Podcasts about Mere

On this episode of The Smoke Podcast, we had The Great and talented Rodan Ross, and when I say this brother showed and showed out this is a mere understatement. For Rodan, we paired some really great Tequila along with a great cigar, and considering that the Tequila was gone at the end of the show along with the cigar I would think it was a success. Be sure to check out this episode and others where great podcasts are served up. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

This episode was a livestream on YouTube, recorded on September 27th, 2022. Mere hours before Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida, the Filmatic crew decided to take this opportunity to discuss Mystery Men, Dodgeball, & Starsky And Hutch, Live; whilst also providing metrics and news on the impending hurricane. The stream was unable to be trimmed as mentioned, so full apologies in order. If listening via audio, some podcast apps have a 'smart speed' setting. We would highly advise you to utilize this feature if possible. Lmk if you still want that Blu Ray DVD. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/filmatic/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/filmatic/support

Tulsa County DA Steve Kunzweiler joins the KRMG Morning News with Dan Potter just days after being stabbed by his own daughter. Still healing. Feels sore, but fine. Wants to highlight mental health issues in Tulsa. Hopes to have gotten the attention of lawmakers in Oklahoma City after his news conference on Wednesday.

Letnji raspust samo što je završio i đaci samo što su zagrejali školske klupe, a već počinje sledeći - jesenji raspust. Ove godine je najpre u Severnoj Rajni Vestfaliji. Automobilski klub ADAC upozorava na gužve na autoputevima. Na aerodromima se ponavalja haos kakav je bio tokom leta, zbog nedostatka osoblja ponovo su velike gužve. A od 1. oktobra stupaju na snagu i nova korona pravila koja se tiču i putnika. O svemu tome detaljnije govorimo u ovom podkastu i donosimo brojne korisne savete. Von Boris Rabrenovic.

Contractors have long urged agencies to expand the debriefings they give to losing bidders after making an award. In one recent case, an enhanced debriefing lead to a turnover in the award. The new award turned out to be protest proof. Federal Drive host Tom Temin talked about the project, worth tens of millions of dollars, with Joe Petrillo, Smith Pachter McWhorter procurement attorney.

Ezra Cohen is the former Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security and crafted a memo to protect members of the military and civilian employees of the Department of Defense to keep that from happening. He joins us for this special edition of Just Ask the Question to address a legal concern that potentially affects as many as four million Americans.He is joined by his attorney and frequent guest Mark Zaid to discuss the issue and a September 30 deadline that could make a big difference in the lives of millions of people.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Omkring Lone's 18 års fødselsdag fik hun diagnosen dissemineret sklerose. Senere i livet, da hendes andet barn blev født, bliver hendes tilstand kraftigt forværret, så hun må sidde i kørestol de næste 14 år. Lone kommer på et amtsplejehjem for yngre fysisk handicappede, og sammen med en ung pige bliver de kørt rundt i landet af en ansat på plejehjemmet til møder med Hans Berntsen. Den 13. gang sker miraklet. Hør Lone's utrolige historie. Lone Jørgensen, 59 år, førtidspensionist. Produceret og redigeret af Kirsten og Bjørn Hansen for HansenMedie.

I dagens episode taler vi blandt andet om Dennis' målsætning om at gå 10 kilometer om dagen. Derudover fejrer vi den europæiske sprogdag og leder efter nogle af de mest spøjse turnoffs.

Kicking things off Sheldon and Meredith had just finished a 45 minute ride - not a duration either typically enjoy, but it was an epic dual ride so they couldn't say no. Besides Sheldon is paying penance for a few days of butter burgers, cheese curds and beer in Wisconsin. Our guest today is the amazing Sage Figueroa, lead instructor at Echelon UK. Her story inspires, and her confidence and poise make you just love her almost instantly. Her stories of seeing the world, her journey of fitness through pregnancy, and her solid advice for the importance of rest and variation made the conversation a must listen to! Fitness news brings Peloton dropping their new rower, but content will only be available if you have the machine. It has some potentially cool features but the price... not as cool. Hydrow and USA Triathlon team up. Therabody gets a big influx and are expanding their focus to wellness. We also talk a bit on personalized nutrition that uses your DNA to pick food. In Echelon news - Ryn joins the spin bike. Yay! It's hispanic heritage month and Echelon has a great dual ride for it. Home rider Richard Wilnes and Frankfurt Instructor Florian also have a dual ride. Mere delivers the shout outs! We wrap up the show with our own tribute to hispanic heritage month where Shel and Mere talk about two people that inspire them. Don't forget to follow Sage's IG: unlock_themovement Also - if you love the Great British Baking Show and want more of Shel and Mere along with their friend Alison - follow their NEW podcast - Scrummy Handshakes - where they recap each show and have a grand ole' time!

Mere end 30 mennesker dør hvert år på jobbet i Danmark, og det er flere end i vores nabolande. Denne uges Arbejd' Arbejd' handler om, hvorfor flere dør i Danmark, og hvad vi kan gøre ved det.

Mere Bapu Hain Brahma Sakar : Ashram Bhajan

Mere Bapu Hain Brahma Sakar : Ashram Bhajan

Hvad skal det blå Danmark stille op med et Danmarks Radio, som lukker klassiske public-service-formater til fordel for apps og podcast, og med energipriser på himmelflugt? Og hvad siger den massive sympati og interesse i forbindelse med Dronning Elizabeth død om monarkiets fremtid - også i Danmark? Otto Brøns-Petersen, analysechef i CEPOS Niels Peder Ravn, reklamemand, medlem af Københavns Borgerrepræsentation og folketingskandidat for Nye Borgerlige Alex Ahrendtsen, forfatter og folketingsmedlem for Dansk Folkeparti

Mere Bapu Hain Brahma Sakar : Ashram Bhajan

Mere hours after the Federal Reserve announced a third consecutive 75 basis point rate hike and reiterated its commitment to bringing inflation back to its 2% target, the Bank of Japan stuck to its ultra-low interest rate policy and intervened in foreign-exchange markets on behalf of the Japanese yen for the first time since 1998. Weston Nakamura joins Andreas Steno Larsen at the top of today's Daily Briefing to talk about the danger this policy divergence poses to the global financial system. Could we be on the verge of a currency war in reverse? Then, Andreas welcomes Tavi Costa, a partner and a portfolio manager at Crescat Capital, to talk about how to position for what Tavi recently described as “a vicious stagflationary environment.” We also hear from Nancy Davis and Kris Sidial about how to hedge downside risk amid rising volatility. Watch the full conversation featuring Nancy and Kris here: https://f.io/gHuRgo0F. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Must listen.. Patriotic song --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tj698/message

Lindsey Graham proposes a national abortion law, Stacey Abrams has a conspiracy theory, and the world is on the brink...

Malte er 23 år og står på tærsklen til en fremtid som professionel cykelrytter og skal flytte til Spanien for at cykle. Kufferterne er så godt som pakket da han en aften dårligt kan holde balancen. Det viser sig at alle hans balancenerver er ødelagte af årsager ingen kan forklare. Malte VIL forfølge sin karriere og får insisteret på en operation som ikke hjælper, men til gengæld giver ham voldsom og permanent hovedpine. Erkendelsen er en lang og hård proces, men drømmen er knust, og det kaster Malte ud i en 4-5-årig depression. I dag er Malte 29 år og kalder sin sygdom en gave, på trods af daglige smerter og balance- og synsproblemer. Hans nye fokus er at hjælpe andre, og han har derfor startet et fundraisingprojekt for Hjerneskadeforeningen. Målet er at cykle 230.000 kilometer – en for hver person i Danmark som lever med en erhvervet hjerneskade – og undervejs indsamle 230.000 kroner til foreningens arbejde. Lyt til Maltes fortælling om at få knust sin fremtidsdrøm og rejse sig efter fem års depression med en ny mission og et positivt syn på tilværelsen. Følg Malte og hans vej mod 230.000 kilometer og kroner på: hjerneskadet.dk/malte-cykler/ Hjernecast produceres af Hjerneskadeforeningen. Vært og tilrettelægger: Susan Søgaard Optagelse, lyd og klipning: Kenneth Kinastowski

It's the end of the week! Whakarongo mai nei for some Breakfast Buffet with Jamie, Travelling Tunes with Dr. Kirsten Zemke, a chat with Eden Burns and Sam Harmony, and Viewmaster with Sam Sinnott! 

Ron & Adam sit down with Mere Baker, a Former World Cup Winning Kiwifern and Aotearoa 7s International player. Mere is a Sky Sport and Maori TV commentator as well as an ambassador for ChildFund, the charity that Ron & Adam are currently raising funds for as they cycle to the Rugby World Cup 2021 to deliver the official whistle to the opening match. With the excitement growing in New Zealand for the Rugby World Cup starting in October, Mere shares more women in sport and the growth of women's rugby all over the world. If you are able to, please donate to ChildFund Rugby here: www.racetorugbyworldcup.com

I denne podcastepisode har jeg inviteret Mille Skjold Madsen ind til en interessant samtale omkring penge, og hvad der stresser os i forbindelse med penge og økonomi i hverdagen. Det var en stor fornøjelse at møde Mille, og jeg er vild med hendes uhøjtidelige tilgang til penge. Det bekræftede mig i, at penge er et overset emne i psykologien, som vi har brug for at lære mere om. Hvem er Mille Skjold Madsen? Mille Skjold Madsen er grundlægger af magasinet Økonomista, som inspirerer kvinder til en stærkere økonomi. Mille er uddannet journalist, men har de sidste fem år beskæftiget sig med økonomi, penge og ikke mindst pengemindset, hvor hun både inspirerer gennem foredrag, workshops og på Instagram. Mille er især optaget af, hvordan vores tanker og adfærd påvirker den måde, vi bruger penge, og det er bl.a. noget af det, vi taler om i denne episode. I episoden kommer vi bl.a. ind på følgende: Hvorfor penge kan være et tabubelagt emne, vi ikke taler nok omHvordan vores værdisæt har indflydelse på, hvordan vi bruger og tænker om pengeMille egen interessante "pengehistorie"Hvorfor økonomisk ro handler om prioriteringerHvad der stresser os omkring penge, og hvad vi kan gøre for at mindske detGode råd og inspiration til, hvordan du kan skabe mere ro omkring penge og økonomiHvorfor vores adfærd omkring penge ikke altid er rationel, og hvordan vi kan begynde at ændre denOg andet godt... Links til ting, der nævnes i episoden: Milles instagramØkonomistas hjemmeside Hvis du blev inspireret, så tjek også følgende ud: 3 trin til at håndtere økonomisk stress, så du kan sove godt om natten5 tips, der hjælper dig med at give slip på praktisk stress over have (og hus)Mere end 1000 danskeres ærlige tanker om hvad der stresser os, og hvad vi drømmer om

Join Chad in this final episode of our leadership series titled "Mere Leadership: Improving Your Team." This series has focused on how to lead your team well whether you lead many or a few. This episode was by President Chad P. Wilson of Foundation Bank on September 20, 2022. 

Midway through Matthew's Gospel, Pharisees and scribes travel from Jerusalem to confront Jesus about the way His disciples break with their traditions. Jesus turns the tables on them and reveals how they have broken God's commandments for the sake of their traditions, and then He teaches the crowds and the disciples that it is the condition of the heart, not the washing of hands that God is most concerned with. Join Pastor Matt as he helps us look at what God truly desires for us and from us.

 We're back this week with another new episode snitches called “Don't Hate the Player, Hate the Game”. This week we kick off the episode with a little story time of Mere vs. her nail tech. Then we get into Part 1 of The Live Bachelorette Finale and wow is there a lot to unpack here. We get into all things Aven and Tino and give our thoughts and predictions of how the season will end. Then we get into ‘Gossip of the Week'. First up, we give all the background info on the drama surrounding ‘Don't Worry Darling' Olivia Wilde's new movie ft. Florence Pugh and Harry Styles. Then we touch on Ray J popping off on instagram coming for the Kardashians.  We finish of GOW by recapping The Emmy's. Let's go! 

Mere minutes after seeing Brett Morgen's film Moonage Daydream in IMAX, we sit down and give our instant reactions. SPOILER WARNING: We discuss the entire film in detail.

Joalanes drøm er gået i opfyldelse: IVAN$ITO er gæstevært i bugi

We round off the week with a little bit of Breakfast Buffet, some Travelling Tunes with Dr. Kirsten Zemke, a kōrero with Motte about her upcoming tour, and Viewmaster with Sam! Whakarongo mai nei! 

Den ukrainske modoffensiv fortsætter med at presse de russiske besættelsesstyrker tilbage. Henover weekenden var det i nordøst, omkring storbyen Kharkiv, at ukrainerne trængte russerne tilbage. Nogle steder endda helt tilbage til den russiske grænse. Men for at kunne fortsætte den fremgang eller blot fastholde de nyvundne områder har den ukrainske hær endnu engang understreget behovet for våben og andet militært isenkram over for Vesten. Og Danmark kommer også i fremtiden til at støtte Ukraine med våbenhjælp. Det er meldingen fra forsvarsminister Morten Bødskov (S), der i dag er i Ukraine. Men hvad vil Danmark bidrage med? Og hvad har Ukraine brug for? Der er stor forskel på, hvor gode chancer der er for at overleve lungekræft alt efter, hvilken region man bliver behandlet i. Udsigterne for en lungekræftpatient er mest lyse i Midtjylland og ringest i Region Sjælland, viser en rapport fra Dansk Lunge Cancer Gruppe. Men hvorfor er der den forskel, og hvad vil Regionen gøre ved den? Det var i forvejen svært. Men nu er det blevet endnu sværere for danske virksomheder at trække sig ud af Rusland. I forvejen risikerer virksomhederne at komme i karambolage med EU-sanktioner, hvis de sælger deres virksomhed til russere. Og nu har Rusland så også selv indført helt nye regler, der kan sætte en stopper for, at danske virksomheder kan sælge deres russiske afdelinger. Hvad vil det betyde for de danske virksomheder, der stadig har aktivitet i landet? Brita Kvist og Mathias Bay Lynggaard er dagens værter, Tine Linde er redaktør. www.dr.dk/lyd/p1/orientering

"Christianity in the Western world is often marginalized as a life accessory rather than the means of powerful life transformation."  (p. xiv)--Rich Villodas, The Deeply Formed Life: Five Transformative Values to Root Us in the Way of Jesus, p. xivClick HERE to download my free online course, "Leading Your Church Through Change." Or go to markuswatson.com/leadchange.

Well, well, well snitches it's been too long. This week we are back from our longest hiatus ever. We have missed you guys so much and we are so pumped to be back. This week's episode is going to be filling you guys in on where we've been and the technical difficulties we have suffered. We have a story time about Mere's crazy allergic reaction, steph stops a crime in Chicago and then we get into Bachelorette. We know, the season is almost over and we're late to the party, but you know we have thoughts and opinions. Let's get into it! 

Teen mental health has never been this bad.   As New York Times journalists Michael Barbaro and Matt Richtel discussed last week on The Daily podcast, we're facing an unprecedented crisis in teen mental health. Mere decades ago, the major threats to the health and well-being of young people in the West were nearly all external, such as illness, car accidents, risky sexual behavior, alcohol, or smoking. Today, the greatest threats to the health and well-being of young people are internal. As Richtel reported, in 2019, 13% of all adolescents reported having a major depressive episode, a 60% increase from 2007. Teen suicide rates, which had been stable for nearly a decade prior to 2007, “leapt nearly 60% by 2018.” In 2019, the American Academy of Pediatrics announced,  “Mental health disorders have surpassed physical conditions as the most common reasons children have impairments and limitations.”   The factors behind this tsunami of depression, anxiety, and self-harm are many, one of which is the internet. In 2017, Dr. Jean Twenge of San Diego State University noted that the spike in adolescent mental health problems reached a crescendo in 2012. That year, the percentage of Americans who owned smartphones surpassed 50%. Exposing developing brains to an overwhelming amount of social information, she argued, was contributing to a massive, unprecedented uptick in mental health issues.   On one hand, social media has brought the near constant experience of social comparison to the developing minds of 8-, 9-, and 10-year-olds.  On the other hand, the sheer amount of panicked, hyperbolized, and truly frightening headlines a student must navigate is unprecedented in human history. We might forgive students who are convinced the world is completely out of control.  Richtel and Barbaro also noted other factors in the podcast. For example, the average age for the onset of puberty has become earlier and earlier since the 1980s, especially for girls. Experts are unsure as to exactly why this is the case, but there are plenty of correlations having to do with early exposure to sexually explicit material, fatherlessness, and family breakdown. Whatever the cause, the impact is real.   In the face of this exploding mental health crisis among young people, the demand for care is outpacing the number of trained counselors and psychologists. Pediatricians and emergency rooms have become first responders. As Richtel observed, “Every night, in emergency rooms across the country, there are at least 1,000 young people spending the night waiting in a room to get to the next level of care where they can be helped.”   More and more frequently, medication is seen as the only answer. While an important tool, Ritchie notes why that is far from adequate. “We are prescribing medications in the absence of dealing with… fundamental structural changes that we have not addressed as a society.”  In every generation, followers of Christ have seen protecting and caring for vulnerable children as a crucial part of their calling. Today, children are vulnerable to radically changing social conditions, harmful ideas about their minds and bodies, the loss of institutions crucial to their health and well-being, and a barrage of bad news.    The first step in fulfilling our calling is, in the words of my friend Dr. Matthew Sleeth, to Hope Always. Children need the truth about life and the world, about themselves and God, and we can give it to them. Of course, parents must limit and help guide children in their digital interactions, as nearly all experts recognize. But this is not merely a crisis of media: It's a crisis of meaninglessness. That's one reason a Harvard psychologist writing in Scientific American argued that “Psychiatry needs to get right with God.”   To that end, we've developed a new Colson Center Educators course taught by Dr. Matthew Sleeth to equip parents, pastors, and educators, with the tools to meet the current crisis.   Also, tonight, is the latest in our Lighthouse Voices series. “Despair, Mental Health, and the Crisis of Meaning: How Christians Can Speak Life to a Lost Culture” is a live event featuring Dr. Ryan Burkhart of Colorado Christian University. To register for the live event in Holland, Michigan, or the livestream, visit Colsoncenter.org.  Christians have an obligation to care. When we see the brokenness of the world around us, we are to imitate the work of Christ. In His name, we can be a force for good in our lifetimes, and, God willing, reverse the tide.  

M. Mathur songs curated by Harish SalujaJinke Hirdaya Shri Ram BaseBahut Diya Dene Wale NePitu Matu Sahayak Swami SakhaSur Ki Gati Main Kya JanuHan Main Diwana HoonTere Labon Ke MuqabilZara Si Baat PeDil Ne Use maan LiyaYeh Kaun Chitrakar HaiKai baar yun bhi dekha hai Yaad Aayi Aadhi Raat KoChin-O-Arab Hamara Hindustan HamaraKahin door jab din dhal jayeZeh Hale MiskinSupport the show

This is a segment from Laurie Johnson's presentation in the first session of The Maurin Academy's Fall 2022 short series on Agricultural Biotechnology and the Information Economy. She is guided by information from the first part of Jack Kloppenberg's First the Seed. The short series with Laurie Johnson and Jakob Hanschu brings Kloppenberg's scholarship to bear on McKenzie Wark's The Hacker Manifesto, and vice versa. … More Should Seeds Be Mere Commodities? (Maurin Academy Short Series pt. 1–Laurie Johnson)

Gamification har været et buzzword længe. Men hvad er det lige det kan? Det ved Andreas en hel del om. Andreas er hosd Leadfamly, en dansk virksomhed der har lavet et system, hvor kunderne selv kan lave små “spil”.  Pointen er, at ved at “hacke” hjernen kan spilmekanikker i din marketing hjælpe med at indsamle værdifuld og utilgængelig data, højere konverteringsrater til lead-indsamling, skabe ægte og øget åbningsrater, længerevarende loyalitet og genaktivere tidligere kunder.  Alle mulige forskellige virksomheder anvender gamification, såsom Coop, Sydbank, Albatros Travel, Danish Crown, Bone's restauranter, Grundfos, Sinful, McDonalds, Zizzi, Amnesty International, Røde Kors og flere end 400 andre virksomheder. Store som små. Ja, det bliver lidt en svada af fine ord, men Andreas får det forklaret rigtigt godt i denne episode af PotterCut.

Read last week's episode hereChapter FiveThe stranger the Littles had named Walker was out and into the late night with the bundle of the ruck sack in one hand.He stopped in the wide courtyard and smelled the night. Beyond the heady scent of the eucalyptus trees the Littles planted in this region to protect their crops from the cruel late night and early morning frost and mist, he could smell the dust of the roads, the salt from out along the ocean, and the general aroma of things growing in the lands all around.And… he could smell others out there tonight. Unclean things coming along in the dark as they were known to do. They were here, unseen and out there in the darkness, undetectable because of their sorceries and craft, but there all the same.By the sign in the dirt of the courtyard he could see their trace, just barely. They were crafty and careful, and they'd come close to listen to what passed beyond the great door of the dark inn.Pulling his hood over his head he headed off down the lane, away from the coast and the road that ran south to the tower of Sirith Osildor, or north to Indolién. He moved swiftly, not bothering to cast a look back, knowing they were there in clusters, working their nets already and seeking where they could come upon him and catch him. They were new to these lands now that the sacred boundaries of the Black River had been violated. But as he moved fast and farther into the dark beyond the inn proper and the fields that surrounded it, each new scent on the wind confirmed to Walker what he already knew.They were here on this wilding night. And they'd come for him.The stranger took the northeastern road up out of the area around the Last Friendly Inn. Walker moved swiftly up and along the way, passing the last few Little homes in the district, he could still see the soft glow of candlelight coming from firelit kitchens and knowing that the simple gentlefolk there were possibly about a late night snack of perhaps some of the last of the winter smoked ham, a fried egg or six, and of course the Hot Lilly they all liked to make and put up for the winter from last year's harvest.The stranger had to admit to himself that he could have used a bit of that peppery fire, and a well-cooked egg, and perhaps even a fatty slice of ham. He had a long night in front of him, and if he was going to outmaneuver his pursuers in the dark wilds toward the northeast, then he was going to have to cover some rough country to come at Indolién from a direction no one suspected.And was he even going to Indolién? Perhaps the hour for the great city was too late even now that the gateways to the south were wide open. And perhaps it was best to do as Bearkiller had bade him to now.Set to his mission this night even though it was surest death and there was no hunting fellowship to see it done.Those thoughts bothered Walker as he moved, shouldered the ruck, and ran one gloved hand over the leather scabbard of the sword. He gave it a slight pull, executing the barest of draws. Just to make sure the blade was ready to clear leather should the fight come soon.And soon enough it would come. That was a safe bet for this night.The first rise out of the coastal valley that lay next to the small ridge of hill and the wide plains along the sea, showed him the district of the Littles behind, and the wide and big moon starting down toward the sea.Out there the sea was empty and made like the armor of the Elven Horse by the moon. There were no silver sails of Indolién. But, and Walker's eyes were keen, there were black sails out there, in the mist, and out in the open, testing the waters between the Outer Islands and the approaches to the harbor at Indolién.But he really only pretended to be interested in the wide moonlit sea out there tonight. Instead, he'd turned to survey the shadows of the trees, the draws, and the quiet places where he knew his pursuers must be waiting. Threading winter's deadfall carefully to stay on his trail.The Men of the North are known for their ability to run for days at a time. But now, in the dark, and heading into the East, pursued by an unknown force, now was not the time to run. Running was easier to track, and the goblins were known to run for long periods too. And what if they had the support of some riders? Dark horse or even wolf?The best trick now, thought Walker, who was more skilled than most at tracking and evasion within the woods, was to throw them off and move quietly away in some other direction than the one they were certain he was pursuing. There was a greater chance of losing them altogether, and if they did find his trail, then he could set traps and deadfalls, or lure them into dangerous places they might not get out of.Now he followed what the Littles did not call the Old Road. This was the Northeastern Lane according to the Littles. It was an  ancient[NC1]  way made so by the Old Kings but now, and in the long years since, it had turned to little more than a wide winding path that would make its way in a very haphazard fashion up into the Dry Hills country and through the small hamlets, holds, and large farms of the Highlands Littles who lived up that way.Walker stood for long minutes, waiting as the moon sank down toward the distant sea. Across the many roads and ways down there among the Little's strawberry farms near the coast, the watch had come out to light the lanterns that lay along the roads and wide spaces between their villages, as their job had been for many generations.He could see none of his pursuers down there in the dark, but he sensed their presence all the same. He checked the dagger in just the same manner as he had the sword, and thus satisfied, turned, topped the rise as fast he could, and started up into Dry Hill country by heading down the opposite side of the large hill and down into the low hollows that lay between the rising landscape that formed the Dry Hills area.There was nothing but late-night silence, perhaps some occasional owl calling out, and then there was the wind from down along the coast raced quickly up into the hills, moving through the stands of oak and other clustering trees causing them to whisper in hushed tones.That would be good. It would cover the sound of his passage once he left the road. And the shifting winds would cause all the shadows to move in the tress and underneath them, not just his.“Perhaps there may even be fog later,” he said to himself though no one was about to hear. It was his way, forged by hard years on the road, alone, and his investigations into all the forgotten places of the world. Often, when no one else was around, he would speak out his plans, his advantages, and the obstacles facing him, talking through it all just to hear if there was any falseness in them.This was a habit he'd acquired from the Men of the North, and his time among their scouts and warriors before he found his way among the Storytellers, where talking, and the telling of things, became not just second nature, but a language all its own full of many strange truths.So, Walker reminded himself that the fog might just come up into the low areas beneath the Dry Hills and perhaps along old streams and creeks of the hills, following the paths of such to send its misty tendrils up aways a little bit more. And that would be good for him against the shadows that stalked him even now. Moving in the fog would be like moving under a blanket. Concealing him and allowing him to hear them blundering about.But the fog did not come to aid Walker before he was forced to give battle against them in a lonely old hollow once called the Charring Tree Wayside for no reason any of the Littles of these present days could ever remember. Though the reason why it was named such was known to the Storytellers and kept in their records and annals. The Charring Tree Wayside was a place of ancient evils and Walker, as he moved swiftly, his road-eating stride long and relentless, cursed himself inwardly for not having thought they would be waiting for him among the crumbled rune-laden stones of that sort of place.Such fell creatures were oft ever[NC2]  attracted to all the ancient evils that were ever done under the sun. It was ever their way, and Walker cursed himself for not having taken this into account as they closed their noose about him in the night.The hunters that faced him were Moon Fen Goblins from out of the eastern waystes beyond the Black River itself. An area of ancient sunken kingdoms and the shattered remains of an old battle where the bones and broken weapons of ancient heroes and foes still lay within the mud and the vast lakes of that area. Moon Fen Goblins were predators more animal than sentient. The orcish warlords used them as such. Excellent hunters, stealthy creepers, they moved like hunting wolves in packs when they needed to, and creeping snakes when they must. They were excellent at infiltrating held lands on long range patrols deep in enemy territory and it made sense that in the aftermath of the fall of Sirith Osildor and the ancient tower, they would be the first ranging into these lands. Often led by a strong leader, these Moon Fen Goblins had probably come north in the weeks before the battle of Sirith Osildor as some sort of screening force and perhaps they were not specifically sent to find him but had spotted him moving slowly and steadily north after the battle.The first arrow of their attack came at the stranger out of the darkness as he entered the hollow and it was thanks to the swiftness of his kind that he sensed its flight and reacted by throwing himself against a sturdy oak for immediate cover.The speeding arrow whipped past and off along the road. A second came, flying dark and fast in the night, and later several more slammed into the oak, or began to whistle through the air all around him.The sorceries that had guarded them were now broken and he could see their foul presence revealed in the last of the spectral moonlight. Soon it would be dark, but as has been said, he had keen eyes, and the years he'd spent among the Men, and the Outcasts, had given him tricks and sharp eyes even for the darkest of nights.The goblin hunters had ringed the clearing at the bottom of the hollow, staying well back up along the brush and tree covered slopes. There were five of them, and five was an evil number.Use me now, whispered the voice in Walker's mind. He ignored it and shifted the bundle under his other arm. A moment later he drew his old blade with barely the snik it took to clear leather.He'd faced longer odds before. But no fight was ever fair. Or guaranteed of an outcome. They were archers and his bow had not made the journey with him north, instead breaking in battle as the Watch tried to hold the throughway beneath Sirith Osildor in the last hours before defeat.Use me now, Hecil, whispered the voice from within the bundle. Two are better than one and I shall help you though you are not elvenkind. Turn loose my powers and strike them down, ancient Man. I thirst for vengeance. Even the pitiful blood of these dark hounds long from home will do for now. Turn me loose and watch me free you… of the trap you have gotten yourself into.The voice was female. Whether elven, human, or some such other race… Walker did not know.But he didn't like it and he'd heard its siren's call since being tasked with the carrying of the object in the bundle of his old travel ruck away from the dusty crypts beneath the tower.But he'd been warned. Warned by Bearkiller and Almandir. And warnings from old Mountain Men were to be heeded. Walker had himself learned that during many hard lessons and come to trust their wisdom in the years since, always testing it. Always finding it true.Still, the thing in his ruck called to him, as he heard the shadow orcs moving about in the brush of the hollow, whispering and giggling like it was play, scrabbling and cursing in the Black Speech. Firing their whistling bolts and seeking to move to their next cover as he quiet shifted [NC3] from cover to cover, ever one step ahead of their targeting.Perhaps, thought Walker as he sought some advantage, they are not aware I possess no bow this night. If they were… then they would rush as one and try to take what I bear.Walker bent and picked up a stone. He waited for a moment, then whipped it at a noise nearby. Whether it struck home or not, that was not his intention. For a moment they stopped their firing, whistling their hunting speech[NC4] [NC5]  and orders. Unsure of what the noise was and what their prey was about even now when he was cornered down here in the dark.But with the next seconds, using their uncertain halt, Walker was already moving up on them. Blades out. And as everyone knows, Men make no sound when they wish not to. Even if they are booted and clothed in the rough and woodlands manner of their peoples from ages past just as Walker was when he came upon them in the dark. A traveler. Not some Emerald Knight in full armor. Servant of the throne of Indolién.The traveling stone he'd whipped at them had gone off through the brush and perhaps the goblins, because these were hunters, predators, thought it was him fleeing suddenly off in a new direction.[NC6]  They were waiting for more sounds to confirm his flight when suddenly Walker exploded upon the first one, running that tall and lean goblin through with a simple stab of his old blade. It was done quick which was best[NC7] , and he shook the green creature, covered in black greasy stripes, naked and warty from the waist up, off his blade and made quick his next attack. The weapon he wielded was a blade borne in the wars across the desert waystes to the east[NC8] , and the long years he'd haunted the southern lands seeking rumors of the mission he'd been sent on long[NC9]  ago. It was a simple blade. No magic in it[NC10] . No elven craft or sorcery. Something forged in the cruel furnaces of the north by mighty men who worked at hot forge and heavy hammer beneath the cold shadow of snow-capped mountains on cold mornings and even colder nights.The sharp blade pushed neatly though the spindly Moon River Goblin kitted only in the barest traveling armor and carrying a darkwood bow. The horrid creature wore a gray sash across the bottom half of his twisted face, and though one ear was missing, he'd managed long ago to pierce what was left of the nub with an old misshapen and milky pearl the likes of which were unseen in the north.That one died gasping and kneeling.Moving swiftly forward, Walker hefted the blade and drove it though the creatures back, then pushed it until it came out another goblin hunter's concave sternum[NC11] . He grasped that foul-smelling one[NC12]  quickly with the well-worn leather glove of his other hand and smothered the cry of alert and murder the night hunter was bound to give in the next instant, ignoring the whispers of blood, blood, and goblin blood, pleading in his mind from the thing in the ruck on his back.There were five here in the dark but there was confusion, and the goblin hunters were uncertain for a moment as he moved swiftly among them.He held the goblin close, counting the remaining and seeing they were distracted with the confusion he'd caused them. He waited for the creature to die, its stench rising up into his nostrils and mixing with the night and the sickly sweet decay of the old hollow where once, much wickedness had been done long ago.The rest of the hunters were moving in the next seconds, finding themselves and calling, really whispering to one another, in their vile black speak.“Cuzza suum Guzudi?” they hissed softly to one another. Some cant for counting and coordinating in battle, guessed Walker as the one in his arms began to go limp with loss of life and blood, turning to little more than dead weight.Walker withdrew his blade, not bothering to wipe the fetid blood from it, tossed the rags of the thin twisted corpse into a sunken carved stone, long hidden here, and moved toward his next target, a dangerous thing now among the hunters in the dark.Or at least for the moment.The hunting party whispered their hissing speech to one another from across the distances that separated them in their ambush, clearly angry and growing more panicked by the second as the wild man among them began to hew and cleave at them with the long and deadly blade.It was a bad stroke[NC13]  the goblin Walker chose next. The thing struck light to a ghostly green lantern and turned, illuminating the savage man and blade just feet away and coming for it at the last instant there in the deeps of the ancient hollow.“Heeeyai!” it screamed, frightened, and leapt forward suddenly, slashing at Walker with a small cruel dagger it carried. This night hunter had placed his strung bow about his slender chest in order to work the lantern in the chaos.Though dagger faced the longer blade of the Stranger, no viciousness was spared, and no quarter given. The agile little goblin, maintaining a deft hold on the bobbing lantern spewing a mossy green illumination, attacked swiftly, slashing wildly to force the stranger to give ground downslope. The cuts were wicked and had they found flesh they would have been equally deadly for goblin blades are oft poisoned. Walker's worn grey cloak caught a quick slash before he was able to parry a wicked thrust with his own rapidly deployed dagger. A moment later he brought his old sword around in a quick arc and forced the dagger aloft and away from its defense.With the cruel little sticker out of the way, Walker withdrew his blade and plunged it forward an instant later as the orc began to call an alert of, “Heeyaa--,” once more.There were two left of this small hunting clutch now, and they came toward the lantern of the dying goblin hunter on the ground, thundering through the brush to catch the stranger in the act of sudden attack and murder.In the distances there were others, whistling their alerts to contact.Perhaps their leader, one of the ones Walker had killed already, had wanted the taking of the prize they'd been sent to find this deep in enemy territory on their scout, for himself. And so, he had not sounded the alert. But now there were many others in the hills this long night, other bands of Moon Fen Goblins, and so whoever ran this clutch hadn't given air to his horn to alert the nearby bands of hunters and assassins that the prey was found and run to ground. Perhaps he'd made that decision in the early moments of the battle, when the black arrows had whistled through the night and he'd hoped for an easy kill and a soft plunder, returning to their masters with the thing that was sought.Or keeping it if he found it lovely enough.Perhaps…But now with three clearly dead, and two calling by shrill whistle for more, Walker presumed their leader dead. And for a moment, amid the fight, he sensed his chance to get away. To hit hard, and then fade away like some ghost that never was there.Men are ever a cruel and tricky lot in battle.Then there was a third moving fast through the tangle of the old and unkempt hollow, and this one was surely the leader if only because his armor and bulk were much more than the others in the shadows of the night.The survivors of the hunting party he'd fallen upon attacked as one as the other two hunters joined the leader against Walker. The leader swept a blade out savagely, raised a ram's horn and blew, alerting one and all in the host of goblins out that wilding night that the quarry had been run to ground finally.One blast would let the others know the prey had been found.A second blast would tell their ears where.The swarthy, bandy-legged creature with a bald and scarred scalp and missing fingers, sucked in another lungful of air, preparing the second blast to alert the location of the fight, and then a dagger from the man appeared dead center in his chest.Flung from out of the night, coming from the battle along the hollow floor, his fellow goblin hunters mere whirling shadows in the battle against the night-wraith of the man, the stranger a thing of darkness in the night seeming more so than even them, had flung his dagger to stop the alert and the goblin leader died watching it appear in his chest just above the old armor he wore.It struck with such force that the wind was knocked from the goblin leader and he let go of the horn as he died.Perhaps… thought the leader as darkness took him, unable to gain even the slightest bit of air, perhaps the whispering voice in the bundle was the thing they'd been sent for.And then he was dead, rolling down the slope among the old leaves and waiting spiders, coming to rest against a cracked rune-covered cut stone that offered no comfort in the night.With three dead, two should have been fine to deal with. But the wild man called Walker found himself challenged against the two hunters who'd brought out their curved little blades no bigger than a troll's dagger. Perhaps these two had been the up and comers in the hunting pack. Those who'd one day challenge the pack warlord for supremacy of the tribe, the mates, and the mean horde of stolen gold and captured gems the orcs of Moon Fen regarded as wealth and status, buried out in the high cliffs beneath the waters of the Dead Sea deep in the waystes.Their ancestral homes for reasons not even they knew.Perhaps these were those, Walker's storyteller's mind wove. Because there was a story to everything, and everything was a story. Still, that did not stop his parries or opportunistic thrusts to gain advantage as their steel rang out in the night and the horns of other hunting parties cried out in dark joy. He may have caught one on the arm, given a good slice because there was blood under foot and spraying about as the fight continued. But the battle was too close and too hectic, switching ground and seeking advantage one moment to the next for him to see which shadow he'd wounded.And still the thing whispering in his mind hadn't stopped. And if anything, it had grown to distract. Demanding now to be used for that which it was made for.Chaos. Blood. Death.Walker ignored these whispers, not bothering to pay mind as he fended off the two attackers along the bottom of the ancient hollow. Neverminding he'd lost his dagger to the dead goblin leader blowing the call for help. Or how imminent that help was in coming soon. Mere minutes perhaps…And then, in just a brief instant, the blink of an eye really, the battle suddenly shifted and was done. The first goblin landed his blade deep in Walker's side but pulled it free in the next. The wound was a silent scream that was both hot and cold in the same unending moment of pain.Walker's lore-minded mind knew this was not good. Perhaps a Mohrgul Blade, he thought as the offending goblin danced away, cackling gutturally, and clicking its broken teeth in some arcane and enigmatic meaning.The other foe sensed its moment with the wounded man's back presenting and struck out with an all or nothing blow to land his own blade in the back of their enemy and join the kill.But this was a mistake. And where the brief fight suddenly changed and ended abruptly. Wounded though a man may be, they are a deadly race all the same. Able to divide their mind away from the things of this life and to concentrate on their task and purpose. Pleasure, or pain, the Men of long ago were able to endure[NC14]  the hardships of the Dark Years and Long Crossing through the Frozen Nethers by putting their minds, and needs, elsewhere despite the harsh circumstances.Perhaps the elves of Indolién had lost that trick, trading it in for the fineries of civilization. Eschewing pain over pleasure.But Men had not.Walker's path had been much different than both men and elves. And his life a return in many respects to the old ways much sneered about in the Emerald Courts. So, it was nothing for him to simply ignore the fatal wound[NC15]  and swing wide as he heard the suddenly foolish headlong rush of the other goblin smelling blood and excited for the kill. The old blade of the savage man bit deep into the orc's skull and came away with brain matter and bone. The cut wasn't clean… but it was enough.The other goblin who'd backed off to enjoy his victory and cowardly slice, was surprised to see the deadly arc of the stranger's blade take off the head of his comrade… and then… come for him in the same moment as the Man turned his pivot into a tremendous sure-footed rush across the treacherous deadfall of the old hollow. Giving ground, backpedaling, the lean goblin threw up both its black claws, one still holding its own blade, to fend off the furious attack. But this was to little avail as the blade of the man rammed home and pinned the sly hunter dead against the trunk of an old twisting oak.Run though its tiny black heart, the last thing the cruel goblin hunter heard was the sudden snap of the man's blade against the solidness of the oak as the warrior pushed it through, having a bad angle and revealing some old fault within the forged metal waiting for just such a moment to occur.In the silence that followed, Walker backed away holding the hilt of the broken weapon he'd borne long in his travels.Hearing the laugh of the whispering voice hidden within his worn ruck turn to the full-throated satisfaction of seductress scorned. The voice of the thing in the bundle.Gray wisps of smoke crawled from out its knotted covering.Walker could feel his own blood running down his side and along his leg. Into his boot. But there wasn't any time for this. In the distance he could hear the others, the other night hunters coming for him, calling one to [NC16] another out there in the late night. Coming to do the evil the horn had called them for.Coming for him. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nickcole.substack.com/subscribe

Despite the rampant success of books like Marie Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, intellectual circles tend to look down on anything that sells itself as self-help. And yet, in a certain light, the most original form of self-help might actually be philosophy—an older and more respected genre, even, than the novel. So this week, we're going back to the past and asking that old chestnut: what is a meaningful life? The Stoics are awfully popular these days, but the philosopher Catherine Wilson joins us this episode to pitch a different kind of Greek: Epicurus, whose teachings live on most fully in Lucretius's On the Nature of Things. For a few centuries, Epicurus was wrongly remembered as the patron saint of whoremongers and drunkards, but he really wasn't: his philosophy is rich with theories of justice, empiricism, pleasure, prudence, and equality (Epicurus, unlike the Stoics, welcomed women and slaves into his school). Epicureanism advocated for a simple life, something that appeals to more and more people today with the return to artisan crafts, self-sufficiency, and, yes, the KonMari method.Go beyond the episode:Catherine Wilson's How to Be an EpicureanRead A. E. Stallings's recent translation of Lucretius's On the Nature of ThingsOr read Karl Marx's university thesis on Epicurus, “The Difference Between the Democritean and Epicurean Philosophy of Nature”Tune in every week to catch interviews with the liveliest voices from literature, the arts, sciences, history, and public affairs; reports on cutting-edge works in progress; long-form narratives; and compelling excerpts from new books. Hosted by Stephanie Bastek. Follow us on Twitter @TheAmScho or on Facebook.Subscribe: iTunes • Feedburner • Stitcher • Google Play • AcastHave suggestions for projects you'd like us to catch up on, or writers you want to hear from? Send us a note: podcast [at] theamericanscholar [dot] org. And rate us on iTunes! Our theme music was composed by Nathan Prillaman. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

O BIARA KA NAYI NWEE NDU

Mere minutes after it was announced they Lions released David Blough, they found his replacement

In breaking news, it's being reported that Timothy Thibault has resigned from the FBI. Mere months ago, Senator Chuck Grassley accused Thibault of "improper conduct" for his handling of the Hunter Biden investigation. Jay, Jordan, and the Sekulow team discuss all the details regarding this Deep State revelation. This and more today on Sekulow.

Last time we spoke, the Qing Dynasty faced the last real death throes of the Ming Dynasty. What is known as the Revolt of three Feudatories resulted in a war against Wu Sangui, Geng Jingzhong & Shang Zhixin. One by one each warlord fell to the Qing dynasty's vast armies and with each defeat brought more territory and populace under the Qing yolk. However one last major enemy loomed, the Kingdom of Taiwan established by Koxinga. Koxinga's descendent Zheng Keshuang would eventually be defeated and with his submission it seemed the Qing Dynasty would have eternal peace. However, the Qing' enemies remained within and outside its borders at all times. Holding the new empire together would not be easy. The Qing empire, much like the great wall of China could be destroyed, brick by brick and only time would tell how that wall would hold.    This episode is the White Lotus Rebellion   Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on the history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. The revolt of the 3 feudatories had ended, Wu Sangui, Geng Jingzhong & Shang Zhixin were all defeated. The grandson of Koxinga, Zheng Keshuang was defeated, Taiwan was conquered and brought under the fold of the Qing dynasty. The Qing also managed to defend its borders from the external threat of the Tsardom of Russia. The Russians had ventured into border skirmishes around the Amur River valley, first in 1658 with the Battle of Hutong, in which a force of Manchu and Koreans overwhelmed a force of 500 Cossacks aboard 11 ships, sending them fleeing to Albazin. Albazin was a Russian settlement on the Amur River right along the Qing Dynasty's border and it remained a point of conflict in the late 17th century. Since their defeat at the battle of Hutong, the Russians began a campaign of persuading nearby populaces to their cause rather than the Qing which became such a nuisance by 1685 that the Qing sent a force to lay siege to the settlement. In just one day the settlement garrisoned by 450 men surrendered, however a year later the Russians would return to the settlement looking to re-establish themselves. The Qing yet again besieged the settlement in 1686, however this time it was much bloodier. The Qing threw around 3000 men at Albazin which was garrisoned by 800, by the end of the ordeal it is said just 24 men survived within Albazin and the Qing lost perhaps 1500 casualties. In the greater scheme of things, it was just a small border clash, but the result was rather significant. The Russians had been acting rather boldly, because of all the strife going on between the Qing and Ming, but now that the Qing had consolidated their new empire they were more than capable of defending any encroachments, especially those in Manchuria,their native homelands. After defeating the Russians again at the Siege of Albazin, the Qing government sent letters to the Tsar suggesting they sign a peace treaty, because for quite a long time now, the Qing were dealing with an age old enemy, the Mongols, to be precise the Dzungar Mongols. Emperor Kangxi wished to rid the Russian nuisance from the Amur area which was the northern border so he could focus his army on the north-western problem that was the Dzungar Mongols. The Russians knew they could not hope to defend outposts as far as the Amur region and the idea of peace talks perked their interests as trade would be far more beneficial to them then border skirmishes. A treaty would be signed called the Treaty of Nerchinsk, which established trade between the 2 empires and relative peace for quite a long time. This was also the first treaty between the Tsardom of Russia and the Qing dynasty, so a bit of legitimizing for the new-ish regime.   The Qing would have a hell of a time with the Dzungar Mongols which accumulated into what is known as the Dzungar-Qing war which almost went on for a hundred years. By the time the Qing would effectively end the wars with the Dzungar mongols, and all culminated in what is known as the Dzungar genocide. By the end of the wars in the 1750's it is estimated that around 80% of the Dzungar population, something like 500-800 thousand people were killed. During the early 18th century, the Qianlong Emperor gave a directive stating “"Show no mercy at all to these rebels. Only the old and weak should be saved. Our previous military campaigns were too lenient. If we act as before, our troops will withdraw, and further trouble will occur. If a rebel is captured and his followers wish to surrender, he must personally come to the garrison, prostrate himself before the commander, and request surrender. If he only sends someone to request submission, it is undoubtedly a trick. Tell Tsengünjav to massacre these crafty Zunghars. Do not believe what they say."”. As you can imagine such directives led to the massacres of countless people. On Top of the killings, the remaining Dzungar peoples were forcefully relocated to places all over China. Reports from a QING scholar named Wei Yuan who lived almost 100 years after the events state that 30% of the Dzungar people were killed by the Qing military, 40% died of disease such as a smallpox epidemic, 20% fled to other places like Russia and modern day Kazakhstan. There are quite a few historians who argue the Qianlong Emperor simply engaged in a genocidal campaign. Regardless after this rather horrible and bloody ordeal, for the most part the Qing dynasty undergoes a period of relative peace, and I mean the word peace should be taken with a grain of salt, for all Chinese history I don't think there is a single year some revolt or rebellion is not occurring.    When Emperor Kangxi took the throne from 1661-1722 this began what is called the Qing Golden Age. His successor Emperor Yongzheng continued the golden age from 1723-1735 and was further succeeded by Emperor Qianlong who would rule from 1735-1796 which is seen as the peak of the Golden age. During this period China annexed most of Mongolia, northeast China, Xinjiang, Tibet and Taiwan, aside from Taiwan, its basically the borders of the very China we know today. China at this time amounted to over 32% of the worlds industrial output, its population soared past 100 million for the first time in history and soon grew to an enormous 300 million, hell I live in Canada and we barely have 38 million right now! Despite being such a colossus, China for the most part was quite isolated in its market. China allowed foreign trade through places like Macau, but it was quite limited in scope. Eventually it would be expanded upon.   When the Qianlong Emperor took the throne he began numerous projects including the Ten Great Campaigns, which was a series of military campaigns that enlarged the empire to the extent I had mentioned previously. He put together the largest collection of books in Chinese history to that point known as the Siku Quanshu, “complete repository of the Four branches of Literature”. The exploration of the new world also brought riches in the form of new foods to China. The potato and peanut dramatically improved food supplies allowing for China's population to boom.    Now the upcoming episodes are going to specifically look at the emergence of European powers mingling with China. But this episode is going to be directed at an internal story, and one that is not often talked about. Stating that I will be glossing over some very very important events such as the journey of James Flint and the mission of Lord George Macartney, but rest assured those stories will be the very forefront after this one.   In the spring of 1794, the HMS Lion departed from Macau for its long voyage back home to England and a rumor spread amongst its crew that in the mountainous counties of Shanxi province, that a “true master” had appeared. This so-called Master was said to be marked with the character for the sun upon his left hand and the character of the moon on his right. Together these characters formed the character “Ming”, dun dun dunnnn. According to another rumor, a giant boulder in the village of where this master was born had suddenly split open revealing a hidden scripture inside thar read:  “A black wind will blow for a day and a night. It will destroy men beyond number. White bones will be piled into mountains, and Blood will flow to become an ocean”    It was the telling of an apocalypse, and rumors sprang all through China that the only way to escape the destruction was to memorize that scripture from the boulder and to chant it. Oh and to begin stockpiling guns and other weapons and be ready to support the great master's uprising against the Qing. It was said the “black wind” would hit in the spring of 1796 and it would destroy the world and usher in a new age. Zhang Zhengmo, a peasant living in Hubei province was one of many who believed the prophecy. At 32 years of age he had heard it told to him by a sect leader named Bai who explained to Zhang and many others that the True Master's doctrine was part of the White Lotus teachings.    The White Lotus sect had been around for hundreds of years, it was something like a marriage between Buddhism and Daoism. For the most part, the White Lotus sects amounted to nothing more than harmless people practicing a faith based on healing and protection from misfortune. The founder of the Ming dynasty Zhu Yuanzhang, joined a White Lotus Revolution that took shape in 1352 in Guangzhou. The revolution saw him taking firm control over the head of a rebellious army and he would go on to conquer Nanjing and take the title of Emperor Hongwu ushering in a new age. His title also held religious sentiment of the White Lotus. This religion however like many others held a prediction of an apocalypse and its followers believed that with it would come the second coming of Buddha who would return in the form of a bodhisattva named Maitreya to rid the world of corruption and suffering. Maitreya would destroy the corrupt government and the non believers and a utopia would be formed for those who helped bring upon the apocalypse.    So put yourself in the shoes of the Manchu rulers of the new Qing dynasty. You hear these rumors going around and see the potential rebellion you might be seeing from this religious group. White Lotus groups had sprung uprisings countless times in history and hell the dynasty you just defeated was made by one of those uprisings! Back to Zhang Zhengmo, well he was a recent convert and Bai who was a traveling sect leader became his teacher who indoctrinated him in the True Master's doctrine. Zhang donated money to the cause, not much, he was a peasant after all, but enough to start hoarding weapons. He then began to recruit other followers to become his students…you can see where this is going, think of a good old fashion MLM scam of today like herbalife or scientology haha except instead of toxic shakes or alien stories its people hoarding weapons to begin an apocalypse. So you can sort of get the picture, you become a follower, in the process you pay money to hoard weapons. Then you recruit other followers, rinse and repeat, soon you got yourself a rebellion cooking.    Zhang Zhengmo lived in a part of China considered to be an internal frontier, wide mountain ranges along the points where Hubei, Shaanxi and Sichuan pressed against another, same types of places all the bandit armies would run up into when the Qing came after them. This particular region was known as the Han River Highlands, which fed into the Yangzi river, not a very hospitable area and thus less developed. It was dense with forest, hills and such, perfect for bandits to hang out in. The reason I am describing this area is to emphasize something that is going on in China. I mentioned the population boom, from 100-300 million, it was enormous. With so many people, the necessity for agricultural expansion was enormous as well. Most of the southern and eastern parts of China were being cleared out for crops, literally everywhere was getting gulped up by farms. More and more people were forced to move into areas like the Han River Highlands and all of this culminated in more and more competition between settlers over natural resources. Like with most frontier societies, this got violent very fast. The Han River Highlands were a pretty scary place to live in the late 18th century, there was just about no security because the government officials were all in other areas. Thus without much intervention, who could step in to marshall such places? The White Lotus thats who.   The White Lotus promised safety for all of its followers and were more than happy to accept any settlers. By 1794 the Qing administration warily watched as regions such as the Han River Highlands had sects such as the White Lotus grow. Provincial authorities saw the potential risk of insurrection and began to work at dismantling such cells before they could cause trouble. A crackdown came in 1794 targeting groups based out of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Hubei. Emperor Qianlong made an edict in September ordering all captured sectarians to be punished according to the nature of their guilt. So for example, spiritual leaders would be executed by being cut into pieces, wozzors. Those who spread the White Lotus teachings would be beheaded. Mere followers, would be arrested and deported to Manchuria as slaves. All in all not a very subtle edict.    So the local Qing officials set to work, first it was village headmen who organized forces to round up White Lotus members. Within a few months time they had arrested 20 teachers and over a hundred followers, and as you can imagine their methodology was brutal and would intensify the situation. There was not enough forces to get the job done so the local officials began to hire local thugs to go house to house. As you can imagine the thugs began to run amok, many began to threaten to arrest people if they didn't pay them off. So those who paid them off or somehow managed to prove they were not White Lotus members received placards that they could put on their doors marking them as “decent people”. Everyone else were open targets for abuse as they were suspected White Lotus members. When Zhang Zhengmo heard the officials going house to house he quickly abandoned his home and fled before inspectors could get him. He returned to his native county in the same province where he continued his mission to recruit more followers. By the late winter of 1796, it is estimated that Zhang had more than 1000 followers. Only 2 months before the planned date for the apocalypse or better called uprising, Zhang found out that local officials were mounting a new crackdown now in his native county. Fearing his arrest, Zhang prepared for their arrival, calling upon his followers and telling him the time had come.   Zhang's followers took to the roads where they joined up with other cells that other recruiters had grown. In only a few days more than 10,000 White Lotus members converged under the leadership of Zhang Zhengmo. They brought with them, swords, guns, gunpowder and other supplies necessary for waging a rebellion. They plundered villages for supplies and began conscripting the local populace, coercing them with food. This all mattered not to the White Lotus believers who were taught that non believers would all be destroyed when Buddha returned regardless, so who cares if they harm any of these people in the meantime. The worshipers and their indentured conscripts soon swelled to 20,000 and they began to create blockades along the roads and pathways and made their way to the hills. Zhang Zhengmo's first HQ was to be a mountain estate of a very wealthy believer, but Zhang worried it was to undefendable and thus brought his force further into the mountains where he knew they could hold up better. A campment was built with thousands of shacks, white banners were spread out and the force began to adopt white headbands to identify themselves as legitimate rebels. Their weaponry was mostly swords, knives, though they did have 300 matchlock rifles and 6 chestnut wood cannons. They also had a ton of crossbows and a lot of poison tipped bolts. The defense of the mountain was typical guerilla stuff seen to this day, booby trapped paths, watch towers, makeshift landmines and people hidden around every nook and cranny.    Despite all the preparation, Zhang Zhengmo was quite reluctant to take his newfound rebel army down the mountain side, fearing they would all be slaughtered by the Qing army who must surely be awaiting them. So they all dug in for months, only sending the occasional raiding party down to gather supplies. July came and Zhang received word the Qing were slowly closing in on the mountain. He had burned his name in the registers hoping that he might be able to make an escape and some of his followers began to see he was not the leader they thought him to be. They had  been told he had met the True master, but many found out this was a lie. They looked to him for guidance, but all he could provide were cheap parlor tricks. When Zhang had called for the uprising he thought all of the White Lotus followers from miles all around would heed the cause. Yet after the first 10,000 flocked to him none others were found, he assumed everyone had been arrested and killed. They were trapped on this mountain, there was nowhere to escape to, there was no help coming. They held out another 2 months, but then in September the Qing broke their perimeter and arrested the lot of them. Zhang was to be executed, but before the deed a Qing interrogator demanded to know why he and his followers rebelled. “You are all peasants, you receive the blessings of the emperor. He relieves you of taxes and tribute grain. He relieves your debts. When there is a flood or a drought he gives you aid. You have a human heart, and you should feel gratitude and abide by the laws. So why, under the banner of these evil teachings, did you start a rebellion? In the end, what was it you wanted?”.  Zhang replied “We have indeed received blessings from the emperor. We had warm clothes and could eat our fill. We were peasants, and we were grateful. It was at a time when I was ignorant, that I first began to practice this religion. It was only because I wanted to encourage people to do good deeds and to avoid misfortune. But then the investigations and arrests intensified, and I saw that when people who practiced our religion were captured, all of them were charged with heavy crimes. So I became afraid”. So he was nothing more than a peasant, who ignorantly was led astray and when the crackdown occurred he did what he did out of fear. It is the excuse given by countless peasant uprisings, reckless bursts of defiance towards an perceived malevolent empire, nothing too remarkable. Zhang's force of 20,000 were brushed aside….and little did they know what had occurred all over China.    The “black wind” uprising spread like wildfire. The vast range and appeal of the apocalyptic rumors that had pushed Zhang and his followers had only increased exponentially. From word of mouth through the province, uprisings began to all explode spontaneously through the hill countries of the Han River Highlands. Zhang had no idea, but it was his movement that became the spark to see the entire forest ablaze. By the time the Qing officials had dealt with Zhang Zhengmo's camp, all of Hubei was engulfed in a wave of rebellion, and soon it spread to the neighboring provinces of Sichuan and Shaanxi. On february 9th of 1796, the first day of the lunar new year and just 6 days before Zhang Zhengmo began his uprising, Emperor Qianlong gave up the throne. The abdication had been planned for a very long time, all the way back to 1735 when Qianlong had given an edict that he planned to rule as long as high grandfather had. Emperor Kangxi had reigned for 61 years and Qianlong wanted to keep his word, but not entirely. While on the surface he did quote en quote abdicate on his 60th year as emperor, giving the throne to his son Jiaqing, in reality all he did was install a puppet. The calendars record the new year as Jiaqing Year 1, but within the capital it was truly Qianlong year 61. 2 calendars were kept, 2 sets of imperial annals with one referring to the supreme retired emperor Qianlong, who would continue to rule while his son kept the throne warm.   It probably would have been better for China if Emperor Qianlong really did abdicate, for while his reign was impressive, his effectiveness was deteriorating with his age. A Korean diplomat in 1794 reported to his superiors that Emperor Qianlong had acted in a bizarre manner. He stated that the Emperor ordered breakfast immediately after eating breakfast on some occasions. Thus the implication here was that the Emperor was going senile. Later in 1797 a different Korean envoy reported that the Emperor seemed to be unable to remember what occurred during the morning of their meeting nor what they had done the day prior. With the emperor in a weakened state, factions within his court began to vie for power. One of Emperor Qianlong's closest court officials a man named Heshen began to act out in the emperors name. The more the Emperors mental health declined the more Heshen would speak on his behalf. As observed by the western George Staunton in 1790 “Heshen enjoyed, almost exclusivity, the confidence of the emperor. He might be said to possess, in fact, under the emperor, the whole power of the empire”. It just so happens, Heshen was one of the most corrupt officials in Chinese history during a particularly corrupt ridden time in Chinese history. Heshen treated large amounts of the Qing governments bureaucracy as his own personal patronage network. For example, he began to appoint officials into positions and expected them to pay him handsomely for such appointments. This led the officials to embezzle money to pay him back. In one example he appointed a man to the Yellow River Conservancy, which controlled the funding for flood control over China's second longest river and the man embezzled over 6 million tales of silver each year to pay back Heshen. That money of course was required to help prevent the Yellow River from flooding and by the end of the 18th century about 1/10th of the government funds were actually used for flood prevention. As Heshen and others sucked up the money, the peasants on the floodplain suffered tremendously as the appointed official at the Yellow River Conservancy found it was in the best interests of everyone to allow the river to breach its dikes periodically, just to make sure the government funds kept pouring in. Heshen's corruption was widely apparent to the court, but to make any accusations against him was a death sentence as he had the mouth of the emperor.    Now back to the White Lotus rebellion, it was spreading as I said with great speed and this was greatly aided by government corruption. With the rampant corruption came a huge lack of government forces to respond to the initial uprisings. Skeleton garrisons in key locations such as Hubei allowed for the uprisings to spread like wildfire. The officials were caught off guard and massively unprepared. Across Hubei overwhelmed government forces tried to resist the rebels with whatever weapons they could muster, but soon began pleading other provinces for reinforcement. With such a lack of governmental forces to protect the common people, landowners resorted to raising private militias called “Xiangyong” (means local braves) which in turn began to simply plunder areas. As one witness reported “the so called militia soldiers just continued the work of stealing everything the refugees had left behind in their houses. There wasn't an empty hand anywhere…if the White Lotus rebels are like an ordinary comb, the private militia are the fine-toothed one”. These militias killed, robbed and caused further havoc. To the government all of them were rebels and in turn this caused all the rebels to find common cause. The slogan “the officials oppress, and the people rebel” spread across multiple rebel groups, and at the forefront was the White Lotus. The Qing government began a cycle of violence, redoubled its efforts to extinguish the White Lotus sects, only to give justification to them to increase their rebellious activity.    It is interesting to note the hiring of these militia's will play a crucial role in the downfall of the Qing dynasty. Many scholars attribute the adoption of hired militia's by the Qing government to being something like cutting off your limbs and eating them during starvation. The idea being that while the Qing could raise such militia's to try and stamp out the endless rebellions that will occur during their dynasty's reign, these were short term solutions and only hurt them in the long run. Hiring civilians in war showcased how the Qing standing armies were losing their fighting capability and greatly hurt the Qing treasuries. Regardless this will all be showcased much more in the future.   Emperor Qianlong saw the uprisings as a local issue that should be dealt with by local forces. His focus was on internal unrest, not the problems of the frontier lands and so he denied requests for military aid. He kept telling provincial officials to use the resources they had to deal with the uprisings even though he held ample elite troops that could have swept in to restore the peace. What Emperor Qianlong did do however was send funds to the province to help as the government treasury was jam packed with silver during this age. Without the capitals troops to reinforce them, provincial officials began to follow the lead of the militia rebels and armed peasants to fight off the rebels. At the beginning of the uprising most frontier territories had government militias of just a few hundred, luckier ones perhaps a few thousand. But as the rebellion spread into neighboring provinces and the funds from Beijing poured in, the militia armies grew exponentially. By 1798, Hubei had nearly 400,000 militiamen registered on its books and Sichuan and Shaanxi each had comparably large militia forces. In the concert of the war against the rebels, the 3 provinces reported a total of 100,000 government soldiers and upto a possible million militiamen.    The militiamen strategy proved to be very ineffective against the rebels, in fact the militias did more harm than good. Militiamen came from all walks of life, from farmers, to unemployed city folk to ruthless criminals. If you were a bandit, it was actually far more beneficial to join the militia which paid a salary about the same as a government soldier. These militiamen had no real allegiance beyond the salary they were paid so as the White Lotus watched the government hiring all of these people they simply offered them the same salary or more. By the later years of the uprising it turned out nearly half the White Lotus armies were made up of former militiamen! And if you were wondering what else than money could persuade these militiamen to join the White Lotus hear this. The governor general of Sichuan province reported with disgust that whenever government troops went into battle they simply quote “sent the militia to charge in ahead of them as they hung back where it was safe. If the militiamen got turned back by the rebels and started to run away, the government soldiers just ran after them”. On top of this, tons of false victories over the rebel armies were being reported when in reality, the government troops would just pretend to engage the rebels and continuously move their camps around. There was even reports that government forces would murder refugees from nearby villages and set up their mutilated bodies at their camps to make it look like they had caught rebels. The fact the government forces were really not engaging the rebel armies very much was so apparent one witness said “where the rebels are, there are no government forces; and where the government forces are, there are no rebels”.    With the declining mental health of Emperor Qianlong growing worse, the campaign against the White Lotus fell into the hands of Heshen who was too busy using the opportunity to enrich himself. As emperor Qianlong obsessed over the reports of the rebel war, apparently barely sleeping while he read them day and night according to accounts from his son, well Heshen was doing his best to control which reports came to the emperor. Heshen made sure all the reports were fake victory stories making it seem that the entire campaign was going off without a hitch. Heshen had appointed his own personal goons to be in key military positions who in turn fed falsified victory reports for money or military honors in return. This went further to whitewash massacres done to the civilian population by the government armies. And of course the funds for the military were going to the goons who in turn paid tribute right back to Heshen, making sure they kept their positions regardless of how incompetent they were. For the first 3 years of the war, Heshen effectively controlled the central government's military funding. It would also turn out that the registry of over 300,000 militia soldiers recruited to fight the White Lotus did not exist and it was an embezzlement scheme. It gets even worse. Those militia soldiers who did exist and who died fighting the rebels, well the corrupt officials would embezzle their death benefits, so a ton of mourning families got nothing and this had the disgusting side effect of creating an incentive for corrupt officers to have more of their soldiers die on the battlefield. The Militia related expenses would claim at least half the war effort funding according to Jiaqing who discovered the racket. A scholar in Hubei said this of the situation    “At first they nibbled away like worms, gradually taking more and more until they were gulping like whales. In the beginning, their embezzlements could be reckoned in hundreds and thousands of taels, but presently nothing less than ten thousand would attract notice. Soon amounts ran to scores of thousands, then to hundreds of thousands, then to millions.” Emperor Qianlong expected an easy victory over the White Lotus, but the war was not ending. After reading so many countless reports of victories over the rebels, Qianlong because frustrated and confused as to why the White Lotus rebels did not submit. By 1799, the cost of the war was reaching nearly 100 million taels of silver, an unbelievable sum that had completely exhausted the treasury surplus and there still was no end in sight. Emperor Qianlong spent his last years of life losing his mind to the rebellion and died in a position of helplessness with the treasury emptied. Jiaqing did not have an enviable start to his reign. He was a broad, fat man with a talent for archery and was left with a clean up job that was simply immense. He had been forced to suffer the indemnity of being enthroned in 1796 only to find out he was a puppet and that his father was not even in charge, it was Heshen. He was in his 40's and quite powerless as long as his father remained alive. The day after Emperor Qianlong died in 1799, one of Jiaqings first major acts was to order the arrest of Heshen, boom. There was a swift and very publicized trial where the board of punishments found Heshen to be guilty of a long list of corruption related charges and the sentence would be death. Because Heshen held one of the highest ranks in the court he was allowed to strangle himself with a silk cord, a privilege considered more honorable than having your head cut off. Although the execution of Heshen was symbolically cathartic, it did little to stop the rot of corruption within the government. Heshen was blamed for just about all the sins of the time, as if he alone dragged the empire down…though one could argue he certainly provided a helping hand. All Heshens misdeeds were laid to bare and his enormous wealth was unimaginable.    Heshen had a sprawling mansion of over 730 rooms. In his secondary residence there were 620 rooms. He held landholdings of over 120,000 acres of productive farmland. All the stories you can imagine were there, he had golden chopsticks, silver place settings for banquets, entire rooms filled with jewels, jade and other riches. He owned 10 banks, 10 pawnshops and millions upon millions of taels of silver hoarded into them. Apparently one wall in his main residence turned out to be filled with 5000 pounds of gold bullion if its to be believed. One extremely overexaggerated estimate his sum worth was around 800 million taels of silver, thats around  1.5 billion at the time, around 4 times the entire gross domestic product of the United States of America. More conservative estimates are at around 80 million taels of silver, which was more than the entire treasury surplus that preceded the White Lotus war and enough to make Heshen as wealthy as the Emperor!   After dealing with Heshen, Jiaqing began a campaign against the corruption in the government. However, Jiaqing understood how an anti corruption campaign could fall into chaos and become a general purge, so he allowed it to peter out pretty quick. What did happen, was the Qing government saw a lot of old scores settled and factionalism rose amongst officials. The first order of business after dealing with Heshen was obviously the White Lotus war. The day after Qianlong's death, Jiaqing issued an edict naming the suppression of antigovernment religious sects as the dynasty's most urgent priority. Jiaqing rallied against the corrupt military officers accusing them of dragging out the war in order to fill their pockets. He laid blame for the insurrection upon the civil servants who extorted the peasants. “The peasants enjoy few fruits from their labor. So how can they possibly supply such insatiable demands? It is the local officials who provoked these rebellions”.    Emperor Jiaqing began removing corrupt and incompetent military officials to try and replace them with better men, but the reality at the time was quite thin pickings. Most of the Manchu generals of his father or grandfathers generation were dead or far too old to lead. The younger generation were not born into the same world as their parents. If you've ever listened to Dan Carlin's podcast and yes I am nothing but a mere fanboy, he often makes the analogy of how empires go soft. The old quasi proverb of old wooden shoes going up the stairs and soft silken sandals going down them. This new generation of Manchu did not live the hardened lifestyle of their ancestors, they were living in a world of luxury now. A ton of the younger generation were also tainted by the Heshen click. Yet there was a minority of great warriors and some of the old guard so to say that had won Emperor Qianlong some victories back in the day. The very best of them was a physically enduring Manchu named Eldemboo. At 51 years old in the year of 1799 he was selected to lead the White Lotus suppression. He was quite old, but experienced, ruthless and said to be incorruptible.    Elemboo's had been part of campaigns in the 1770's to bring parts of the frontiers under the Qing Yolk. He fought the Burmese in southern Yunnan. He fought during the Tibetan rebellion in the1770's, during a muslim uprising in Gansu in 1784, helped put down a rebellion in Taiwan in 1787 and served in the far west against the Gurkhas in Tibet and Nepal in the 1790s. By 1797 he was a Lt-general who had just succeeded in suppressing a Miao ethnic uprising in Hunan province. The campaign against the White Lotus faced a crucial problem, that of mobility. The rebels required little in terms of weaponry and could get pretty much anything on the go from just about any village. They did not construct elaborate camps, they were accustomed to the mountains and forests and could carry out guerilla warfare at a moments notice. The Qing military was another beast altogether. It required enormous logistical operations to move its food, matchlock muskets, ammunition, powder, bows and arrows, this all required carts and beasts of burden. Usually these logistics were not a problem, but for mountains and forest regions it was a nightmare. The rebels understood the advantage and made sure to take up positions in the worst possible places for such logistics.    Because of these logistical problems the Qing forces had been simply setting up stations in fixed positions hoping to cast a net around rebel pockets. Many commanders simply did not have the stomach to march into forests or up mountain sides to chase an enemy that would use every obstacle against them. Eldemboo unlike his predecessor commanders not only was willing to venture into the forests and mountains, but was perfectly willing to endure the hardship of such ventures alongside his men. A new approach was necessary for the campaign. Eldemboo called for “jianbi qingye” “fortify the walls and clear the countryside”. The idea was two fold, first to separate the good peasants from those who would support the White Lotus, by concentrating them in places of safety ie, behind fortified encampments known as baozhai. In these Baozhai, some peasants would be trained as militia to defend their respective camps. The second idea was to clear the countryside, by moving all the grain harvest and food stores away and into the Baozhai where all the good peasants would be taking refuge. The hope was the rebels would eventually be unable to scavenge food from the emptied countryside and would be forced to come out of their hiding and fight the government forces on their terms.   Under the command of Eldemboo, the jianbi qingye strategy was implemented throughout the war zone. Hundreds of fortified camps were in the wartorn provinces. The fortified camps held strong walls and deep moats. The militiamen would defend them and not be taken out on campaigns that earlier had caused so much havoc upon the populace. The new role of the militiamen was to protect their own families, neighbors and such and thus they were far less likely to fall into banditry. While the quote “good” population concentrated in their Baozhai, defended by their good militiamen, Eldemboo's manchu and Han troops were now free to campaign at will through any wartorn province. Soon Eldemboo began producing a string of victories over the weakened rebel forces. By early 1803, Eldemboo's campaign had moved into its final phase, a brutal mop up operation. The remnants of the broken rebels needed to be crushed and the demilitarization of all the militiamen needed to gradually begin.  Emperor Jiaqing warned his generals not to relax in their campaigns prematurely. “Though the main disease is cured, there are boils and sores that remain. If even a single rebel is left alive, it would be enough for them to keep spreading and growing”. Emperor Jiaqing's generals heeded his words and continued to ruthlessly crush the remnants of the rebels. A systematic program of pacification was enacted. The “good” populace was continuously resettled into the fortified cities, while the Qing forces pursued and exterminated the rebel guerrilla bands, though it should be noted they did give amnesty to many rebels who deserted. It was the combination of military and social policies that were winning the day. Qing administrators seized and destroyed all White Lotus scriptures they could find in the warzones.  By the late summer of 1803, some of Jiaqing's commanders reported back to him that after 8 years of extermination efforts against the White Lotus in the 3 provinces, it seemed for all intensive purposes the job was complete. In early 1804, Eldemboo traveled back to Beijing and returned his carved seal of authority to the Emperor, signifying that the war was over. It would be the last great victory of Eldemboo's very long career. The next year at the age of 57 Eldemboo died and with him the last of that hardened generation. In 1805, Emperor Jiaqing was able to address the empire without the ongoing drain of resources due to the White Lotus War.   It was a very bitter victory, most rebellions are. A chinese scholar wrote a few decades later that it was estimated that several hundred thousand rebels had been killed during the war. For the governmental forces, militiamen and countless civilians who died of war and starvation the scholar simply stated it could not be calculated. There was also no way to differentiate the White Lotus from the rebels as there were countless groups rebelling for differing reasons.   A major problem with the White Lotus Rebellion aside from the death and horror was the loss of prestige for the Qing military. There was a sort of myth of invincibility for the Manchu warriors, hell they had conquered the Ming Dynasty afterall. But the scale of damage caused by the White Lotus Rebellion was eye opening, it took the Qing 8 years to quell it! And quell it is a strong word, for the White Lotus were not truly gone or anything, there would be sporadic revolts throughout the early 19th century, just not on the same scale as the 8 year war. The Manchu army of the early 19th century was not the same generation that once conquered the Ming. The wooden shoes were being cast off and silky slippers were starting to become the norm so to say for you Dan Carlin fans. To make everything much worse, the adoption of training and hiring militia's would have a devastating effect on the Qing dynasty until its demise in the 20th century. This was not a unique problem for China, many empires fell for this same reason. Take example the Egyptian empire under the Ptolemy's. Under the reign of Ptolemy IV Philophater the military was forced to hire local native Egyptians in large numbers for the first time to deal with the 4th Syrian war of 219-217BC. Prior to this war, the Ptolemiac empire had a military consisted mostly of Greeks and for a very important reason, they did not want to train or arm the native population who did not like them very much. When their backs were against the wall they trained around 30,000 native egyptians as Phalangites and hell it paid off during the battle of Raphia when they smashed the army of Antiochus III. The Ptolemies had finally ended what was an ongoing manpower problem. Oh and then the trained and armed Egyptians rebelled and created a separate kingdom that lasted 20 years. It was an enormous turning point in Ptolemaic history and a bitter lesson.  For the Qing the hiring of militia armies will occur on countless occasions for countless reasons, but one thing is for sure it is part of a long list of reasons as to why the great dynasty will crumble.    I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me.  The once mighty Qing have proven to be not so mighty anymore. The 8 year White Lotus Rebellion was quelled, but at what cost to the empire? With the death of Eldemboo came also the deaths of a generation of strong warriors. And while this rebellion was going on, something else was afoot, this time not an internal issue, but a growing external one. 

Hello Echelots! Sheldon brings a festive shirt to the Friday recording... after he basically forgot they needed to record this week. Oops. Mere was on time so her podcast performance review is saved once again! Amusement park rides are still fun, but old person anxiety starting to creep in. But until it takes over - roller coasters! Florian Brennecke is today's guest. He's an Echelon instructor in the Frankfurt studio and he just might be the hardest man in Germany! He's got his own full client base, a gym featuring muscle stimulation, and plans for more! We learn how Florian went from struggling just to make ends meet to being a business owner and Echelon instructor. Such a ball of energy and someone who truly loves engaging with the community - but he did pull a fast one on me (you'll hear about it in the episode). Find Florian on Instagram @florian.brennecke SO much industry news with the meditation and mental wellness industry struggling where a bit market player, Calm, is laying off a good number of folks in an effort to right size and focus. The industry as a whole is taking a beating as they decline from the boom of mental health support desired during the pandemic. Soul Cycle closing 25% of their studios..."f**k it, let's shut down" I guess. Thennn... there's Peloton. Just brutal earning's report. $1.2B lost in the quarter... massive cash burn still. Subs only up net 4000... ouch. Equipment margins, MINUS 98% (I'm still trying to figure out how that is even possible). The are now selling the Bike, Guide, and some accessories on Amazon and offering do it yourself options... much to the chagrin to a lot of their people that think that is "cheap". I honestly think it's pretty smart. Hey, Echelon has been doing that for ages! Tons of Echelon news, 6AM EST 30 minute classes coming back, expanding music library (Bieber, Joan Jett, and the Stones!), more Broadway etc. We will be seeing more "Tour de Echelon" like events around the "big 6 marathons" and rowing events that correspond to events like Head of the Charles! Meredith has some fun names and a bunch of shout outs... including one for a certain podcast host! We wrap up with results of the sandwich Snackdown! and kick off another with "When should we allow fall treats to start?" By Bikkkkkkkkkke!

What does pain and suffering exist in this world? If God is omnipotent, why does He allow it? Is God the source of evil? These questions and more will be answered in this week's conversation with Dr. Timothy Yoder about C.S. Lewis' book, "The Problem of Pain."

Dylan and Connor are joined by Tony Award winner Lena Hall (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Little Shop of Horrors). Mere hours after Connor's trip to Chromatica (MetLife Stadium), the twins meet Lena Hall for some DRAMA. They dip right into the highwire chat, hearing stories from the set of “Snowpiercer,” the online fanfare over Lena's upcoming return to theatre, and why being on stage is being home. She talks about keeping a performance fresh each night, why bootlegs shouldn't be taboo, filming Legally Blonde: The Search for Elle Woods, her eternal love for her fellow contestants, and encountering the role of a lifetime: Yitzhak in Hedwig and the Angry Inch. We talk teen idol Jonathan Brandis, owning a DVD player, and her upcoming return to the New York stage as Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors.Follow Lena on Twitter & InstagramFollow DRAMA. on Twitter & InstagramFollow Connor MacDowell on Twitter & InstagramFollow Dylan MacDowell on Twitter & InstagramEdited by DylanGet your DRAMA merch (t-shirts, stickers, and more) HERE!SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PATREON HERE! Bonus episodes, Instagram Close Friends content, and more! Please subscribe on Apple Podcasts, rate us 5 stars, and leave a kind review!

It's another great morning with the Marc Cox Morning Show! Yesterday, Independent Candidate John Wood announced he would be dropping from the Senate Race now that Greitens is no longer in the running. Marc steps up on his soapbox to discuss the repercussions of Biden's plan to spend billions of tax payer money forgiving student loans. We get a replay of Marc's conversation with Mark Walters about a "Good Guy with a Gun" in Chicago that saved the day from a carjacker. Later, Marc, Scott and Carl discuss Paul Pelosi's DUI sentencing. 

I dag præsenterede Socialdemokratiet endnu en bandepakke. Det er den fjerde af sin slags siden 2009. Men nu skal 30 nye initiativer blandt andet forhindre, at flere unge bliver en del af bandemiljøet. Man skal blandt andet slå hårdt ned på bandemedlemmer, der rekrutterer andre unge, foreslår regeringen. Men er det den rette måde at bryde fødekæden til banderne? Produktionen af grise og køer skal halveres inden 2030, hvis Enhedslisten får lov at bestemme. Vi står midt i en buldrende klimakrise, siger politisk ordfører Mai Villadsen på partiets sommergruppemøde. Hos Landbrug og Fødevarer er man ikke begejstret for forslaget. Faktisk synes man, at Enhedslisten gør lidt regning med den forkerte vært. Vi tager debatten. Ignorerer vi i Vesten og andre dele af verden katastrofer og konflikter, fordi de foregår steder, hvor folk har en mørkere hudfarve? Det mener i hvert fald Verdenssundhedsorganisationens generalsekretær. Ifølge generalsekretæren får specifikt en krig og medfølgende sultkatastrofe i det østafrikanske land Etiopien for lidt opmærksomhed. Men er det rigtigt? Mette Vibe Utzon og Michael S. Lund er dagens vært, Tine Linde er redaktør. www.dr.dk/lyd/p1/orientering

What was the dark mist that seemed to suddenly appear in a bedroom and disappear just as fast? Here is a preview of the story. “My eyes snapped opened, head jerking to the right just in time to see the mist collecting in the open closet – mist somehow darker than the pitch-black room. I knew what would happen next; it had happened every night that week. The mist would condense, solidify, and he would take form. The Figure. Mere silhouette though he was, every time I saw that tall, broad-shouldered form lumber out of the closet to resume a familiar position in the bedroom doorway, my heart would start to beat out of my chest. I wanted to run, but… somehow, I knew passing through this shadow man was the worst thing I could do. There was no choice but to lie there under his gaze and wonder if anything awful had ever happened in this apartment. Indeed, the complex itself was aggressively average for a college town – nothing ominous except a faulty boiler and a few rusted aircons. My roommate Danny and I thought we were getting a good deal for a couple of undergraduates, despite the fact that we had to share a bedroom. But, well… I will skip the cliches and just say that it felt like there was something off about our unit as soon as we moved in. Even when I opened the blinds and turned on all the lights – which I became obsessive about as time went on – nothing could overcome the persistent dinginess of the place. There were also a lot of… trivial things…” Watch more at: http://www.realghoststoriesonline.com/ If you have a real ghost story or supernatural event to report, please write into our show or call 1-855-853-4802! If you like the show, please help keep us on the air and support the show by becoming an EPP (Extra Podcast Person). We'll give you a BONUS episode every week as a "Thank You" for your support. Become an EPP here: http://www.ghostpodcast.com/?page_id=118 or at or at http://www.patreon.com/realghoststories