Ancient city in Homs Governorate, Syria
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In this episode of The Box of Oddities, we begin with the extraordinary life—and tragic death—of Khaled al-Asaad, the Syrian archaeologist who courageously protected the ancient city of Palmyra from destruction. Refusing to reveal the location of hidden treasures, he faced unspeakable brutality to ensure the survival of irreplaceable history. His legacy is carved not in stone but in sacrifice. Then, from solemnity to sheer absurdity, we dive headfirst into The Great Stork Derby—a 1930s Canadian legal spectacle where a millionaire's will turned childbirth into a competitive sport. Yes, a real-life baby-making contest. What happens when estate law meets aggressive procreation? A weirdly fertile lawsuit. Two stories: one man dies for ancient artifacts; several women compete for a fortune by having the most artifacts. Heroism and hilarity. Antiquity and maternity. Welcome to The Box. If you would like to advertise on The Box of Oddities, contact advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Hoy nos sumergimos en una historia de traición, misterio y muerte en una isla remota del Pacífico: El asesinato de los Grahams en Palmyra.
April 7-13Parley Parker Pratt was 16 months younger than the Prophet Joseph and he was born about 140 miles east of Palmyra, New York. Parley was born curious about religion. He said to his father one day when he was 18 years old and they were laboring together in the forest:"Father, how is it there is so manifest a difference between the ancient and modern disciples of Jesus Christ and their doctrines? If, for instance, I had lived in the days of the Apostles, and believed in Jesus Christ, and had manifested a wish to become his disciple, Peter or his brethren would have said to me, 'Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for REMISSION OF SINS, and you SHALL receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.' I should then have known definitely and precisely what to do to be saved. "Now, father…I believe in Jesus; I wish to serve him and keep his commandments… How…can I observe the ordinances of God and keep his commandments?"“To these inquiries my father could give no satisfactory answer…I still continued to ponder upon these things, and to search the Scriptures to learn how to be saved.” (Pratt, Parley P. Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, Revised and Enhanced Edition, edited by Scot Facer Proctor and Maurine Jensen Proctor, Deseret Book Company, Salt Lake City, 2000, pp 10-11.)Parley would not rest until he could discover the right path to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Today's Song of the Day is “Arizona” from Palmyra's album Restless, out now.
Memory Feather, who was born with a misshapen hand and was able to communicate with animals, looks back to when she was a child living with her newly divorced mother in a dilapidated hotel far from home. Her mother, Virginia cleans rooms and turns occasional tricks to support Memory until 1953, when she's forced to return to the Mississippi Gulf Coast town where her difficult, bigoted parents live. Much to their disdain, Virginia's childhood friend Mac welcomes Mem and her mother to live with him and offers Virginia a job in his antique store. As a gay man in the 1950s, Mac suffers harassment and violence, and even Memory's cat Minerva knows that the good-looking hustler who's moved in with Mac is evil. Mem recalls her anxiety, her fears, and her role in the series of events that changed her life forever. Minrose Gwin is the author of The Queen of Palmyra, a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers pick and finalist for the John Gardner Fiction Book Award; Promise, shortlisted for the Willie Morris Award in Southern Literature; and The Accidentals, which received the 2020 Mississippi Institute for Arts and Letters Award in Fiction. She has also published a memoir, Wishing for Snow, about the collision of poetry and psychosis in her mother's life, and four books of literary and cultural criticism, most recently Remembering Medgar Evers: Writing the Long Civil Rights Movement. She was coeditor of The Literature of the American South, a Norton anthology, and The Southern Literary Journal. She received the Society for the Study of Southern Literature Richard Beale Davis Award for Distinguished Lifetime Service to Southern Letters and the Wisdom/Faulkner Books-in-Process Award for Rescue, the novel she's working on now. Like the characters in her novel Promise, Minrose Gwin is a native of Tupelo, Mississippi. She began her writing career as a journalist and later taught at universities across the country, most recently the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she was Kenan Eminent Professor of English. She lives in Albuquerque, NM, with her partner, Ruth Salvaggio, cats Ella Fitzgerald and Frida Kahlo and a busy-body Chihuahua named Henry. In her spare time, she volunteers at the city animal shelter taking care of new-born kittens who have lost their mothers. minrosegwin.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature
Palmyra: A Matter of TimeIf it's possible to fall head over heels for a band (and I believe that is possible), then Palmyra is a band that people fall for. Like so many things in life, it appears to come down to authenticity, to that sense that what you're hearing and seeing and experiencing is genuine. On their new record, Restless, which will be out everywhere on March 28, the band wrestles with questions of time, of speeding up or slowing down, and the accompanying control, or lack thereof. It's a beautiful record, full of gorgeous harmony. It is also a masterclass in tension and release: songs build to a breaking point, and I caught myself holding my breath, then exhaling along with the songs. It was such a pleasure to talk with Sasha, Teddy, and Mānoa for the Red Line Roots podcast. Be sure to listen to the end for their contributions to our “Best Song Ever” playlist, and check back soon for my review of their show at Cat's Cradle on March 29! If you have never seen Palmyra live, make it a priority–tour dates are here.
A dirty office doesn't just look bad—it can lead to more sick days, lower productivity, and a not-so-great impression on visitors. Lehigh Valley Property Maintenance (717-298-7157) offers top-tier commercial cleaning services for businesses in Palmyra, Hershey, and Harrisburg, PA. Click https://lehighvalleypm.com/ now. Lehigh Valley Property Maintenance LLC City: Palmyra Address: 1126 E Maple Street Website: https://lehighvalleypm.com Phone: +1 7172987157 Email: matt@lehighvalleypm.com
Steven and Ian kill some time at the start chatting about the return of Tobias Jesso Jr. (0:00) and Steven's recent list of the best 21st century indie-rock albums, which generated some buzz online (6:23). But they devote most of the episode discussing a full slate of new releases this week. First up is Lucy Dacus, who is back with a big new release on a major label. But is the album a major achievement (21:45)? After that, they do quick hits on new albums from Destroyer (38:23), Deafheaven (38:23), and Perfume Genius (48:21). Have any of these veteran acts put out new work that matches their best? They report, you decide!In Recommendation Corner, Ian talks up the new release from indie-emo band Palmyra and Steven stumps for country singer Charley Crockett (55:15).New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 232 here and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can submit questions for Steve and Ian at indiecastmailbag@gmail.com, and make sure to follow us on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) for all the latest news. We also recently launched a visualizer for our favorite Indiecast moments. Check those out here.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
For review:1. Boeing Wins USAF Next-Gen Air Dominance Fighter (F-47). Boeing has won the contract to develop the first ever sixth-generation fighter, dubbed the F-47, President Donald Trump announced today. The fighter will be expected to operate with the service's forthcoming fleet of drone wingmen known as Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA). General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and Anduril are in competition for the separate CCA contract. 2. US Sec Def Extends USN Carrier USS Harry Truman (CVN-75) in CENTCOM AOR; USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) Enroute. The Truman will stay in CENTCOM AOR for another month, according to a U.S. official. The Carl Vinson, which was operating in the East China Sea this week, has been tasked to the Middle East region to make for an overlapping two-carrier presence as the Trump administration ramps up its aggression against the Yemen-based Houthis.3. IDF Strikes Airfields in Central Syria. The IDF confirms carrying out airstrikes on the Palmyra military airport and the nearby T-4 airbase in central Syria. The strikes targeted “remaining strategic military capabilities” at the two sites.4. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced on Friday that Israel would annex areas of the Gaza Strip should the terror group Hamas refuse to release the remaining hostages it is still holding. It was unclear if Israel would follow through on its threat to annex parts of Gaza, a move that would likely draw a massive international backlash. 5. Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said Friday that the Houthis act on their own motivations, after US President Donald Trump said he would hold Tehran accountable for the group's actions.6. EU releases joint statement on Ukraine- minus Hungary. "The European Council reaffirms its continued and unwavering support for Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders," leaders wrote in a statement signed off by 26 countries.7. UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer comes off ground troops in Ukraine- stresses air and sea power instead. Speaking to journalists at Northwood UK Military HQ, Sir Keir insisted the priority had to be to support Ukraine in defending itself, “They've got the capability, they've got the numbers and they've got the frontline experience. So we're not talking about something that replaces that capability — we're talking about something that reinforces that and then put around it capabilities in relation to air, water and sea and land.”
Dare we say we’re (slanted and) enchanted to meet Richmond, Virginia-based, relative newcomers Palmyra? The trio’s laid-back, indie-rock-Americana stylings on “Arizona” are like a deep sonic breath of fresh air. And we can all get to know them even better when their new LP Restless hits the shelves on March 28.
Section 23 - Historical Background: Shortly after the organization of the church, probably between April 6 to 11, 1830, Joseph was approached by five faithful men desiring to know their respective duties in the new church. These five individuals included Joseph's father, Joseph Smith Sr, two brothers, Hyrum and Samuel Smith, Oliver Cowdery and Joseph Knight, Sr. Joseph inquired of the Lord and received this revelation. Recap: Oliver Cowdery was addressed first and warned against pride; urged to witness to others the truth; Hyrum was called to strengthen the church; Samuel was to work within the church for strengthening the members but not yet to preach outside the church; Joseph Knight Sr was also called to serve in the Kingdom forever and pray vocally and encouraged to join the church and take up his cross. Section 24 - Historical Background: Immediately following the organization of the church, persecution came quickly and became intense. Joseph was harassed with arrests and had to evade mobs for safety. Joseph had begun to receive revelations concerning the book of Genesis which is recorded in the Pearl of Great Price, book of Moses. During these times of persecution and revelation, Joseph received the following revelation. Recap: Joseph is encouraged to magnify his office and to be patient in his afflictions; he is to seek safety among the members of the church; Oliver Cowdery is to be diligent in declaring the gospel, thinking nothing of himself, and he will receive strength. Section 25 - Historical Background: The persecutions spewing against her husband Joseph had been a great trial for Emma Smith. Her uncle was a minister responsible for much of the persecution against Joseph, especially during the translation of the plates. This persecution drove Joseph and Emma from Harmony to Fayette, NY. Arrested and nearly mobbed several times, Joseph had to constantly flee. During this time, Emma had been faithful and supportive despite trials and hardships. Never had Emma seen the Gold Plates yet she didn't complain. Now, however, Mary Whitmore had the privilege of seeing the plates. Feeling slighted, the Lord gave Emma this strengthening and comforting revelation calling Emma an “elect lady.” Recap: Emma is forgiven for her sins and is called an elect lady; she is to be Joseph's scribe and to compile a hymnbook for the members. All members are called to beware of pride and to keep the commandments. Section 26 - Historical Background: During the weeks since the publication of the Book of Mormon, Samuel Smith had been diligently trying to get people to buy the sacred book. Since there was nothing but hostility around Palmyra, he went 15 miles to the town of Mendon. Finally he returned home with all but 2 of the original books. He gave one of the books to a widow and the other went to a respected minister John Green. Reverend Green read the book, believed it and eagerly passed it on to Phineas Young and then to Brigham Young and Heber C Kimball, all reading and finding belief and conversion. This resulted in the uniting of converts and a strong branch of the church near Mendon. Meanwhile, Joseph, Oliver and John Whitmer were in Harmony wondering what they could do to exert themselves, and the following short revelation was given. Recap: The Lord tells Joseph, Oliver and John Whitmer to get involved in 4 things, namely the fervent study of the scriptures, the organization of the branch in Colesville, perform the essential work on their farmland and then to prepare for the next church conference. The importance of common consent is given.
In this episode, Hailey explores Eastern Wisconsin, home to a unique typography known as the Kettle Moraine. Tucked away in that unique typography and nestled between Wisconsin's biggest cities–Madison and Milwaukee–is a quaint, undiscovered village…the Village of Palmyra–a place of nature and community. Follow along as we embark on a discovery of Palmyra, from past to present. The Bobber is brought to you by Something Special from Wisconsin: https://www.somethingspecialwi.com/Read the blog here: https://discoverwisconsin.com/palmyra-a-place-of-nature-community/Village of Palmyra: https://villageofpalmyra.com/; Kettle Moraine State Forest: https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/parks/kms; Rushing Waters Fishery: https://rushingwaters.net/; The Bobber: https://discoverwisconsin.com/the-bobber-blog/The Cabin Podcast: https://the-cabin.simplecast.com. Follow on social @thecabinpodShop Discover Wisconsin: shop.discoverwisconsin.com. Follow on social @shopdiscoverwisconsinDiscover Wisconsin: https://discoverwisconsin.com/. Follow on social @discoverwisconsinDiscover Mediaworks: https://discovermediaworks.com/. Follow on social @discovermediaworksJefferson County: https://www.jeffersoncountywi.gov/. Follow on social @jeffersoncountywi
"Well behaved women rarely make history." So goes a famous adage used by many feminist scholars and historians and one that most certainly applies to the subject of this week's episode. Who was the Syrian queen who led a rebellion against one of the greatest empires of all time? How did she form an empire of her own? And how did it all come crashing down? Find out this week in a truly riveting episode all about Queen Zenobia of Palmyra!
Eric and Shelly Martin loved their peaceful nights on the porch, sipping coffee and enjoying the fresh Maine air. Their farmhouse, surrounded by deep woods, felt like the perfect escape—until one night in 2006. As they relaxed, they noticed something strange in the trees—a flickering light, pulsing like it was alive. It wasn't a flashlight. It wasn't a fire. And no one ever stepped out of the woods. Just that eerie glow, watching… waiting. Something was out there, and from that moment on, their peaceful home would never feel the same again. Episode show notes: www.3amfear.comNarrated by: Nikita FerraoInstagram: @3amfearpod@ncferraoauthorFind me on Youtube @ 3AM Fear PodcastFree thriller eBook: www.ncferrao.comPodcast Music: https://www.purple-planet.comEpisode Music: Music by Dark BurdenLink to the composer's YouTube channel: / @darkburden SUBSCRIBE us on YOUTUBE: https://bit.ly/3qumnPHFollow on Facebook: https://bit.ly/33RWRtPFollow on Instagram: https://bit.ly/2ImU2JVEmail me on nikita@3amfear.comSources:https://www.youtube.com/@MrBallenFamily HUNTED by pack ofunidentified creatures | The Palmyra wolves https://www.youtube.com/@TheInBetweenTalesThe Palmyra Wolves: Night ofLiving Terror https://www.youtube.com/@TheLoreLodgeMysterious Creatures Stalked AFamily | The Palmyra Wolves https://i95rocks.com/maine-werewolves-haunted-house/https://www.penbaypilot.com/affiliate-post/13-days-halloween-tales-terror-palmyra-wolfpack/179876https://paranormal-witness.fandom.com/wiki/The_Wolf_Pack
Some audio was edited but originally came from the story Clean Again By Dawn Nelson (Based on a true story) in the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints friend magazine. You're listening to Come Follow Me Kids! A Come Follow Me Podcast. We are an interactive game play podcast for kids. This is a Doctrine and Covenants Podcast for Kids! Our podcast is called Come Follow Me Kids. Come Follow Me for kids that are primary aged 2-12 in the Church or Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We follow the come follow me manual from the church but are not officially affiliated in any way. Some audio segments come from the friend magazine and other church sources. On this podcast we play interactive games while learning about the gospel and atonement of Jesus Christ. If your children would like to be guests on this podcast, please email us at comefollowmekidspodcast@gmail.com They can share their testimony about the restoration of the gospel, or share an experience they had with prayer, the Holy Ghost, or Missionary Work. Make sure they include their name and where they are from in the audio recording. And don't worry about your recording being perfect, we can edit out mistakes. Any sound file should work. If your children would like a baptism shout out, email us their name, and where they are from and we will add them to an upcoming episode. Use the same email listed above. This week we learn that Joseph Smith needed to publish the Book of Mormon, and in order to do that Martin Harris needed to mortgage his farm: From saints:Joseph knew the Lord wanted him to publish the Book of Mormon and spread its message far and wide. Publishing a book as long as the Book of Mormon would also not be cheap. They went first to Egbert Grandin, a printer in Palmyra who was the same age as Joseph. he wanted to be paid $3,000 to print and bind five thousand copies before he even started work. To put this into perspective, Joseph had paid $200 for his entire home and farm in Harmony, so $3,000 was an enormous amount of money.Martin had already promised to help pay for the printing, but to come up with that kind of money, he realized he might need to mortgage his farm.He had one of the best farms in the area. If he mortgaged his land, he risked losing it. Martin told Joseph his concerns and asked him to seek a revelation for him. In response, the Savior spoke of His sacrifice to do His Father's will, Thou shalt not covet thine own property,” the Lord said, “but impart it freely to the printing of the Book of Mormon.” The book contained the true word of God, the Lord assured Martin, and it would help others believe the gospel.Should Martin use his farm to help get the Book of Mormon printed? give a thumbs up if you think he should and a thumbs down if you think he shouldn't.Although his neighbors would not understand his decision, Martin obeyed the Lord and mortgaged his farm to guarantee payment.Children will learn:Jesus Christ obeyed Heavenly Father, even when it was hard.God's blessings are greater than the treasures of the earth.Jesus Christ suffered so that I can repent and come unto Him.
Send us a textFrom Come Follow Me: "It took Martin and Lucy Harris years to acquire one of the finest farms in Palmyra, New York. But in 1829 it became clear that the Book of Mormon could be published only if Martin mortgaged his farm to pay the printer. Martin had a testimony of the Book of Mormon, but Lucy did not. If Martin went forward with the mortgage and the Book of Mormon did not sell well, he would lose his farm, put his marriage at risk, and damage his reputation in the community. Although our circumstances are different from Martin's, at some time or another we all face difficult questions like those he faced: What is the gospel of Jesus Christ worth to me? What am I willing to sacrifice to help build God's kingdom? Martin Harris ultimately decided that he would mortgage his farm so the first 5,000 copies of the Book of Mormon could be printed. But even this sacrifice—and any sacrifice we might make—is small compared to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, “the greatest of all” (Doctrine and Covenants 19:18), who bled from every pore to save the repentant."Support the Show!www.patreon.com/SaintsintheSouth(The thoughts, ideas, and beliefs we express on this channel do not officially represent The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For additional information or official statements, please visit the website below. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/?lang=eng)#biblestudy #oldtestament #religion #churchofJesusChrist #ldspodcast #christianpodcast #missionary #lds #biblestories #christ #faith #faithinchrist #scriptures #bookofmormon #doctrineandcovenants #pearlofgreatprice #temples #houseofthelord #mormon #mormonbeliefs #christiansandmormons #god #endure #ironrod #faithineveryfootstep #generalconference #prophets #followtheprophet #commandments #love #service #charity #keepstriving #keeponstriving #gospelgrowthandgoodtimes #become #newtestamentSupport the show
Section 19 - Historical Background: After the completion of the translation of the gold plates, Joseph returned to Palmyra to hire a publisher to print the manuscript, but was rejected by publishers in both Palmyra and Rochester. However, in August, 1829, Martin Harris was able to convince Grandin to publish the book but only after Martin securred the printing with one of his farms. Joseph instructed Oliver Cowdery to make 2 copies of the manuscript, one to hold under security and the other to be presented to the publisher. Oliver gradually brought only 26 pages each day for the printer to typeset. Meanwhile, Joseph returned to Harmony to be with Emma. However, in the midst of the printing process in Palmyra, everything came to a sudden stop when Grandin became frightened. He discovered the people of Palmyra had made a pact among themselves to boycott purchasing the book altogether. Without sales, Grandin would not get paid. Under these dire circumstances, Hyrum pleaded with Joseph to return to Palmyra and seek direction from the Lord. This revelation is the result, directed most particularly to Martin Harris. Recap: Every person must repent or suffer, which suffering is endless. The Lord then explains the meaning of “endless suffering” and “eternal punishment.” He then describes how terrible the suffering will be unless they repent, in which case they need not suffer at all because Christ has already suffered for the repentant. The Lord then directs Martin Harris to teach repentance and not the deeper doctrines as of yet; do not covet, pray vocally and remain humble. He then directs Martin to pay the printer's debt of $3,000 so the Book of Mormon can be published, and finally to rejoice and sing Hosanna, for the Lord has come!
Ven, SÃgueme con Pepe Valle de Central del Libro de Mormón
Martin y Lucy Harris tardaron años en adquirir una de las mejores granjas de Palmyra, Nueva York, pero en 1829 quedó claro que el Libro de Mormón solo se podría publicar si Martin hipotecaba su granja para pagar al impresor. Martin tenía un testimonio del Libro de Mormón, pero Lucy no. Si Martin proseguía con la hipoteca y el Libro de Mormón no se vendía bien, perdería su granja, pondría en riesgo su matrimonio y dañaría su reputación en la comunidad. Aunque nuestras circunstancias son diferentes a las de Martin, en algún momento u otro, todos hacemos frente a preguntas difíciles como las que él afrontó: ¿Cuánto vale el Evangelio de Jesucristo para mí? ¿Qué estoy dispuesto a sacrificar para ayudar a edificar el Reino de Dios? Martin Harris finalmente decidió hipotecar su granja para poder imprimir los primeros 5000 ejemplares del Libro de Mormón. Sin embargo, incluso ese sacrificio —y cualquier sacrificio que podamos hacer— es pequeño en comparación con el sacrificio de Jesucristo, “el mayor de todos” (Doctrina y Convenios 19:18), quien sangró por cada poro para salvar a los arrepentidos.Si deseas más información en cuanto a la publicación del Libro de Mormón, véase Santos, tomo I, págs. 76–84.Título: “Aprende de mí”Categoría: Doctrina y ConveniosPrograma: Estudio de las Escrituras con Pepe y ArielReferencias: Doctrina y Convenios 19Autor: Pepe Valle y Ariel Cuadra_____________________Únete al Grupo de Whatsapp: https://chat.whatsapp.com/JfCIDbnOXfnJzOlMChyShE
March 3-9Martin Harris found himself in a tight spot when he agreed to put up the money to pay for the printing of the Book of Mormon. He began to have doubts and “stagger in confidence” at the amount of debt he was entering into, whose payback would depend entirely on sales of the Book of Mormon. He was a wealthy and respected farmer in Palmyra. He had repented of his sins and become one of the Three Witnesses, but now he was putting up his farm as collateral and everything was at stake. What would he lose if people didn't pay for copies of the Book of Mormon and redeem his debt? Everything! What a trial of his faith.
Chuck and Big John talk to the folks from the band Palmyra! Check out their song “Shape I'm In” https://ohboy.lnk.to/shapeiminhttps://www.palmyratheband.com/Flood Relief! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/1Hg8OYokIiZN-cs7CiE8ECMj9t1Ubf45_u7oRH3Jqeww/editHELP SUPPORT APPODLACHIA! patreon.com/appodlachia-----------------------------------------------Check out our fantastic sponsors!Red Rooster Coffee! Use our promo code “DOLLY” for free shipping!https://www.redroostercoffee.com/CBD and THC gummies & more: (use code “BANJO” for 25% off) http://www.cornbreadhemp.com/The views and opinions expressed on this show are the personal opinions of the hosts, Chuck Corra and Big John Isner, and do not represent the opinions of either of their employers. This show is an opinion and commentary show, NOT a news show. This podcast is for entertainment purposes only. Send us a textSupport the show
U.S. President Donald Trump called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a dictator in a social media post on Wednesday, this after implying he was responsible for the war a day earlier. Russian disinformation is prevalent in Africa's Sahel region and may be one factor in France's departure. Inflation in the United States increased in January as prices of food, gasoline and housing, among others, continued to rise. Plus, a look at the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria.
Ross Purnell is the Editor of Fly Fisherman magazine, a position he has held since 2009. His journey into fly fishing began at age 16 when his mother gifted him a subscription to the magazine, inspiring a passion that would shape his career. In 1996, he joined Fly Fisherman under the mentorship of then-Editor John Randolph. Beyond his editorial role, Ross is an avid fly angler who has traveled the world with a fly rod in hand. He resides in Palmyra, Pennsylvania, and continues to contribute significantly to the fly fishing community. In this episode of Anchored, we discuss how he followed his passion right into his dream career, and we get the inside scoop behind the magazine. If you listen to this show, you know I'm here to discuss the culture, community, and craft of fly fishing. I'm not all that interested in talking about clothes. What you do on the water matters a whole lot more than what you wear. That said, I have been wearing a lot of Skwala apparel recently, and I'm thrilled to be working with them. I've worn just about everything out there, and Skwala makes the most thoughtful, innovative, and effective fly fishing gear I've ever experienced. Check them out at skwalafishing.com and use code “Anchored10” to take 10% off your first order. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Keith shares the top amenities tenants want in rental units, based on a survey by GreyStar with over 90,000 responses. He's joined by long-time friends of the show, Terry and Liz to discuss investment strategies, emphasizing the importance of buying properties in the "sweet spot" and the benefits of allowing pets, which can lead to longer tenant stays. They also touch on: Trade-offs Between Buying Multiple Cheap Properties vs. One Expensive Property Quality of Properties and Tenant Demographics Screening Tenants and Handling Pets New Construction vs. Renovated Properties Investor Life Cycle and Exit Strategies Resources: Visit MidSouthHomeBuyers.com and explore their investment opportunities. Show Notes: GetRichEducation.com/540 GRE Free Investment Coaching:GREmarketplace.com/Coach For access to properties or free help with a GRE Investment Coach, start here: GREmarketplace.com Get mortgage loans for investment property: RidgeLendingGroup.com or call 855-74-RIDGE or e-mail: info@RidgeLendingGroup.com Invest with Freedom Family Investments. You get paid first: Text FAMILY to 66866 Will you please leave a review for the show? I'd be grateful. Search “how to leave an Apple Podcasts review” For advertising inquiries, visit: GetRichEducation.com/ad Best Financial Education: GetRichEducation.com Get our wealth-building newsletter free— text ‘GRE' to 66866 Our YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/c/GetRichEducation Follow us on Instagram: @getricheducation Complete episode transcript: Automatically Transcribed With Otter.ai Keith Weinhold 0:01 Welcome to GRE! I'm your host, Keith Weinhold. What are the features that tenants want in their rental units today, and what amenities are most profitable for real estate investors? Bedroom, count, bathroom, count, cover, parking, pet policy and more, what matters what doesn't, and how do you optimize operations to maximize your profit? It's a conversation with me and two terrific real estate pro guests today on get rich education. Speaker 1 0:31 Since 2014 the powerful get rich education podcast has created more passive income for people than nearly any other show in the world. This show teaches you how to earn strong returns from passive real estate investing in the best markets without losing your time being a flipper or landlord. Show Host Keith Weinhold writes for both Forbes and Rich Dad advisors, who delivers a new show every week since 2014 there's been millions of listener downloads of 188 world nations. He has a list show guests and key top selling personal finance author Robert Kiyosaki, get rich education can be heard on every podcast platform, plus it has its own dedicated Apple and Android listener phone apps build wealth on the go with the get rich education podcast. Sign up now for the get rich education podcast or visit get rich education.com Corey Coates 1:17 You're listening to the show that has created more financial freedom than nearly any show in the world. This is get rich education. Keith Weinhold 1:33 Welcome to GRE from Tacoma, Washington to the took pony Palmyra bridge spanning the Delaware out of Philadelphia and across 188 nations worldwide. I'm Keith Weinhold, and this is get rich education, the voice of real estate investing Since 2014 I'm grateful for your faithful listenership. If you're new around here, join in at GRE we do this one big headline show every week, never more, never fewer, and truly, every single week for more than 10 years now, let's talk about amenities that tenants want in apartments today, before we pivot to discussing properties in general and single family homes in our conversation coming shortly. Now, you might have heard of GrayStar before they are international real estate developers and managers, well, they received more than 90,000 survey responses from apartment tenants on their most preferred features and amenities. So we've got a good sample size here, and Gray star compiled the top 20. Let's just hit the top five. This is important, because your tenant is your customer, and when you serve them, you're not only making them happy, you yourself are positioned to be more profitable long term. Here we go. The number one preferred feature is, do you have any guess what tenants want? It's the walk in closet. 51% of apartment tenants said that they are interested in this feature, and 37% would not rent an apartment without it. On average, they're willing to pay a $75 a month premium, and the survey shows that this is particularly important in Dallas and Miami, where over half said that they would not rent without it. The second most important amenity to apartment tenants is large windows with abundant natural light. 56% that they're interested in this feature. 31% would not rent an apartment without it, and on average, they're willing to pay an $80 a month premium for the large windows. When you think about how more tenants work from home today than five years ago? Well, big windows make more sense. Third most important is fresh air ventilation. 69% said that they're interested in it, and on average, they're willing to pay a $79 per month premium. The highest demand for fresh air ventilation is in Seattle, San Francisco and San Jose. We're talking about the top five amenities that apartment tenants want today in order, the fourth most important one is covered parking or a garage. 52% said that they're interested in this feature. Fully a third would not rent an apartment without it, and on average, they're willing to pay a $75 a month premium, and this is most important in urban areas with a covered parking or garage, where 42% will not rent a unit without it, in those urban areas. And then the fifth one is high efficiency appliances, 71% said they're interested in this feature. On average, they're willing to pay a $79 a month premium, and this, this high efficiency appliance thing, is more important for the high income tenant segment. So there they are, the top five features and amenities that. Apartment tenants want today. So to review, in order, it's a walk in closet, big windows, fresh air, ventilation, covered parking or a garage, and finally, high efficiency appliances. And listen in as I'll have a robust discussion with two season real estate pros. We're going to go beyond apartments about the features that tenants and real estate investors alike want today, and at times, they will talk about their home markets of Memphis, Tennessee and Little Rock, Arkansas, which are some of the most investor advantaged markets anywhere. And you'll have to calibrate some of these numbers to your market, because in these places, the typical single family rental purchase is just 100 to 200k and rent is between$900 and 1600 and at other times, we will talk more nationally and globally. Hey, well, I'd like to welcome in long time friends of the show, with the emphasis on long time since they were first here with us, more than 10 years ago on episode nine in 2014 those ever steady quality property providers from Memphis, Tennessee, mid south homebuyers, it's the return of their principal, Terry Kerr and investor relations lead, Liz Nalen, Terry and Liz, welcome back. Terry Kerr 6:25 Thank you, Keith. It's great to be here. Thanks so much, Keith, great to be back. Keith Weinhold 6:28 Yes, it's beginning to feel like a high school class reunion or something. I anticipate my high school class reunions just like I anticipate our discussion today. Let's talk about your individual takes on investment philosophy, common investor mistakes, and is some investor conventional wisdom true, or is it not? Because there's probably some of that that we have to debunk, I think a common one. And I know you get that question in there from investors and our listeners, you had that conversation it was it better to buy two cheap properties or one expensive property talk to us about some of those trade offs. Liz Nowlin 7:07 It's such an interesting thing, and there's so many factors you can look at. I broke it down for myself personally. Probably 12 years ago, I was asking myself that question as an investor and I ran 2 $50,000 houses, I'm dating myself against $100,000 house, and even when I manipulated the appreciation for the $100,000 house at the higher rate. And actually, we've been talking about investor conventional wisdom, and that is actually a piece of conventional wisdom I've not seen hold true as much, but that a higher end neighborhood is going to appreciate a more rapid pace than a more blue collar neighborhood. So that, as a side note, is a piece of conventional wisdom that I've seen a bit debunked, but it really ramping up the appreciation on the $100,000 house. I think I put it at reselling at like 180 or 190 down the line, and I put my $50,000 houses at maybe 90. You know, not as aggressive for me. Two houses beat one, every kind of way that I shook it out. And of course, the 50,000s had lower individual cash flows, but still, I think matching or higher than the 100. And the one thing I'm not sure that I put in there is two water heaters versus one water heater, two furnaces versus one, but running the same maintenance in general for them. Terry, what do you think Terry Kerr 8:32 I started out buying houses a little bit lower than I should and what I mean a little bit lower like and a little bit lower quality neighborhoods, and quickly learned that you can't buy too low, you know, you got to buy them, you know, in the sweet spot. So I bought in the A class areas. I bought in the areas that were a little too low, and then found the sweet spot. And then within the sweet spot, I've got a bunch of houses that are in the mid range where we typically operate, and personally, I've also got a bunch of duplexes. I like duplexes. So whether that's duplexes or a little bit upper or a little bit lower, personally, I like a mix of them. And I'm a buy and hold guy. So the stuff that I buy and hold I'm holding for the extra long time, initially, right out of the gate, you've got to look at things like cost segregation, closing costs and all that kind of deal. So really, everyone kind of needs to run their own numbers, because what might make sense for one person just might not make sense for someone else. And again, I'm kind of all over the board. You factor in how much you're going to spend in closing costs, how long do you intend to hold the property? What's it going to cost to sell the property in 1015, 20 years. But again, the cost segregation and just everyone needs to kind of run their own numbers. I think. Speaker 2 9:47 closing costs times two versus times one is an interesting point. Paying to mow a yard is paying to mow a yard. But then you get into another rub that I think I put them I don't think I did a square footage variation, but I like smaller Homes. It's less on paint. It's less on vacant utilities. The lower your rent is to a degree, the more people can afford to rent it, and the more recession proof you are, in my opinion. And I wasn't running through that as well, but in my antique valuation from 2012 that $100,000 house is going to be bigger often than the littler guys for the rent. Not you know, you can have a play between neighborhood quality and size of house with rents, which is a determining price. But Keith, what do you think two or one? Keith Weinhold 10:33 Yeah, the two thing versus one thing has a lot of trade offs. As an investor, I think about the advantages of where one is going to have less management, even though I use a property manager, but with respect to the size of the property, I think a lot of us know, and the new investor doesn't know, say, a 1500 square foot unit versus a 3000 square foot rental unit. Well, with the 3000 you often have twice the maintenance, but you only get a little more in rent income. So depending on the market you're in, typically something more like a 1500 square foot rental unit is going to work out better. Terry Kerr 11:06 Yep, I agree. And then also, another one of the things that I found out is buying houses a little too far up market going to be renting to folks that are more apt to buy a house, right? And so you might have more turnover and a more expensive house just because it's in, you're renting in an area where folks may just not stay as long. And one of the things that that, of course, we like about Memphis is it's predominantly a rental market, so we're able to kind of have the best of both worlds there. But Liz Nowlin 11:32 kind of, going back to investor conventional wisdom, I think a common mistake, or maybe a mistake isn't the right word, but I hear investors say that they would not buy a house that they would not live in, and I find that they tend to be very expansive times of their life. They often have young children are possibly planning to do it. And one of the best renters I ever had was a little old lady on Social Security, on a fixed income. She lived in my house for seven years. She paid on time like crazy. She added a garden that my home didn't have, and she would have never paid the extra $25 a month that a second bathroom would have called for from that property. And people forget that you'd people downsize as much as they upsize. There's divorce or just retirement, there's empty nesters. Families shift down as much as they shift up. Because investors are often they're talking to me from their four bedroom, two bath house, and they couldn't conceive of renting a smaller thing long term. They just kind of missed that aspect. Keith Weinhold 12:38 Right for me, it's definitely not a criterion. Would I live in the property myself? And that makes it eligible to hold as a rental? No, it's just the opposite. Really. I don't think any of my rentals are ones that I would prefer to live in, because it wouldn't upgrade my lifestyle. Yet, it's still doing the clean, safe, affordable, functional housing thing. We're talking about the quality of properties here. Class A, properties are deemed the best class, D, the worst. What are your thoughts? Is B class better than C class? And is a really the best of all? I mean, for example, do you get better renters in a class, or are they finicky and then they have the means to move out and go buy their own place, if they have a 790 credit score and they're living in a class a unit, what are your thoughts here? Terry Kerr 13:22 I think c plus to b minus is the sweet spot. You get into the a plus. Like you said, there's going to be more turnover, because folks are going to be buying houses, and then you've got expensive appliances that you're going to be responsible for fixing in and a lot of A plus neighborhoods, but the C minus, and I can only really truly speak to Memphis and Little Rock, but the C minus the B plus I feel is the sweet spot that's for the size of the property, as well as the typical length of rentership. Liz Nowlin 13:52 I managed a class for about a decade before I came to work for Terry in 2009 and we ran a great ship, and we had a great, beautiful high rise, but a year was really the average stay a class renters are more litigious. I was operating a building next to a law school, and I had young lawyers and law students, but that's going to be true in any kind of a class area. When you're paying a rent of that amount you are going to call in a work order because the doorknob is slightly loose, a lot of it. And very interestingly, I think we still had some collection issues, even renting to nurses, lawyers, just a small percentage. It's the dark side of property management. But I saw alcoholism, divorce just in a small percentage. But it doesn't wipe it out the way that you would think it would. I've seen college students going to WashU and Ivy League level stuff leave apartments in terrible, terrible conditions. Think that's another kind of investor myth around that Terry Kerr 14:52 the blue collar folks that we're renting to here in Memphis and Little Rock, they're not going to call us for the loose doorknob. They're just going to pull out the screwdriver. And fix it, just to kind of piggyback on that. It's another one of the benefits of operating in that space Speaker 2 15:05 lawn care. It's a little thing, but everything adds up, right? Like our renters are going to mow their own lawns and they expect it, and it's how it was at their last place. You're not pulling that off at the high high end Keith Weinhold 15:16 when you're screening tenants. Do you have the ability to tell when someone is going to look after the place better, and because a lot of the single family home rentals that you do, I mean the tenants, for example, are even responsible for taking care of their lawn, or are they going to be responsible enough to call in a leak, but not so annoying that they're going to call you to adjust the kitchen cabinet door that's a little bit loose. So how can you help screen tenants to learn some of those things before they even move in. Speaker 2 15:43 Our typical renter is coming to us from another single family home, and so one of the kind of unique ways that we screen tenants is that you have to have immediate landlord history. It's like with a lot of places, if you go rent somewhere for a couple years, you leave in good standing, you come and live with your mom for a year, everybody else in town would accept that positive rental history from a prior place. But one thing that that I love about working here and then what we do is that being in business for 24 years, we've had a lot of chances to kind of do things the wrong way and figure out how to do it right. And they Terry instituted a system in the early years, where any time a renter fell off the rails, they would look back through that file, was there anything? Was there anything that could have predicted that? And sometimes the answer is no, and it's just the first time somebody's hit hard times. But one of the things they found is, well, hey, this guy hadn't paid rent in a year. He did have good rental history, but he hadn't paid rent in a year, and then that bill, he'd gotten used to not paying so much, and so that just helps. Terry Kerr 16:47 Absolutely Keith Weinhold 16:48 yes, getting that reference from their current or previous landlord can give you so much on what the expectations are going to be for the tenancy there in their place. And then, of course, there's a whole thing where, if you're talking to the current landlord and they're trying to move out, you're really trying to get to the bottom of the things and just find out if their current landlord wants them to move out because they can't get pay, or they're doing something nefarious. They're not paying rent, or something like that. That's sort of something that one needs to decipher as well. But of course, the history is going to help project the future better than anything else. And one thing we're talking about the operations of properties, and you sort of touched on it. Liz, where you had that tenant that started her own garden, she's someone that wouldn't care to pay more for a second bathroom. So why don't we talk about some of the pros and cons with the bathroom? Are two bathrooms always better than one, or is it just one more place to have maintenance and repair problems? Speaker 2 17:40 real quick, just back on the other thing, for all the philosophies that you can bring, the guy that I worked for before, Terry never did any landlord verifications, because the worst renter he ever had was personally dropped off at the property by the prior landlord. Keith Weinhold 17:56 Oh my gosh, making it easy for him. And he said, I'm done Speaker 2 17:59 so anyway, but the bathrooms is such a hot spot, there's definitely the second bathroom rules crowd. And then I've seen a seasoned investor that says that's just one more toilet to clog. Terry Kerr 18:14 Yeah, but I would say that right now, I'm pretty sure that the property that I have on Powell is the longest resident I've ever had. She moved in 11 years ago, is still there. It's the smallest house that I own. It's like 794 square feet. It's tiny, and it's got just one bathroom. But she's single, and when she moved in, she said they're gonna have to carry me out of here. And I hope that's not for a long, long time. But like Liz mentioned, there are a lot of folks that just want one bathroom because they're just going to be living in their solo or even married couple. That is downsizing. So we have a mix, and we like to be able to have something, you know, for everyone. So our two bedroom baths perform very well, just like the three twos Keith Weinhold 18:58 I once owned three rental properties. They were all built the same way. There was one bathroom in each of them, which would have been okay for one or two people to live there, except the only bathroom in these two story places was on the second floor for all three of them, and that did prevent some people from renting it. They didn't like the fact that the only bathroom was upstairs. Yeah, that sounds terrible. Speaker 2 19:20 Another analogy that's too great, or something I experienced when people think that two bedrooms must be inherently less desirable than three. Kind of connecting to one versus two bathrooms. When I managed that a class high rise, I had a waiting list for my studio apartments. It was the cheapest way that you could live in that neighborhood, period. And I had a three or four month waiting list for the studio apartments. I had a little more trouble renting the one bedrooms and the most trouble renting the penthouse, frankly. And my point with that is that if you price it right, it will always work. You know, if my studios were the same price as my one bedrooms, and of course. Course, I would not have had a waiting list for them. And you know, we have that super unusual lifetime occupancy guarantee mid south it's that, you know, if your property is ever vacant for more than 90 days, we start paying your rent on the 91st day. And I'm often explaining to people that's not us actually being an insurance policy, though it's real, it's in writing, we will pay you if that happens. But what I'm really telling you is that these rents are real. The rent price is meant to perform, and that that's the point. Anything rents well and stays well rented if you price the rent correctly. Keith Weinhold 20:33 Well, that's an excellent point. We're talking about conventional investor wisdom and the operations of rental properties for investors, with Terry Kerr and Liz Nowlin from mid south homebuyers more than we come back, including is saying yes to pets worth it. This is Get Rich Education. I'm your host. Keith Weinhold hey, you can get your mortgage loans at the same place where I get mine, at Ridge lending group NMLS, 42056, they provided our listeners with more loans than any provider in the entire nation because they specialize in income properties. 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And you know how I'd know, because I'm an investor in this myself, earn 10% like me and GRE listeners are text FAMILY to 66866, to learn about freedom, family investments, liquidity fund, on your journey to financial freedom through passive income. Text FAMILY to 66866 John Lee Dumas 22:37 this is Entrepreneur on Fire, John Lee Dumas. Don't follow money. Make money. Follow you with get rich education. Keith Weinhold 22:56 Welcome back to get rich education. We're talking about efficient operations for real estate investors and the properties that they choose to put into their portfolio, and some of those trade offs with mid south home buyers Terry Kerr and Liz Nowlin. And one thing that seems to be increasingly popular, it sure isn't waning in the past few decades, is the prevalence of pets and tenants that apply and have a pet on there. So there are a lot of pros and cons here. What are your thoughts about pets? Is it worth it or not? Terry Kerr 23:28 It's worth it as long as you know what pet is going into the property and you charge a pet fee, amen. Speaker 2 23:36 I'm a dog lover personally. So I was a renter. I was a good renter with a dog, but you do run into the people I experienced this, where they had the one horror story, and they're like, I never want a pet environmental property again at the end of the day. And that's where you go into what type of pet and a non refundable pet deposit. But what you lose by excluding such a huge percentage of the population from retain your home is going to outweigh the risk of the one off bad pet owner. Terry Kerr 24:11 I agree. Keith Weinhold 24:12 We also get into questions of what's legal here. If one does say yes to pets, you mentioned a non refundable pet deposit, why don't you talk to us about the amount of that deposit in relation to the rent, and then can you, or do you also charge more rent monthly in addition to the non refundable pet deposit Terry Kerr 24:33 we charge a $250 non refundable pet fee, and that it tends to cover any issues with the pet but one of The things that I'll kind of piggyback on, what Liz said, is, not only are you excluding a large portion of the market, but we find that folks with pets, they just tend to stay in the property longer. I don't know why that is. I can look at my portfolio. I've not like examined all the houses that were managed. Thing, but I know that from with my portfolio, folks that get into the property with pets. I don't know why, but they just tend to stay longer. Liz Nowlin 25:07 I may have just had luck, but I have not had any significant pet damages from any of my renters with pets and and kind of more stable, stable folks sometimes. So I think it's worth it. You always understand the person that had the kind of the one bad story, but I really think you could mitigate it. Keith Weinhold 25:23 How about hiking up the rent amount for pets? Terry Kerr 25:23 We have not done that. It's not something that we've ever done before. I guess it's kind of a if it ain't broke, don't fix it, you know. But we want to be able to provide as much value as we can to the resident to have the leases renew. And so everything that we do, from a rehab standpoint and a property management standpoint, is geared towards resident renewal. I'm not saying we couldn't get maybe an extra 25 bucks a month, but at some point you cause yourself a longer vacancy because you're trying to find someone who's wanted to pay more because they have a pet or may not renew the lease, because they can find some place to go where the rent is cheaper and they're not being charged pet rent, if you will. Liz Nowlin 25:25 We charge pet rent at my a class high rise that I managed for a long time. You know, it's not 100% No, it's people complained bitterly about it. I think a pet deposit. Just they stomach it a little bit better. The theme of the show might be, there's a lot of different ways to skin the cat. I got more pushback about that rent charge working directly with the renties than kind of anything else. So I would say we should up the non refundable before we layer it onto the monthly personally Keith Weinhold 26:37 yeah, if it's paid one time, it seems to be less of an annoyance over time and forgotten. When we talk about pets and think about the long term, after a tenant with a pet moves out, can the place really be adequately cleaned for the next tenant? We know a lot of people are sensitive with allergies today. Terry Kerr 26:56 Well, fortunately, we bought our own carpet cleaning van. We know what we're doing in regards to, you know, cleaning carpets, and so absolutely you can clean them. I mean, don't get me wrong, there's always going to be like the one off every once in a blue moon, but definitely, you know, we're not throwing the baby out with the bath water there. And fortunately, we're able to mitigate that smells with the right chemicals and our own carpet cleaning van. It's rare that we have that issue. Keith Weinhold 27:22 Well, the other thing is, is that you're a turnkey real estate investing company, and for listeners that don't know what that means is you basically fix and flip properties at scale and sell them to investors. So what you do in that case, then, is you're using those resilient finishes that can stand up to pets better than if maybe a person were just doing this small scale on their own accord. Terry Kerr 27:45 That is true. So I can't really speak to what other property management companies experience or other individuals, but I do know that that's what we've done to mitigate the risk, and again, like I said, increase the likelihood of a lease renewal, that's the name of the game, right? Keith Weinhold 28:02 Saying yes to pets sure does increase your chances. And Terry and Liz, the three of us, have all been active real estate investors ourselves for quite a long time. And when we became real estate investors, new build properties, especially in the turnkey space, really weren't much of a thing, but today they are. There are build to rent communities and more. And you yourself, there have been more involved in new builds, although renovated properties is sort of your bread and butter business, but now that you've done both for a while, what are your thoughts with how you advise investors? Is the premium on new construction worth it? Are you just paying really upfront for the maintenance that you'd have on an existing property? So what are your thoughts with new versus renovated property? Liz Nowlin 28:46 I love that. So you know, if anybody goes to our website right now and looks at the available properties, you'll see some really gorgeous houses mixed in with our already pretty houses with a new construction label across the front of that exterior photo, and you're going to see beautifully updated kitchens. Our renovated kitchens are also super nice. But I get that question, you are going to pay a little bit more for a new build than a renovated property? And you know, Terry and I talked about it, there's a really cool, detailed 15 year pro forma that you can look at with every property. And we did turn up the appreciation for a new construction house. And of course, nobody has a crystal ball, but I really think that will hold true for our properties only. We actually didn't change the maintenance metrics solely because our renovated houses have all new roof, all new furnace, all new air condenser, all new water heater, and they're just as new on the renovated properties as the new construction for our renovations. We're replacing all the any galvanized plumbing, you know. We're doing so much new I think maybe we could change it by a half of a percent or something, you know, but we actually didn't change it because. Because of the depth of the renovation on our properties. Now I am planning to have my next purchase from mid south homebuyers be a new construction home. There's the premium on the front end for me, my thought, and again, this gets into individual investor strategies, but my son is three years old. I plan to leave my entire portfolio to him, and my simple thought about it is that, you know, I have wonderful performing properties, the oldest of which was built in 1927 actually, and a lot of my renovated. It's a gorgeous one, by the way, a beautiful neighborhood, and it's been a great property for me. A lot of my inventory was built in the 60s and 70s. But when I think about Rhett, my son, baby, selling a house in 30 years. I have a feeling that 2024, build is going to do him very well. What kind of buy and hold investor Are you? Are you a 15 year or you will leave them to your kids? That's an angle to think about for sure. Keith Weinhold 30:55 Well, actually, that's a great next thing to talk about the investor life cycle in the life cycle of a property that's in your portfolio. Talk to us more about when the right time is to sell an investment property. I mean, should we just buy and hold forever and leave it to our children, or is there an ideal exit time? So from your perspective, why don't you talk to us some more about that timing? Terry Kerr 31:18 And again, that's just going to be case by case, we've got folks that'll sell a house to put their kids through college. We have had folks to sell their houses when they need to move their parents into assisted living, folks that'll sell their houses when they're looking at retiring. It's typically, life happens and you've got that equity there, and when the time is right to tap it, it's nice to know it's there Liz Nowlin 31:44 lot of different ways to look at it. I've actually toured with selling my 1927 house in the next year or two, before that magic 100 year mark. Yes, for people, you know, and is that gonna do things? But really it's been a great little performer for me. I talk to investors so frequently, and I've heard more than one seasoned investor tell me they wish they'd never sold a single house they ever sold. Just wish, they wish they could hit a button and own everything they'd ever owned. And I'm a die hard buying holder, but I don't think there's a magic time in the sense of, you know, a question I get, maybe some from sometimes a newer investor is, when will my house need another renovation like the one you just did? And the answer is never right. We're going to cosmetically bring it back up between every renter every time. And so you're really just left working with the individual lifespans of those big components, right? And those are relatively staggered out, with maybe a water heater at the shortest, at a roof at the longest. And I think for the most part, this might vary per market. And Terry, I'd like to know your thoughts, but I think genuinely, you'll probably get a higher price by spending the money to replace versus selling for less having not replaced that item. You know. Say, trying to say, Okay, I'm going to sell in my roof is 29 years old, is probably better just replace it. Terry Kerr 33:04 Yep, I agree. Because you know, if I'm a buyer and I'm maybe not a flipper, but a buyer, and I'd rather buy a house and spend 100,000 bucks on a house that has a new roof, than buy a house for $94,000 with an old roof. Because I know that old roof, if it leaks, it can cause a lot more damage than just the cost of replacing the roof. So I agree. And from an ROI perspective, if I'm a financed investor, which about 80% of our investors are, I'm financing that new roof when I buy it with a mortgage, and I'm a great point pay out of pocket the next year. So that's a rub. And then very specific, of course, to our clientele. Terry, how much does it cost us to put a new roof on 1000 square foot house? 4500 bucks. That's we're putting on 700 new roofs a year. The roofers are paid by us by the hour. We are buying the shingles in bulk. And on top of that, we don't mark up maintenance and materials for our investors. So for that one story, 1000 square foot house, that's what my investor cost for us to put a new roof on for them is going to be but a potential buyer is going to look at that home and think it's a $7,000 roof that was great Keith Weinhold 34:17 to learn about how you renovate properties for investors between tenancies there, so that properties don't get excessively dated. And we've been talking about a lot of the physical things that go into a property with that investor deciding what their exit strategy is going to be. Another thing that informs me are the numbers. When I get to about 40% equity on a property, I know my leverage ratio has now been cut down to two and a half to one, and that's when I look to do something maybe a 1031, tax deferred exchange. Or alternately, if it's a property that I really like, do the cash out refinance, get a tax free windfall with the cash out refinance, and get to hold on to the property at the same time. So of course, that's another way to approach it From the number side, rather than so much the physical side. But there sure is a lot to consider there. And you brought up heirs as well. This has been a great chat about the operations of a property, and just how you advise investors in there. Is there maybe any other question that comes up from investors a lot of times with how they should approach a property and the pros and cons within Liz Nowlin 35:22 we've seen a lot of great growth, but when we're newer into a neighborhood that we've just kind of started putting our foot in as we stay we meaning mid south home buyers renovating and escalating those properties. That's where we've seen some of the biggest rent jumps and some of the biggest depreciation jumps, but it was kind of one of the lesser, prettier neighborhoods when we first offered that home to that investor, just kind of wrapping your head around all the different nuances to account for Terry Kerr 35:49 yep, buying the path of progress. And fortunately, we've been able to create some of that progress in the neighborhoods that we've worked in throughout the years. Keith Weinhold 35:56 If you're not sure where the path of progress is, and you buy on the line. A lot of times, you are the one that is creating that path of progress, and you've got enough bandwidth and volume in there to have actually done that on a number of occasions. How about something actionable? So many of our listeners have become investors there with mid south homebuyers. I imagine it is over 100 by now. So tell us about what you're doing, where you're active, between Memphis and Little Rock, renovated, new build. Really, where's the opportunity for an investor today? Liz Nowlin 36:31 I'm pretty proud of us. I'll admit we just closed out 2024 having sold 680 houses. Wow. To investors, many of your listeners, and we're very careful. We've always done a little bit more every year. We don't buy everything we could buy. I always say my acquisitions team is not out there thinking about me and my wait list. One of my favorite sayings of Terry's is, you know, pigs get fat, Hogs get slaughtered. And I love the slow, careful way that we do things, but it was still pretty cool to do 680 we're still about, I'd say 75% Memphis, Tennessee, 25% Little Rock. Terry Kerr 37:09 Yes, that's about, right? I would say also probably about maybe 15% new construction on 85% rehabs, maybe 20% new construction now, yeah Liz Nowlin 37:20 And our sweet spot is still, well, still, it's that 100,000 to 200,000 that that window has slowly moved up through the years, very much to the benefit of investors as their investment seasons with time. I think we were 46,000 to 86,000 when I started in 2009 so been awesome to see the growth Memphis and Little Rock has had and so yeah, we're still kind of cash flow first appreciation is the icing on the cupcake. There are cupcakes have had more icing than we ever anticipated. If you go to midsouthhomebuyers.com and click on those available properties, they are under contract to investors at the top of the wait list, but they are identical to the houses I will have for anyone that is listening. We're so formulaic, 365 days a year, the cheapest house I may ever have is on that website. The same for the most expensive. We have just kind of figured out what works, and we hit it hard. And you can see the running theme with the kitchens and everything else. Keith Weinhold 38:22 Well, congratulations on the total volume that you did last year. That's almost two homes a day, including weekends and holidays and everything else. That's really terrific. Yes, I, for the listeners here, have often, over the years, made these examples using a 100k property, but inflation and appreciation has also made it such that I can't do that anymore, maybe, just maybe in Memphis and Little Rock, I still can for a decent rehabbed property in a pride of ownership neighborhood for as little as 100k and that's one reason why so many investors have made mid south home buyers the place that they go for their First ever Income Property across state lines. They really know how to serve that audience, and you've been doing that for our audience for more than a decade now, and you continue to have this really robust interaction with investors. Liz, you do a lot of phone calls with people. You're really proud about what you do there. So proud that you offer field trips, Speaker 2 39:19 please. I hope folks come so many folks never do so. If for anyone that prefers to do it from your living room, you are in the 95% norm if you never come to town. But man, it pushes folks confidence through the roof. So many of my investors are from high cost of living areas where you cannot get a parking spot in a war zone for the price that we are selling fully renovated houses, we have a deposit taken for a renter from every house I ever offer that really is cash flow from day one, and folks will really see the neighborhoods and that. I can't stress that enough. In fact, one thing that happens so if folks come up, you can sign up for the tours right on the website. It's on the far right, says, come visit us. This, you'll see a drop down with all the dates we do, monthly tours in Memphis and quarterly tours in Little Rock the day before. So you can come out and hit both. You kind of do a Thursday, Friday tour. You'll tour facilities. You'll see the warehouse and all that kind of stuff that I'll find. You know, our vans, we pull it, throw everybody in vans. We're listening to Memphis music and talking the whole tour, and people will want to pour out of that van right into the house. And I actually back everybody back out. I back them back into the front yard. I want to talk to you there and say, look left, look right. This is $120,000 neighborhood. Y'all. I can send you photos of the inside of the house all day, and you're going to get the same great house whether you buy from your living room. But I love it when people get to see that. I'll go ahead and say we do give gift cards to the best barbecue in town at the end of the tour, in addition to a $500 closing cost credit, just as a thank you for coming out and yeah, I love the tours. Keith Weinhold 40:53 I really appreciate the two of you. Here we are, the three of us, more than a decade after we started talking about the properties and what you offer investors here, and it's just rare to have continuity like that. You can learn more at midsouthhomebuyers.com Terry and Liz, it's been valuable as always. Terry Kerr 41:13 Thanks so much, Keith. Always enjoy it Keith Weinhold 41:15 when we talked about pets, did Liz say something about skinning the cat? That would have to be one of the worst pet policies that I have ever heard of. And yeah, I think that long term, you know, the three bed, two bath style that has been so popular in rentals. But today, there are fewer occupants per household than there was 10 years ago and 20 years ago. Okay, that has long been a national trend. So in a lot of instances, two bedrooms can be better than three and one bathroom can be better than two, especially in that case of a sole occupant. And do you know where your best feedback is gonna come from? From what would most improve your unit's appeal to the market? It is not an online resource at all. It is from a showing where your tenant prospect did not want your unit. They know they are in the market. In fact, they are more aware and in tune with the market than you are, because they might have looked at, say, five units in just the last two days, and they might have done that in person. So they will tell you why they did not want the unit, whether the rents too high, or they don't like the parking situation, or your place needs to be closer to the train station, or your only bathroom is upstairs, something that reduced appeal for some of my own properties in the past. But yeah, this, I'll call it an exit interview of your prospective tenant. I mean, that is valuable, or you can have your manager do it well, the one place that really knows what tenants and investors want is with Terry and Liz there. That's why they have been in business since 2002 with 1000s of investors like you. And it's also why when there is an investor wait list for their properties, and you get to the top of the wait list and close on your property, so many investors just get right back in line on the bottom of their list and work the way up again for their next property. They get lots of repeat business. You can do this too. Get started at midsouthhomebuyers.com Until next week, I'm your host. Keith Weinhold, don't quit your Daydream. Speaker 3 43:49 Nothing on this show should be considered specific, personal or professional advice. Please consult an appropriate tax, legal, real estate, financial or business professional for individualized advice. Opinions of guests are their own. Information is not guaranteed. All investment strategies have the potential for profit or loss. The host is operating on behalf of get rich Education LLC, exclusively, Keith Weinhold 44:17 The preceding program was brought to you by your home for wealth, building, get rich, education.com
Section 6 - Historical Background: In the winter of 1828-1829, Joseph Smith faced deep anxiety as he struggled to translate the golden plates without a scribe. With Martin Harris back in Palmyra and his wife Emma busy with household chores, Joseph awaited divine intervention. The Lord answered his prayers with the arrival of Oliver Cowdery, a young schoolteacher boarding in the Smith's home in Palmyra. After his own personal confirmation of the Lord's work, Oliver joined Joseph in Harmony Pennsylvania and began to assist as scribe. Oliver asked Joseph for a personal revelation from the Lord and received it as recorded in Section 6. Recap: Oliver receives counsel from the Lord to be diligent, to ask God for his needs and to seek wisdom, not riches. Oliver has a gift as a communicator, like Aaron's gift, and is to preach repentance. The Lord reminds Oliver of his personal conversion experience, which no one else knew up to this time, and to always look unto Christ. Section 7 - Historical Background: As Joseph was translating 1 Nephi 14, he came to a vision of the latter days by Nephi but was commanded not to record it all because the Lord will command the Apostle John to record the remainder of this vision. Joseph and Oliver discussed John and his whereabouts, disagreeing on whether John tarried in the flesh or had died. Joseph petitioned the Lord on the matter and received section 7. Recap: The Lord reveals the conversation He will have in mortality with Apostles Peter and John, granting unto them their desires. Peter will desire to come speedily to Christ, whereas John will desire to tarry in the flesh until Christ's second coming. Section 8 – Historical Background: As Joseph's physical and emotional fatigue from translation became apparent, Oliver asked if he could help by doing some of the translation. After inquiring of the Lord, the answer came in section 8. Recap: God explains how prayers are answered. Oliver has the gift of revelation along with the gift of Aaron (communicator). God will grant other gifts of the Spirit if asked for in faith, for without faith nothing can be done. Section 9 – Historical Background: As Oliver attempts to translate, he finds that he cannot and becomes frustrated. The Lord provides comforting admonishment in section 9. Recap: Oliver is counselled to continue as a scribe for Joseph rather than attempt to translate for now; to be patient and not murmur, but be expedient in the work of translation. There are other records Oliver will be asked to translate [but due to the Church coming under condemnation -see section 84:54-58- this opportunity to translate never emerged].
In this episode, we listen to a man's story of winning over his love, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Kalithogai 138, penned by Nallanthuvanaar. The verse is situated in the 'Neythal' or 'Coastal Landscape' and portrays a public ritual, undertaken as the last resort by young men in love.
Historical Background: After the translation of 116 foolscap pages of the Gold Plates (known as the Book of Lehi), Martin Harris pleads with Joseph to allow him to take the manuscript to Palmyra to convince his family of the genuineness of this divine project. After tireless pleadings from Martin and through Joseph, the Lord finally consents, but Harris was reckless with the document and it was lost. Immediately, in July, 1828, Moroni appears and reprimands Joseph and takes the Urim and Thummim and the Gold Plates, not to be returned until Joseph is filled with repentance. In September, 1828, Moroni returns the Urim and Thummim and the Gold Plates to a very humble Joseph, who resumes the translation. Recap: Joseph is reprimanded for fearing man more than God, and is counselled that the works of God cannot be frustrated by men. Joseph's father receives a blessing through revelation outlining the marvelous work about to come forth and the need for the faithful to commit to serving the Lord. Guilt-ridden Martin Harris also asks for a blessing through revelation, hoping he can be one of the three witnesses to the Gold Plates. He is granted his desire, predicated upon his sincere repentance.
The Box Stock Light class champion from Palmyra Speedway Karen Vanpelt joins us to talk about her championship go kart season. Then we speak with thirteen-year-old Matt Meggitt who will be making the transition from go kart racing to a 410 sprint car this summer. Plus all the latest racing news and results. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In the thrilling conclusion of D&C 3 Gerrit begins with a story of Joseph's stagecoach ride from Harmony to Palmyra. Gerrit paints the picture of the despair in the Smith home when Martin comes to tell share the news about the stolen 116 pages. No matter what you have done in your life reflect upon the state of Joseph Smith after the 116 pages we stolen and read D&C 3 verse 10: “But remember, God is merciful; therefore, repent of that which thou hast done which is contrary to the commandment which I gave you, and thou art still chosen, and art again called to the work” The Smith family waits six and a half hours for Martin Harris to show up for breakfast which leads to an obvious discussion about the commercialization of microwaves 147 years later. Standard of Truth Tour dates for the summer of 2025: https://standardoftruth.com/tours/ Missouri/Nauvoo – June 22nd through June 28th (10 spots available) Sign up for our free monthly (that doesn't go out monthly) email: https://standardoftruthpodcast.substack.com If you have any questions or possible topics of discussion for upcoming podcasts, please email us at: questions@standardoftruthpodcast.com
Did you know there were mega cities in history that were way ahead of their time? Take Mohenjo-Daro in ancient India—it had an advanced drainage system and grid-like streets 4,500 years ago! Or the Mayan city of Tikal, with its towering pyramids and complex water management systems hidden deep in the jungle. PBS / YouTube National Geographic / YouTube CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Indus river: by Avani Tanya, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Mine Action in Syria: by Mil.ru, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Monks Mound: by Skubasteve834, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Ilex vomitoria: by Luteus, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Mohenjodaro: by Saqib Qayyum, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Mohenjo-daro: by Saqib Qayyum, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Other side of Moenjodaro: by Usman.pg, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Kos castle: by kallerna, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Temple of Bel: by Zeledi, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Kos-harbour: by Chris Vlachos, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Indus Valley: by KennyOMG, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:In... Gate of Temple of Bel, CC BY-SA 2.5 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Palmyra, Syria: by James Gordon, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi..., https://www.flickr.com/photos/7913927... Odeon, Kos Town: by Michal Osmenda, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi..., https://flic.kr/p/9BCfR4 CC SA 1.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Mohenjodaro Sindh: by M.Imran, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Mohenjo-daro Priesterkönig: by Mamoon Mengal, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi..., http://www.world66.com/asia/southasia... Palmyre Vue Generale: by Eustache Diemert, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Zanskar rivers: by Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., CC BY-SA 2.5 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., CC BY-SA 1.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Temple of Bel: by Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., CC BY-SA 2.5 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., CC BY-SA 1.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... City of Tadmor: by Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., CC BY-SA 2.5 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., CC BY-SA 1.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Agora of Athens: by DerHexer, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., CC BY-SA 2.5 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., CC BY-SA 1.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Temple of Bel: by haitham alfalah, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Diocletian's camp: by Ulrich Waack, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., CC BY-SA 3.0 DE https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Greece kos city: by Arne Müseler / www.arne-mueseler.com, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Animation is created by Bright Side. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We sit down with Dakota Damron, Jake Schaefer and Justin Meyer to talk about making the local Palmyra derby a show that everyone wants to run again. We talk about classes, rules and possible payouts. This will be a show you don't want to miss. Hope you enjoy the listen
Last time we spoke about the Aitape-Wewak Campaign. General Dunckel's task force successfully invaded Mindoro, establishing airfields to support operations on Luzon. With General Eichelberger's 8th Army and General Krueger's 6th Army poised to capture Lingayen Gulf, guerrilla forces on Luzon provided crucial intelligence. As plans for the Luzon invasion solidified, General Yamashita prepared defenses, predicting an assault between January 10 and 20. Despite dwindling resources, he aimed to delay the enemy's advance. Meanwhile, Allied forces readied for a swift amphibious attack to secure Manila and restore the Philippine government. In December, Australian forces established outposts at Yasile and Yambes, successfully repelling Japanese attacks. After fierce clashes, they advanced 40 miles along the coast. Meanwhile, the U.S. military bolstered defenses in Saipan and launched bombing raids on Japanese facilities, achieving mixed results. Despite heavy losses, they began to impact Japanese production capabilities. As the month ended, the Japanese launched a final assault on the Marianas, but the Allies continued their strategic advances, setting the stage for future operations. This episode is the Invasion of Luzon Welcome to the Pacific War Podcast Week by Week, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800's until the end of the Pacific War in 1945. We last left off with the plans for Operation Mike 1 being finished. General Swift's 1st Corps was ready to land on the eastern beaches of Lingayen Gulf, while General Griswold's 14th Corps prepared to go ashore on the western beaches. Additionally, successful diversionary operations had been conducted on Mindoro, and Admiral McCain's Task Force 38 executed several moderately successful strikes against Formosa and the Ryukyu Islands in early January. Meanwhile, the 14th Corps elements staging at New Britain completed loading on 10 December; those mounting at Bougainville finished two days later. On the 17th all groups of the III Amphibious Force rendezvoused at Huon Gulf, eastern New Guinea, to rehearse the Lingayen assault. General Griswold felt that the 37th Division's rehearsal was satisfactory but had much fault to find with the 40th Division, remarking upon a "general failure to observe the spirit of the rehearsal." As a result, further training was conducted at Manus Island in the Admiralties, where the convoy reassembled on 22 December. On December 27, Admiral Wilkinson dispatched his LSTs and LSMs, followed by the remainder of Task Force 79 four days later. On the same day, Admiral Barbey's convoy, which included Major-General Leonard Wing's 43rd Division, loaded at Aitape before proceeding to Sansapor to load Major-General Edwin Patrick's 6th Division. Task Force 78 departed Sansapor on December 30, heading to a rendezvous point with other elements of Admiral Kinkaid's Luzon Attack Force. By January 4, all components of Task Force 77 had successfully gathered at Leyte Gulf, with MacArthur personally boarding the light cruiser Boise. Kinkaid's minesweepers, Admiral Oldendorf's Bombardment and Fire Support Group, and most of Admiral Durgin's escort carriers had already left the gulf on January 2 to conduct preliminary operations off Luzon. By January 6, the rest of the Luzon Attack Force began moving toward Lingayen Gulf, led by Admiral Berkey's light cruisers. As Mindoro-based aircraft significantly increased the intensity of their assaults during the last week of December—sinking seven transports and two escorts, and destroying over 140 aircraft. General Yamashita's tense and expectant forces were still racing against time to complete,their battle preparations when the first warnings came that the enemy was again on the move. At 1322 on 2 January, a naval lookout post on Surigao Strait reported that a long train of about 80 enemy ships, screened by destroyers, was moving through the strait into the Mindanao Sea. Other reports which followed immediately warned that large numbers of invasion craft were gathered in the Leyte, Palau and Marianas areas, and that enemy submarines had appeared in force off the west coast of Luzon. At first it was thought that the enemy convoy was merely a reinforcement and resupply group destined for Mindoro. On 3 January, however, developments began to point more conclusively toward a full-scale amphibious operation against Luzon. In the afternoon, just as the initially sighted enemy group passed into the Sulu Sea, a large enemy naval task force, including 12 escort carriers, four battleships and eight cruisers, was reported following in its wake through Surigao Strait. Another delayed report stated that an enemy transport convoy of 90 ships, under strong naval escort, had been spotted the previous day northwest of Palau, heading in the direction of Leyte Gulf. General Yamashita grew concerned that a large-scale amphibious operation against Luzon was imminent. Consequently, he decided to relocate his headquarters to Baguio. These concerns were validated in early January when Japanese lookouts spotted Kinkaid's warships and transports approaching the island. In response, General Tominaga ordered aggressive kamikaze attacks on the Allied vessels, with a major assault on January 4 causing severe damage to the escort carrier Ommaney Bay, which ultimately had to be scuttled. The following day, Japanese attacks persisted, damaging two escort carriers, two cruisers, and three destroyers, among other ships. In retaliation, Durgin's carrier aircraft launched strikes on Manila Bay, successfully sinking the destroyer Momi and damaging the Hinoki. On January 6, McCain's carriers joined the effort, with American pilots tasked with targeting air facilities at Manila and Clark Field. Despite adverse weather conditions limiting the effectiveness of the strike, they succeeded in sinking one transport and six oilers, as well as destroying 32 Japanese aircraft. Meanwhile, as Oldendorf's warships commenced their bombardment and minesweeping operations, kamikaze attacks continued. The destroyer minesweeper USS Long (DD-209/DMS-12) missed the attack on Pearl Harbor by about two days, but then immediately started anti-submarine patrols and escort missions. Its long trajectory in the Pacific War saw it make escort runs to Midway, Palmyra and Canton; participate in the invasions of Amchitka, Attu and Kiska in Alaskan waters; escort reinforcements to Roi and Namur in the Marshalls; participate in the invasions of the Admiralties, Hollandia, Saipan and Palau; and be one of the first vessels to enter into Leyte Gulf back in October. During the invasion of Lingayen Gulf, Long began mine sweeps on January 6, evading and firing upon Japanese aircraft as she carried out her intricate mission. Shortly after noon, beginning her second run, Long spotted two Zeros heading for her. Long went to 25 knots and opened fire, but a kamikaze crashed into her portside below the bridge about 1 foot above the waterline. With fires and explosions amidships, Long lost power and internal communications, and was unable to fight fires forward. Her commanding officer, Lieutenant Stanley Caplan, fearing an explosion in the forward magazine, gave permission for men trapped on the forecastle to leave the ship; but through a misunderstanding the crew abandoned ship. Later that afternoon a second plane attacked Long and exploded at the same spot, destroying the bridge and breaking the ship's back. Long finally capsized and sank the following morning. Alongside the Long, battleships California and New Mexico, along with the cruisers Columbia, Australia, and Louisville, five destroyers, another minesweeper, and one transport were damaged. Admiral Oldendorf was worried with good reason. Previously, kamikaze operations against his ships and those of other naval commands, though dangerous, had generally been executed by relatively untrained pilots who had taken few precautions to avoid detection and anti-aircraft fire and who often appeared to be flying partially damaged, lightly armored planes carrying little ordnance. In January the kamikazes had been operating in a far different manner. There was now a definite program of kamikaze operations, for the vast majority of the perhaps 100 Japanese aircraft that had attacked the forces under Admiral Oldendorf's command since January 2 had at least attempted kamikaze crashes. In addition, the pilots seemed to be more skilled. They took every advantage of radar-blanketing terrain, especially in the Lingayen Gulf area, and flew toward target ships at extremely low altitudes, thus helping to avoid both radar and visual detection. Flight tactics included radical maneuvering designed not only to avoid anti-aircraft fire and Allied planes but also to confuse observers as to which ship was the actual target. Finally, many of the kamikaze planes were heavily armored and armed. The Allies had expected great results from the relatively new proximity fuze for shipboard 5-inch antiaircraft weapons, but the Japanese planes usually appeared so suddenly and took such violent evasive action that 5-inch batteries could seldom track properly. The employment of the expensive special ammunition was, therefore, generally useless, and was sometimes even dangerous to friendly ships. Having missed approaching kamikazes by such distances that fuzes were not activated, shells sometimes sailed on to explode on or near Allied vessels, thereby causing some damage and many casualties. Concerned about the effectiveness of the kamikaze attacks and recognizing that achieving air superiority did not prevent the enemy's suicide planes, Oldendorf opted for a psychological strategy. He ordered the minesweeper and bombardment groups to persist with their operations, even while sustaining damage, to convince the Japanese that their suicide missions were failing. Kinkaid shared these concerns and requested the cessation of all diversionary air operations to concentrate the main air offensive on Luzon. As a result, Admiral Halsey's carrier-based aircraft and General Kenney's ground forces were tasked with neutralizing all Japanese airfields in Luzon, supported by Durgin's escort carriers. On January 7, McCain's strikes on Luzon and Oldendorf's bombardment of the Lingayen beaches continued, while underwater demolition teams entered the gulf to undertake the dangerous mission of dismantling beach obstacles. Again contrary to expectations, no beach obstacles were found. The "frog men" encountered only a little rifle and machine gun fire, and the few beach defenses they observed appeared to be unoccupied. Their tasks and those of hydrographic ships were completed on the 8th. In retaliation, 20 to 25 kamikazes targeted various segments of the Luzon Attack Force, managing to sink two minesweepers and damage one LST. That night, Kinkaid's destroyers successfully sank the Hinoki off Manila Bay. However, on January 8, the 3rd Fleet units began advancing towards Formosa, as MacArthur and Admiral Nimitz suspected that the kamikazes were launching from there. Without Halsey's additional air support, the Japanese suicide planes once again attacked the Luzon Attack Force, this time damaging the cruiser Australia and the escort carriers Kitkun Bay and Kardashan Bay, as well as inflicting damage on an LSI, an LST, and an APA. Due to significant losses, by the end of the day, the 2nd Air Fleet and the 1st Combined Base Air Force headquarters were disbanded. The 1st Air Fleet received orders to withdraw to Formosa for reorganization, while the severely weakened units of the 4th Air Army were set to continue limited attack operations for a short time until a final evacuation could be carried out. Returning on the morning of the 8th to resume bombardment about 08:00, one section again hit the Lingayen area. About ten minutes later a destroyer standing close inshore and a spotting plane from a battleship reported that Filipinos were forming a parade, complete with United States and Philippine flags, in the town of Lingayen. The fire was shifted to more westerly targets while leaflets were quickly prepared instructing the Filipinos to clear the area. A spotting plane dropped the leaflets and the paraders dispersed. Bombardment started again as soon as the area seemed vacated. The reasons for resuming the bombardment of Lingayen and its environs in the face of this friendly demonstration ashore are unknown, especially since neither underwater demolition teams nor spotting planes had discovered any signs of Japanese activity in the area. The town, at least, seemed safely in the hands of the Filipinos. The most obvious explanation is that erroneous intelligence, having indicated that strong defenses would be encountered in the area, made it incumbent upon Admiral Oldendorf to continue the bombardment whether he wanted to or not. Too much was at stake to take a chance. The Filipinos in the Lingayen area could hardly have been pleased as they saw their homes and public buildings damaged or destroyed by what to them must have seemed an unnecessary bombardment. It seems a tribute both to the Filipinos and to the prewar administration of the United States in the islands--as well as a severe and obvious indictment of Japanese occupation policies--that the people of the Philippines took such adversities in their stride, not permitting personal resentments to overcome judgment and loyalty. Throughout the rest of 8 January, bombardment of the landing beach areas continued without incident. Practically no military installations or targets were found in the Lingayen town and airstrip area, and relatively few were discovered in the San Fabian region. The San Fabian bombardment vessels ran out of targets by 1530 and moved back up the gulf to strike the San Fernando area for another forty-five minutes, completing the task that the Japanese kamikazes had interrupted on the 6th. The Lingayen area ships had long since ceased their firing for the day. Thus ended preliminary bombardment operations. The heavy bombardment of the San Fernando sector on the 6th aroused great anxiety in General Yamashita's headquarters. An enemy landing in that sector would fall north of the main positions of the 58th Independent Mixed Brigade and create serious danger of a thrust toward Baguio over the Bauang-Naguilian Highway. The only means of meeting this potential threat was to change the planned employment of the 19th Division. The division was still in the San Fernando-Naguilian area due to postponement of its scheduled movement inland, and intense enemy air activity over the whole Lingayen area made it improbable that it could move in any case. Consequently, on 7 January, the Area Army ordered the division to assume responsibility for the defense of the sector north of a line running through Santiago, Magungunay, Mt. Bilbil, and Asin. Its main strength was to be concentrated between Naguilian and Baguio. With preliminary operations finished, Kinkaid's amphibious attack convoys arrived at the entrance to Lingayen Gulf around 04:00 on January 9. As the amphibious ships began landing operations, the fire support vessels of Admirals Barbey and Wilkinson positioned themselves for final pre-assault bombardment. In support of these efforts, McCain struck Formosa, destroying 47 Japanese aircraft, sinking seven ships, and damaging eleven others. Throughout the week, the fast carriers conducted a total of 3,030 offensive sorties, dropping approximately 700 tons of bombs at the cost of 86 aircraft. Pleased with the results of the anti-kamikaze operation, Nimitz finally permitted Halsey to launch a major raid into the South China Sea, codenamed Operation Gratitude. Meanwhile, back in Luzon, the pre-assault bombardment commenced at 07:00, gradually shifting fire from the landing beaches to the flanks of the assault area. At 09:00, the first amphibious vehicles began their approach from a departure line about 4,500 yards offshore, while rocket-armed landing craft and aircraft bombarded the beaches. The landing beaches of the 14th Corps were located across the middle of Lingayen Gulf's southern shores and centered on Lingayen airstrip and the nearby grounds of the capitol of Pangasinan Province. In peacetime one would have considered the shore line a beautiful swimming beach, a magnificent strand of firm sand stretching eastward almost 9 miles from the mouth of the Calmay River to the mouth of the Dagupan. The east bank of the Dagupan, which enters the gulf midway between Lingayen and San Fabian, delineated the boundary between the 14th and the 1st Corps, and bridges over the Dagupan were expected to provide the first easy means of contact between the two corps. Since there was a gap of over 6 miles between the 1st Corps' westernmost beaches and the 14th Corps' easternmost, it was imperative that the Dagupan crossings be seized without delay. Planners anticipated that inasmuch as 1st Corps troops would be a mile or so closer to the river at the moment of landing they would be the first to reach the bridges, but it was 14th Corps' responsibility to relieve 1st Corps at the crossings as soon as possible. The 37th Division was to drive toward the Dagupan, while the 40th Division would make a quick thrust west and northwest to Port Sual and Alaminos. Port Sual, located at the southwestern corner of Lingayen Gulf, and at the western extremity of the Army Beachhead Line, possessed some importance as the site of minor port facilities. Alaminos, about twelve miles northwest of Port Sual, lay inland on the Bolinao Peninsula. Early capture of road junctions at Alaminos would help forestall Japanese attempts to organize counterattacks against the 6th Army's right flank. In contrast, the beaches assigned to the 1st Corps were more widely spaced. The units of the 6th Division were scheduled to land on the Blue Beaches, located midway between the Dagupan River mouth and that of the Bued River. The 103rd Regiment was to land on White Beach 3 at San Fabian, while the 169th Regiment would land on White Beach 2, nearly two miles to the northeast. Additionally, the 2nd Battalion of the 172nd Regiment was set to land on the nearby White Beach 3. Fortunately for the American forces, they encountered minimal resistance as the initial waves approached the shore, facing only some challenges from the ebb tide. Shortly after 09:30, the 1st and 20th Regiments landed on the Blue Beaches, with the 1st Regiment quickly securing the mouth of the Bued River and advancing three miles inland to Mangaldan, while the 20th Regiment moved toward Dagupan. Meanwhile, Wing's regiments landed on their designated beaches to the northeast but faced harassment from snipers, artillery, and mortar fire from Lieutenant General Nishiyama Fukutaro's 23rd Division. However, the assault waves of the 14th Corps moved more slowly than expected, reaching the western beaches only by 09:40. The 185th Regiment captured Orange Beach, the 160th Regiment took Green Beach, the 148th Regiment secured Yellow Beach, and the 129th Regiment landed unopposed on Crimson Beach. After landing on the beaches, the 1st Battalion of the 185th Regiment marched to the Agno River's mouth. Meanwhile, the 40th Reconnaissance Troop established a roadblock on the main road, just three miles east of Port Sual. The 2nd Battalion of the 185th Regiment advanced directly inland through Lingayen, successfully crossing the Calmay River and an east-west segment of the Agno River. Similarly, the 160th Regiment crossed the Calmay and assembled nearly four miles inland. The reserve 2nd Battalion of the 108th Regiment landed at Lingayen, while the 148th Regiment moved straight inland, crossing both the Calmay and Dagupan Rivers toward San Carlos. The 129th Regiment entered Dagupan and crossed the Patan River to reach Calasiao, with its 3rd Battalion eventually extending the line to connect with the 148th. By the end of the day, Griswold had established a beachhead stretching northwestward from Calasiao for nearly twenty miles to the outpost near Port Sual. At the same time, Wing's units encountered the most significant resistance from three tiers of ridges that overlooked the 43rd Division's beaches from the north, northeast, and east. The 43rd Division had the most hazardous and difficult S-day tasks. On the division's left low hills lay scarcely three-quarters of a mile inland from WHITE Beaches 1 and 2. Stretching northward, and coming still closer to Lingayen Gulfs eastern shore, a first line of low, grass-covered hills formed a somewhat broken ridge line, the seaward slopes of which grew steeper as the hills proceeded north along the coast. Beyond this first range, which averaged less than 250 feet in height, lay another, more irregular north-south ridge that rose to 350 feet. Still further east--a little over three miles inland--was yet a third steep-sided, grass-covered ridge line, this one averaging around 600 feet high. The three tiers of ridges overlooked the 43rd Division's beaches from the north, northeast, and east. They provided the Japanese with natural defensive terrain, excellent observation, good positions from which to deliver direct fire on the beaches, and cover behind which there was protection from the essentially flat trajectory of naval support fires. Moreover, the ridges were close to assembly areas further inland that could provide large Japanese forces with cover and concealment. In a single night the Japanese could move considerable strength from these assembly points into the tiers of hills to launch a counterattack against the 6th Army's left. While the 2nd Battalion of the 172nd Regiment advanced toward Hill 247, the 169th Regiment moved eastward, successfully reaching Binday and extending its lines north along the gentle slopes leading to Hill 470. Meanwhile, the 2nd Battalion of the 172nd Regiment quickly secured the barrios of Mabilao and Alacan, ultimately capturing Hill 247 despite scattered resistance. As small arms and mortar fire intensified, combat patrols advanced toward Hill 385, coinciding with the remainder of the 172nd coming ashore. Finally, the 103rd Regiment took control of San Fabian without facing any opposition and then advanced generally south and southeast toward Hill 200, halting just north of San Jacinto by the end of the day. While the assault units of the 1st Corps successfully landed by dusk on January 9, Swift's advance was not as deep as Griswold's, leaving several dangerous gaps between his units. Throughout the day, the Japanese launched sporadic kamikaze attacks on the Luzon Attack Force, causing significant damage to the battleship Mississippi, hitting the cruisers Columbia and Australia again, and damaging one destroyer escort. Meanwhile, friendly anti-aircraft fire resulted in numerous casualties aboard the battleship Colorado. In response to the enemy landings, Yamashita decided to deploy the 2nd Tank Division to the Agno River line near Tayug, where the armored units were to execute a counterattack from the northern flank if the enemy overextended. He also sent five battalions under Lieutenant-General Tsuda Yoshitake to secure the Cabanatuan area, ordered Lieutenant-General Okamoto Yasuyuki's 10th Division to position elements in the Triangle Hill and Tayug sectors to counter a potential enemy advance from Lingayen toward San Jose, stationed the majority of the 11th Independent Regiment at Bongabong, and directed the Noguchi Detachment to move from Bicol to the Manila area. During the night, the 12th Surface Raiding Regiment, based at Port Sual, attempted to disrupt further enemy landings with a full-scale suicide boat attack on ships near the beachhead. Taking advantage of the element of surprise, the small explosive-laden boats approached undetected but only succeeded in sinking one LCI and damaging eight other vessels. In other areas, increased guerrilla activities and Allied airstrikes in northern Luzon had nearly stopped the Japanese from collecting and transporting vital food supplies to the critical defense zones within the Baguio-Mankayan-Bambang triangle. This disruption would hinder the 14th Area Army's capacity to conduct a prolonged defensive campaign. Although plans for a desperate, full-scale counteroffensive were developed, Yamashita decisively rejected this strategy, instead ordering the 2nd Tank Division to cancel its intended counterattack and regroup at Lupao, approximately eight miles northwest of San Jose. Meanwhile, on January 10, Griswold's forces continued their advance inland: the 185th Regiment moved west toward Port Sual; the 160th Regiment progressed southward about eight miles; the 148th Regiment quickly advanced to San Carlos; and the 129th Regiment pushed forward to Malasiqui, where the 14th Corps faced enemy resistance for the first time since the landing. Additionally, the reserve 108th and 145th Regiments successfully landed on the Lingayen beaches. To the north, the 6th Division shifted generally south and southeast, covering about four miles across flat, dry, open farmland, and by nightfall, it secured a front of approximately seven miles from west to east. As they continued northeast, the 103rd Regiment expanded its front, with its 2nd Battalion advancing toward Manaoag while the other two battalions moved to the area northwest of Hill 200. Lastly, the 169th and 172nd Regiments encountered the most intense resistance thus far, providing an early glimpse of the challenges that would impede the 43rd Division for the upcoming month. The 1st Battalion, 169th Regiment, supported by close artillery and mortar fire, engaged in combat along the steep, grassy slopes of Hill 470, ultimately capturing the summit by nightfall. Meanwhile, the rest of the regiment advanced across the Bued River toward Hills 355 and 318, but halted near the river due to heavy artillery, mortar, and machine-gun fire. To the north, the 172nd Regiment cleared Hill 385 and then moved toward Hills 351 and 580, gradually advancing along the southern section of the third ridge line, which was located inland from the beaches. Additionally, its 1st Battalion progressed two miles along the graveled coastal road and conducted patrols along the ridge crest. By nightfall, Krueger had determined that the 6th Army Reserve should be deployed in the 1st Corps' area, as outlined in the pre-assault plans, due to the significant resistance faced by the 43rd Division. He suspected that the apparent lack of enemy resistance to the west was a trap, designed to lure the 6th Army into overextending its lines, making its flanks susceptible to a counterattack from the east. Fortunately for the Americans, Tominaga's kamikaze attacks began to diminish in the days following the landing, with an attack on January 10 resulting in damage only to the destroyer escort LeRay Wilson and one transport ship. The next day, the 43rd Division continued to face challenges in Luzon. The Japanese mortar and artillery fire along the 172nd's eastern front was so severe that Wing decided to shift the regiment's attack direction from east to north, resulting in minimal progress as they redeployed to strike toward Hills 351 and 580 from Hill 470. Additionally, the reserve 158th Regiment was landed to relieve the 1st Battalion, 172nd Regiment, on the coastal road. Looking southeast, the 169th Regiment nearly encircled Hill 318. However, despite receiving maximum support from Durgin's carrier aircraft, naval gunfire, and division artillery, they were unable to dislodge the Japanese forces, who had entrenched themselves in the hillside. Meanwhile, Griswold's advance inland to secure the Army Beachhead Line continued to progress well on January 11. On the 11th the 185th Infantry patrolled and consolidated its positions on the west flank, suffered no casualties, killed 5 Japanese, and captured another. Early in the morning a Chevrolet sedan of 1940 or 1941 vintage, occupied by two Japanese, came calmly down the coast road from the direction of Port Sual. Obviously unaware that Company C, 185th Infantry, maintained a roadblock on the highway, the Japanese practically ran into the American outpost before they realized their situation. Before they could recover from their surprise and consternation, both Japanese were dead, and Company C had acquired some luxurious transportation. Meanwhile the 160th Regiment reached Aguilar, a road junction already held by Filipino guerrillas. The 108th Regiment closely followed the 160th, and the 148th Regiment established a line from Dumpay westward for four miles to Bacnar, with patrols extending further south to Urbiztondo and Bayambang. By the end of the day, the 14th Corps had either occupied or outposted nearly all the territory within the Army Beachhead Line in its sector. However, with Swift's units unable to keep up with the advance southward, Griswold faced the risk of exposing his eastern flank if he continued to push forward. Therefore, the 1st Corps needed reinforcement to prevent widening the gap along the corps boundary. As a result, the reserve 63rd Regiment and the 13th Armored Group were deployed in the San Fabian area, while the 6th Ranger Battalion, which had landed at Blue Beaches the previous day, moved to the Dagupan area. Additionally, Major-General Charles Mullins' 25th Division began to assemble between the Agoi and Patalan Rivers. Despite these developments, casualties had been significantly lower than expected, with 55 men killed and around 185 wounded, primarily from the 43rd Division. Japanese casualties in ground operations were also relatively low, with American estimates suggesting between 150 and 200 Japanese killed. Meanwhile, Task Force 38 made its way into the South China Sea via the Luzon Strait on January 10, accompanied by the refueling group. Although poor weather conditions thwarted a scheduled refueling on that day, Task Force 38 was completely fueled by noon on January 11 and prepared to carry out Halsey's ambitious raid. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. As Allied forces prepared for a major assault on Luzon, kamikaze attacks intensified, leading to fierce battles and unexpected challenges, but Filipino resilience shone through despite devastation. On the shores of Lingayen Gulf, American forces launched a strategic landing, facing minimal resistance, but soon encountered fierce Japanese counterattacks as they advanced inland.
A seven-year-old cold case is blown wide open after a grisly discovery is made on the remote, tropical atoll of Palmyra.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at lauraandiain@bbc.co.uk
In this episode, Sandra Tanner and Chris delve into key figures and moments in Mormon historical scholarship. They discuss individuals like Dee Jay Nelson, Mark Hoffman, and Wesley Walters, highlighting their contributions to uncovering evidence that challenges official LDS narratives, including the Palmyra revivals and the 1826 trial of Joseph Smith. The conversation touches on the work of scholars like Dan Vogel, Stan Larson, and D. Michael Quinn, as well as influential writers such as Fawn Brodie. Topics include changes in the Book of Mormon, early Mormon controversies, and the deeper complexities of Mormon history. This episode provides a compelling exploration of the intersection between faith, evidence, and critical analysis. Show Notes YouTube Mormon Stories Thanks Our Generous Donors! Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today: One-time or recurring donation through Donorbox Support us on Patreon PayPal Venmo Our Platforms: YouTube Patreon Spotify Apple Podcasts Contact us:MormonStories@gmail.comPO Box 171085, Salt Lake City, UT 84117 Social Media: Insta: @mormstories TikTok: @mormonstoriespodcast Join the Discord
Bryan, Bo and KD talk about the multiple accounts of the First Vision and the article in the Gospel Topics series. --The Unveiling Mormonism podcast pulls back the curtain on Mormon history, culture and doctrine. Join us for new episodes every Monday. Find resources to talk about these episodes at pursueGOD.org/mormonism.Help others go "full circle" as a follower of Jesus through our 12-week Pursuit series.Click here to learn more about how to use these resources at home, with a small group, or in a one-on-one discipleship relationship.Got questions or want to leave a note? Email us at podcast@pursueGOD.org.Donate Now --Find the article here. The First Vision is one of the most pivotal events in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), regarded as the moment when Joseph Smith, the founder of the church, received a divine visitation from God the Father and Jesus Christ. This vision, which Smith claimed to have experienced in 1820 in the woods near his home in Palmyra, New York, is foundational to LDS theology, marking the beginning of the Restoration of the gospel and the establishment of the LDS Church. As such, the account of this vision is central to the faith of millions of Latter-day Saints.In an effort to address the complexities surrounding the multiple accounts of the First Vision, the LDS Church published an article titled "The First Vision Accounts" in its Gospel Topics series. The article is part of the Church's broader effort to engage with historical scholarship, acknowledging that there are discrepancies between the various accounts Joseph Smith gave of his vision over the years. While the article seeks to harmonize these differences and present the vision as a consistent and inspired event, a closer critical examination reveals several concerns, particularly regarding its treatment of historical context, the inconsistencies between accounts, and the theological implications of these discrepancies.1. Acknowledging Multiple AccountsThe article begins by acknowledging that Joseph Smith gave several accounts of the First Vision over the years, each with varying details. This is a notable step in the Church's public engagement with historical criticism, as it is an issue that has long been raised by scholars and critics alike. The article lists the key versions of the First Vision: the 1832 account, the 1835 account (given to a man named Joshua, later written down by a scribe), the 1838 account (which is the version published in the History of the Church), and later retellings in the 1840s.The acknowledgment of multiple accounts is an important admission, especially given that some critics have argued that the differing versions undermine the credibility of Joseph Smith's vision. The article explains that these differences are not contradictions, but rather reflections of Joseph Smith's evolving understanding of the experience, the audience he was addressing, and his desire to emphasize certain aspects of the vision depending on the context.While this approach offers a plausible defense for the differing accounts, the article could be seen as somewhat dismissive of the deeper implications of these discrepancies. A more robust engagement with the question of why Joseph Smith's retellings varied so widely, both in terms of content and theological emphasis, would provide a more...
Bryan, Bo and KD talk about the multiple accounts of the First Vision and the article in the Gospel Topics series. --The Unveiling Mormonism podcast pulls back the curtain on Mormon history, culture and doctrine. Join us for new episodes every Monday. Find resources to talk about these episodes at pursueGOD.org/mormonism.Help others go "full circle" as a follower of Jesus through our 12-week Pursuit series.Click here to learn more about how to use these resources at home, with a small group, or in a one-on-one discipleship relationship.Got questions or want to leave a note? Email us at podcast@pursueGOD.org.Donate Now --Find the article here. The First Vision is one of the most pivotal events in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), regarded as the moment when Joseph Smith, the founder of the church, received a divine visitation from God the Father and Jesus Christ. This vision, which Smith claimed to have experienced in 1820 in the woods near his home in Palmyra, New York, is foundational to LDS theology, marking the beginning of the Restoration of the gospel and the establishment of the LDS Church. As such, the account of this vision is central to the faith of millions of Latter-day Saints.In an effort to address the complexities surrounding the multiple accounts of the First Vision, the LDS Church published an article titled "The First Vision Accounts" in its Gospel Topics series. The article is part of the Church's broader effort to engage with historical scholarship, acknowledging that there are discrepancies between the various accounts Joseph Smith gave of his vision over the years. While the article seeks to harmonize these differences and present the vision as a consistent and inspired event, a closer critical examination reveals several concerns, particularly regarding its treatment of historical context, the inconsistencies between accounts, and the theological implications of these discrepancies.1. Acknowledging Multiple AccountsThe article begins by acknowledging that Joseph Smith gave several accounts of the First Vision over the years, each with varying details. This is a notable step in the Church's public engagement with historical criticism, as it is an issue that has long been raised by scholars and critics alike. The article lists the key versions of the First Vision: the 1832 account, the 1835 account (given to a man named Joshua, later written down by a scribe), the 1838 account (which is the version published in the History of the Church), and later retellings in the 1840s.The acknowledgment of multiple accounts is an important admission, especially given that some critics have argued that the differing versions undermine the credibility of Joseph Smith's vision. The article explains that these differences are not contradictions, but rather reflections of Joseph Smith's evolving understanding of the experience, the audience he was addressing, and his desire to emphasize certain aspects of the vision depending on the context.While this approach offers a plausible defense for the differing accounts, the article could be seen as somewhat dismissive of the deeper implications of these discrepancies. A more robust engagement with the question of why Joseph Smith's retellings varied so widely, both in terms of content and theological emphasis, would provide a more...
The United Nations said on Tuesday that it rejects any aggression against Syrian sovereignty and violations of its territorial integrity, while Israel said it was establishing a "sterile defense zone" in southern Syria after carrying out more than 350 strikes in 48 hours.12月10日,联合国表示,反对任何侵犯叙利亚主权和破坏其领土完整的行为。而在48小时内实施了350多次袭击后,以色列表示正在叙利亚南部建立一个“无菌防御区”。Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said at a news conference that Syria's "turning point" should not be used by its neighbors to encroach upon its territory, and should instead be used by all those in the region to support the Syrian people.联合国秘书长古特雷斯的发言人迪雅里克在新闻发布会上表示,近期局势变化是叙利亚面临的“转折点”,周边邻国不应趁机侵占叙利亚领土,而该地区的所有人应在此时支持叙利亚人民。Dujarric said they were very clear about the violation of the 1974 disengagement agreement following the Israel Defense Forces' occupation of the buffer zone. In 1967, Israel occupied most of the Golan Heights during the Middle East war and later annexed the territory. This was never recognized by the international community.迪雅里克强调,联合国非常清楚以色列国防军占领缓冲区违反了1974年签订的脱离接触协议。1967年,以色列在第三次中东战争中占领戈兰高地部分地区,后将这一被占领土兼并。国际社会不承认以色列对这一地区的主权。Meanwhile, Geir Pedersen, the UN special envoy for Syria, told journalists in Geneva on Tuesday that the conflict in northeastern Syria is not over as there have been clashes between the Syrian National Army, the opposition groups and the Syrian Democratic Forces.与此同时,联合国秘书长叙利亚问题特使裴凯儒10日在瑞士日内瓦表示,叙利亚东北部的冲突尚未结束,叙利亚国民军、反对派团体和叙利亚民主力量之间持续发生冲突。"We are calling obviously for calm also in this area," Pedersen said.裴凯儒说:“我们呼吁该地区保持冷静。”In addition, Israeli troop movements into the occupied Golan Heights and bombardments "need to stop", he said. "The message from New York is just the same — that what we are seeing is a violation of the disengagement agreement in 1974."此外,裴凯儒表示,以色列军队进入被占戈兰高地并进行轰炸的行为“必须停止”。他说:“联合国发出的信息是一样的——我们所看到的是对1974年脱离接触协议的违反。”In a post on X, the Israel Defense Forces reported striking most of what it claimed were the strategic weapons stockpiles in Syria in 48 hours "to prevent them from falling into the hands of terrorist elements".以色列国防军在社交平台X上发帖称,过去48小时内在叙利亚实施的袭击,击中了叙利亚大部分战略武器库,“以防止它们落入恐怖分子之手”。Among the actions were more than 350 airstrikes. A "wide range of targets" included antiaircraft batteries, Syrian Air Force airfields and dozens of alleged weapons production sites in Damascus, Homs, Tartus, Latakia and Palmyra.以军的行动包括350多次空袭。袭击目标广泛,包括大马士革、霍姆斯、塔尔图斯、拉塔基亚和巴尔米拉的机场、防空炮台以及一些武器生产基地。Syria's naval operations were also targeted, including the Al-Bayda port and the Latakia port, where 15 Syrian naval vessels were hit.叙利亚海军也遭到袭击,其中包括位于米奈特贝达湾和拉塔基亚港的15艘叙利亚海军舰艇。Pedersen said Syria is still in a very "fluid" period, adding that there is a real opportunity for change, but it needs to be grasped by the Syrians themselves and supported by the UN and the international community.裴凯儒表示,叙利亚仍处于一个非常“不稳定”的时期。这是一个真正的变革机会,但这个机会需要叙利亚人自己把握,并得到联合国和国际社会的支持。Abu Mohammad Al-Jolani, leader of the opposition group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham that led the rebel offensive and wrested control of Syria, told CNN that their goal had been to overthrow Syria's longtime president Bashar al-Assad.领导叛军攻势并夺取叙利亚控制权的反对派组织——沙姆解放组织的领导人阿布·穆罕默德·乔拉尼告诉CNN,他们的目标是推翻长期执政的叙利亚总统巴沙尔·阿萨德的政权。Syria's caretaker Prime Minister Mohamed al-Bashir called for stability and calm amid a leadership change.叙利亚过渡政府领导人穆罕默德·巴希尔呼吁在领导层更迭之际维持稳定和平静。On Wednesday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the toppling of Assad was the result of a plan by the United States and Israel.11日,伊朗最高领袖阿亚图拉·阿里 ·哈梅内伊表示,阿萨德政权被推翻是美国和以色列共同策划的结果。"What happened in Syria was mainly planned in the command rooms of America and Israel. We have evidence of this. A neighboring government of Syria was also involved," Khamenei said in a speech reported by state media, without naming the neighboring country in question.“叙利亚发生的一切主要是在美国和以色列的指挥中心策划的。我们有证据证明这一点。叙利亚的一个邻国政府也参与其中。”哈梅内伊在伊通社报道的讲话中说,但没有点出这个邻国的名字。Dina Yulianti Sulaeman, director of the Indonesia Center for Middle East Studies, told China Daily that Israel, which is "most invested in weakening Syria" because of the latter's historically hostile stance toward it, will not allow Syria to become stable and secure.印度尼西亚中东研究中心主任迪娜·尤利安蒂·苏莱曼告诉《中国日报》,以色列“最想削弱叙利亚”,因为叙利亚历来对以色列持敌对立场,以色列不会允许叙利亚变得稳定和安全。"In recent days, Israel has bombarded Syria, destroying nearly all of Syria's military facilities, effectively leaving the country with no capacity to defend its sovereignty," she said.她表示:“最近几天,以色列轰炸了叙利亚,摧毁了叙利亚几乎所有的军事设施,实际上使叙利亚没有能力捍卫自己的主权。”"The accumulation of Israeli attacks, the collapse of infrastructure safeguarding territorial sovereignty, economic hardships, and internal chaos bring the potential for Syria's balkanization, as long envisioned in Israel's Oded Yinon Plan."“以色列持续的袭击、捍卫领土主权的基础设施的崩溃、经济困难以及内部混乱,都为叙利亚的巴尔干化带来了可能,而这正是以色列的‘伊农计划'长期以来所设想的。”The Oded Yinon Plan refers to a strategy, outlined in a 1982 article by a former Israeli official and scholar, for Israel's expansion in the Middle East and North Africa region.“伊农计划”是指以色列前官员、学者伊农在1982年发表的一篇文章中概述的以色列在中东和北非地区扩张的战略。sterileadj. 无菌的decryv. 公开反对;谴责balkanizationn. 巴尔干化;分割成小国territorial integrity领土完整
Today's Song of the Day is “Speak My Mind” from Palmyra's EP Belladonna, out now.Palmyra will be performing at at 7th St Entry on Friday, December 13.
Dominic from Palmyra asked about Astorino running for Gov. against Hochul. Mike Florida said he likes the way the democrats are behaving. They lose and it's good for the conservatives. Anthony in Edison asked Mark about the capitol police shooting Ashley Abbott.
Our host Stephanie Fortunato sits down with Rana Amirtahmasebi and Jason Schupbach, co-editors of The Routledge Handbook of Urban Cultural Planning, to be released in December 2024. The Handbook is the first survey of the latest and greatest thinking in urban cultural planning in 10 years, exploring approaches to bringing more cultural vibrancy and engagement in sustainable urban development. The book focuses on the spatial and social organization of urban spaces that facilitate artistic production, foster community well-being, and nurture expressions of civic identity.AcknowledgmentThe Handbook is a partnership between the editors and the World Cities Culture Forum, a network of civic leaders from over 40 creative cities across six continents who share solutions to build a world where culture is at the heart of thriving cities. Leadership at the forum, including Executive Director Laia Gasch, provided significant assistance in helping to structure the book and identify authors. In addition, the editors are grateful for the assistance provided by Global Cultural Districts Network, including Founder Adrian Ellis and Director of Special Projects Stephanie Fortunato, in finding authors and identifying key issues. Also, we are grateful to the staff of the National Endowment for the Arts for assisting identifying authors, including Chair Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson, Senior Advisor Jennifer Hughes and Director of State, Regional and Local Partnerships Michael Orlove. Tashera Dean assisted in copyediting.ReferencesThe Routledge Handbook of Urban Cultural Planning: https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Handbook-of-Urban-Cultural-Planning/Amirtahmasebi-Schupbach/p/book/9781032509907Mark Schuster, professor of urban studies and planning, an expert on arts funding policies: https://news.mit.edu/2008/obit-schuster-0227UNESCO Culture in city reconstruction and recovery: position paper: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000265981Khaled al-Asaad, a Syrian archaeologist and the head of antiquities at the ancient city of Palmyra: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-55977964Buddhas of Bamiyan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhas_of_BamiyanRebuilding the Old Bridge in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina: https://whc.unesco.org/en/story-mostar-bridge/Roberto Bedoya, Cultural Affairs Manager, City of Oakland: https://www.oaklandca.gov/staff/roberto-bedoyaRana Amirtahmasebi BioRana Amirtahmasebi is an economic development and cultural planning strategist and researcher. She is the founder of Eparque Urban Strategies in New York and previously worked at the World Bank, Aga Khan Programme on Islamic Architecture at MIT and several other entities. https://www.linkedin.com/in/rana-amirtahmasebi-56a0667/ Jason Schupbach BioJason Schupbach is the dean of the Westphal College of Media Arts & Design at Drexel University. He is a nationally recognized expert in the role that arts and design play in improving communities. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonschupbach/
AP correspondent Charles de Ledesma reports a strike thought to be by Israel has killed dozens of people in Palmyra, Syria
If you start at Hawaii and travel 1,000 miles south, you'll run into a cluster of tiny islands known as islets that make up the Palmyra Atoll.
When Malcom "Mac" Graham III and his wife Eleanor "Muff" LaVerne Graham sailed their ketch the Sea Wind to Palmyra in 1974 they had no idea it was going to be their final trip. They had the misfortune of meeting Duane Buck Walker and his girlfriend Stephanie Sterns and that was the beginning of the end for the happily married couple. Support the showInstagram @vintagehomicidepodcastFacebook Vintage Homicide Podcasthttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/lachesis19vemail vintagehomicidepodcast@gmail.comwebsite https://vintagehomicide.buzzsprout.com
A preview from our upcoming book, Your Cheeky Guide to the Roman Empire, on the rebellious Queen Zenobia of Palmyra.
In this bonus episode, we play a recording that we did on the 2024 standard to tour in Palmyra. We hear the comments of tour participants and the things that they liked the most about the tour. We hope that you enjoy this bonus episode and that you are having a lovely conference weekend. Standard of Truth Tour dates for the summer of 2025: https://standardoftruth.com/tours/ Missouri/Nauvoo – June 22nd through June 28th Palmyra/Kirtland – August 3rd through August 9th Sign up for our free monthly email: https://standardoftruthpodcast.substack.com If you have any questions or possible topics of discussion for upcoming podcasts, please email us at: questions@standardoftruthpodcast.com