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Seth and Sean discuss the USA advancing to the next World Cup round, and talk about Freddy the German visiting Niagara Falls.
Seth and Sean discuss the Astros winning 2 of 3 vs the Guardians over the weekend, how they're doing since the "Great Reset of 2026," the USMNT advancing, Freddy the German visiting Niagara Falls, and go through the day's Headlines.
Seth and Sean discuss the Astros winning 2 of 3 vs the Guardians over the weekend, how they're doing since the "Great Reset of 2026," the USMNT advancing, Freddy the German visiting Niagara Falls, go through the day's Headlines, talk about how JJ Watt decided to help out Freddy the German man, Ben Solak's piece listing Stroud's 2025 nosedive as a fluke, give credit in Acknowledge Me, react to Kevin Durant using the word "underdog" when talking about when he went to play for the Warriors, breaking news that Giannis will be traded before the draft, discuss some of what Reed Blankenship said about the Texans offense, assess Ochocinco's notion that Watson has 6 games to prove himself for the Browns, look at what Bob Nightengale thinks the Astros' mindset heading into the trade deadline will be, talk with Rob Stone of FOX about all the World Cup games excitement, discuss JJ Watt hooking up Freddy the German, how the Astros have been on both sides of the ball with the ABS this season, the news that Giannis will be traded sometime in the next 24 hours, and see what the ITL question of the day is with Reggie and Lopez.
Andy Baskin recounts to Daryl Ruiter a spontaneous Father's Day trip to Niagara Falls where he successfully crossed the border despite having an expired passport. Meredith shares her own complicated experience obtaining a Real ID due to adoption paperwork inconsistencies. They also discuss unique border geography and the Gordie Howe Bridge. 01:28 - Celebrity Golf Match Debate 03:38 - Baskin's Expired Passport Story 07:34 - Passport and Document Struggles
“I believe,” the father cried — before the doubt. A sermon on Scripture's most poignant confession and its meaning for today's doubters. Click here to read the sermon I Believe — Help My Unbelief! Mark 9:14–29 It is great to be with you here today. I want to give all these musicians a hand — thank you, Keith, and thank you to everyone up here. I love all the instruments, and even Michael Jessup is making a joyful noise over there. God bless you guys. I want you to know first and foremost that I am praying for Pastor Christopher, for his family, and for Yates Baptist Church during this time of transition. I also want some of you to know — I'm sure some of you are thinking, who is Marty Childers, and what is Tri-West? It used to be called Yates Baptist Association. We had to change our name because things kept getting confused. People would come to our building looking for you, and people would come here looking for us, and checks got crossed, and a lot of things happened. So that is one of the reasons we changed the name. We are Triangle West, the western part of the Triangle Baptist Network. We say Tri-West. But more than that, I want to give you a real quick infomercial, because I want you to know who we are as Tri-West. I have had the privilege for the last almost ten years — Mike, in October it will be ten years — to work with this association. I have had the privilege of working with many people from this church, and I just want you to know that we are all about strengthening, planting, and resourcing the local church to fulfill the Great Commission. Strengthening, planting, and resourcing the local church. When I first got here, if I'm really honest, a lot of associations in North Carolina had their own plans, and they did a lot of things, and they asked the churches to come along and help them execute those plans. But we said no — we want to flip the script, because God's Plan A is the local church. So the association wants to do everything we can to help the local church fulfill the Great Commission. As a part of that, we are helping revitalize churches, and we are helping to plant new churches. In fact, just in the last year and five months, we have seen four new church plants start in our area — in Durham, in Chapel Hill, in Hillsborough, where I live. And your participation in our association actually helped fund some of those things. Just recently we voted to send five thousand dollars to a youth camp in Haiti that Yates Baptist Church has been supporting for many, many years. As you are a part of this network, you are also helping church planters in Oaxaca, Mexico — two weeks from today I will be in Oaxaca with about thirty-five students, and I am looking forward to that. Your participation also helps us with a Farsi-speaking church in Armenia, which is a story I would love to come back and tell you more about. As we participate together as a network of about sixty-five churches in the greater Durham area, we can do more together. We are trying to help churches not to be silos, not to be isolated, but to look around and say, hey, you are doing that too — let us see how we can collaborate. I want you to open your Bibles, or your apparatus, to the Gospel of Mark, chapter nine. We are going to be looking at verses fourteen through twenty-nine. I am going to read through verse twenty-four first, and then I want you to keep your Bibles or your phones open there, because we will come back to the rest of the passage a little later. Mark, chapter nine, beginning at verse fourteen: And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran to him and greeted him. And he asked them, "What are you arguing about with them?" And someone from the crowd answered him, "Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able." And he answered them, "O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me." And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. And Jesus asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" And he said, "From childhood. And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." And Jesus said to him, "'If you can'! All things are possible for one who believes." And immediately the father of the child cried out and said, "I believe; help my unbelief." (Mark 9:14–24, ESV) [Prayer] Father, we thank you for this time to worship you. We thank you that we have had this moment to lift songs to you. We are here to praise your name, but we are also here to be taught, and to be encouraged, and to be challenged to live the life that you have called us to live. So Father, I pray that you would use this passage, that you would use this Scripture, and that you would teach us the things we need to learn today. Father, I pray that we would listen as your Spirit teaches us. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Do you believe? Charles Blondin was a famous French acrobat who made international history as the first person to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope, on June 30, 1859. He successfully traveled along a more than thousand-foot-long, two-inch-thick cable suspended 160 feet above the raging waters. Over the next few years, Blondin crossed Niagara Gorge more than 300 times, consistently raising the stakes each time with a new dangerous theatrical variation of his walk. He walked across on stilts. He put himself in a body sack and went across. Once, in the middle of the gorge, he set up a small stove and made an omelet, then lowered it down to someone waiting in a boat on the water below. One day after crossing, he brought out a wheelbarrow. He asked the crowd: how many of you think I can push that wheelbarrow across? Hands went up. How many of you think I can take a person across in it? Hands went up again. Who wants to volunteer? Silence. Do you believe? You will notice that we started in verse fourteen, right in the middle of the chapter. It opens by saying "they came to the disciples" — but who is "they"? That is Jesus, Peter, James, and John. They had just come down from what we call the Mount of Transfiguration. We do not know exactly which mountain it was, but it was a mountain, and they were descending from a moment in which Peter, James, and John had seen a glimpse of God's glory. For just a moment — the text does not give us the mechanics of how it happened — Jesus' humanness seemed to be peeled back, and they saw him in white, blinding in its intensity. Peter had wanted to stay there. But as they came down the mountain, they walked straight into chaos. How many of you have had a mountaintop experience and then come back to find that life hits you? It seems like almost every time I go on a mission trip, I come back so full, and then I hit the muck of life — the junk, the everyday things that have to happen. That is exactly what is happening here. They descend from the mountain and walk into confusion. At the bottom, Jesus finds a desperate father — and Happy Father's Day, we will come back to that in a moment. He finds a tormented child. He finds nine frustrated disciples. He finds a crowd who may be looking for a spectacle, just waiting to see what is going to happen. He finds religious leaders ready to argue. This is the context into which Jesus steps. Do you believe? These are the final months of Jesus' earthly ministry. He had been with his disciples for three years. He had fed the five thousand, he had fed the four thousand, he had done many miraculous things. And now he comes down from the mountain and walks directly into a crisis. I believe that a crisis is an opportunity for God to show up. I believe a crisis is where God does some of his best teaching. Some of you are thinking back to situations in your own life — maybe this past year, maybe a decade ago, maybe a long time ago — when you were in a situation you did not understand at all, and now, looking back, you can see it clearly: oh, that is what God was doing. A crisis is where God shows up. The first thing I want to share with you today — and for those of you who take notes, feel free — is that this is a story about faith. The boy's father had come looking for Jesus, but Jesus was not there. Still, he was encouraged, because some of Jesus' disciples were right there — maybe they could help his son. He would have been glad had they succeeded. For whatever reason, their efforts were lacking. And by the time Jesus and the three disciples arrived, an argument was already going on. The first question Jesus asks is, "What are you arguing about?" I can imagine the disciples going up against the scribes, and then — as these things tend to escalate — the disciples maybe turning on each other. Well, we were not able to cast it out because you said the wrong words. You lifted your hand wrong. You did not do it the way we did last time. You know how that goes. Our enemy is always looking to divide us. And then Jesus responds. His response is pretty heavy. "O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?" He asked a version of that question several times throughout the Gospels. The one that always comes to my mind is when they were crossing the Sea of Galilee and a great storm came up. Jesus was asleep in the back of the boat. The disciples came and woke him: "Master, Master, don't you care? We're going to die!" Jesus stood up, spoke to the wind and the waves, and the sea went calm. But then he turned to his disciples and asked, "Where is your faith?" (cf. Luke 8:25, ESV). Do you believe, or do you not? I do not know where you are today, but I want to ask you the same question. Where is your faith? How is your faith? On our phones we can check the weather. I have not found an app yet to check my faith — today it's pretty low, today it's high. How is your faith? Now, we can be very judgmental on this father, because we already know what he is about to say. We know he is going to say, "I believe; help my unbelief." And we tend to fall hard on that second part — on the unbelief. But before he said "help my unbelief," he said "I believe." Before he admitted his doubt, he declared his faith. I think this is one of the most poignant statements in all of Scripture. The man — this father — pulls back the mask, pulls back the curtain. He is being transparent. He is open and honest. He is saying: I believe, I want to believe, I really, really want to believe, but I am struggling to believe. His honesty matters. We have to remember that we are on this side of the resurrection — he was on the other side. He did not have the whole story. And he was struggling, but he wanted to believe. Maybe some of us are struggling today. Maybe some of us have been there. "I believe; help my unbelief" (Mark 9:24, ESV). I felt that way this week. Maybe you have too. Did you notice, though, that he said "I believe" first? That was his first statement. He did not lead with I'm really struggling, but I'm trying. He led with I believe. And I think that matters enormously. It is also interesting that he says to Jesus, "If you can, have compassion on us and help us." I almost wish there were a question mark in Jesus' response — "If you can?" — as if he is saying, do you know who you are talking to? And then he goes on: "All things are possible for one who believes" (Mark 9:23, ESV). That is the first thing I want you to remember. This is a story about faith. By the way — this is a book about faith. The second thing I want to share is that this is also a story about failure. We do not like to talk about that, do we? We would prefer to talk about success stories. We would prefer to talk about how the walls of Jericho came tumbling down (cf. Josh 6:20), about how Moses led the Israelites through on dry ground (cf. Exod 14:22), about Daniel in the lion's den (cf. Dan 6:22), about Jesus raising a little girl who had died (cf. Mark 5:41–42). We love those wonderful, powerful stories of the Bible. But guess what? This book also includes a lot of stories about failure. The Scripture reminds us that we will fail. When I was working with the International Mission Board — I think it was our first or second year — we kept hearing a phrase over and over: freedom to fail. We don't like to fail. But sometimes we don't accomplish things simply because we are not willing to try. I believe — and I know there are a lot of Duke fans in this room, so we can debate this later — that Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time. But he missed so many shots. Great home run hitters have hit many home runs, but they have struck out many more times. You will not accomplish things if you don't try. This passage reminds us that there are going to be moments of failure. There will be failures in our families. There will be failures in our marriages. There will be failures at work, in our personal lives, in our churches. But I think that is precisely where God wants to show up. He wants to remind us that he not only has the answer — he is the answer. Scripture tells us that God wants to use our weakness so that he can demonstrate his strength (cf. 1 Cor 1:27, ESV). What greater moment of weakness is there than when we fail? When you are in the pit, when you are down in the dumps — that is a theological term, by the way — God is saying, let me show you what I can do. This is a good reminder that we are human. Sometimes — and be honest with yourself here — sometimes we can get puffed up. We do something well, and then we do it well again, and we are just on a roll, and we think, man, I have got this. But there will be moments when we fail. When we do, we need to realize that God is there. Just do not allow your failures to become distractions. Do not allow your failures to pull you into a pity party. Do not allow your failures to keep you stuck in that moment of depression, believing there is no hope. I keep hearing a phrase lately that I have to say I hate: "pessimistic Christian." That is an oxymoron. Who should have more hope than we do? Nobody. This passage reminds us that we will pass through moments of failure. Hebrews tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6, ESV). So in our greatest time of need — when we fail, when things are not going right, when things are not going the way we planned — God is still in charge. We need faith most precisely in those moments. I love the character of David. I love David — but I wrestle with the fact that the Bible calls him a man after God's own heart (cf. Acts 13:22; 1 Sam 13:14), even though he committed adultery, tried to cover it up, committed murder, and tried to cover that up too, until Nathan came and confronted him (cf. 2 Sam 12:1–13). He thought he had actually gotten away with it. But the Bible calls him a man after God's own heart not primarily because of who David was, but because of who God is — and secondarily because David truly repented. His heart changed. He did horrendous, terrible things, and then he came before God and said, I am sorry. I messed up. I have done this terrible thing. We see in the Psalms, over and over, David saying something like: Lord, where are you? Have you abandoned me? My enemies are all around me, looking to destroy me. And then three or four verses later: but I will worship you, I will praise you, because you are the only true God, and you will be my refuge and my strength (cf. Ps 22:1, 27–28). David did that over and over because he had a heart that was willing to be honest — just like this father was willing to be honest. I believe; help my unbelief. Here is something interesting about this story. Just a few chapters earlier in Mark, Jesus actually gave his disciples authority to heal and to cast out unclean spirits. In chapter six, verse thirteen, they had healed many people, and they had cast out many demons (Mark 6:13, ESV). They had the power. But now, a little later, their faith is flagging and they have begun to argue. And here is the problem: when we begin to argue, the ministry stops. Recently there was a gathering in Orlando at the Southern Baptist Convention. I am sure you saw the news stories. The news stories always find the things we are arguing about and run with them. The truth is, there were nearly a hundred missionaries appointed and sent out to go all over the world. There were a lot of great things happening. But when we argue, the world watches, and the world is going to publicize it as much as it can. I read one theologian who put it this way: "Accept the rebuke from God as a gift that exposes your need." When Jesus says to his disciples, "How long am I going to have to put up with you?" — I think he says that to me sometimes. I am pretty sure he says it to all of you too. We do not like to admit that we have needs. But that is what David did. And that is what this father does. He has exhausted every possibility to find healing for his son, and now he is standing in front of Jesus. The third thing I see here is that this is a story reminding us that we are in a fight. You do not hear a lot about this today, but we are in spiritual warfare. I know people are going to say that sounds strange. But it is biblical. The Bible talks a great deal about this. We served as missionaries overseas for twenty-seven years, and we saw things happen that I can only describe as illogical and unnatural. Another time I will come back and tell you more about that. But when I say illogical and unnatural, I mean things like a little boy who died at the bottom of a pool, and two weeks later I saw him running down the aisle of the church. We saw both good and bad. But this much is clear: we are in a spiritual battle. I know a lot of people today do not like to talk about Satan. I read all the time that more and more people in the church do not actually believe in the devil or in demonic reality. I am pretty simple, Mike — whatever this Book says, I try to believe it. And the Scripture tells us that Lucifer was an angel who fell from heaven because of pride, because he wanted to be like God. The Scripture tells us that the enemy and his demonic presence are at work in this world. That is why we have so much trouble. Now, I do not want to get into a debate about whether this particular boy was possessed or oppressed, or whether what was happening was epilepsy or something else. In fact, the passage uses the word "spirit" throughout, and my Spanish Bible says "demonic spirit." Whatever was happening, something was happening, and the father was looking for help. Jesus is about to heal this young boy. He asks the father how long this has been going on. The father says, from childhood — and that the spirit had often cast the boy into fire and into water to destroy him. I hesitate to share a personal example here, but I want to. Melissa and I have four grandchildren. Our oldest grandson is named Elijah. Elijah is just so cool — but he is different. He has been diagnosed with autism and is non-verbal. He can say a few words once in a while. When I read about this boy who was mute — the one the world was probably looking at strangely — I think of my grandson. If Elijah were here today, he might run up to some of you and smell your hair. That is one of the things he loves to do. He might run up and hug a random person. Most of the time, people hug him back — but more and more lately, people just look at him as if something is wrong with him. He is awkward. He is lanky. He moves differently. And when I think of this story, I think of that father watching his son go through something like this, day after day, week after week, year after year, desperate to find help. So where did he go? He went to Jesus. That is what you and I should do. When Jesus arrives, the spirit responds immediately. It sees Jesus and it throws the boy into convulsions. It recognized what was standing there. That is the nature of spiritual warfare. Our enemy seeks to destroy you and me. He seeks to destroy your testimony. He seeks to destroy the image of God that is in you and in me. He wants you to see the worst in each other instead of the image of God in each other. He seeks to divide us. He will do whatever it takes to get us off track. But I want to remind you: our God is more powerful. The fourth thing I see in this passage is that it is a story about freedom — because God brings freedom. He heals this young man. When Jesus commands the spirit to leave, look at what happens, beginning in verse twenty-six: After crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, "He is dead." But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. (Mark 9:26–27, ESV) What I love about this is the variety in how Jesus heals throughout the Gospels. Sometimes he heals in an instant. The centurion said, just say the word, and it is already done (cf. Matt 8:8). There are times he heals lepers and sends them to the priest, and they are healed as they go (cf. Luke 17:14). There is one time he heals a blind man and it actually takes a second touch before the man can see clearly (cf. Mark 8:22–25). What I want you to see is that sometimes God heals in an instant, but sometimes it is a process. It was not immediate here. The boy fell down and convulsed and rolled on the ground. Sometimes it is a process. We do not know whether what happened between the command and the boy arising from the ground took ten seconds or ten minutes. But the spirit came out — the text says so plainly — and I want you to know that sometimes we are waiting for God to show up and do something, and he is already at work. It is just not on our schedule. He is working. He is bringing healing, he is bringing redemption, he is bringing all those things. Just not on our timetable. I love what the passage says next. The boy was on the ground, and they all thought he was dead. But Jesus reached down and took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. There is something in that word — arose — that is not accidental. It foreshadows the morning when Jesus himself, after the cross and the grave, arose. He has power over death. So we do not have to fear it. I talk to people almost every week who are afraid of dying — people in their thirties, in their forties. But as Christians, we do not have to be afraid, because we have hope. That reminds me of Peter. Do you remember when Peter was out on the water with the other disciples and Jesus came walking to them on the sea? Peter said, Lord, if it is you, tell me to come to you on the water. And Jesus said, come on. And Peter got out of the boat — Peter, not Jesus — and he was walking on the water too, until he noticed the waves, and the wind, and his circumstances. And he began to sink, until Jesus grabbed him and pulled him up (cf. Matt 14:28–31, ESV). If we fix our eyes on our circumstances, we are going to sink. But if we fix them on the Lord, all things are possible to the one who believes (cf. Mark 9:23, ESV). The fifth thing I want to share — and I will admit this one stretches the alliteration a little bit — is that our first priority should always be prayer. A little later in the passage, beginning at verse twenty-eight, we read this: When he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?" And he said to them, "This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer." (Mark 9:28–29, ESV) Your translation may say "prayer and fasting." Either way, the idea is focused, concentrated, committed prayer. I have heard a statement a lot lately, and I love it: prayer is not part of our strategy — prayer should be our strategy. I actually tried to Google who said it. I could not find a clear source, so I am not going to claim it. But it is a great statement. Let me ask you something. When you have failures, when you have struggles, when you are dealing with a difficult situation — is prayer the first thing you do, or is it your last resort? Here is something worth noticing. Go back this afternoon and read this passage slowly. You will see that Jesus talks with the disciples, he talks with the father, and the boy is healed. But there is no moment in the text where I see Jesus kneel and pray. There is no recorded prayer. I do not think he is saying you have to stop every minute and formally pray. What he is saying is what First Thessalonians says: we are to pray without ceasing (cf. 1 Thess 5:17, ESV). We are to live a life of prayer. We are to be in constant communion with God, in a way that makes us conduits of the Holy Spirit's work. I love the fact that he says this kind can only come out through prayer, but we do not see him stop to pray — because he was already living that life. We know that many times Jesus would take his disciples somewhere and say, stay here, watch and pray, and he would go away and pray. And he would come back and — I am not going to say this is any of you, because I don't see anyone sleeping this morning — but they were asleep. There is a tension there worth sitting with. There are a lot of great theologians who have thought deeply about prayer. Augustine said that prayer is the language of the heart's yearning for God. Martin Luther, who would get up before sunrise to pray for three or four hours before he even opened his Scripture — and then pray for three or four more hours afterward — Martin Luther said, "The less I pray, the harder things seem to get. The more I pray, the more I see God move." Could you pray a little bit more? Could you begin developing a lifestyle of prayer? I want to close with a story from about thirty years ago, when I was serving in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. I had gone to a meeting of pastors at First Baptist Church in Santa Cruz. I was leaving with my good friend Eladio Alvarez. Eladio and I walked out of the building and looked down the one-way street. Nothing was coming. I started to step out into the road. And just as my momentum was carrying me into the street, something pulled me back. A truck — going the wrong way on that one-way street, at about fifty miles per hour in a thirty-five-mile-per-hour zone — went flying by. Whatever hair I had was flying. Eladio and I both turned white. I said, man, you just saved my life. And he said, no, no, I didn't do anything. I said, no — I was stepping into the street and you pulled me back. He said, no, you were about to step in, and then you just awkwardly jumped back on your own. We went back and forth on this for a while. Finally he said, you know what happened? You got grabbed by an angel. I said, I don't know about grabbed — but something supernatural happened. My momentum was into that street, and all of a sudden I was standing on the curb. I got on a bus and went home. When I walked in, the light on my phone was blinking — and this was one of those regular phones, not a cell phone, so those of you under forty, feel free to Google it. The message said: this is Bobby Long from Central Baptist Church in Hickory, North Carolina. That's my home church. Bobby said, I woke up this morning about five-thirty, and I just had this uneasy feeling that you were in danger. So I have been praying for you. He said, at seven-thirty I still didn't have any peace, so I started calling the deacons. We set up a prayer chain. We have been praying for you for the last three hours. Please call me collect. It cost about five dollars a minute back then. But I called him. And I said, Bobby, your prayers were answered. When I told him the story, he could not believe it. About the same time I was stepping into that street, almost four thousand miles away, a group of people were praying. When God brings someone to your mind, stop. When God puts a person or a situation on your heart, stop and pray. Prayer is not part of our strategy. Prayer is our strategy. This kind can only be driven out by prayer. What are you facing today? What difficult situation are you carrying? Our God is powerful. We have to have faith even in our failing moments. We have to know we are in a fight — but our Lord has the power to bring freedom. [Prayer] Father God, I thank you so much for this passage. I thank you for this Scripture that reminds us of who you are and what you do. Father, I thank you that you are all-powerful. I thank you that you have the power to heal and to cast out every unclean spirit, and that you have the power to do anything in everything. Father, we pray right now that we would realize that we must confess, just like this father did: Lord, we believe. Help our unbelief. Help our unbelief to grow, and help our faith to be strengthened. Help us to grow in faith. And Father, I pray that we would do that by praying. I pray right now for Yates Baptist Church — that you would bring them together as one body, that you would unite them, that you would fill them, that you would direct their path, and that you would use this church to reach many, many families, to reach many people who might walk out of darkness into your light, not because of who they are, but because of who you are. So Lord, we pray in the name of Christ that you would do your will and your way and in your time in this place. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Works Cited Augustine. Expositions of the Psalms 33–50 (Enarrationes in Psalmos). Translated by Maria Boulding, OSB. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2000. (For Ps. 37.14.) Augustine. Expositions of the Psalms 121–150 (Enarrationes in Psalmos). Translated by Maria Boulding, OSB. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2004. (For Ps. 125.8.) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. 2011. Wheaton: Crossway Bibles. Luther, Martin. Luther's Works: Vol. 31, Career of the Reformer I. Edited by Harold J. Grabe. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1957. (For writings on prayer's necessity.) Luther, Martin. Luther's Works: Vol. 54, Table Talk. Edited by Harold J. Grabe. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1967. (For reflections on prayer and God's activity.) Luther, Martin. The Large Catechism. Translated by John W. Doberstein. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1961. (For teaching on prayer as essential.) © 2026 Marty Childers. All rights reserved.
A chilling read from Chris Underwood... literally. What happens if you're in the Midwest in winter and the power goes out? Listen in as I chat with Chris Underwood about his Cold Winter series. Content warning: While these books do have characters who are Christians and live their faith, the first book (not sure about the rest) does include a few instances of foul language in the first few chapters. I'm switching from audio to print to finish. note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you. Talking about all the research he did for this series was a blast. I loved hearing about his travels with the crew and the prepper side--everything. The Cold Winter Grid-Down Series by Chris Underwood The Cold Winter Series begins with a power grid failure at Niagara Falls three days before Christmas, as a snowstorm approaches. Welcome to The Cold Winter. It follows a group of families in Central Ohio who want to help stranded motorists who end up on their porch. Even when doing the right thing doesn't work out, they keep on trying. There is a sense of morality and faith as the emergency continues to worsen. In the second book, they learn that the power outage is an attack on the nation, and join a civilian minuteman militia to fight back. The third book of the series ramps up the action and features the first major battles of the minutemen militia. Since modern machinery cannot be trusted, vintage military equipment is utilized by the militia, such as a Huey Helicopter and a WWII Landing Ship, the LST-325. This ship is an actual floating museum on the Ohio River and is used by this militia to go upstream to rescue a VIP and bring him to safety. River locks are liberated from the enemy, and a dramatic battle is staged on Wheeling Island, where the landing ship performs much as it did on D-Day in Normandy: Landing aground with troops and equipment pouring out the front for battle! The fourth installment of the series introduces more vintage equipment, including a Cobra Attack Helicopter and a P-47 Thunderbolt, to fight modern naval ships in an effort to liberate the Niagara Falls power station from the enemy. Even the WWII Destroyer, USS The Sullivans, in its current engineless state at the Buffalo Naval Museum, is somehow used in the battle! It's an epic showdown of antique airpower against modern naval might! Learn more on Chris's WEBSITE and follow on GoodReads and BookBub. Like to listen on the go? You can find Because Fiction Podcast at: Apple Castbox Google Play Libsyn RSS Spotify Amazon YouTube and more!
A reading of articles and features from the Niagara Falls Review
Bedtime History: Inspirational Stories for Kids and Families
Niagara Falls is one of the most amazing natural wonders in the world. It is made up of three big waterfalls that are found on the border between the United States and Canada. The water rushes over the cliffs with a loud roar, sending mist into the air, which can create beautiful rainbows. People from all around the world visit to see the incredible sight and feel the cool spray on their faces. The falls have been around for thousands of years and have a very interesting history. There are also fun stories about people who tried to go over the falls in barrels!
This week, Brian and Justin recap CSICon, Bill Nye proximity, Buffalo wing science, and the Left Bank ravioli that somehow became an Indiana Jones unit of measurement. Plus: Mel Brooks on a plane, Niagara Falls propaganda, a Canadian boat with a mean streak, sports week nonsense, and Temu ads that may or may not be pornography. Get an extra episode every week only at https://www.patreon.com/greatnight!
This week, Brian and Justin recap CSICon, Bill Nye proximity, Buffalo wing science, and the Left Bank ravioli that somehow became an Indiana Jones unit of measurement. Plus: Mel Brooks on a plane, Niagara Falls propaganda, a Canadian boat with a mean streak, sports week nonsense, and Temu ads that may or may not be pornography. Get an extra episode every week only at https://www.patreon.com/greatnight!
Today we shine our spotlight on the Grande Dame of Canadian comedy, Martha Chaves! She takes on Americans at Niagara Falls, a certain US leader, the allure of immigrants...and much much more!
Sorg and Katie are back on the road in Michigan, Dave Podnar joins from the Pod Cave, and Missy keeps the studio running from Pittsburgh for this travel-heavy episode of AwesomeCast. This week, the crew talks about Niagara Falls adventures, World Cup watch parties, international visitors discovering American mega-stores, the Strong Museum of Play, Nerdvana, Google Gemini Pro, electric vehicle camouflage, and video game news from Chachi Says. Stories and gadgets discussed: World Cup travelers discovering America Dave shares TikTok reactions from international soccer fans experiencing Walmart, Waffle House, Costco, ranch dressing, school buses, Bucky's, and oversized American everything. Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@josievlogsthings/video/7651983684060613890?lang=en Niagara Falls World Cup watch party Sorg and Katie stumble into a World Cup viewing party at Niagara Falls with giant screens, fans, fireworks, and the falls lit up at night. The 26th-floor IHOP at Niagara Falls Katie highlights the surreal breakfast experience of eating IHOP with a panoramic view of Niagara Falls, before the space transforms into a steakhouse at night. This Week in Pride History: Sophie Wilson Dave spotlights Sophie Wilson, a computing pioneer connected to the development of ARM processor architecture, which powers phones, Macs, and many modern devices. Link: https://www.marks-clerk.com/insights/latest-insights/102k16g-celebrating-lgbt-history-month-sophie-wilson-computing-pioneer-inventor-and-advocate-for-inclusion/ Chachi Says Video Game Minute Crazy Taxi, Ocarina of Time, TMNT: The Last Ronin, and Marvel's Wolverine game news. A sealed Super Mario Bros. copy reportedly sells for $3 million. Tupac appears in Stranger Than Heaven, a prequel to the Like a Dragon series. Links: https://www.creativebloq.com/3d/video-game-design/switch-2-zelda-ocarina-of-time-remake-is-making-some-fans-regret-what-they-wished-for https://www.inverse.com/gaming/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-the-last-ronin-platinum-games-ps5-xbox https://kotaku.com/copy-of-super-mario-bros-sells-for-3-million-in-auction-2000706228 https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/tupac-video-game-stranger-than-heaven-9.7232112 Strong Museum of Play and Video Game Hall of Fame Sorg and Katie visit the Strong Museum in Rochester, New York, including the Video Game Hall of Fame, giant Donkey Kong, Oregon Trail, Street Fighter, Sonic, Sesame Street, Peanuts, Hello Kitty, Dungeons & Dragons, and interactive game exhibits. Nerdvana The crew talks about the restaurant across from the Strong Museum where guests can play Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, or board games while eating. Ford's hidden QR code in EV camouflage Dave discusses Ford hiding a QR code inside the camouflage pattern on a prototype electric pickup, turning spy photos into promotion. Link: https://www.theautopian.com/the-30000-ford-ev-pickup-we-photographed-was-hiding-a-qr-code-on-its-camouflage-heres-where-it-takes-you/ Google Gemini Pro and Google One Sorg discovers Google AI Pro access connected to Google storage plans and talks through Gemini, Google Forms automation, vibe coding, AI tools, NotebookLM, Flow, and possible app development. Link: https://gemini.google/us/subscriptions/?hl=en&brid=YWdncwHVFyhYRkb6SzEgcIU3w1kG Support AwesomeCast on Patreon for exclusive aftertalk content: https://www.patreon.com/awesomecast Thanks to our supporters: Brian Crawford, Cynthia Closkey, John DeGore, and Dave Podnar.
Sorg and Katie are back on the road in Michigan, Dave Podnar joins from the Pod Cave, and Missy keeps the studio running from Pittsburgh for this travel-heavy episode of AwesomeCast. This week, the crew talks about Niagara Falls adventures, World Cup watch parties, international visitors discovering American mega-stores, the Strong Museum of Play, Nerdvana, Google Gemini Pro, electric vehicle camouflage, and video game news from Chachi Says. Stories and gadgets discussed: World Cup travelers discovering America Dave shares TikTok reactions from international soccer fans experiencing Walmart, Waffle House, Costco, ranch dressing, school buses, Bucky's, and oversized American everything. Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@josievlogsthings/video/7651983684060613890?lang=en Niagara Falls World Cup watch party Sorg and Katie stumble into a World Cup viewing party at Niagara Falls with giant screens, fans, fireworks, and the falls lit up at night. The 26th-floor IHOP at Niagara Falls Katie highlights the surreal breakfast experience of eating IHOP with a panoramic view of Niagara Falls, before the space transforms into a steakhouse at night. This Week in Pride History: Sophie Wilson Dave spotlights Sophie Wilson, a computing pioneer connected to the development of ARM processor architecture, which powers phones, Macs, and many modern devices. Link: https://www.marks-clerk.com/insights/latest-insights/102k16g-celebrating-lgbt-history-month-sophie-wilson-computing-pioneer-inventor-and-advocate-for-inclusion/ Chachi Says Video Game Minute Crazy Taxi, Ocarina of Time, TMNT: The Last Ronin, and Marvel's Wolverine game news. A sealed Super Mario Bros. copy reportedly sells for $3 million. Tupac appears in Stranger Than Heaven, a prequel to the Like a Dragon series. Links: https://www.creativebloq.com/3d/video-game-design/switch-2-zelda-ocarina-of-time-remake-is-making-some-fans-regret-what-they-wished-for https://www.inverse.com/gaming/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-the-last-ronin-platinum-games-ps5-xbox https://kotaku.com/copy-of-super-mario-bros-sells-for-3-million-in-auction-2000706228 https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/tupac-video-game-stranger-than-heaven-9.7232112 Strong Museum of Play and Video Game Hall of Fame Sorg and Katie visit the Strong Museum in Rochester, New York, including the Video Game Hall of Fame, giant Donkey Kong, Oregon Trail, Street Fighter, Sonic, Sesame Street, Peanuts, Hello Kitty, Dungeons & Dragons, and interactive game exhibits. Nerdvana The crew talks about the restaurant across from the Strong Museum where guests can play Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, or board games while eating. Ford's hidden QR code in EV camouflage Dave discusses Ford hiding a QR code inside the camouflage pattern on a prototype electric pickup, turning spy photos into promotion. Link: https://www.theautopian.com/the-30000-ford-ev-pickup-we-photographed-was-hiding-a-qr-code-on-its-camouflage-heres-where-it-takes-you/ Google Gemini Pro and Google One Sorg discovers Google AI Pro access connected to Google storage plans and talks through Gemini, Google Forms automation, vibe coding, AI tools, NotebookLM, Flow, and possible app development. Link: https://gemini.google/us/subscriptions/?hl=en&brid=YWdncwHVFyhYRkb6SzEgcIU3w1kG Support AwesomeCast on Patreon for exclusive aftertalk content: https://www.patreon.com/awesomecast Thanks to our supporters: Brian Crawford, Cynthia Closkey, John DeGore, and Dave Podnar.
In which a Yankee leaper and a long line of hucksters and daredevils take their chances over an American landmark, and John reveals he doesn't have Incognito Mode turned on in his browser. Certificate #54642
Atop Horseshoe Falls, I check in with the girls after our adventure in Niagara Falls State Park.
Romans 8:12-17 Our Obligation to God the Spirit (vv. 12-13)A. We owe nothing to the flesh = DeathB. We owe it all to God = Life Our Adoption by God the Father (vv. 14-15)A. All humans are Gods creationB. All saved become Gods children Our Position with God the Son (vv. 16-17)A. We have Gods assurance of our adoptionB. We are Gods heirs through our adoptionC. We will share Gods glory in our adaption More to Consider An American with an English gentleman was viewing the Niagara whirlpool rapids, when he said to his friend: "Come, and I'll show you the greatest unused power in the world." And taking him to the foot of Niagara Falls, "There," he said, "is the greatest unused power in the world!" "Ah, no, my brother, not so!" was the reply. "The greatest unused power in the world is the Holy Spirit of the living God." A. J. Gordon A committee of ministers in a certain city was discussing the possibility of having D. L. Moody to serve as the evangelist during a city-wide evangelistic campaign. Finally, one young minister who did not want to invite Moody stood up and said: "Why Moody? Does he have a monopoly of the Holy Spirit?" There was silence. Then an old, godly minister spoke up: "No, he does not have a monopoly of the Holy Spirit; but the Holy Spirit has a monopoly of D.L. Moody." Encyclopedia of 15,000 Illustrations: Signs of the Times Waiting to board a plane, on which he had a reservation, Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., overheard the piteous plea of a private at the ticket window: "I'm going overseas in three days. I want to see my Ma before I go. I can go home and back only if I travel by plane! It was explained to him that every seat on the plane was taken. Just then, Brigadier General Roosevelt stepped forward and said, "I'll surrender my seat to him!" "But," protested a fellow officer to the general, "this is a matter of rank!" "That's right," quickly replied General Roosevelt, "he's a son, I'm only a general!" God conferred the highest honor upon us when he called us sons! Walter B. Knight
Better Lawns and Gardens Hour 1 – Broadcasting live from the Summit Responsible Solutions Studios. Garden expert Teresa Watkins and Lizzie welcomes the return of the summer rainy season and celebrates Lizzie and Shrek's 30th wedding anniversary. She reveals her Top Five “Summer Lovin' Beach Plants.” Garden calls and topics include June gardening tasks, update from Beverly's lack of rain and Gingko tree, oregano pruning, encouraging amaryllis to bloom, what to do to take care of watermelon while on vacation, container garden, buddleia, mixing Pensacola Bahia and Argentina Bahia, and more.https://rb.gy/0hzjxx Join Teresa Watkins, host of Better Lawns and Gardens, for unforgettable U.S. and international garden tours. Four spots remain for inspiring trips in June to Buffalo, New York; Niagara Falls, Canada; and in October to the Ethereal Gardens of New Orleans. https://www.artinbloomgardentours.com/ Graphic credit: Teresa Watkins, Dana Venrick Sign up for Teresa's monthly gardening newsletter, “In Your Backyard” where you can read Teresa's what to do in your landscape tips, Landscape Malpractice: How to know when to fire your landscaper,” Teresa's Design Tips; and more. Sustainable Horticultural EnvironmentsListen every Saturdays from 7am - 9am EST on WFLA- Orlando. Call in with your garden questions and text messages on 1-888.455.2867 and 23680, Miss the live broadcast? Listen on Audioboom podcast 24/7. 0. Join me on Facebook, Instagram. #WFLF #WFLA #FNN #WNDB #BetterLawns #gardening #Florida #planting #gardeninglife #radio #southflorida #northflorida #centralflorida #Deland #SHE #Orlando #Sarasota #Miami #FortLauderdale #podcast #syndicated #BLGradio #WRLN #WiOD #gardening #SummitResponsibleSolutions #QualityGreenSpecialists #BlackKowManure
Series: Contending for the Faith Title: “Why Hold on if God Won't Let Go?” Scripture: Jude 24-25 NIV Psalm 37:23-24 Psalm 139:23-24 Proverbs 24:16 John 10:27-30 Romans 8:38-39 Ephesians 1:13-14 Hebrews 13:5 1 John 2:19 1 John 5:13 Bottom line: We hold on because he holds us. INTRODUCTION CONTEXT OUTLINE CONCLUSION DISCUSSION QUESTIONS NOTES YOUTUBE DESCRIPTION MAIN REFERENCES USED My opening prayer: Lord God, help us grow to be and do like Jesus, while abiding in him and leading others to do the same. OPENING STORY "He is able to keep..." Watch a parent walk a small child along the edge of a busy sidewalk. The child is doing real walking — short, wobbly, determined steps, working as hard as little legs can work. And then she trips. Of course she does; her foot catches the curb and she pitches forward. But she doesn't hit the pavement. She never even gets close. Her hand is wrapped inside a bigger hand, and the instant she goes, that hand lifts and steadies and sets her back on her feet before the fall can finish. She stumbled — but she did not fall. Jude has spent his whole letter telling us to walk a dangerous edge: in the midst of false and deceptive teachers, contend, build, keep, rescue — right alongside the place where others have already gone over and not come back. Now, in the last two verses, he shows us the hand. “To him who is able to keep you from stumbling.” Or as the psalmist said it long before: "Though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand" (Psalm 37:24). The missteps still come. The fatal fall never does — because the grip holding you is not your own. Said another way, we may find ourselves in the ditch along the narrow way...but he's right there pulling us out of the muck and mire back onto the highway of our God. Too Busy in this life A traveler once walked more than 700 miles to see Niagara Falls. As he neared his destination, he heard a distant roar and asked a nearby farmer, “Is that Niagara Falls?” The farmer replied, “I don't know. It might be.” Surprised, the traveler asked, “Do you live here?” “Born and raised here,” the farmer said. “And you've never gone to see the falls?” “No, stranger. I've been too busy looking after my farm.” What a tragedy—to live within the sound of one of the world's greatest wonders and never take the time to see it. And yet many Christians do something similar. We know heaven is coming. We know we will stand in the presence of God's glory. We hear about it every week. But we become so busy with the things of this world that we lose our appetite for the world to come. Jude reminds us that God is keeping us for something far greater: to be presented before His glorious presence, blameless and with great joy. Poem "Some want to live within the sound Of church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop Within a yard of hell." CONTEXT The entire letter begins and ends with God's keeping power: * Jude 1 — “To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ.” * Jude 21 — “Keep yourselves in God's love…” * Jude 24 — “To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you…” * Jude 25 — Doxology praising the God who does the keeping. That creates a beautiful tension: Kept by God (v.1) → Keep yourselves in God's love (v.21) → Kept by God (v.24). The question practically preaches itself: “If God is holding me, why does Jude tell me to hold on?” Imagine being swept toward a waterfall. You know you cannot save yourself. Then a strong rescuer reaches you and takes hold of your arm. The question isn't whether he will hold on. The question is: Why would you not hold on to him? That's the tension in Jude. God has taken hold of us. Therefore, we keep ourselves in His love. Not to earn His rescue. Not to maintain His rescue. But because His rescue is already underway. “Why Hold On If He's Holding You?” That raises one of the most important questions in the Christian life: Is my salvation ultimately dependent on how tightly I hold onto God—or how tightly God holds onto me? OUTLINE (Help from Shaddix/Akin) I. God holds/keeps me. (Jude 1, 24) i.e. I am saved and secured by God's power, promise, person, and praise. A. We are secure because of God's power “To him who is able…” Not merely willing. Able. Cross references: * John 10:28-29 * Romans 8:38-39 * Philippians 1:6 B. We are secure because of God's promise If eternal life can be lost, it was never eternal. Cross references: * John 6:37-40 * John 17:12 * Hebrews 10:14 C. We are secure because of God's person God does not change. The One who called you is the One who keeps you. Cross references: * Malachi 3:6 * 2 Timothy 2:13 * Hebrews 13:8 D. We are secure because of God's praise Verse 25 is worship. Jude cannot discuss salvation without ending in doxology. The doctrine of eternal security is not merely comfort. It is fuel for worship. The point is not: “Look how strong my faith is.” The point is: “Look how great my Savior is.” II. I am to keep hold of God's love. (Jude 21) God keeps me by helping me hold on to him and his love. Many people have asked: “If God keeps me, why must I keep myself?” Answer: Because security is not an excuse for passivity. Illustrate: A child walking through a crowded airport. The child holds Dad's hand. Dad also holds the child's hand. Which grip matters most? Dad's. Yet the child still holds on. The father may even let go of the child's hand in the airport to give the child a little more freedom and the child may stay close because they know that's where they're secure. But the human condition is that we are prone to wander from his grip hurting our fellowship with him. Not that we can get away from him and his security, but that we can wander far enough to impact our fellowship and assurance negatively. Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love.” “Here's my heart, O take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above.” …because relationship requires abiding John 15. …because obedience strengthens assurance Not salvation. Assurance. …because spiritual drift is real The false teachers in Jude prove this. …because God uses means Prayer. Scripture. Church. Worship. Fellowship. …because the kept become keepers Verses 22-23. We rescue others. …because God's preserving grace produces perseverance This is the key theological answer. The evidence that God is keeping us is that we continue following Him. God's sovereignty and human responsibility are friends, not enemies. You might even summarize: God's grip is the cause. Our grip is the evidence. CONCLUSION Bottom line: We hold on because he holds us. As I've said, we have four daughters. All are married. As we wait for the music to start--in those few moments where your life flashes before you--before you begin to walk down that aisle before God and all those people--I established a tradition that goes back to the days when selfies were the rage. It was 2016. Selfies were a new phenomenon. I'm standing there with Samantha and I can tell she's excited, happy, and, well, emotional,m - on the verge of tears. Now we can't have her makeup running at this moment! So I suggest we do a selfie together as we wait for the thumbs up. It only takes a few seconds. But it gave her a reason to focus on this pic (I'm about to give her away, remember, so I'm emotional too). She leans in with a huge smile and relief and joy swallow us as we take the picture as I miraculously press the right button on the first try. It's an amazing picture. So, yes, I had the privilege to escort them down the aisle and move their hand from mine to another's. It's a humbling moment. There's a moment a father knows well — standing at the back of a sanctuary with his daughter on his arm, about to walk her down the aisle and present her, radiant and whole, to the joy of the whole room. This is a foretaste of the moment when each of us will walk an aisle with our Father and King to meet Jesus in all his glory. Jude 24 says God will one day “present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy.” Notice whose joy that is. Not just ours — His. The God you've been contending for, the One who kept you the whole way, doesn't grit His teeth at the finish line. He delights to present you. That's where this series lands: you held on, yes — but only because He was holding you, and He was glad to do it the entire time. To Him be glory, majesty, power, and authority. Amen. “without fault and with great joy” Most Christians believe: “God will tolerate me in heaven.” Jude says something entirely different. God will present you: * without fault * before His glorious presence * with great joy And I would emphasize: Whose joy? Certainly ours. But also His. God is not reluctantly dragging His children into heaven. He delights to present them. There is a moment a father knows well—standing at the back of a wedding venue with his daughter on his arm, about to walk her down the aisle and present her, radiant and whole, to the joy of the whole room. Jude says something even greater is coming. One day God Himself will present His children before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy. The God who called you. The God who saved you. The God who kept you. Will be the God who presents you. And when that day comes, you will finally discover what Jude has been teaching all along: You were able to hold on only because He never let go of you. Pray Questions (Write this down) - grab an index card and pen What is God saying to you right now? What are you going to do about it? Write this down on the index card in the seat pockets. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS Discovery Bible Study process: https://www.dbsguide.org/ Read the passage together. Retell the story in your own words. Discovery the story 1. What does this story tell me about God? 2. What does this story tell me about people? 3. If this is really true, what should I do? What is God saying to you right now? (Write this down) What are you going to do about it? (Write this down) Who am I going to tell about this? Find our sermons, podcasts, discussion questions and notes at https://www.gracetoday.net/podcast NOTES "William Booth was the founder of the Salvation Army. Booth is often credited with saying, If I had my way, I would not send my workers to four years of college. If I had my way, I would not put them through three years of seminary. If I had my way, I would put all of my workers in hell for five minutes! That would be the best theological training they would ever receive. (Source unknown)" -Shaddix/Akin Why hold on to God's love? * It's a reminder to you when you doubt that you're his. * It's evidence to others. * It's a testimony of change in your life. * It's a make of obedience which is a mark of your love for God. * It's how we grow to be more like Jesus in practice. * He calls me to! (V. 21) * It's what faith looks like: o Deny self o Take up your cross o Follow Jesus o Cling to the cross o Rest in his arms o Walk the narrow way o Stand firm o Suit up YOUTUBE DESCRIPTION MAIN REFERENCES USED “Jude" by David Helm, Preaching the Word Commentary, Edited by Kent Hughes Exalting Jesus in Jude, Shaddix & Daniel Akin “The Bible Knowledge Commentary” by Walvoord, Zuck (BKC) “The Bible Exposition Commentary” by Warren Wiersbe (BEC) Outline Bible, D Willmington (OB) Willmington's Bible Handbook, D Willmington (WBH) NIV Study Bible (NIVSB) https://www.biblica.com/resources/scholar-notes/niv-study-bible/ Chronological Life Application Study Bible (NLT) ESV Study Bible (ESVSB) https://www.esv.org The Bible Project https://bibleproject.com “Look at the Book” by John Piper (LATB) “The Bible in One Year 2023 with Nicky Gumbel” bible reading plan on YouVersion app (BIOY) Claude.ai
Major System Error!? Marmozets vocalist, punk-rock mother and the currently pregnant, Becca Bottomley, is our guest on Episode 394 of Sappenin' Podcast! One of the scenes biggest question-marks confesses untold secrets on the bands unexpected hiatus, emotional return and new album, Co.War.Dice. In this conversation, Becca walks through what really happened during their eight year silence, dealing with bad industry contracts, living a 'normal' life, always writing, moment they knew Marmozets was too important to let die, new family dynamics, overcoming crippling stage anxiety despite being labelled a wild frontwomen, continuing to tour while pregnant, difficult adjustments, using rider requests for baby items, the time she didn't go to Niagara Falls, throwback scene stories, Download Festival surprises and more! Turn it up and join Sean and Morgan to find out Sappenin' this week!Follow us on Social Media:Twitter: @sappeninpodInstagram: @sappeninpodSpecial thank you to our Sappenin' Podcast Patreons:Join the Sappenin' Podcast Community: Patreon.com/Sappenin.Kylie Wheeler, Janelle Caston, Paul Hirschfield, Tony Michael, Scarlet Charlton, Dilly Grimwood, Mitch Perry, Jonathan Gutierrez, Jahana, Marc Spector, Molly Molloy, James Bowerbank, Amee Louise, Kat Bessant, Amy Hogg, Chris Howard, Ian Gent, Jenni Robinson, Stuart McNaught, Jenni Munster, Keighley Mepham, Carl Pendlebury, Matt Roberts, Louis Cook, James Mcnaught, Martina McManus, Jason Heredia, Danny Eaton, Ollie Amesbury, Dan Peregreen, Emily Perry, Kalila Keane, Adam Parslow, Josh Crisp, Sofija Žuravska, Steve Howard, Connor Lewins, Kyle Smith, Em Evans Roberts, George Evans, Sinead O'Halloran, Kael braham, Jordan Harris, Georgie Hopkinson, John Wilson, Ayla Shelly, Kelly Young, David Winchurch, Justine Baddeley, Scott Evans, Andrew Simpson, Shaun Croucher, Grazyna McGroarty, Murray Grimwood, Joshua Ehrensperger-Lewis, Chris Harris, Erin Howard, Lucy Neill, Robert Fitton, Jessie Hellier, Robert Pike, Craig Harris, Anthony Matthews, Owen Davies, JessieGx, Samantha Bowen, Ruby Price, Lewis Sluman, Kieran Lewis, Samantha Neville, Evan, Andy, Michael Long, Natalie Wallace, Frances, Emma Musgrave, Ria Joy, Patrick Floyd, Sarah Maher, Ceris Clift, Hannah, Hayley Taylor, Gareth Desmond, Cheri, Loz, Jamie Snailham, Gemma Graham, Torky, Billy Parmiter, Meg, Eva B, Jack Wright, Emma Barber, Lloyd Pinder, Helen Macbeth, Katie Lyons, Dan Johnson, Mustard Mittthat, Ceri Craddock, Madeleine Inez, Robert Byrne, Christopher Goldring, Lesley Dargie-Walker. Beth Gayler, Chris Lincoln, Hannah Rachael, Kerry Beckett, Naomi Falgate, Leanne Gerrard, Ieuan Wheeler, Tom Hylands, Andrew Keech, Nuala Clark.Diolch and Thank You x Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
While artificial intelligence is rapidly expanding across the globe, the massive data centers running behind the scenes require an immense amount of water, creating an unprecedented strain on municipal supply sources. In this episode of the Smells Like Money podcast, host Suzan Chin Taylor sits down with Howie Honeyman, an innovator and product developer at Forward Water Technologies, to explore this critical but often overlooked crisis facing our global water supply. Howie challenges the traditional framework of water management, advocating for a future where industrial facilities treat water not as a disposable resource, but as a permanent piece of capital equipment and infrastructure. Tune in to learn how advanced water treatment technologies can eliminate permanent water loss, reclaim highly contaminated industrial brine, and protect municipal infrastructure before a crisis hits. Key Discussion Points: The AI Water Demand: The expansion of water heavy sectors, particularly AI data centers, presents an unprecedented challenge to municipal supply chains. Permanent Water Loss: Traditional industrial disposal methods, like deep well disposal, permanently remove a volume of water from the natural cycle roughly equivalent to the flow of Niagara Falls for 30 full days every single year in the United States alone. Water as Capital Equipment: To combat shortages, facilities should be built to purchase a water charge once and reuse that same water as a tool over and over throughout the lifetime of the plant. Solving the Problem at the Source: Forward Water Technologies utilizes a forward osmosis process that compresses heavily compromised industrial brine wastewater down to a tiny fraction, returning the vast majority of it back to the facility as clean, potable water for reuse. A Toolbox for Municipalities: Discover how municipal leaders can protect their own infrastructure by building a validated toolbox of ancillary treatments to share with their industrial clients.Resources Mentioned:Forward Water Technologies Website: www.forwardwater.comCreative Raven Website: creativeraven.comConnect with C. Howie HoneymanCEO / Forward Water TechnologiesEmail: howie.honeyman@gmail.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/c-howie-honeyman-7a41b316/Website: ForwardWater.comI hope you find this episode as informative and as exciting as we have.Please let us know your thoughts about the episode!Connect with Suzan Chin-Taylor, host of The DooDoo Diva's Smells Like Money Podcast:Website: www.creativeraven.com | https://thetuitgroup.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/creativeraven/Email: raven@creativeraven.com Telephone: +1 760-217-8010Listen and subscribe here to your favorite platform:Apple Podcast - Google Podcast - Cast Box - Overcast - Pocket Casts - YouTube - Spotifyhttps://creativeraven.com/smells-like-money-podcast/ Subscribe to the Podcast:https://creativeraven.com/smells-like-money-podcast/Be a guest on our show:https://calendly.com/thetuitgroup/be-a-podcast-guestCheck Out my NEW Digital Marketing E-Course & Coaching Program just for Wastewater Pros:https://store.thetuitgroup.com/diy-digital-marketing-playbook-for-wastewater-pros#WastewaterTreatment #WaterReuse #IndustrialSustainability #AIDataCenters #ForwardOsmosis #CircularEconomy #WaterInfrastructure #SmartWater Management
As conditions in Cuba worsen, President Donald Trump's intentions toward the island remain unclear, raising questions about what happens next and what role Canada should play. Mark Entwistle, Canada's ambassador to Cuba from 1993 to 1997 and now a senior fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, joins us. Then, the ripple effects closer to home as Ontario's small but longstanding Cuban diaspora reflects on the crisis, with roots dating back to the 1800s. A trip to Niagara brings one man's journey into focus and sheds light on what people on the island are facing today.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Former Marineland whale trainer and animal cruelty whistleblower Phil Demers with an update on the beluga whales and dolphins still at Marineland in Canada full 214 Tue, 09 Jun 2026 15:00:00 +0000 P9UklYYya1UCK4y93ThRhfsX7AKJJqom dolphins,news,wben,niagara falls,marineland,beluga whales WBEN Extras dolphins,news,wben,niagara falls,marineland,beluga whales Former Marineland whale trainer and animal cruelty whistleblower Phil Demers with an update on the beluga whales and dolphins still at Marineland in Canada Archive of various reports and news events 2024 © 2021 Audacy, Inc.
A reading of articles and features from the Niagara Falls Review
Better Lawns and Gardens Hour 1 – Broadcasting live from the Summit Responsible Solutions Studios.Garden expert Teresa Watkins and Lizzie talk about Lizzie's cucumbers, tomatoes, and turkeys. Teresa and Dana Venrick, proud dad and owner of Quality Green Specialists Nursery, discuss herbs, shrubs, and trees that make thoughtful Father's Day gifts or a meaningful tribute to a father who has passed. Teresa also shares her Top Five Father's Day gifts. Additional topics include June gardening tasks, D-Day poppies, and more. https://rb.gy/0hzjxx Join Teresa Watkins, host of Better Lawns and Gardens, for unforgettable U.S. and international garden tours. Four spots remain for inspiring trips in June to Buffalo, New York; Niagara Falls, Canada; and in October to the Ethereal Gardens of New Orleans. https://www.artinbloomgardentours.com/ Graphic credit: Teresa Watkins, Dana Venrick Sign up for Teresa's monthly gardening newsletter, “In Your Backyard” where you can read Teresa's what to do in your landscape tips, Landscape Malpractice: How to know when to fire your landscaper,” Teresa's Design Tips; and more. https://rb.gy/gf8k3s Listen every Saturdays from 7am - 9am EST on WFLA- Orlando. Call in with your garden questions and text messages on 1-888.455.2867 and 23680, Miss the live broadcast? Listen on Audioboom podcast 24/7. 0. Join me on Facebook, Instagram. #WFLF #WFLA #FNN #WNDB #BetterLawns #gardening #Florida #planting #gardeninglife #radio #southflorida #northflorida #centralflorida #Deland #SHE #Orlando #Sarasota #Miami #FortLauderdale #podcast #syndicated #BLGradio #WRLN #WiOD #gardening #SummitResponsibleSolutions #QualityGreenSpecialists #BlackKowManure @followers
The federal government has greenlit a plan to move the belugas at the shuttered Niagara Falls theme park to aquariums in Spain and the United States. UBC marine mammal expert Andrew Trites explains what it will take to get the whales out of their pool, onto a plane and into new homes -- and why he thinks it's the best option.
Niagara Falls City Schools superintendent Mark Laurrie reacts to NYSUT's efforts to further advance limits on educational technology in classrooms across New York full 407 Thu, 04 Jun 2026 08:30:00 +0000 Qr36zGXLJ2EMMFwFKxNuqm3VYXm5kwa9 news,new york state,wben,mark laurrie,niagara falls city school district,new york state united teachers WBEN Extras news,new york state,wben,mark laurrie,niagara falls city school district,new york state united teachers Niagara Falls City Schools superintendent Mark Laurrie reacts to NYSUT's efforts to further advance limits on educational technology in classrooms across New York Archive of various reports and news events 2024 © 2021 Audacy, Inc.
A look at how organized crime built their, "Niagara Falls of money" in Las Vegas in the 1930's and 40's.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Today's guest is the name behind a decade of names you already know by heart. Eight weeks at #1 with Drake. Over a billion streams off a single Travis Scott beat. A top-six Hot 100 record with Migos, Nicki Minaj, and Cardi B — all on one song. Nipsey Hussle. French Montana. A whole generation of trap and rap that doesn't sound the way it sounds without him. And here's the part that should annoy every producer alive: he made most of it in under 20 minutes, by himself.And The Writer Is... Murda Beatz!In this episode of And The Writer Is, we go deep on:- Why doubt is important- The principal who told him being a producer was "unrealistic" — and what he'd say to him now- Making "Nice For What" in 20 minutes — and why it was never actually mixed- Selling beats over Western Union for $50–$200 — until working with the Migos got him flagged for fraud- DMing his way from a Canadian bedroom to Chief Keef, the Migos, and Nipsey Hussle- The Migos teaching him to cook beats in 10 minutes: "you gotta be faster"Losing his dad at 21 — and how he handles grief while the machine keeps runningand his new mixtape, 'Bando'And much more...Hit subscribe and turn on notifications. Every week, we go deep with the most interesting creatives in music.Follow us on socials: @andthewriterisA special thank you to our sponsors for making these conversations possible.Our lead sponsor, NMPA — the National Music Publishers' Association. Your support means the world to us.And @splice — the best sample library on the market. Period.Chapters:0:00 Intro1:45 The best producer tag that isn't yours2:32 The songs: "Nice For What," "Butterfly Effect," "MotorSport"3:03 The plaque wall — and the one with "some crazy number"4:29 When the label wouldn't put a producer's name on the plaque7:00 Born in Niagara Falls, a town of 3,000 on the Buffalo border8:33 A dad who played guitar, a left-handed kid on the drums11:36 Why so many great musicians come from Canada13:08 Trading the drum kit for trap beats14:29 Digging for Lex Luger drum kits in Skype groups16:25 "Murda Beatz on the track" — building a fanbase on Facebook and YouTube19:38 The principal who said being a producer was "unrealistic"21:51 "The doubt is important" — Michael Jordan and manufacturing motivation24:50 How you go from YouTube to a $20,000 check26:33 Learning his value — refusing to be a "sound producer"27:26 Selling beats on Western Union, and getting flagged for fraud33:00 Being a white kid making rap on Chicago's South Side35:02 How he met the Migos on the internet40:36 Making "Pipe It Up" — and learning to cook beats in 10 minutes42:32 World #1s in 15–20 minutes: "Butterfly Effect" and "Nice For What"45:35 Curating a beat pack — and remembering every beat by name51:24 The crazy fact about "Butterfly Effect": it was never mixed52:13 "MotorSport" hits #6 — sitting on it for four months53:24 Making Nipsey Hussle's beat his first day in LA56:55 "Nice For What" — made in Canada, #1 for eight weeks62:10 Adjusting as hip-hop changes: "I made rap because I wanted to make rap"63:42 Producer vs. featured artist — why go solo68:17 Simplicity: 8–10 stems and nothing wasted69:27 Losing his dad at 21, and how he deals with grief70:14 The alone time that built everything71:15 What's next: the "Bando" project, ten years after his first mixtape73:02 Rapid fire: signature beat, Mount Rushmore of producers77:25 Murda Melodies — the plugin that landed on a Bad Bunny record80:28 Advice for upcoming producers80:31 A message to his mom — and what he'd tell his dadCredits:Hosted by Ross GolanProduced by Joe London & Jad SaadEdited by Jad SaadPost-Production VFX by Pratik Karki Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
From the beautiful view at Niagara Falls, Keris reflects on the people whose support, encouragement and belief helped shape her mental health recovery and her career. Keris shares stories about her mentors, friends and some unexpected connections. She explores the value of support and it serves as a reminder to reach out and let people know how much they have meant in your life. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is now: 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Contact the show: UBU@UnapologeticallyBlackUnicorns.info Transcripts are available on Apple Podcasts.
In this episode, I share our nine‑day trip that became far more than a vacation—it became a reset button for our marriage and a living lesson in what firm commitment really looks like.The journey begins in Maryland, serving alongside our sons and a group of young adults in a community project called “Shop the Block.” , “There's a different kind of closeness that comes from serving together,” a line that captures the spirit of the trip's beginning.From there, we wander through Amish country, where the simplicity and intentionality of the Amish way of life sparks reflection on how easily modern life pulls us away from what matters most. Their route continues through early church history sites in Palmyra and Kirtland, where the sacrifices and steadfastness of early Saints deepen our appreciation for conviction and devotion.The trip also brings moments of awe—like braving the icy winds on the Maid of the Mist at Niagara Falls—and moments of tenderness, like watching Dave stand proudly in front of the Progressive Insurance headquarters where he spent 37 years building a career and supporting their family. “He was committed. Deeply. Quietly. Consistently.”These experiences lead me into a heartfelt exploration of the difference between being committed and being firmly committed—especially in marriage. I reflect on the cultural shift toward self‑focused relationships, the challenges we have faced (including the grief of losing Jessica), and the daily choice to turn toward each other rather than away.I also share insights gathered from couples we've worked with:Holding an eternal, long‑term perspectiveLetting nothing stand in the way of prioritizing the marriageOffering grace through life's phasesKeeping excitement alive through intentional datingDedicatedBeing “all in”Communicating honestly, even when it's uncomfortableUltimately, firm commitment isn't flashy—it's steady, daily, and sacred. It anchors us. It shapes how we love. And it carries us through.I invite you, my listeners, to reflect on their own lives:Where are you firmly committed—and how does that commitment shape who you are becoming? To connect with Angela AdamsShoot me an email: adamsangela707@gmail.com
Did you hear about the man who walked across Niagara Falls back in 2012? It was a daring, dramatic, and dangerous walk that was watched live by more than 500 million people. In Ruth chapter three, the widow Ruth makes her own daring walk, when she goes to see Boaz in a secret midnight meeting. As we watch God's hand moving in this story, what happens in the unfolding drama, and what insights can you uncover for your own walk of faith? (The Book of Ruth, part 4)
Patty Krawec is Anishinaabe woman, activist and former social worker, from Lac Seul First Nation who resides in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. Krawec has served on the board of the Fort Erie Native Friendship Centre and cohosted the Medicine for the Resistance podcast. Through traditional storytelling she writes and speaks about how Anishinaabe thought informs faith and social justice practices. She is a strong believer in the power of collective organizing. Krawec actively supports Palestinian liberation, viewing it through an Indigenous lens of anti-colonialism, advocating for collective liberation and connecting Palestinian struggles with Indigenous sovereignty around the globe. Her work has appeared in numerous publications and she is the author of Becoming Kin (2022) and Bad Indians Book Club (2025).
On this episode I chat with Niagara Falls artist Kennedy Von Kat about the track DESOLATE. Follow the showwww.instagram.com/thesundaynightarmywww.twitter.com/sundaynightarmywww.facebook.com/thesundaynightarmylinktr.ee/thesundaynightarmyLooking for fresh music and insightful interviews? Join JAKUB, an aspiring journalist, podcaster, and artist, every week as he brings you the best of music discovery. From up-and-coming indie artists to legendary music icons, each episode features stories about their journeys and creative process.But that's not all! JAKUB also dives into current events, entertainment news, media, and politics, offering his unique take on what's happening in the world today. Plus, enjoy exciting interviews with special guests from all walks of life. Tune in to the ultimate podcast for music loversAFFILIATE LINKSNutratologyDiscount Code: JAKUB10https://www.nutratology.com/?ref=thesundaynightarmyThe Man ProjectDiscount Code: SNA10https://speakupmanprojectorg.com/shop Throne Wishlist!https://throne.com/thesundaynightarmy
Better Lawns and Gardens Hour 2 – Coming to you from the Summit Responsible Solutions Studios. Garden expert, Teresa provides ways to use your home-grown sugar cane and how to grow plumeria. Teresa's Dirty Word of the Day is Monocarpic. Garden topics and questions include Angel trumpet frass issue, will the mushrooms hurt my grass, summer edibles for South Florida, how to care for a Panama Rose, bat houses, fertilizer for avocado, and more. https://bit.ly/4diIsZH Sign up for Teresa's monthly gardening newsletter, “In Your Backyard” where you can read Teresa's what to do in your landscape tips, Landscape Malpractice: How to know when to fire your landscaper,” Teresa's Design Tips; and more. https://bit.ly/2YRBbsTArt in Bloom Garden Tours Buffalo Garden Walk and Niagara Falls, Canada, T Come join Teresa on incredible gardenGraphic credit: Teresa Watkins,Listen every Saturdays from 7am - 9am EST on WFLA- Orlando. Call in with your garden questions and text messages on 1-888.455.2867 and 23680, Miss the live broadcast? Listen on Audioboom podcast 24/7. https://rb.gy/gf8k3sJoin me on Facebook, Instagram.#WFLF #WFLA #FNN #WNDB #BetterLawns #gardening #Florida #planting #gardeninglife #radio #southflorida #northflorida #centralflorida #Deland #SHE #Orlando #Sarasota #Miami #FortLauderdale #podcast #syndicated #BLGradio #WRLN #WiOD #gardening #SummitResponsibleSolutions #QualityGreenSpecialists #BlackKow #gardensonInstagram
Better Lawns and Gardens Hour 1 – Coming to you from the Summit Responsible Solutions Studios. Garden expert and host, Teresa Watkins discusses keeping pest away from cookouts, summer campfires, and family picnics with Heather Stickney, Summit Responsible Solutions. Teresa' Top Five Favorite vegetables that attract pollinators. What to plant in June in your landscape. Garden questions include transplanting Drift roses, tasty watermelon, herbicide for shorelines, is using cardboard in garden, weed barriers, and more. https://rb.gy/gf8k3sSign up for Teresa's monthly gardening newsletter, “In Your Backyard” where you can read Teresa's what to do in your landscape tips, Landscape Malpractice: How to know when to fire your landscaper,” Teresa's Design Tips; and more. https://www.she-consulting.com/ Art in Bloom Garden Tours Two sublime garden tours you don't want to miss! Small groups. Beautiful vistas. Buffalo Garden Walk and Niagara Falls, Canada. Come join Teresa on these incredible garden tours!Graphic credit: Teresa WatkinsListen every Saturdays from 7am - 9am EST on WFLA- Orlando. Call in with your garden questions and text messages on 1-888.455.2867 and 23680, Miss the live broadcast? Listen on Audioboom podcast 24/7. https://rb.gy/gf8k3s Join me on Facebook, Instagram.#WFLF #WFLA #FNN #WNDB #BetterLawns #gardening #Florida #planting #gardeninglife #radio #southflorida #northflorida #centralflorida #Deland #SHE #Orlando #Sarasota #Miami #FortLauderdale #podcast #syndicated #BLGradio #WRLN #WiOD #gardening #SummitResponsibleSolutions #QualityGreenSpecialists #BlackKow
A reading of articles and features from the Niagara Falls Review
In this powerful episode of The Sacred Travel Podcast, Julia welcomes back Nan Akasha for a deep conversation on Indigenous wisdom, sacred Earth medicine, ancestral remembrance, and the living intelligence of the land.The conversation weaves through the Rise of Ancestral Wisdom Traditions, Indigenous Lands around The Golden Triangle & Niagara, Earth Consciousness, Energetic Gridwork, Water & Fire Medicine, and the Phoenix Path of Transformation.
As Niagara Falls glowed blue against the night sky on Thursday May 20, it became the most visible symbol yet of a one-man, grassroots campaign to ensure that this year, Canadian Jewish Heritage Month was not completely forgotten. For the past seven days, from Halifax to Toronto and Montreal to Alberta, nearly a dozen iconic landmarks, bridges and legislatures across Canada agreed to illuminate in blue. And it was thanks to the efforts of Len Pearl, a Toronto documentary filmmaker, who spent months nudging government officials, universities and sports teams to recognize the month. Parliament officially proclaimed May as Jewish Heritage Month in 2018. But this past couple of years, with the spike in antisemitism since Oct. 7, Pearl believed Jewish Canadians need visible reminders that they remain an essential part of Canada's story. In this episode of The CJN's North Star podcast, Pearl joins host Ellin Bessner to discuss the inspiration behind his “We Belong Here” campaign, and also reveal the obstacles he encountered, and his emotional reaction to seeing most, but not all the lights, finally switch on. Related links Learn more about Len Pearl's new film “Search out the Land” exploring the overlooked Jewish history of Canada, on The CJN's North Star podcast, from 2022. See the list of Canadian landmarks that lit up in yellow for Holocaust Remembrance Day Jan. 2025. Read about when Canada officially brought in Jewish Heritage Month in 2018, in The CJN. **** Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner ) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Izzie Helenchilde (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here ) Watch our podcasts on YouTube. Help others find this podcast by leaving us a review for “North Star” on Apple Podcasts via your iPhone or iPad device, or with your Android. (Spotify allows only starred ratings but you can do that, too!)
Don Wildman investigates the men and women who pushed the limits, including a thrill seeker who reached new heights as a real-life Batman and one woman who went over Niagara Falls and into the history books. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This Devotional address with Selena Robins was delivered on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, at 11:30 AM MST in the BYU-Idaho I-Center. Selena Robins grew up in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, and moved to Utah at age 15. She earned a bachelor's degree in mass communications from Brigham Young University, where she met her husband, Cameron, during their first week as freshmen. While raising her family, she completed a master's degree in instructional technology and learning science from Utah State University. After moving to Rexburg, Selena began working in Online Learning, primarily supporting BYU-Pathway Worldwide in several roles, including Program Designer, Grading Manager, and Academic Support Manager. She currently works as the Curriculum Maintenance Manager here on campus. Sister Robins served in the Romania Bucharest Mission and is the mother of five children.
Buffalo Bills' defensive depth and coaching additions like Jim Leonhard. A guessing game reveals Sir Tom Jones is scheduled to perform in Niagara Falls this October. They share stories of seeing Jones in Las Vegas and express excitement for his upcoming show. 01:02 - Jim Leonhard On Bills Personnel 02:54 - Concert News Guessing Game 07:27 - Narrowing Down The Artist 10:51 - Tom Jones In Niagara Falls
In this episode, Lauren Lewis visits Say Yes Buffalo and sits down with Collin Gehl, Chief Human Resources Officer, for a conversation about career growth, nonprofit leadership, workforce development, and the importance of helping people see what is possible for themselves. Collin shares his journey from earning an English degree at UB to finding his way into human resources through nonprofit work, organizational leadership, and a passion for helping people grow. His path was anything but traditional, and that is exactly what makes this conversation so relatable. Together, Lauren and Collin discuss: Why career paths are rarely linear The importance of mentorship and professional development Building trust as an HR leader How workplace culture impacts retention and employee satisfaction Why employees need career conversations, not just job descriptions Supporting staff as people first, workers second The importance of leadership development inside organizations How Say Yes Buffalo is helping students from early education through workforce development The impact of apprenticeship programs and career exposure opportunities Collin also talks about how Say Yes Buffalo has grown over the years and the incredible work the organization is doing to support students and families throughout Buffalo and now Niagara Falls. What really stands out in this episode is the focus on people. Whether it is supporting employees, mentoring emerging leaders, or helping students discover career opportunities, the conversation keeps coming back to the same idea: people thrive when someone believes in them and gives them the tools to succeed. If you are navigating your own career path, leading a team, or thinking about workplace culture and employee growth, this episode is packed with insight and perspective.
NextEra’s $67B all-stock Dominion deal targets data center alley. Plus China’s top five each outpace Vestas, and 80% of Swedish wind producers ran at a loss. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly email update on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard’s StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary Barnes’ YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! [00:00:00] The Uptime Wind Energy podcast, brought to you by StrikeTape, protecting thousands of wind turbines from lightning damage worldwide. Visit striketape.com. And now, your hosts Speaker 6: Welcome to the Uptime Wind Energy podcast. I’m your host, Allen Hall, and I’m here with three other people, Matthew Stead, Rosemary Barnes, and, uh, Yolanda Padron down in Texas. Uh, we’re all getting ready to go to American Clean Power in Houston, Texas, where it will be practically 150 degrees and 99% humidity, and we’re all looking forward to those warm, wet days that we will spend It is very similar to New Orleans. New Orleans was also very warm and very humid. So there’s a trend going on here with American Clean Power, although we were up in Minneapolis not too long ago, uh, but I guess we were in Phoenix too, so we gotta find a middle ground, everybody. Can we go someplace like– [00:01:00] Rosemary says we should always go to the Maldives, Tahiti. I got a lot of requests from Tahiti from people. We never go there. We never go to Hawaii. Rosemary Barnes: I’ve suggested Hawaii so many times, and I’ve been told that Americans are not gonna be given permission from their manager to go to Hawaii. Speaker 6: It’s kinda like Las Vegas. Rosemary Barnes: Maybe one day we’ll make it to San Diego or something and get, um, beach adjacent facility And if your presentation is too boring, then everyone will be at the beach. So that will be how we ensure quality control of the speakers, which is a big problem at these events now, right? Like you can’t, um, there’s– It’s more like the norm is fairly boring sales pitches rather than informative discussion. Speaker 6: We used to have OMNS, when I say we, I mean the wind community used to have OMNS out in San Diego in Coronado at the Del Coronado is, I think that’s the hotel name. And the one time that I went, I think I’ve been [00:02:00] there, I would say one time, uh, everybody was outside on the, at the beach, basically on the patio. So they’re holding all these talks and discussions, and it’s… I’m looking around, it’s like me and five other people. Everybody else is out there next to the water. So they had a problem with that. So I guess what they figured, either make it really cold or make it really hot, so it forces everybody into the climate-controlled conditions of, uh, the, uh, auditorium to watch the speakers. Maybe that’s the, the plan. All right. Let’s, let’s, let’s talk about what happened with NextEra and Dominion because there’s going to be a huge merger. So if you thought utility business was boring, it’s not anymore. NextEra announced a sixty-seven billion dollar all-stock deal to acquire Dominion Energy, a move that would create the largest regulated electricity utility in the world by market cap. Uh, [00:03:00] the combined company would serve about ten million customers accounts across Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, where I’m based, and South Carolina with one hundred and ten gigawatts of generation across renewables, nuclear, and natural gas. Uh, but the real driver here is data centers, of course. Dominion sits in the heart of Virginia’s data center alley, where it has connected more than four hundred and fifty data centers, and NextEra is building thirty data center hubs through its NextEra Energy Resources subsidiary and has partnered with Google Cloud on paired generation campuses. So together, they would control about a hundred and thirty gigawatts of large load pipeline. And the question is whether the regulators will let it happen. And I think that’s, having watched some of the news articles over the last several days, uh, the news broke pretty much Sunday morning or late Saturday night that this was happening and [00:04:00] The first thing that came to mind, are the regulators going to let it happen? And the concern is going to be, and you can well imagine how this plays out, they’re going to drag Dominion and NextEra up to Washington, D.C. and berate them about how electricity rates cannot increase due to data centers. And if they don’t swear to that, then this merger won’t happen. That’s my interpretation of what’s about to happen. It may not, but how does this play out? How does everybody else on the team at Uptime see this play out? Matthew Stead: Seems like a good idea to me. So more economies, more geographic diversity, more opportunity for renewables. Yolanda Padron: I can’t speak to Dominion, um, but being relatively close to the NextEra engineering team, they, they really know their stuff, right? So I think it’s something that should kind of give us a, a sense of relief here that it, [00:05:00] it’s a big team, but it’s a really smart and competent team taking over a big undertaking. Speaker 6: You would like to see renewables and data centers work together. This would be the perfect match of the two, right? The, the largest renewable owner management company, along with the biggest data center, uh, region. Connecting those two would make infinite sense, but in the, our political environment today in the United States, that may be the reason to oppose it. Matthew Stead: Yeah, why would it be a bad idea? Speaker 6: Windmills, Matthew. Windmills. Windmills are bad. Can’t even call them wind turbines anymore. They’re windmills. Rosemary Barnes: I used to mock people for saying windmill instead of wind turbine, but then when I moved to Denmark, um, you know, who, you know, have a firm, firm ownership of modern wind energy, or at least did back 10, 20 years ago They say windmill when they speak English. Um, the Danish word for it is vindmølle, um, which means windmill. [00:06:00]And so I can’t… I couldn’t maintain that, that energy because like, am I gonna, am I gonna mock these, you know, like everybody at that company knew more about wind energy than I did. Am I gonna mock them for not, not knowing the difference between a windmill and a wind turbine? No. So yeah, that’s, that’s something that I, I don’t do anymore. Matthew Stead: That is really valuable to know, um, Rosie. I must admit, I did not know that, and I would mock people saying w- windmill, so thank you for setting me straight. Rosemary Barnes: Yeah, there are plenty of, um, plenty of people who don’t know the difference between a windmill and a wind turbine and think, “Oh, why you only got three blades with so much air between them? You know, you’re gonna… Y- if you would just put twice as many blades, you’d get twice as many energy. Everybody who works in wind energy is just an obs- obvious complete and utter idiot.” Um, so there’s that kind of person, but then there’s also the industry. Another fun fact that they call the blades wings. Uh, um, yeah, in Danish they call them blade wings, which they are. [00:07:00] Speaker 6: In Spanish, isn’t it shovels? ‘Cause when I always translate those, uh, Spanish questions over to English, it always comes out shovel. At least early on, y- the early versions of Google Translate would translate it to shovel. Like, what are they talking about shovel on a wind turbine? That doesn’t make any sense. Yolanda Padron: Yeah, like a shovel or a stick or like a, what you row with. Speaker 6: Oh, like an oar. Okay, that makes a lot more sense. Okay. Thank you, Yolanda. Matthew Stead: I think it’s really interesting that, um- We don’t have much material on NextEra, Dominion. Um, yeah, we just don’t think it’s a good– We all think it’s a good idea. There’s no controversy here. Speaker 6: Oh, there’ll be controversy. Don’t worry about that. There’s always controversy. Welcome to America. Matthew Stead: But among the four of us- Speaker 6: We all think it’s great. Rosemary Barnes: Well, it’s, um, I mean, some of the interesting facts that I read was that they’ve got 130 gigawatts of load, um, that they’re bringing to the table, and 51 gigawatts of that is contracted data centers. So that’s, that’s interesting. [00:08:00] And I think large amounts of new data centers on the grid are controversial because in– if you’re not very, very careful about how you integrate them, then you can end up just making electricity more expensive for everybody in the area that doesn’t necessarily get, you know, profit sharing from the data center. So, um, I think that, uh, like, you know, the wind ind- in the wind industry, we’ve obviously been through and are still in the phase of where social license, um, community acceptance is one of the most important things, maybe the most important thing when you’re developing a new project. And I think that we’re just at the start of that realization for data centers as well. Companies that are building the, the data centers, they need to do more than what’s required of them because otherwise they have big risks of project delays. It’s millions of dollars delay, um, for the delay for, um, yeah, for every, every day that, um, a data center is held up. And so how can you afford to risk annoying anybody? [00:09:00] You know, you just wanna be like the just, just perfect, um, addition to the community so that everybody is just happy and, and lets the project proceed. So, yeah, I thought– think that that’s, that’s quite an interesting aspect that I think I’m gonna s- we’re gonna see changing as, you know, all these planned data centers become real data centers. There’s a real risk that everybody hates data centers soon as much as they, um, hated wind tur- um, wind farms for a while. Yolanda Padron: For the consumer, aren’t there, like, I don’t know if they’re in Virginia, but aren’t there price caps too for the market? When you’re– When it comes to how expensive the megawatt hour is? Speaker 6: Not necessarily. Re- remember that AEP in Ohio, uh, was requiring data centers to buy electricity at a certain amount. Because they both basically committed not to raise prices for electricity to the local communities, and that would be really hard to do. And okay, great, if, if they can pull it off, awesome. But there’s already a lot of [00:10:00] pushback about it, and it hasn’t even gotten to the point of being real yet, so it’s only gonna get worse. I see. And all the data centers are gonna be up in space no matter what. Everybody’s talking about building data centers on the ground. There’s no shot that that’s gonna happen. I’m just telling you, ’cause they can’t do it. They don’t– They can’t build gas turbines fast enough. There’s just limitations there, and transformers and everything else. It’s gonna be in space. It’s so much easier. Yolanda Padron: And all the approvals you have to get and everything. Speaker 6: It will be easier to do it in space In space, you don’t have neighbors. Matthew Stead: I said it before, it’s just crazy. The key issue around data centers is it’s actually the transmission rather than generation. I mean, you know, at least in Australia, and correct me if I’m wrong, Rosie, but you know, less than half the price in Australia is generation. The other half is sort of retail and transmission and this and that. And so actually, you know, the generation cost shouldn’t really increase. It’s really the transmission and the, the poles and the wires, which are the problem. And [00:11:00] you know, to your point, Rosie, social, social license for poles and wires. Rosemary Barnes: I’m actually really surprised at Allen, ’cause normally, Allen and I have this, um, you know, we’ve played out this scenario probably 50 or 100 times over the, over the years with emerging technologies, and it’s always me that’s like, “You know what? I think, uh, I think there’s something to this one.” Um, and Allen always poo-poos it, and in this case, Allen’s, Allen’s excited. I, I’m on Allen’s– So I also, I also think space data centers is, is a thing that’s more likely to happen than not, at least to some extent. Um, so yeah, but I think, Matt, you’ve got the more mainstream opinion. Speaker 6: The voice of the common man. I Yolanda Padron: think for all of our listeners out there, this is the first time Rosie and Allen agree on anything, so round of applause team. Speaker 6: It won’t last long, Yolande. Rosemary Barnes: It’s not true because, you know, nine out of 10 new technologies I also think are stupid. Um, so Allen and I agree on the bulk of them, but then of that one in 10, you know, nine out of 10 of those I, I [00:12:00] like and Allen doesn’t, so this is the, you know, the one-tenth of the one-tenth, so. Speaker 6: I don’t like gas turbines. Can we all agree we don’t like gas turbines? It’s– That would be insane to scale. Rosemary Barnes: You know what? I, I don’t have a particular problem with gas, gas turbines. I don’t want a lot of new gas turbines. Um, I guess that that’s– We can all agree on, on that. I don’t think the– I think we have most of the gas turbines that we need, or at least, um, will in the next couple of years. And, um, yeah, I do think that their existence supports faster electrification, um, and faster growth of wind and solar. So I’m definitely not someone that wants to see all gas turbines turned off tomorrow. Speaker 6: No, I don’t, I don’t want to turn them off. I’m Matthew Stead: just saying you can’t get to scale. Speaker 6: Delamination and bond line failures in blades are difficult problems to detect early. These hidden issues can cost you millions in repairs and lost energy production. CIC NDT are specialists to detect these critical flaws before they become [00:13:00] expensive burdens. Their non-destructive test technology penetrates deep into blade materials to find voids and cracks traditional inspections completely miss. CIC NDT maps every critical defect, delivers actionable reports, and provides support to get your blades back in service. So Matthew Stead: visit cicndt.com because catching blade problems early will save you Speaker 6: millions. Well, for the first time, five Chinese turbine manufacturers have all individually outpaced Danish wind giant Vestas in annual installations. Goldwind topped the global list with twenty-nine point seven gigawatts installed in twenty twenty-five. Behind them, Envision put up twenty-one point eight, Windy nineteen point eight, Mingyang at eighteen point six, and Sany at fifteen point one gigawatts. Vestas came in [00:14:00] sixth at twelve point nine gigawatts. The Chinese dominance was fueled by an enormous domestic market that has accounted for about ninety-four percent of those five manufacturers’ sales. Uh, but exports are obviously growing out of China too. The five captured nearly sixty percent of the hundred and seventy-eight gigawatts installed globally in twenty twenty-five, a year that saw the world market grow forty percent over twenty twenty-four. So Vestas still holds the crown for cumulative installations at two hundred and one gigawatts, but the gap in annual volume is now almost impossible to ignore. So Vestas has a lot of competition over in China. The, the amount of, uh, gigawatts coming out of the largest manufacturers in China is quite impressive, almost, well, more than double than what, uh, Vestas is doing, and Vestas is doing a pretty brisk business. What are, what are the outcomes of this, everyone? Is, can this be sustained in China [00:15:00] for very much longer? Can they continue to, to create at, at that rate? Rosemary Barnes: Yes. Okay, move, move on to the next segment Speaker 6: Well, that’s a, that’s a huge amount of gigawatts coming out of China. And if 94% of it’s staying in China, eventually you run out of China to put wind turbines in. Rosemary Barnes: They– I mean, we’re a long way from running out of places in China to put wind turbines in, because China is gigantic. A lot of it is not that populated. They’ve got a lot of offshore area still. But I just think it’s gonna follow the same playbook as, as solar probably, where you see, you know, early on heaps of domestic market, which is totally rock solid because it’s not relying on people to see a positive business case in doing it. You know, like it’s really… You know, targets are, are really mandated and people make sure that they are met. Um, and then the incentives are also different as well. Like my understanding is that [00:16:00] there’s a lot of incentives about installation of megawatts, um, and then, you know, the, the operation is like, we’ll figure that out as we go. The volume, the number of manufacturers that are there, they’ve got, you know, like such a great supply chain all there in the same area, so you can move fast and like I, I don’t see anything can get in the way of, you know, continuing to pump out these turbines at that speed. It’ll keep going until, you know, the government basically decides we’ve got, uh, enough wind energy now and then puts the, the brakes on it. And, you know, that’s what we’ve just been through in solar recently. China is, um… You know, they’ve just– they’ve got a big economy and they’ve just got like rock solid resolve to follow through on, on things that they commit to. Um, whether we can, you know, argue about whether it’s a smart strategy or not, but you know that they will follow it, they will execute on, on it. I don’t think anyone would, would say that they won’t. So I think, [00:17:00]can it continue forever? No. But do I think it can continue for another 10 years? Yes. And is that long enough to cause massive problems for any other manufacturer? I think also yes. Matthew Stead: Hey, Rosie, can I ask you a question? You know, obviously there was some cable was proposed, you know, between Australia and Singapore. Do you see China going in that direction? You know, putting rather than pipes with gas in it, um, pipes with electrons? Uh, Rosemary Barnes: I don’t see China– I’m actually working on a video at the moment about a global sub-sea grid, and I just interviewed, um, uh, Xlinks, you know, that was originally a project from Morocco to the UK, and then the other one, which is super cool, um, we might have an argument about the plausibility of it, is NATO L, which is just in like early development stages. It’s going to connect the UK to Canada. Um, and yeah, so that’s, um, a few thousand kilometers long. The ocean depth is maximum [00:18:00] three, I think, kilometers, maybe even a tiny bit more than that, um, which is like right on the edge of what is possible. N-none of those projects really actually rely on big technological improvements. Um, they’re possible with today’s technologies. Um, but I don’t see China doing so much of that. I think that one thing that might actually stop that is that, um, when you have big interconnectors like that, I think the engineering part is not the hard, the hard part. I think that the, it’s the politics. I do see them exporting their, um, you know, they’ve got really good ultra high voltage DC technology, but the transmission lines, they have exported a little bit. There’s some projects in Brazil that are Chinese made. There’s one in India. I don’t actually know if that is Chinese made, but you know, like I could really imagine them also rolling out projects in Africa, for example. Um, but beyond that sort of thing, I, I wouldn’t tip China as the country to, you know, develop a global [00:19:00] sub-sea grid. Speaker 6: Do you think the low solar prices have hurt the wind manufacturers in China a little bit? Obviously, there’s a lot of solar panels that are able to be shipped immediately, which is what’s happening right now. But turbines, not so much. It’s a little harder to do. But you, you would think that a lot of these countries and communities would be putting in wind But solar is so cheap right now that, that is what is winning at the moment, and it must be hurting the Chinese wind manufacturers, you would think. Rosemary Barnes: I don’t think they’re really in a competition with each other, um, at the moment. In Australia, I think yes. I think that, um, the, like, roaring success of solar and especially batteries is, um, making wind less appealing to develop. But globally, I think that it’s, you know, it’s a race between, um, fossil fuels and renewables. It’s a race between energy security and continued reliance on, you know, countries that [00:20:00] you don’t really want to rely on for fossil fuels. I think that those are the, the much bigger, um, competition at the moment. It’s a bit short-sighted because, yeah, wind and solar is really easy for the, the part of the, uh, energy transition that we’re doing now, and, uh, if you just don’t build any wind until you reach the limit of solar and batteries, then you’ll find yourself quite far behind. So that’s what we’re really struggling with in Australia and finding, like, what is the right level of government, um, support because people… You know, like in an electricity market like Australia, you’re not supposed to rely on governments, you know, planning out the system and deciding what thing to build, and I think that that has been a real strength of the Australian market that it has, you know, the government has got out of the way. It is hard to see, um, us getting to where we need to go in a orderly fashion without some planning for this, like, lumpy middle part of the energy transition. I don’t know. What do you think, Matt? Is that how you see it in Australia as well? Matthew Stead: Yeah, I think there’s a place [00:21:00] for everything, and, you know, wind, solar, battery is a perfect match and the right places for the right thing. Rosemary Barnes: It’s really hard because, you know, like, when you look at the system as a whole, you know, like you plan out what, what full energy system is cheaper and better, you know. Is it the, you know, the current fossil fuel system and all of the, you know, annual maintenance and, um, improvements like, um, extensions that need to go along with that to support, you know, things like data centers and population growth, or is it the fully renewable system? And, you know, if you look at the end state, then I don’t think that many studies or maybe any studies come to the conclusion that anything other than renewables is the, the cheaper, better system. But it’s just, it doesn’t mean that every step along the way is cheaper, and so you end up with this, yeah, like this hump in the middle that you’ve gotta, you’ve gotta get over if you wanna get from one to the other, and it’s, um, it’s complicated. Speaker 6: I just listened to a podcast about this half an hour ago, uh, and it [00:22:00] was very contentious. And I won’t get into the details of it, but it was just one or the other. We wanna have all petroleum-based, coal-based generation in the UK, or we want zero emissions. They never got into anywhere in the middle, which is where it’s going to have to be. So why don’t we talk about that? I– It doesn’t… The political atmosphere of the UK is, is a little unstable, as we’ve all read in the newspapers and seen online. Uh, but it, but it’s just causing the both sides to go to extremes. And on the renewable side, some of the arguments that are being made were so outlandish that I could hardly continue to listen to it. Same thing on the gas and coal side. Like, what are we gonna do? The UK is really in a pinch. They’re gonna have to do something, and it all– as Rosemary’s pointed out, doing nothing is real ex- it’s gonna be tremendously expensive too. So there’s, there’s gonna have to be a, a reckoning somehow, but it, it’s all tied to the [00:23:00] economy at the moment. Like most things that happen in a country, decisions are made about what’s happening right now, not what’s gonna happen five years from now. Yolanda Padron: Right. And to your point, like countries need to protect themselves, right? Like what are you gonna do, bank on world peace? Speaker 6: That’s a bad bet historically. Matthew Stead: But, um, how many, how many of those charts have you seen in the last one to years where you’ve got the, the fossil fuel, say the coal generation versus renewable generation? How many of those, um, charts have crossed over in the last few years where, you know, renewables generation is, is higher than coal generation? It’s just, it’s happening all over the world. It’s just happening, and you look at the graphs, it’s just happening. Speaker 6: It’s less expensive, so that’s why they’re doing it. The decision’s made with the dollar. You know, the financing and the bankers and insurance are all gonna drive that, and it’s not gonna be the decision you, the homeowner, are gonna have a lot of influence on. It’s all gonna be done at a higher level, and it’s gonna be whatever’s cheaper and whatever’s available. Back to Rosemary’s point, [00:24:00] solar is cheap and available, people are gonna do it. Wind is cheap and available, they’re gonna choose it no matter who’s in office, right? I… Yeah, that’s the engineer talking, not the politician. Matthew Stead: Battery, wind, and solar is only gonna get cheaper. Is, um, is, uh, gas turbines and coal gonna get cheaper? Speaker 6: They can’t. In order to get the efficiency up where they need to, it’s gonna be super expensive, which is what we’re at today. That’s why gas turbines are s- you can’t mass produce them, and that’s why they cost so much money. It’s a great business if you sell a couple a year. You can’t sell thousands of them. There’s just not a way to do that. As wind energy professionals, staying informed is crucial, and let’s face it, difficult. That’s why the Uptime podcast recommends PES Wind magazine. PES Wind offers a diverse range of in-depth articles and expert insights that dive into the most pressing issues facing our energy future. Whether you’re an industry veteran or new to wind, PES Wind has the high-quality content you need. Don’t miss [00:25:00] out. Visit peswind.com today. Over in Sweden, they built all the wind farms, and here at Weather Guard we’ve talked to a number of operators over in Sweden, so has EOLOGIX-PING, uh, and the– So but the wind farms and the customers haven’t really showed up, and researchers in Sweden have analyzed two hundred and forty-four Swedish wind power producers owning more than about thirty-seven hundred turbines covering eighty-five percent of the country’s total wind generation. So it’s a pretty large study. They found that eighty percent were effectively operating at a loss in twenty twenty-four. The total sector losses reached six point three billion Swedish kronor, uh, about six hundred and twenty million euros. The sector’s profit margins fell to a negative fifty-one percent. That’s right, negative fifty-one percent. Uh, and here’s the real paradox. Although wind production actually [00:26:00] rose from thirty-four point two to forty point six terawatt-hours, revenues fell for the first time in at least six years. Uh, the more they produced, the less they earned. And the real culprit is overcapacity. So they have so many turbines up in northern Sweden, uh, that it’s driving the energy prices down, much like Australia. Uh, and the missing link is obviously transmission because it is big demand to the south. It’s just getting the power there. Vattenfall alone lost eight hundred and seventy million euros in its wind business in twenty twenty-four, and one of its subsidiaries curtailed seventeen percent of the potential production because of, uh, shutting the turbines down was less expensive than selling into negative prices, which would make sense. So the price has gotten so low in Sweden that it’s better just to turn the turbine off and, and eat the loss than to generate power at a, at a negative price. This is a common theme [00:27:00] as wind has grown, and solar for the same matter, is that when you have so much of it, the price of electricity will drop. And until you can get that power out to other areas that has high demand It becomes a losing proposition. How does this play out? Will the– Now will countries finally take transmission seriously and start to even out the grid? Is that where we’re going? Yolanda Padron: I mean, I hope so. The idea of curtailing potential energy isn’t something new, right? It happens here in Texas all the time. It happens in a lot of places all the time, um, just to, to not overflow the grid. And it makes sense, but it doesn’t make sense too much, at least to me, that in the same country you have parts of it where you have an electricity surplus and negative pricing, and other parts of it where you just, you don’t have enough energy for the whole, uh, region, right? So, uh, I really hope they take it a bit more seriously than they, than they currently are. Matthew Stead: Uh, I think the interesting thing about Sweden is [00:28:00]that they’ve got a lot of hydro as well, and so those two things tie together. Um, you know, much like Australia, we’re building the, like the largest in the Southern Hemisphere, um, hydro scheme, and, um, maybe that’s part of the missing puzzle is the actual, the storage element. So if they had more pumped hydro, you know, they could, um, perhaps store that excess energy and then, then reuse it. But, you know, unless there’s no pipes from the north to the south, you know, that’s not gonna help anyone. Speaker 6: Hydro is expensive. The more recent news articles I’ve seen about pumped hydro is it’s way less expensive to put in wind or put in solar or put in some batteries than to do pumped hydro projects. It’s complicated. It’s a lot of construction, obviously, and, uh, the pumps and the equipment are not cheap. So, uh, yeah, so although if you do have hydro and it’s currently running, you would leave that alone, but I think some of the newer pumped hydro projects probably won’t happen. Even if they’re on the– have [00:29:00] been planned and, and even started, I think they’re really reevaluating that it’s probably cheaper to do batteries. Matthew Stead: In Australia, in Snowy 2.0, I think the original budget was, was it 3 billion? And now it’s up to 12 to 15 billion. Rosemary Barnes: Anybody that was working on that would’ve known that the price was very likely to blow out because that particular project has a really long tunnel. The two reservoirs that, like the reservoirs were existing, so you think, okay, that’s good, you save money. But the expensive part of pumped hydro is the tunneling and then, and it’s a very long tunnel. Um, and it’s just so super predictable that when you have a super long tunnel, you one, increase the cost a lot, but two, increase the risk of a massive cost blowout. So I think it’s not a good predictor of, of projects as some other ones that are, that are happening. I think the biggest problem with hydro is that, um, the project lives are so long, like 100 years e- easily, [00:30:00] but that doesn’t mean anything in today’s dollars, y- you know? So it’s like no one can, no company is gonna assign any value to the electricity they’re gonna generate in 100 years time, you know? So it’s, um, it, it’s really hard for it to stack up to, as a project today unless it’s a government doing it. Matthew Stead: But I mean, once Snowy 2.0 is done, it will still be reasonably cost-effective as a long-term storage source. Rosemary Barnes: Yeah. If it had been made on time, then I think it would’ve, it would’ve been a real enabler for the energy transition for getting heaps of wind and solar. But it wasn’t done on time, and we barely we- storage isn’t our problem right now. We have actually got lots of, of storage. That’s not what’s stopping people from building projects. So, um, I think it is a bit of a shame. Speaker 6: Back to your point, Rosemary, how old hydro is in terms of electricity generation. I, I went to go look up when Niagara River, Niagara Falls in, in the States first [00:31:00] started producing power, 1895. That’s how long we’ve been using water power in the States to create electricity. Hoover Dam, which also does something very similar, is in the 1930s, 1935, ’36, around that timeframe. So it’s almost been 100 years there too, 90 years. Yeah. It’s, it’s amazing. So you don’t plan for those, those pieces of, uh, infrastructure to run that long, but they do. That wraps up another episode of the Uptime Wind Energy podcast. And if today’s discussion sparked any questions or ideas, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to us on LinkedIn, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. And if you found value in today’s conversation, please leave us a review. It really helps other wind energy professionals discover the show. For Rosie, Yolanda, and Matthew, I’m Allen Hall, and we’ll see you here next week on the Uptime Wind Energy [00:32:00] podcast.
Consider taking out a paid subscription to The Piano Maven podcast via our Substack page (https://jeddistlermusic.substack.com/about), which you also can access by clicking on the "Donate" button here: https://rss.com/podcasts/pianomavenThe long awaited 21-CD box set “Andrei Gavrilov – The Complete Warner Classics Recordings” recently dropped, and Jed has been reconnecting with some of its contents, while discovering items that he missed when they first were released. Gavrilov could be both stunning and infuriating, and one never knew which side of his complex persona would turn up on each release. But to say that he was a virtuoso is like saying that Niagara Falls has water.Here are some audio excerpts from this collection:Rachmaninov: Prelude in B-flat Major Op. 23 No. 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSegyiHDr4wRavel: Concerto for the Left Hand - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uaj-YlmG0kChopin Etudes & Ballades - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRsCYJeh024&list=PLJULKzY28M2uQ6oKhoioP1gTOyeDp4PGd
Early literacy plays a critical role in a child's long-term success, and organizations across Western New York are working to strengthen reading skills from an early age. On this episode of What's Next?, Anne Ryan, Executive Director of Read to Succeed Buffalo, discusses the importance of teaching reading from birth through third grade and the impact of programs like Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. She also highlights the success of the Experience Corps tutoring program, where volunteers work one-on-one with students in Buffalo and Niagara Falls to help improve reading outcomes and build confidence.
As rescues and shelters near the end of their mission to remove 1,500 beagles from Ridglan Farms, some of the newly freed dogs are already adapting to new homes. On this week's episode, Bryan, Carl and Jenna talk to a New York fitness influencer who was tackled and arrested during the April 18 raid on Ridglan and now has a Ridglan rescue dog of her own. They also catch up with one of the first Milwaukee area families to foster a Ridglan beagle. Plus, in our Off the Record segment, what's something you've lost that turned up again in the most unusual way? The tale of a daring save at Niagara Falls. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A Mesmer Mother's Day Special Episode of Open Loops with Greg's Hypnosis/NLP Trainer, Dr. Yvonne Oswald! And since BetterHelp and Talkspace probably aren't sliding into Greg's inbox for a sponsorship anytime soon: “No More Therapists!” indeed. Let's be precise here: this is a pro-mental-health conversation that moves far beyond conventional ideas of psychotherapy. Dr. Yvonne Oswald has spent over 30 years in clinical sessions, trainings, and live demonstrations helping people move through deep trauma, emotional chaos, limiting beliefs, and inner disarray toward peace, power, and freedom in their own minds. She just knows how to do it fast. After a lifetime of teaching hypnosis, NLP, language mastery, emotional release, and mind technology, while continuing to refine and create new methods, Dr. Yvonne has put her work into her new book, No More Therapists: Your Brain Has The Answer, where she teaches readers how to clear negative emotions in minutes, rather than spend years circling the same pain. Greg had the chance to study with her in Niagara Falls, Canada, inside her healing house during her Hypnosis Master Training and Every Word Has Power live coaching experience. Years later, he still considers her breakdown of Mind Magic, emotional release, submodalities, high-vibration language, and unconscious reprogramming some of the clearest, most lucid, and most practical material ever explored on Open Loops. Which says a lot, considering this show has also covered how to have a five-minute conversation with Bigfoot that borders on flirtatious. This episode is different. You will learn. You will shift. You may even experience one of the techniques working on you while you listen. In this unique episode, you'll discover: -Why your brain may already have the answer before your conscious mind knows how to ask the question. -How Dr. Yvonne's Mind Magic process uses breath, gaze, anchoring, and language to interrupt emotional patterns rapidly. -Why “negative emotions” may be less like permanent wounds and more like mislabeled files waiting to be cleared. -How low-energy words can quietly program stress, limitation, and emotional contraction into the nervous system. -Why changing one word can alter the direction of your unconscious “GPS.” -What most hypnotists miss about emotional neutrality, and why neutral may be the real doorway before joy, peace, or manifestation. -How Dr. Yvonne blends grounded NLP structure with spiritual healing, source connection, and higher-consciousness work without losing practical precision. Listen if you're interested in hypnosis, NLP, trauma healing, manifestation, emotional release, language patterns, mind technology, or the strange possibility that your brain has been waiting for better instruction (ie. "Can you use me instead of ChatGPT for once?") Dr. Yvonne's Links Get Dr. Yvonne Oswald's Safety Box:https://globalwelcome.com/safety-box Sign up now to receive Dr. Yvonne's Safety Box, a free collection of rapid emotional-release techniques designed to help you calm emotional “tsunamis” and return to neutral fast. You'll also be notified when her new book, No More Therapists: Your Brain Has The Answer, comes out next week on May 16th. Dr. Yvonne Oswald's Website:https://globalwelcome.com New Book:No More Therapists: Your Brain Has The Answer Clear negative emotions in minutes, not years. Let Greg know how you like the show. Write your review, soliloquy, Haiku or whatever twisted thoughts you want to share at https://ratethispodcast.com/openloops
Eva Anderson (@evafay, Margo's Got Money Troubles) joins the 'boys to talk Niagara Falls, childhood homes, and exchange drunk stories before a review of Denny's Masters of the Universe menu. Plus, another edition of Cake it Off.Watch this episode at youtube.com/doughboysmediaGet ad-free episodes at patreon.com/doughboysGet Doughboys merch at kinshipgoods.com/doughboysAdvertise on Doughboys via Gumball.fmSources for this week's intro:https://www.npr.org/2014/09/07/345798402/how-dolph-lundgren-went-from-chemical-engineer-to-action-starhttps://cdlp.com/blogs/journal/in-conversation-with-dolph-lundgrenhttps://www.dolphlundgren.com/about/biography.htmlhttps://www.fandom.com/articles/masters-universe-35th-anniversary-historyhttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/jun/07/jared-leto-accused-sexual-improprietyhttps://www.space.com/entertainment/space-movies-shows/masters-of-the-universe-release-date-plot-cast-and-everything-we-know-about-he-mans-big-screen-returnSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Today, this is what's important: Televisions, 420, tattoos, witchy girls, SNL, Flappy Bird, voice texting, shotgunning, & more. Get your tickets NOW to our live show in Ontario, Canada on Sept. 25th, 2026! Or go to TIITour.com for more info.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week on the pod, Seth and Josh welcome Elizabeth Banks! Elizabeth chats all about growing up in Western Massachusetts in a big Irish Catholic family, what she learned from her Finding Your Roots results, and why she changed her name. She also shares some truly wild family travel stories, from being tossed off a train into a snowbank to accidentally leaving her sister at a Mass Pike rest stop, plus a chaotic Canada trip involving Niagara Falls, the Thousand Islands, and more. Elizabeth also talks about her love of trains and card games, learning Mahjong, and what it's like raising two close-in-age sons. Plus, she discusses her new Peacock show The Miniature Wife! Watch more Family Trips episodes: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlqYOfxU_jQem4_NRJPM8_wLBrEEQ17B6 Support our sponsors: Hims For simple, online access to personalized and affordable care for Hair Loss, ED, Weight Loss, and more, visit https://www.hims.com/trips Yahoo Stress less with Planner from Yahoo mail Shopify Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial today at https://SHOPIFY.COM/trips Cheers Take Cheers Restore after your last drink or before going to bed and wake up feeling at least 50% better — or your money back. For a limited time our listeners are getting 20% off their entire order at https://CheersHealth.com/trips #Cheers #ad DeleteMe Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to https://joindeleteme.com/ TRIPS and use promo code TRIPS at checkout. About the Show: Lifelong brothers Seth Meyers and Josh Meyers ask guests to relive childhood memories, unforgettable family trips, and other disasters! New Episodes of Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers are available every Tuesday. Executive Producers: Rob Holysz, Jeph Porter, Natalie Holysz Creative Producer: Sam Skelton Coordinating Producer: Derek Johnson Video Editor: Josh Windisch Mix & Master: Josh Windisch Episode Artwork: Analise Jorgensen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices