Hahaha, yeah. Casey (32:24) 20 years ago almost, and he's a motorcycle rider. And when you ride a motorcycle, the thing that you do to go on a corner is to turn your head, right? Turn your head to get to where you're going. And the non-motorcycle sort of connection to that is the what's my plan. And so really understanding what the plan is so that you can very clearly articulate what it is you're doing at each phase of the change. If you're prepping people for change, what's the plan? If you're starting to design a project, what's the plan? And just get really clear with where you're going, what the expectations are, what each individual person's role is, and be explicit about it because we're all dealing with a lot of things coming at us all the time. And if you're leading with kindness and you're saying, okay, your part of this is to simply accept the change. That's not condescending, that's empowering. That tells that person that like, this decision has been made, I gotta get myself there, and this person's here to help me get there. And so just being really clear about it, that's the biggest thing for me that I've seen that is successful. It's hard to do though, because that's a lot of people and a lot of Scott Dunn (33:36) Yeah. Well, yes, that's why it makes it so surprising. Number of times a company has to bring in outside help to get the change because it's not a capability or muscle they really have about how to change ourselves. Right. We execute against what we build or do here really well for help. But but that idea of getting outside the box and thinking different how we can improve, like you said, poke holes and so that's why I like it that there's someone When a company sees someone with your skill set and the way that you're wired and leverages it to say like, we kind of informally have this person like really helping things about because it's commonly not a muscle that they really have. Sometimes they have the awareness they don't, but sometimes they don't the long, really large change initiatives that take a long time and either never really get off the ground or never really where they should have gone or before they kind of just either die on the vine or we just call it, you know, just call it good. They don't draw in. It gets a group above everyone trying to lay change on top of folks instead of incorporate everyone into change and then go through it together. Learning together with someone like you that can connect the dots, connect with people, can bring that about. And think in a way it's really powerful and effective. Yeah, I was going to tease you. don't know if you have anything on that. But you mentioned books, you mentioned podcasts. Do have any favorites that you just would throw out? Classic go to book, current read, current podcast. Casey (35:01) My favorite all time book is a book called Wolf Pack by Abby Wambach. She's a soccer player, she's fantastic, and it's a book about leadership. It's like 70 pages long. It has a set of like four rules. And yeah, it's written from a like, you know, girl power, woman empowerment, leadership empowerment kind of thing, but it's universally adaptable to life, to it doesn't matter what your gender might be. what your job might be, Wolfpack. I can't recommend it enough. And then most recently, I read the let them theory and it's life changing. It's not a new topic, right? It's not a new concept. Of course you should control the things that you should stress about the things that you can control and let the things you can't control go, right? There's lots of different places that that comes up, but Mel Robbins just did a great job, like putting it into stories that you could like directly apply it to your life, or at least for me anyway. And I find myself quoting that book to myself pretty regularly. Yeah. Scott Dunn (36:03) That's a good sign. That's a really good sign. I find myself too. That's I literally will go through something. I start to realize like you've mentioned this book or this thing like three times now in the last few weeks. Like, OK, that's obviously significant. You didn't miss a time. you make another really good point. I really say like at the meta level in some ways, when it impacts you personally and you connect to it personally, it's going to be helpful and relevant in the work you do because you're going to be sharing the expression of who you are. And I say that because some people will go like, here's this top leadership book this year. I'm to read this well-known. And sometimes I'll struggle to just like really pick the book. Even if it is good content, I don't connect to it. I'm not sharing with others. It's not part. It doesn't become a home and gets spread. So I love what you're saying. Casey (36:48) completely agree with that. read, I spent a lot of time last year reading a book called Mind Your Mindset. I don't know if you've read that one. But in theory, it's great. But it's so business focused that like I didn't personally relate to it. And so I had to go find some other book that was less business structured to, to like, bolster that topic. All the words were the same. It's just the storyline really, really changes it for me. So telling stories, right, is the most important thing of how we connect. to the world. Scott Dunn (37:20) Yes, yes, yes. And I believe in that. That's how we're just wired. brains are wired. Story really sticks. And you're making me think like, yeah, those books I recommend the most are more not have a lot of stories, even if it's less directly tied to the work I do. Maybe it's not even technology. It's not even maybe it's not even around business, but it's got stories they do and stick and connect. I love that. So I'll check that out. I have not read Will Peck. I think I've seen it, but now that I know it, pages I'm also enticed to on that. I can get through it. Casey (37:52) It's one hour of your time max. Scott Dunn (37:53) us. If I can't do that over breakfast, then what's going on? Awesome. I appreciate that. This has been great. I think there's a lot of nuggets for folks that are listening. I wouldn't be surprised, by the way, that this could get chopped up into part one, part two. I think we like them. But this is great because I think it's a great part one, part two, given how we kind of split the conversations. And I love the personal aspect on that as well. So thank Thank Casey for the time. It's been wonderful. think I really look forward to people's feedback on this and a lot of takeaways, a lot of that can be, they can try out some of these things very next week in terms of how they show up and who they are and what they're about. There's just a whole lot of good pieces of this that I think are readily possible for so many people. So I really, really appreciate that too as well. I'm on automatic sites. love them. The Builder Backs, they can do something right away with that. And you gave them a lot of Thank you for that. Thank you for your time. I know you have a lot on your plate. for us, but you appreciate it. Hope to see you soon. Thanks Casey. Casey (38:54) Yeah, thanks for having me. Thank you. Scott Dunn (38:57) Woo!

A scorcher of a day so late in Spring…think we hit 96 earlier this afternoon. Not usually this hot till late June and into July! Makes me wonder what will the summer bring? The Music Authority Podcast...listen, like, comment, download, share, repeat…heard daily on Belter Radio, Podchaser, Deezer, Amazon Music, Audible, Listen Notes, Mixcloud, Player FM, Tune In, Podcast Addict, Cast Box, Radio Public, Pocket Cast, APPLE iTunes, and direct for the source distribution site: *Podcast - https://themusicauthority.transistor.fm/  AND NOW there is a website! TheMusicAuthority.comThe Music Authority Podcast! Special Recorded Network Shows, too! Different than my daily show! Seeing that I'm gone from FB now…Follow me on “X” Jim Prell@TMusicAuthority*Radio Candy Radio Monday Wednesday, & Friday 7PM ET, 4PM PT*Rockin' The KOR Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 7PM UK time, 2PM ET, 11AM PT  www.koradio.rocks*Pop Radio UK Friday, Saturday, & Sunday 6PM UK, 1PM ET, 10AM PT! *The Sole Of Indie https://soleofindie.rocks/ Monday Through Friday 6-7PM EST!*AltPhillie.Rocks Sunday, Thursday, & Saturday At 11:00AM ET!May 21, 2025, Wednesday, second base…@Sunday Junkie - The Noise Of Nothing [Sunday Junkie]@Derek Smith And The Cosmic Vultures - The Puppets of Hypocrisy [Temporary Circus, Act 1 - EP]@Foxy - Hide Away [Tonight Tonight] (@Rum Bar Records)@John McCabe - Tired [It Rings A Bell] (@Subjangle)@Shanda & The Howlers - Please Come Home [It Ain't Easy] (@Rum Bar Records)@Hudson Powder Company - Chopper [Hudson Powder Company LLC]@Euphoria Station - Carolina On My Mind [Smoking Gun]@The Spackles - The Dotted Line [Clamaro] (@Rum Bar Records)@Cheap Cassettes - How I Got What I Wanted [Ever Since Ever Since] (@Rum Bar Records)@Tomas Nilsson - Tired Of Being Tired [Inside My Universe (koolkatmusik.com)@Muck And The Mires - One Hit Wonder Of Love [Beat Revolution] (@Dirty Water Records)@Brensheen - Just The Wind [Don't Come Too Close]@Onsloow - Unstoppable [Onsloow]@Electric Penguins - The Way Lights A Fire [The Way Lights A Fire, Pt.1] (@Bohemia Records)@Movieland – We're There [Now & Then]@Tristan Armstrong – Singing In Your Sleep [Lonely Avenue] (koolkatmusik.com)

When Sam Baker approached me about talking about the product he represents, worm casting tea, and also mentioned that WiggleBrew has tested and discovered that earthworms can actually "EAT PLASTIC," it was a no-brainer- I couldn't wait to hear more about that! As a big fan of worm compost (vermicompost), I was very excited to promote the crap (pun intended) out of WiggleBrew, and Sam didn't disappoint. He was talking to me from an Agriculture conference in Chicago, where he presented WiggleBrew, and mentioned he felt over dressed, because he wore a business suit, and the others were dressed more comfortably. But I hope the folks there really heard him like I did- "A team of recent college grads is making a fertilizer from worm poop that row crop farmers are using instead of the toxic stuff. Along the way, they discovered that earthworm microbes can also be used to break down plastic!"This feels like game changing information to me - I mean, the real game changer would be less plastic being produced, of course, but to have earthworms eat it, and then produce fertilizer?? WHOA--From WriggleBrew's website: "it's not all poop jokes and worms over here- there's a more serious reason we're doing this all- more serious than saving habitats. Malnutrition that stems from mineral fertilizer use on crops makes up about 4% of child deaths around the world right now. Mineral fertilizers, like a certain TikTok famous houseplant fertilizer, does not let plants uptake (eat) the micronutrients that we humans need from our food: like zinc, iron, and magnesium. Makes the plants more susceptible to disease too."Check out WriggleBrew's website: https://www.wrigglebrew.com/Find them on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wrigglebrew/and on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PRAGWriggleBrewYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPzJEBVwHWJzbmc15QN5TcQand on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wrigglebrew_officialYou can send me messages(this is new!)!Support the showPlease follow Grounded In Maine podcast on Instagram here YouTube channel link is here You can DM me there or email me at amysgardenjam@gmail.com Website for Amy's Garden Jam is https://amysgardenjam.com/ (podcast has its own tab on this site!) Amy's email newsletter: https://amy-fagan.kit.com/499688fe6a How Do I Get There From Here by Jane Bolduc - listen to more at https://www.janebolduc.com/Podcast cover by Becca Kofron- follow here on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/cute_but_loud/ and check out her awesome art projects. Grounded in Maine Podcast is hosted by Buzzsprout, the easiest podcast hosting platform with the best customer service! Learn more at https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1851361 You can support this podcast one time (or many) with the Buy me a coffee/Hot Chocolate link here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/groundedinmaine Grounded in Maine Podcast is sponsored by ESG Review. Learn more about the good they're doing at https://esgreview.net/

What if I told you that most interviews are mind-numbingly boring, and you're probably doing them wrong? Today I interview Tracy Johnson, and after decades in radio and working with countless shows, he's written a book, Mic Drop Moments, that shares the secrets to transforming mediocre conversations into absolute "Didya Hear That?!" moments. In this episode, we pull back the curtain on selecting guests that will electrify your audience, ask questions that make people lean in, and tell stories that keep listeners hanging on every word. Whether you're a seasoned podcaster or just starting out, what we share will completely change how you approach interviews forever. So if you're ready to stop settling for bland, forgettable conversations and start creating audio magic, hit play right now.The Triple Threat Filter for Interview Guests:1. Familiarity- How well-known is the guest to your audience?- A familiar guest brings built-in interest and recognition- More famous guests typically make better interview subjects- Provides an immediate connection for listeners2. Relevance- Does the guest's story or background matter to your audience?- Must align with your podcast's theme and target listeners- Simply being famous isn't enough if the content doesn't resonate- The guest should provide value specific to your show's focus3. Interest/Entertainment- Can the guest tell a compelling story?- Ability to be engaging, dynamic, and captivating- Brings unique perspectives or unexpected narratives- Makes the host look good by providing memorable contentAim to have at least two out of three criteria met. If you lose two out of three, the interview will likely be challenging to make interesting. The ultimate goal is to leverage the guest's story to enhance your podcast's entertainment value.The 3E's of Entertainment:1. Enhance- Add extra details to make the story more interesting- Go beyond the basic facts- Ask questions like "What were you thinking at that moment?"- Create additional context that wasn't initially present- Make the story more vivid and engaging2. Exaggerate- Slightly amplify the story's impact- Turn a small moment into a bigger narrative- Example: A small fish becomes "the biggest catch of the season."- Create dramatic tension without losing the core truth- Make the story more memorable and exciting3. Embellish- Add creative storytelling elements- Stage the story for maximum entertainment value- Take a brief moment and turn it into a full narrative- Example: A simple backstage conversation becomes an epic ping pong challenge- Use creative license to make the story more compellingAs audiences crave authenticity, Tracy isn't saying to lie, but you can bring in adjectives that trigger the theater of the mind.Resources MentionMic Drop Moments BookTracy Johnson Media WebsiteSchool of PodcastingEpisode 677 The Ultimate Guide to Hosting and Guesting Podcast Interviews

Podcast Notes: Interview with Carson Bruce of The Worship Keys Episode Overview In this episode of the Church Front Worship and Tech Podcast, Luke Jackson interviews Carson Bruce, founder of The Worship Keys platform—a resource dedicated to helping keys players in worship settings improve their skills and understanding of their role. About Carson Bruce & The Worship Keys Founder of The Worship Keys platform, which focuses on four main areas: music theory, gear/software, ministry, and industry Classically trained pianist who now lives in Nashville The Worship Keys podcast releases weekly on Wednesdays, featuring interviews with keys players Origin Story Carson created the platform because he "wished something like this existed" when he was younger Piano has been central to his personal faith journey—often serving as his "prayer closet" Noticed a gap in resources specifically for worship keys players Essential Skills for Worship Pianists Heart Posture: "If your heart is not in ministry...you're not going to stay on that stage satisfied" Playing by Ear: Learning to listen and replicate what you hear is crucial Nashville Number System: Understanding music theory through the number system Ear Training: Practice playing unfamiliar worship songs by ear, then verify with chord charts Focus on Fundamentals: Learn to play well before worrying about gear Transitioning from Classical to Contemporary Classical training often emphasizes sight-reading and technical precision Worship contexts require playing by ear, improvisation, and band awareness Many pianists struggle with this transition because the learning approaches are fundamentally different Nashville Number System for Keys Players Despite some believing it's mainly useful for guitarists, Carson advocates for pianists using the Nashville Number System because: It facilitates whole-band communication Makes modulation easier Numbers are quicker to call out than complex chord names Works internationally across language barriers Promotes collaboration rather than piano-centric leadership Common Mistakes Worship Keys Players Make Overplaying the Low End: Creates muddiness when there's already a bass player Doing Too Much: Sometimes simplicity serves the song better Playing Full Triads in Both Hands: Consider simpler voicings like fifths or suspended chords Not Understanding Context: Different musical styles require different approaches Technology Tips Software Options MainStage: Good for Mac users, moderate learning curve Ableton Live: Most powerful but steeper learning curve Sunday Keys App: User-friendly iPad app with AI capabilities ($120) Hardware Highlight Atmosphere Pedal by Aerospace Audio: Physical pedal with high-quality atmospheric pads built in Allows pianists to trigger pads without needing a computer on stage Features 10 different pad sounds based on atmospheric layers Small footprint allows it to be placed directly on the keyboard Keys Players' Rigs Carson's typical setup includes: Arturia KeyLab MIDI controller MainStage software for sounds Focusrite 18i20 interface when running tracks Software from Sunday Sounds or Aerospace Audio for pads Decision-Making for Keys Equipment Carson's advice: If your keyboard works well, keep it and upgrade your sounds through software Consider Sunday Keys app for simplicity and ease of use MainStage for Mac users who want more control Ableton Live for those willing to invest time in learning a comprehensive system Use iPad apps when available to avoid complex computer setups Sunday Keys App Highlights Features AI-generated sounds based on text or emoji descriptions Allows easy sharing of setlists between multiple campuses Affordable one-time purchase with optional annual updates Limitation: Cannot currently import custom-created patches Artists That Inspire Carson Red Rocks Worship (particularly Spooky Scott) Elevation Rhythm (especially "Goodbye Yesterday") The Ramp Worship from Hamilton, Alabama Various gospel artists for technical inspiration Connect with The Worship Keys Instagram: @theworshipkeys YouTube: The Worship Keys Email: Carson@theworshipkeys.com Key Quotes "If you're not using the number system as a pianist, maybe you're not meaning to, but it's like you're trying to say one up almost." "It's like buying a Lamborghini and driving it in first gear everywhere you go." "The piano was once looked at as a secular instrument that you only play in the bars and the pubs, and then it was brought into the church and people had big problems with that." "A lot of times they're asking you to do less in a full band context." Apply to Join Churchfront Premium Apply to Join Churchfront Pro Free Worship and Production Toolkit Shop Our Online Courses Join us at the Churchfront Conference Follow Churchfront on Instagram or TikTok: @churchfront Follow on Twitter: @realchurchfront Gear we use to make videos at Churchfront Musicbed SyncID: MB01VWQ69XRQNSN  

Welcome to the show.  It's Saturday and we are drinking some Red Bird.  Finally!  This is Mike's very own coffee.  It's a medium roast Brazilian and it is delicious.  I was a lot of fun to journal.  As we sip we talk a lot about leverage and creatine.  Then we end up on John Wick and Coffee Carts.  Makes sense.  Enjoy! CHECK OUT TODAYS COFFEE AT: Red Bird Coffee https://redbirdcoffee.com/ CHECK OUT OUR DISCOUNT CODES: GOLD LEAF JOURNALS  https://shopgoldleaf.com/products/coffee-journal Discount Code: COFFEEREGULAR  15% off anything in the shop Breakfast At Dominique's https://hollywoodblends.com/ COFFEEREGULAR Airworks Coffee https://airworkscoffee.com/ COFFEEREG20 Monkey Cult Coffee https://monkeycultcoffee.com/ Discount Code: JOINTHECULT10 Doctor Coffee https://www.doctor-coffee.com/ Discount Code:   COFFEEREG $5 off your first order Wild Gift Coffee https://wildgiftcoffee.com/ Discount Code: COFFEEREG 10% off any order, single use CHECK OUT THE LEGION PROJECT AT: https://thelegionproject.com/ CHECK US OUT ON: SHOPIFY: https://coffee-regular-podcast.myshopify.com/ SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ZhSOy5oDAHOAm4ggUdL2V?si=5DBsXhK3R2ufSMgpgtFGng iTUNES: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/coffee-regular/id1460681914 PODBEAN AT: https://coffeeregularshow.podbean.com FACEBOOK AT: Coffee Regular Podcast INSTAGRAM AT: @coffeeregularpodcast  

Shakespeare ​famously ​wrote, ​what's ​in ​a ​name? ​ ​But ​let's ​say ​it ​out ​loud. ​ ​Jack ​ ​Lemmon. ​It ​says ​it ​all ​right ​there ​in ​the ​name. ​​Jack. Ordinary, ​​the ​guy ​across ​from ​you ​on ​the ​subway. Lemon. The ​one ​that ​got ​the ​broken ​car. ​ ​The ​bitter ​taste, ​yet ​the ​surprising ​brightly ​colored ​yellow ​sun ​inside ​of ​the ​bad ​luck. ​Jack ​Lemmon, ​arguably ​the ​greatest ​comic ​and ​dramatic ​actor ​to ​ever ​grace ​the ​screen, ​who ​is ​unrivaled ​​as ​the ​everyman ​who ​trips, ​stumbles, ​ ​triumphs ​and ​gets ​the ​girl. ​Or ​in ​the ​case ​of ​Some ​like ​it ​Hot, ​the ​guy. ​ ​Starting ​this ​week ​at ​one ​of ​my ​very ​favorite ​movie ​theaters, ​the ​Film ​Forum ​on ​Houston ​Street, ​Jack ​Lemmon ​turns ​100. ​ Can ​you ​believe ​it? ​And ​the ​Film ​Forum ​is ​opening ​its ​two ​week ​tribute ​on ​Friday, ​May ​16th ​with ​the ​iconic ​story ​of ​opposites, ​the ​Odd ​Couple. ​But ​I'm ​not ​here ​to ​talk ​about ​Mr. ​Lemon's ​legendary ​roles ​in ​Days ​of ​Wine ​and ​Roses, ​Glengarry ​Glen ​Ross ​ ​having ​a ​revival ​on ​Broadway ​now ​with ​Bob ​Odenkirk ​reprising ​Lemon's ​unforgettable ​Shelley ​Levine, ​The ​Front ​Page, ​Mr. ​Roberts, ​Bell, ​Book ​and ​A Candle. ​A ​personal ​favorite ​of ​mine, ​Some ​like ​it ​Hot, ​which ​I ​watched ​on ​VHS ​until ​the ​tape ​broke…I ​am ​here ​to ​talk ​about ​one ​of ​the ​greatest ​comedies, ​if ​you ​can ​call ​a ​film ​about ​a ​mid ​level ​office ​drone ​working ​at ​an ​insurance ​company ​ ​who ​lets ​his ​superiors ​bully ​him ​into ​letting ​them ​have ​his ​apartment ​for ​their ​affairs ​in ​hopes ​of ​him ​getting ​promoted ​and ​the ​suicidal ​elevator ​girl ​who ​whom ​he ​falls ​in ​love ​with. ​A comedy ​​The ​Apartment. ​ Legendary ​director ​Billy ​Wilder, ​coming ​off ​the ​wild ​success ​of ​Some ​like ​it ​Hot ​with ​Marilyn ​Monroe, ​wanted ​to ​keep ​his ​collaboration ​with ​Lemon ​going. ​So ​in ​1960, ​Wilder ​and ​I.A.L ​diamond ​(Come ​on, ​is ​that ​the ​coolest ​name?)​ who ​wrote ​Some ​Like ​It ​Hot ​with ​Wilder ​were ​inspired ​by ​an ​infamous ​Hollywood ​murder ​story ​about ​agent ​Jennings ​Lange ​who ​was ​having ​an ​affair ​with ​actress ​Joan ​Bennett ​in ​an ​underlings ​apartment. ​So ​her ​husband, ​producer ​Walter ​Wanger, ​shot ​and ​killed ​Lange. ​Check ​out ​Karina ​Longworth's ​excellent ​podcast ​Love ​Is A Crime from ​You ​Must ​Remember ​This ​for ​the ​full ​retelling ​to ​you ​and ​I. ​This ​might ​not ​seem ​like ​source ​material ​for ​one ​of ​our ​greatest ​comedies, ​but ​in ​Wilder, ​Lemon ​and ​the ​adorable ​Shirley ​MacLaine's ​Hands, ​it ​was ​a ​box ​office ​smash, ​winning ​five ​Oscars ​out ​of ​ten ​nominations. ​Now ​I ​could ​go ​on ​and ​on ​about ​Billy ​Wilder's ​meticulous ​directorial ​precision, ​Lemon's ​unreal ​​comic ​timing ​and ​turn ​on ​a ​dime ​pathos ​why ​Ving ​Rhames ​spontaneously ​gave ​him ​his ​very ​own ​Golden ​Globe ​in ​1998. ​But I'm actually here to talk about a hat, a haircut, and a mirror. Let's rewind to 1960 - President Kennedy just took office, Roy Orbison's ‘Only The Lonely' was on the radio, and the kids were doing Chubby Checker's ‘The Twist'. The very seriously subversive theme and subject of The Apartment can not be over stated in this climate. The film, shot in gorgeous black & white by Joseph LaShelle of Laura and Marty fame, puts us smack-dab in what I'd call ‘Mad Men' central - a heady swirl of cigarette smoke and ‘Tom & Jerry' cocktail mix, office Christmas parties, wives holding on line 2 while executive husbands scheduled accepted trysts before dinner and kissing the kids goodnight. Lemmon plays ‘C.C. Baxter', a hard-working, well-meaning drone who somehow gets himself turned into a sort of brothel landlord. His neighbors wonder how he can withstand being such a Lothario - the sounds coming through the walls everynight don't match C.C. Baxter's unassuming Brooks Brothers suit with a rumpled white shirt with rounded collars and tie-bar to boot.But Baxter is caught in a hilarious cycle of paying his dues to climb the corporate ladder. This is what you must do. You must get out of bed at midnight to allow your boss to wine and bed his mistress in your Upper Westside apartment even if it involves you sleeping on a park bench in Central Park and catching your death (which Lemmon really did on that particular night shoot on location in the chilly fall of NYC). Lemmon's aspiration is to be ‘the youngest junior executive at Consolidated Insurance' so he MUST climb that corporate ladder to get the accoutrements - the windowed office, the carte blanche phone calls to pass on favors, and the bowler hat!He proudly shows it off to Shirley MacLaine's elevator operator, Fran Kubelik, who regards it as the ultimate symbol of the last ‘nice guy' crossing over the river Styx to the underworld of betrayal. She is happy for Baxter, but her eyes register a cultural sadness - this white male corporate culture is a disease and its got it claws in Baxter, and Baxter is completely oblivious to what he is about to sign on the dotted line for. Fran isn't. Despite her absolutely adorable ‘pixie' hair-cut, she has been groped by the best of them, and seems unreachable by the hordes of executives. Fran is the Snow Leopard, the last big game that hasn't been conquered. You can grab her butt, and she firmly pushes you on your way. There is something modern, forward-leaning in her attitude and appearance, punctuated by that hair-cut representing women's liberation, strength, and independence. ‘I don't need long flowing hair to make you like me, pal.' The pixie cut was popularized by Audrey Hepburn in the late 1950's, followed by the model Twiggy, and reaching its apotheosis with Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby in the mid-1960s. But Shirley MacLaine, in my humble opinion, does it best as ‘Fran', the hard-working elevator operator girl who won't fall prey. Fran says in one of the film's most famous lines of dialogue, “When you're alone with a married man, you shouldn't wear mascara.” Shirley MacLaine's tender and deep performance as ‘Fran', lets us - and eventually Baxter - know that all is not well in the corporate system and the culture at large. One of the most ingenious uses of the Hollywood film adage ‘show don't tell' in filmmaking is the use of a simple compact make-up mirror to tell a major plot turn in The Apartment. Baxter's boss, Jeff D. Sheldrake played with brave impunity by silver screen star Fred MacMurray, who was so hated after this performance he would be aaccosted in the street by ladies chasting him for playing such a ‘dirty man'. Sheldrake calls Baxter into his office early in the film for what Baxter thinks is his promotion. Sheldrake says he's heard about Baxter's ‘key' - meaning his revolving brothel. Sheldrake wants in. Baxter obliges as Sheldrake is THE biggest fish. Later, in another summoning to the head honcho's office, Baxter gives him a floral compact he discovered in his couch, assuming it belongs to Sheldrake's mistress. The mirror inside the compact is cracked jagged down the middle splitting the image of whoever opens it in two. Baxter thinks nothing of it until he is modeling his bowler hat - the Junior Executive - for Fran. What do you think? he askes her. “After all, this is a conservative firm. I don't want people to think I'm an entertainer…”. In the midst of this, Fran helpful as ever, opens her compact to show Baxter how the bowler hat looks. To Baxter's deep inner shock, he puts ‘two and two together' and realizes Fran is in fact Sheldrake's mistress. The horror. The one that was ungettable gotten by the biggest fish with a wife and two kids. The shot of Lemmon reacting in the cracked compact is on the of most effective story and visual devices I can think of in cinema. Baxter sees himself split apart - two worlds: the happy go lucky Baxter, and the Baxter that is now privy to some vile stuff involving the one girl he actually likes.Fran sees his reaction and asks ‘what is it? Baxter takes a beat. “The mirror…it's broken.” Then Fran utters one of my favorite lines, “I know. I like it this way…makes me look the way I feel.” WOW. What a subversive revilation! What a profound utterance. Talk about Chekhov. ‘Makes me look the way I feel'. We begin to realize all is not right with Fran. Sheldrake is leading her on. She sets a boundary at the local Chinese restaurant where he apparently takes all his conquests - the back booth. But Sheldrake works her over, and convinces her he WILL leave his wife. After a tryst back at Baxter's apartment on Christmas Eve, Sheldrake must catch his evening train to make dinner with the family. Obviously having forgotten to get Fran anything of real signifigance for Christmas, he opens his wallet and hands her a hudred dollar bill. Even in today's anything goes era, it's a shockingly seedy gesture that is all too real. MacLaine's Fran takes it in stride - just like Baxter leaving his key under the rug for his bosses - and stands to take off her coat and gets ready to disrobe. Fran says something like, ‘well, you already paid for it.' Ugh. My heart broke! For Fran, for Baxter, for the sad inevitablity of it all. Trigger Warning. The last portion of this episode deals with suicide. Listen with care. Fran asks to be left alone. In the bathroom, she finds the hundred dollar bill in her purse, and realizing she will never be able to break this cycle, she sees Baxter's sleeping pills - Seconal - and takes them all. Meanwhile, Baxter is out drowning his sorrows with a hilarious companion, played by actress Hope Holiday. They get drunk and dance, looking for a place to get even closer, they head back to Baxter's apartment - “Might as well go to me. Everybody else does.” Once back at his place, he discovers Fran and races to his jocular doctor neighbor, played by Jack Kruschen (also Oscar nominated for his hilarious supporting role as Dr. Dreyfuss), and Fran narrowly misses checking out. While recovering at Baxter's playing gin rummy (which MacLaine was playing alot of as a peripheral member of the Rat Pack), Fran and him bond, more than bond. They fall into bliss and don't even know it. It's a beautiful chemistry, one that apparently as it evolved dictated the script. Sources say upon commencement of filming, the screenplay was a mere 40 pages, and Wilder liked to work that way and let things evolve. He was also famous for re-shooting after viewing dallies. MacLaine calls him 'sciencentific, brittle and caustic with women but made you better for it'. She tells a story about once such instance during a climactic scene with Fred MacMurray's ‘Sheldrake' where she couldn't get the emotion necessary for their break-up in the Chinese restaurant they frequent. MacLaine's native Canadian accent was coming out literally on the word ‘out.' After viewing the ‘rushes', he concluded they need to re-shoot, even calling MacLaine out in the screening room. MacLaine, much like Fran, didn't buckle under pressure, and they re-shot. On the day, Wilder called ‘Action' and excused himself to give her the privacy to do the scene. She hit it out of the park, uttering the lines from that take that made the final cut, “So you sit there and make yourself a cup of instant coffee while he rushes out to catch the train.”Well, long story short, Baxter and Fran end up together - thank Heavens. I could explain the plot twists to get them there, but I want to leave you with one final remberance of MacLaine's. When asked what it was like to work with Jack Lemmon, she said, “He would say, ‘Magic time!', every time the camera rolled. And then we knew we'd better make some magic.”Check out The Apartment on the big screen at The Film Forum in all its glory this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And all of Jack Lemmon's ‘Magic time' over the next two weeks. You won't be sorry.More about the series here:JACK LEMMON 100Watch The Apartment here:Look Behind The Look is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Look Behind The Look at lookbehindthelook.substack.com/subscribe

ADHD is not genetic! In this video, we'll examine the profound connection between ADHD and diet. Discover the foods that worsen ADHD symptoms, the relationship between ADHD and sugar intake, and the best ADHD diet to address the nutritional deficiencies that may be causing some of the symptoms in the first place. 0:00 Introduction: ADHD and poor nutrition0:13 ADHD diagnosis and ADHD symptoms 1:54 Side effects of ADHD medications 2:04 ADHD causes 3:32 ADHD and food4:24 ADHD and nutritional deficiencies 6:20 The best ADHD dietAttention deficit hyperactivity disorder is typically diagnosed by identifying the following ADHD symptoms:•Makes mistakes easily•Lack of attention to detail•Does not listen when spoken to directly •Doesn't complete tasks •Cannot play quietly•Problems organizing •Loses things•Frequent fidgeting •Too much energy•Talks too much Many ADHD symptoms are normal childhood behaviors, and a poor diet can exaggerate all of them. ADHD is often treated with Adderall and Ritalin, which make lots of money for Big Pharma. The definition of ADHD has been dramatically expanded to make it more diagnosable, putting more people on medication.A double-blinded study showed that after 36 months, any benefits from Adderall faded to zero. It also has side effects such as aggressive behavior or a dulled mood. ADHD involves a metabolic problem with the prefrontal cortex of the brain. These metabolic changes affect the way the brain metabolizes fuel. If the brain is starved of fuel, you may exhibit symptoms like a lack of attention and hyperactivity. Chemicals like food dyes, artificial sweeteners, sugar, starch, and MSG tremendously impact behavior. Increasing dopamine can improve focus and feelings of calmness. Foods such as meat, fish, eggs, and cheese are high in the amino acid L-tyrosine, the precursor to dopamine.Research has shown that micronutrients, especially B6, magnesium, and zinc, can significantly decrease ADHD symptoms. Omega-3 fatty acids and fish oils can also improve symptoms without side effects. Vitamin B1 is one of the most overlooked nutrients, especially in psychiatric conditions. When a child consumes a lot of glucose, vitamin B1 is depleted, inhibiting the brain's ability to utilize fuel. If an adult or child is experiencing ADHD symptoms, they should switch to a low-carb diet so their body can run on ketones. Ketones will fuel the neurons and restore a sense of calmness and increased attention span. Dr. Eric Berg DC Bio:Dr. Berg, age 60, is a chiropractor who specializes in Healthy Ketosis & Intermittent Fasting. He is the author of the best-selling book The Healthy Keto Plan, and is the Director of Dr. Berg Nutritionals. He no longer practices, but focuses on health education through social media.

Today's episode is not so much about starting a business, but a glimpse into the neuroscience of influence and the power of Neurolinguistic Programming. My guest is Dr. Josh Davis, PhD in psychology and neuroscience from Columbia University. He's the international bestselling author of Two Awesome Hours and an upcoming title The Difference that Makes the Difference.Josh is the founder of the Science-Based Leadership Institute, a sought-after keynote speaker, and his writing has appeared in Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, Psychology Today, Inc., and more.In this interview, explore the fascinating world of Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP)—what it is, how it can help us connect, communicate more effectively, lead with greater empathy, and shift self-limiting beliefs.Subscribe on Apple Podcast , Spotify or YouTube.Let's connect!Subscribe to my newsletter: Time To Live: Thriving in Business and BeyondWebsite: https://www.annemcginty.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annemcgintyInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/annemcgintyhost

Tracy Makes an Announcement 05/13/25

Novedades y noticias con mucho sabor a surf, garage y rock’n’roll. Nuevos discos de The Untamed Youth o Messer Chups, giras de Los Straitjackets, Lost Acapulco, Stompin’ Riff Raffs o JD McPherson con Bloodshot Bill. Y hueco para los inminentes festivales Surforama (Valencia) Touliña Pop (Sada).(Foto del podcast; Lost Acapulco)Playlist;(sintonía) LOS STRAITJACKETS “Pacifica”THE UNTAMED YOUTH “I’m going away”THE UNTAMED YOUTH “Patty baby”DEKE DICKERSON and THE WHIPPERSNAPPERS “Valentina”THE VOLCANICS “Loose screw”MESSER CHUPS “Margarita for me and my horse”LOST ACAPULCO “Tsunami mami”SATAN’S PILGRIMS “In the past”LES GREENE “Can you keep a secret”BLOODSHOT BILL “Pizza pie”BLOODSHOT BILL “Rule book”JD McPHERSON “The phantom lover of New Rochelle”THE STOMPIN' RIFF RAFFS “Phantom rock”WAU Y LOS ARRRGHS!!! “Rey de tablistas”LOS TORONTOS “Take a bath”THE SOUND MINDS “Hide and seek”MUCK and THE MIRES “She’s too good for you”THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE “Makes me great”Escuchar audio

Some planets have lots of moons. Others have none. Earth has just one moon, but it's a really great one. It can glow bright and white and sometimes it's shaped like a big round ball. Other times it's skinny like the white tip of a fingernail. Makes you wonder, why does the moon look the way it does? We asked Preston Dyches from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to help us find the answer.Got a question orbiting around your brain? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we'll illuminate an answer.

Okay, folks, buckle up! Episode 169 of TOPS Daily Grind is LIVE, and somehow, we're still on the airwaves.

Well look who's back in town! It's only writer, actor and comedian, Brona CTitley, who re-joins the force to share another crime story from her own life - and this time we hear that even in childhood, her crime solving smarts were sharp as hell. Detective Titley then aids and abets Hannah and Taylor in solving a criminal case from 1942, which throws up important questions such as, when is a balloon really a balloon? And are dolls really spies? Makes you think...Finally, we hear from a listener who encountered a crime on holiday, which could see Eeyore brought in for questioning. The Drunk Women are LIVE all over the UK this summer ...You can see them at their London Residency in May and June. Live - Drunk Women Solving Crime - The UK's hit true crime comedy podcastIn Belfast on Saturday 3rd May 2025, when DWSC are part of the CQAF Festival - head to CQAF 2025 Earlybird - CQAF for tickets!In Sheffield at The Crossed Wires Festival 2025! Come and see Hannah and Taylor at this prestigious podcast festival in Sheffield on Saturday 5th July Crossed Wires FestivalOn the Isle of Wight at The Ventnor Fringe on July 18th and 19th Live - Drunk Women Solving Crime - The UK's hit true crime comedy podcastAND you can see them at the Edinburgh Fringe from 15th-24th August Drunk Women Solving Crime | Edinburgh Festival FringeDon't forget DWSC now drops TWICE weekly! Episodes will be on general release every Wednesday AND Friday.BUT you can get both shows in one hit, by going to our Patreon where you can sign up for early access and get both episodes every Tuesday.As well as this, you'll get ad free eps, invites to watch our live zoom records, video of all our studio eps, bespoke shout outs and MORE! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.