Podcasts about Persians

Babylon was conquered, but not destroyed by the Medes & Persians. Who are the Medes? The modern day Kurds. This battle will occur during the Day of the Lord.

The defeat of the Persian fleet at Salamis didn't end the Greek struggle for survival - it revealed deep fractures within their alliance that nearly surrendered their hard-won victory. Though only 31 Greek city-states had united against Persian invasion, their coalition teetered on collapse shortly after their naval triumph.When King Xerxes withdrew with most of his forces, leaving General Mardonius in Thessaly to continue the campaign the following spring, the immediate threat seemed to recede. This apparent reprieve accelerated the Peloponnesian desire to retreat behind their defensive wall at the Corinthian isthmus while Athens struggled to rebuild their utterly destroyed city.The strategic gulf between Athens and Sparta widened as Mardonius cleverly exploited these divisions. Sending Alexander I of Macedon as an envoy, the Persians offered Athens remarkably generous terms: autonomy, additional territory, and assistance rebuilding their temples - if they would abandon the Greek alliance. These diplomatic overtures revealed Persian sophistication in understanding and manipulating Greek interstate politics. The stakes became brutally clear when an Athenian councilman who supported accepting Persian terms was stoned to death alongside his family.As Mardonius advanced into Attica a second time, Athens evacuated to Salamis again, sending increasingly desperate envoys to Sparta. The Peloponnesians, however, completed their defensive fortifications at the isthmus while celebrating religious festivals - a thinly-veiled excuse for inaction. Athens found themselves abandoned precisely when they needed their allies most.This moment of crisis illuminates the trajectory of Greek interstate relations that would eventually culminate in the devastating Peloponnesian War decades later. The continental, defensive mindset of Sparta clashed fundamentally with Athens' commitment to a united Greek response. These divergent strategic priorities would develop into competing visions for Greece's future after the Persian threat receded.Support the show

INTRO: Student absences are on the rise. Nationally, the number of students missing school, all the way from K to 12 has doubled since the pandemic began. That's according to the U.S. Department of Education. There can be a lot of contributing factors for absences, but as Fahima Degia (Day-gi-ya) reports, some New York City public school students are choosing other pathways to develop their careers. Degia 1 46th Street in Flatbush is a long block. In the middle is a brown house. walk into the backyard there and the first thing you see is a white shed. And… It's filled with birds. Malik 1 This is a yellow headed Amazon. This comes from the Amazon Rainforest. They cost about $2,500 and they live up to like 50 to 60 years. Degia 2 That's Kizir Malik, he's18 years old and a senior at Clinton High School, in the Bronx. But, He has other things on his mind besides school. He's the co-owner of a small business selling exotic animals - like these birds. Degia 3 Omg a bird just landed on my head. Degia 4 Do you prefer you small business over school? Malik 2 laughing, That's a hard question ? That uhh it depends Degia 3 Malik started his business out of boredom when he was stuck at home during COVID. Now he has a business partner, a grownup.That's who owns the property here. And they breed cats, like Persians, in the basement. Degia 6 When I asked Malik how much he makes, he won't tell me, but he says they sell a couple of birds every day. The types of birds he sells can go for up to twenty thousand dollars. And they have an instagram account with ten thousand followers. But he has an hour commute from his home in the Bronx to his partner's house here in Brooklyn And all of this means he misses a lot of days of school. Malik 3 You know, sometimes school is not everything. But yeah, there are some days that you have to sacrifice either school or work, because work work will give you money now, you know, school will give you money later. So a couple of days won't do any harm. Degia 7 In my reporting I've seen a lot of high school students like Malik who run their own businesses - selling fake eyelashes, doing nails - some even have their own clothing brands. In NYC, just over a third of students all the way from K to grade 12 were absent in 2022. Of course they don't all have their own small businesses, but they did miss 10% of the school year. And students' prioritizing work can lead them to miss a lot of school. So how do schools fix this? Nat Malkus researches education policy at the American Enterprise Institute - a conservative leaning think tank. Malkus 1 What can schools do, I mean, schools can do a number of things, Degia 8 Malkus 2 they can provide supports, they can share transportation has met, they can actually have consequences. If students don't come back, like they could not get credits, if they don't attend enough in high school, they could have some consequences for students who don't show up Degia 9 Malkus says Chronic absenteeism harms student's ability to stay engaged and learn. He says schools should work closely with parents to ensure their kids get to school. Malkus 3 you could argue about the moral obligation, but there's a legal obligation to get your kids to school and all 50 states up to a certain age. He says students are already behind from the pandemic. So Malkus says There is substantial learning loss from the pandemic, and to catch up they have to learn faster. Being absent Won't help. Malik who has school tomorrow will definitely be present. Degia 10 He says students having businesses is okay. But he says chronic absenteeism is the most pressing post-pandemic problem in public schools. Because students are already behind after COVID. Fahima Degia, Uptown Radio.

Part 1 Afghanistan by Stephen Tanner Summary"Afghanistan" by Stephen Tanner provides a comprehensive overview of the history and complexities of Afghanistan, focusing on its geopolitical significance and the impact of various foreign invasions and internal conflicts. Tanner delves into the nation's historical context, beginning with its role as a crossroads for trade and culture, influenced by various empires throughout history, including the Persians, Greeks, and Mongols.The book explores the 19th-century Anglo-Afghan Wars, highlighting the British attempts to exert control over the region and the resulting resistance from Afghan tribes. Tanner explains how these conflicts foreshadowed future struggles and set the stage for ongoing instability.Moving into the 20th century, Tanner examines the rise of nationalism, the impact of World War II, and the Soviet invasion in 1979, which plunged Afghanistan into a brutal conflict. He discusses the emergence of the Mujahideen and the eventual rise of the Taliban, as well as the catastrophic consequences of foreign interventions and civil war.In the post-9/11 era, Tanner addresses the U.S. invasion and the subsequent efforts to rebuild the nation amidst ongoing violence and corruption. He stresses the complexities involved in nation-building in a country with deep-rooted tribal affiliations and historical grievances.Throughout the book, Tanner provides insights into the cultural, social, and political dynamics of Afghanistan, emphasizing its resilience and the persistent challenges it faces. The narrative is both a historical account and a commentary on the interaction between Afghanistan and larger global powers, making it a valuable resource for understanding the nation's tumultuous past and uncertain future.Part 2 Afghanistan AuthorStephen Tanner is an American author and military historian known for his work on the history of military conflicts, particularly in Afghanistan. His book "Afghanistan" was published in 2002. In addition to "Afghanistan," Tanner has written several other notable works, including:"The Siege of Washington: The Untold Story of the Decision to Evacuate the Capital" (2005)"A Clash of Cultures: Afghanistan in the 21st Century" (2006)"The Riddle of the Sands" (2007)"The War Against the Taliban: A Historical Perspective" (2008)Evaluating the quality of various editions, the best edition of Tanner's "Afghanistan" often cited by readers is the 2002 initial edition, as it provides the foundational analysis of the complex history and sociopolitical dynamics within Afghanistan, set against the backdrop of the early 21st-century military engagement. Later editions and adaptations may include updated content reflecting newer events, but the original offers a critical look at the historical context that shaped the region at that time.Part 3 Afghanistan Chapters"Afghanistan" by Stephen Tanner provides a comprehensive history of Afghanistan, tracing its evolution from ancient times to the modern era, particularly focusing on the sociopolitical dynamics and military conflicts that have shaped the region.Overall Theme: The overarching theme of the book revolves around the complexities of Afghanistan's identity and its pivotal role in regional and global politics. Tanner effectively examines how the interplay of local dynamics, foreign interventions, and historical legacies has created a unique yet tumultuous environment within the country. Central to the theme is the idea that Afghanistan is more than merely a battleground for external powers; it is a nation with a rich cultural heritage that has been forged through centuries of conflict and resilience.Main Chapter Content: Historical Context: The book opens with an overview of Afghanistan's early history, including its geographical significance as a crossroads of...

This holy martyr was a married man, living in Cappadocia. During the reign of Julian the Apostate he, along with some other Christians, destroyed the pagan temple to the goddess Fortuna. (The Prologue says that it was his wedding day). For this he and his companions were cruelly tortured, then beheaded.   At that time St Basil the Great governed the Church in that part of Cappadocia. When the apostate Emperor, going to fight the Persians, came to the town in which Eupsychius was martyred, St Basil went to meet him, bringing three barley loaves as a sign of honor and welcome. The Emperor, ever hostile to Christians, ordered that the bishop be given a fistful of hay in return. Saint Basil said to the Emperor 'You ridicule us now, O King; we bring you bread, by which we are fed, and you give us miserable food that you, with all your power, are unable to turn into nourishment for men.' The Emperor perished in the Persian campaign.

Marti Gobel is a nationally recognized actor, director and teaching artist. Upon graduating from UW-Whitewater in 2008 with a degree in Performance Theatre and Philosophy (with an emphasis in Religious Studies), Ms. Gobel began a rich career in both theatre and television and film. Her need to add to the tapestry of the mid-west professional theatre scene led to the founding of the now defunct UPROOTED theatre. As Producing Artistic Director (from 2009-2015)  worked tirelessly to diversify the arts through her efforts. Ms. Gobel is a current member of both Actors Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA.Selected Stage Credits include: Milwaukee Shakespeare (Henry IV, part 2), Milwaukee Chamber Theatre (Well, Around The World In 80 Days, Broken and Entered, Fires In the Mirror) Renaissance Theaterworks' (NEAT: Milwaukee, Sheboygan and South Africa, The Persians, Crumbs From the Table of Joy, The Violet Hour, Still, Sex With Strangers, The Roommate, Witch and a reading of Tanya Saracho's El Nogular and Gwendolyn Rice's The Griots), First Stage Children's Theatre (The Neverendingstory and readings of Jackie and Me, The Promised Land), The Milwaukee Repertory Theater (Clybourne Park, A Christmas Carol:2012-2014, Yankee Tavern, Trouble In Mind), Forward Theater (In The Next Room, Mr. Burns, Skeleton Crew, Mom, How Did You Meet The Beatles) and UPROOTED theatre (Beauty's Daughter: Milwaukee, Chicago and Memphis, A Streetcar Named Desire, Yellowman, Crumbs From the Table of Joy, *Pink Champagne, Jack and Jill, Hoo Doo Love, Oleanna, I Have Before Me A Remarkable Document Given To Me By A Young Lady From Rwanda, The Philadelphia Story, *Man From Madisonville, The Sunset Limited, Suddenly Last Summer), Next Act Theatre (Perfect Mendacity, No Child, Twilight: Los Angles, The Taming, The Christians), and Theatre Lila (No Child). Marti plays an ongoing role as the Civil Rights suffragist, Ida B. Wells for the Kenosha Civil War Museum in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and is often featured in local and regional commercials and voice-overs. She appeared in the short film, Spare Change, as well as the web-series Gettin' Grown; both directed by the award-winning film director Aaron Greer and Faith Flix's Come Follow Me, Mary, Mother of Jesus and the feature film Game Day produced by Chicago Studio City. National television credits include NBC's Chicago PD in addition to several regional commercials.University Productions include: Airness (Hendrix College), Wine In the Wilderness, Crumbs From the Table of Joy, The Light (Marquette University), Trojan Women (UW-Milwaukee).Marti has served as a lead teacher at First Stage Theatre Academy in Milwaukee as well as a lead teacher and program designer for UPROOTED theatre's education department. Past adjunct professor assignments at Marquette University, UW-Milwaukee and Carthage College. She is a JF Kennedy Center trained Teaching Artist who worked closely with Master Educator, Randy Barron for 6 months developing her residency which is now offered through The Young Auditorium and The Overture Center. She currently serves as Artistc Consultant for Black Arts MKE. Ms. Gobel will serve for a third term as a KCACTF adjudicator for Region III.Ms. Gobel is a Jeff Nominated Director for her work on Is God Is with A Red Orchid Theatre and the recipient of 2024 Black Excellence Award for Outstanding Director.She currently serves as Producing Artistic Director and Education Coordinator for OnWord Theatre in San Diego, CA. *Indicates World Premiere'sWebsite: OnWord TheatreInstagram: Instagram (@OnWordTheatre)Facebook: OnWord Theatre | San Diego CABox Office Email: info@OnWordTheatre.comWant a video experience? Check out our YouTube channel! We're now uploading video episodes!This episode:https://youtu.be/XJnZnBJVkKwGeneral channel:http://www.youtube.com/@intheartscene

In the documentary Growing up Gypsy, Stacey Dooley gets to know three young English Romany Gypsy women. Invited into the traditionally private community, Stacey discovers the complex balancing act the young women face growing up in one of Britain's most maligned ethnic minorities. She meets 23 year old Chantelle who prides herself in keeping with the ‘old' Gypsy values her granny Rita taught her and shares her ‘Gypsy Cleaning' videos on social media where she has nearly 400,000 followers on TikTok and 15 million likes on her page. Chantelle joined Kylie Pentelow to talk about her life, alongside Stacey Dooley.In this week's Women's Prize discussion, Clare McDonnell heard from two authors about the debut books they've had long-listed for this year's prestigious literary prize. Sanam Mahloudji's novel, The Persians, tells the story of the Valiat family from the perspective of five women from 1940s Iran into a splintered 2000s. And Labour MP Yuan Yang's non-fiction book, Private Revolutions, explores the lives of four women born in China in the 1980s and 90s during a time of rapid change in society.Since its release, the Netflix TV series Adolescence has caused widespread discussion about what's shaping our teenagers' lives. The four-part series follows the fallout from 13-year-old Jamie's arrest on suspicion of murdering his female classmate, Katie. The show is a critique of social media-boosted toxic masculinity and its role in the teenage experience. Clare discussed the issues with clinical psychologist, Dr Amani Milligan and Consultant Forensic Psychologist, Dr Ruth Tully.Do you enjoy a bit of gossip? The thrill of being the first to hear something and sharing it, or the irresistible urge to be let into the lives of others? What's the difference between idle gossip and hurtful criticism behind someone's back, do women gossip as much as men and can gossip be used to keep women safe? American journalist Kelsey McKinney joined Clare to discuss her new book, You Didn't Hear This From Me: Notes on the Art of Gossip.Technology journalist and author Lara Lewington asks how artificial intelligence can improve women's health, and what we are ready for it to do for us? From prevention and diagnostics to testing and tracking, we speak to female experts, scientists and practitioners. Her experts include Madhumita Murgia, AI Editor of the Financial Times, Nell Thornton, Improvement Fellow, The Health Foundation and Dr Ellie Cannon, a GP and author.This week we heard how victims and survivors of domestic abuse want the police to better protect them from perpetrators, but there's also a very practical and positive way some women have been trying to process their trauma to build a future for themselves. British boxer Lesley Sackey - who previously won gold at the EU Championships - is a survivor of an abusive relationship and now helps other women to gain confidence and move forward by getting into the boxing ring. She joined Claire, along with Olivia Culverhouse, who took part in Lesley's 10-week Fight Forward course.Presenter: Kylie Pentelow Producer: Annette Wells Editor: Sarah Crawley

Return of the Man-Child (4) (audio) David Eells – 3/26/25 Dear Father, we thank You so much for being our Savior. Thank You for guiding us with Your Word. Thank You for encouraging us and for showing us wonders and revelations concerning the times to come. We want to be in agreement with You and You said, “How shall two walk together, except they be agreed?” We thank You for revealing to us Your Word so that we can cooperate with You in the principles that You abide by and we thank You for drawing us, giving us wisdom and opening our understanding. We thank You for giving us eyes to see and ears to hear that this may be possible. Thank You so much, Lord. Amen.  We've been studying out of Matthew some things that show us the truth, That which hath been is that which shall be (Ecc.1:9). We have been looking at the principles of what we know to be not only literally true, but a parable of things to come; and we've been reading in Matthew 2, where we discovered that the Messiah appears as a type and shadow of the coming Man-child Ministry, in whom He will live as the first-fruits.  The Messiah showed up and Herod and all of the people in Jerusalem were troubled concerning this, which is amazing unless you understand that people who are walking in the flesh and enjoying this world really do not want to be disturbed by a Messiah, or by a coming Kingdom, and they don't want their sins to be revealed. God's people have no business being troubled about the coming of the Lord. It should be a joyous thing and it is for all disciples of Jesus Christ. We left off here in (Mat.2:7) Then Herod privily called the Wise-men, and learned of them exactly what time the star appeared. (8) And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Goand search out exactly concerning the young child; and when ye have found [him,] bring me word, that I also may come and worship him. (9) And they, having heard the king, went their way; and lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.Notice that He wasn't a baby anymore; at this point Jesus was a “young child.” (Mat.2:10) And when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.  (11) And they came into the house (He was not in the cave. He was in a house at this time.) and saw the young child with Maryhis mother; and they fell down and worshipped him; and opening their treasures they offered unto him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. (12) And being warned [of God] in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. (13) Now when they were departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I tell thee: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. Sounds very much like what we know from the Scriptures in Revelation 12, where the dragon was awaiting the birth of the Man-child to devour him, but the Man-child escaped and was caught up to the throne.  In the same circumstance here, we see that Jesus is about to escape the clutches of Herod. (Mat.2:14) And he arose and took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt; (15) and was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt did I call my son. The Lord has called His Son, and all of His sons, to come out of Egypt, and if we don't come out of Egypt, we cannot be useful in bringing other people out of Egypt. Herod was seeking to destroy the Messiah. The Bible says that Joseph took the young child and His mother and departed into Egypt. Going into Egypt from where they were in Bethlehem would have entailed them going into the wilderness and God said that they were to stay there until the death of Herod. Then He called His Son out of Egypt to come through the wildernessand go to the Promised Land. This fits very well with all of the histories of the Man-child back through the Bible. Moses went into his personal wilderness when fleeing from Pharaoh, only to return after the death of Pharaoh and become a leader of God's people. Now we see the same thing of Jesus going into His own personal wilderness in fleeing from Herod until the death of Herod.  Then, when Jesus came out from His wilderness, He started His ministry very quickly. We're not speaking physically, but you'll see as we continue this study that there is a seeming jump in time and suddenly the child grew up. The Man-child ministry is the same. Many people have had visions and dreams of what occurred here, that the Man-child was born and immediately started walking, talking, and acting in the Kingdom. He grew up very quickly, as we will see. The narrative jumps from the time He was a young child until the time when His ministry started and that's about to be fulfilled. But notice that all the Man-child types went into their own personal wilderness until the death of the king who ruled over God's people and then they came out of the wilderness and started their ministries. Now Herod wanted to make sure he killed this Messiah; he did not want any competition from any other kings. (Mat.2:16) Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the Wise-men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the male children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the borders thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had exactly learned of the Wisemen. As we have learned, the word “Bethlehem” means “house of bread” or “house of food.” Notice that Herod slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem. That's very interesting because Herod was seeking to destroy the Man-child by killing all the people who were in the “house of food.”  I know that some people think that this murder of all the children applies only to something like abortion, but I think it's the other way around. Abortion is just a physical sign of what is really happening in the Spirit. Herod represents the Beast and Pharaoh represents the Beast kingdom. The beasts attempt, like the Dragon, to destroy the promised seed. How is that fulfilled in the earth today? How does the Beast destroy people in the first place? Well, the Beast represents all mankind that walks in the flesh because it is at enmity with God. If a person walks after the flesh, the Bible says he must die (Romans 8:13). If you walk after the flesh, the Beast has destroyed you. The Beast is making a war on the people who are receiving the Word of Life, the “house of bread.” In these days, God is revealing His promise to raise up His first-fruits in His image. There are a lot of people who understand, who know, who want to be a part of this, and are seeking to be full of the food of God so they can grow into maturity. The fact that God uses a child does not mean that He is not seeking maturity. To be mature in the Kingdom is quite the opposite ofthe way it is in the world. (1Co.14:20) Brethren, be not children in mind: yet in malice be ye babes, but in mind be men. So, according to the ways of the world, we are children, but in mind and soul we are mature.  Jesus said, Except ye turn, and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven (Mat.18:3).We have to be a child in trusting our Father, in being submissive to Him, and that is what maturity is. The Man-child as a corporate body, is very small, so you could see him as a child in that way. We're seeing that Jesus was what the Bible says in Isaiah 7:14. He was “a sign,” an uwth, a sign of something to come; and the Lord has shown us that, as history repeats, it repeats on a larger and larger scale, with larger and larger groups of people. The Man-child Jesus represents an end-time Man-child of a large number of people, but it's still a relatively small corporate body.  Let me say, there are more people called to this first-fruits ministry than are attaining to it. One of the reasons is that some of them are being put to death by the flesh, the Beast. They're being taken out and I've seen myself that people who desired to be in the first-fruits were tricked by their flesh into succumbing to the lusts of the world and so were removed from taking part in this first-fruits ministry. They're slain by the Beast and carried away from the “food” to Babylon; they're carried into bondage. I've seen people who started out with Christ but were taken out by the world. They were taken into bondage in Babylon, bondage to the Beast, and that's what Herod wanted to do – he wanted to capture the Christ-child. This fits with what follows in (Mat.2:17) Then was fulfilled that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet, saying, (18) A voice was heard in Ramah, Weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; And she would not be comforted, because they are not. This text quoted from Jeremiah 31:15 fits with what I just described, which is going into bondage to the Beast is death. The Bible says, for if ye live after the flesh, ye must die (Rom.8:13). Being in bondage to the flesh, to Babylon, to Pharaoh, is death. That's when the old man is ruling over the spiritual man like it was in Egypt.  So who is Rachel? And what does she represent here? Rachel was the second bride of Jacob, the second, favored bride of Jacob, who was Israel, the father of the 12 patriarchs. Can you think of another father of 12 patriarchs? Yes, that would be Jesus. In this case, Jacob, or Israel, represents Jesus, the father of the 12 patriarchs. The second, favored bride represents the Church, and not only that, Rachel bore Joseph and Benjamin. Joseph represents the Man-child, as you know. He was the one who was taken to Egypt and was basically “crucified,” sent to prison (Genesis 39), where he preached to the butler and the baker about who was going up and who was going down (Genesis 40) and came out of prison to be the king over everything, second only to Pharaoh (Genesis 41:40). Jesus did the same thing as a type. So Rachel was the one who brought forth the Man-child, but some of these people were being slain; people who lived in the same “house of bread” as Jesus did were being slain. Rachel was also the mother of Benjamin, who is the last fruit of the Church. You see, there is another fruit after Joseph, who is the first-fruits. The Bible says, But many shall be last [that are] first; and first [that are] last (Mat.19:30). We know that natural Israel is coming back into the Kingdom, but they are coming in last. When the brothers of Joseph came to meet him in Egypt, Benjamin was the last-fruits of Rachel, and I believe that this is referring to the fruits of natural Israel that are coming into the Kingdom at the end. Let's pay attention to Joseph here. What does Rachel and the death of her children represent, and how can we avoid it?  Let's look at the original text in Jeremiah that's quoted in Matthew: (Jer.31:15) Thus saith the Lord: A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children; she refuseth to be comforted for her children, because they are not. They have in some way died and the rest of the text will reveal to us in what way they've died. In the text, Jeremiah speaks of Ephraim and he refers to the children of Rachel, but how is Ephraim of the children of Rachel? Well, Ephraim was the second-born son of Joseph, and the first-born was Manasseh. When Israel came to bless Joseph's sons, who followed in Joseph's steps, Israel took his right hand and put it on Ephraim's head, then he took his left hand and put it on Manasseh's head and he began to bless them (Genesis 48:14). The right hand is always placed on the son of the double blessing, so Joseph was displeased when he saw his father doing this and he tried to move his father's hands. But Israel refused, and said, I know [it,] my son, I know [it;] he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: howbeit his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations (Gen.48:19). It says “the fullness of nations” in the original text, so Ephraim represented the fullness of nations. Not only did Rachel represent the Church, in that she was the second and favored bride of Israel, who represents Jesus, the father of the 12 patriarchs, but also her son was the second-born son who received the first-born's blessings. You remember that Jesus came first to give that blessing to the first-born son, Israel, and they refused it, so He turned to the Church, which was made up of both Jews and Gentiles, to receive this blessing. But, by and large, the first son did not receive the double blessing. Instead, the right hand was upon the second son. Joseph's second son (or his born-again son) is God's first-born.  How is that? Because Israel was not born-again. They should have entered into that blessing and they did not. They were not born-again, but the Church was and is born-again. So Joseph's second son was God's first-born. How do I know that? (Jer.31:9) They shall come with weeping; and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way wherein they shall not stumble; for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn. Why wasn't Manasseh, who represented Israel, the first-born? Because he was the first-born son of Joseph, who represented Jesus. Everything that happened to Joseph happened to Jesus. So, once again, the doctrine that the Church has about the relationship of the Church to natural Israel is totally wrong. God has from the beginning planned to have a born-again people and the “letter people” were a type and shadow of the born-again people. If you don't understand that, you're going to go around worshipping Israel, which failed. If the Church doesn't have any better sense, they will walk in the steps of those people and fail as well. Now we can continue and find out what is meant for Rachel to lose her children. How did they die? What did it represent? (Jer.31:16) Thus saith the Lord: Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. Wow! What is it for them to be dead? It's the same thing we were talking about; it means they were in bondage to the Beast, they were walking after the flesh and so they were dead in the eyes of God. I'll prove it just a little further down. “They shall come again from the land of the enemy.” In other words, they were taken into captivity, serving the old man, like Israel was doing in Egypt or in Assyria when they were taken captive. They were no longer living in their Promised Land.  (Jer.31:17) And there is hope for thy latter end, saith the Lord (Israel must come out of captivity in the latter end and so will the Church.); and [thy] children shall come again to their own border. The Lord calls it “living” when we come back to live in the Promised Land, or live on the promises of God, or live in right relationship to the Presence of God, which was in Zion. That's what He calls “living.” To be in bondage, walking after the flesh in the world, in bondage to your flesh, that's what being “dead” is, according to the Lord. (1Ti.5:6) She that giveth herself to pleasure is dead while she liveth. God calls that “death” – spiritual death. For us to come out of this bondage is God's plan. Why did God raise up the Man-child? To bring His people from death into resurrection life. (Jer.31:18) I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself [thus,] (Notice, we're seeing Rachel's children here as Ephraim and he represents the “fullness of nations,” the Church, the second-born son.) Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a calf unaccustomed [to the yoke:] (You know how a calf is if it's unaccustomed to the yoke – they buck and snort, trying to get loose, wanting to do their own thing.) turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the Lord my God. This is grace. Ask the Lord to turn you, to grant you repentance. It's His gift to give. (Jer.31:19) Surely after that I was turned, I repented (That shows grace, doesn't it? If God turns you, you will be turned. Repentance means “turn and go the other way.”); and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.  (Jer.31:20) Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a darling child? for as often as I speak against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my heart yearneth for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord. The Lord has a heart to deliver His people out of bondage. Ephraim went into bondage before their enemies. They were taken captive by the Beast. They were reckoned as the dead by Rachel. So, we see this in Jeremiah chapters 30 and 31 where it speaks of this. The whole story is there of God delivering His people out of bondage. Why did Jesus come? He came to deliver His people out of Babylonish, or beastly, bondage so that they could serve God. You cannot serve God while you are serving the Egyptian, while you're in bondage to the old man. God started the story in Jeremiah the same way He did in Matthew. Looking at the previous chapter in Jeremiah, we find where He talks about the woman in travail with the Man-child. (Jer.30:6) Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child: wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? Why? Because this is where the whole sequence of events is going to begin. (Jer.30:7) Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. So we're told that it's during the time of “Jacob's trouble,” the Tribulation. Not only that, but He goes on to say of His people that during this time, strangers shall no more make him their bondman (Jer.30:8). In other words, they are going to come out of bondage for the last time. God says they will never again be in bondage. When? The end time.  Then He says, but they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them (Jer.30:9).There is the end-time David that's being raised up because Jesus came to sit upon David's throne (Luke 1:32). (Jer.30:10) Therefore fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the Lord; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid. That is being “saved,” not being in bondage to your flesh anymore, not being in bondage to the Beast anymore, not serving the world anymore. That is what the Lord has promised for us. So you're either saved or you're dead. The Bible calls it being “dead in your sins,” and “dead in your trespasses.” Rachel was weeping because her children had been taken away into bondage and were no longer free to serve God. (Jer.30:21) And their prince shall be of themselves (We read that in Matthew 2; then it was Jesus coming and it's also the Man-child coming in the end time.), and their ruler shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is he that hath had boldness to approach unto me? saith the Lord. (22) And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. The Lord is going to draw these first-fruits unto Himself and that will be the beginning because their job is like Moses' job, which is to bring the people out of Egypt. Moses went through his own wilderness, as we have seen, and then his job was to go back and bring the people through the same wilderness to meet the Lord in the Mountain of God. (Jer.30:24) The fierce anger of the Lord shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall understand it. So this is a latter-day revelation. God's judgment is part of what brings God's people out of bondage and into their Promised Land, which is the place of safety.  Jeremiah 31 tells us this story of Ephraim coming out of bondage and we saw that was because God raised up the Man-child to lead them out of bondage. We see here the same sequence of events. The prince will be raised up from the midst of the people. (Jer.31:1) At that time, saith the Lord, will I be the God of all the families of Israel … “All Israel,” as we know from Romans 11, includes everybody who's abiding in the olive tree. Natural Israel rejected Jesus, and were broken off of the olive tree and the Church was grafted into the olive tree through faith in Jesus Christ. Those true disciples who followed Jesus in the Gospels, who were natural Jews who came into the Kingdom, remained in their olive tree. But it says, “all the families of Israel,” referring to all Jews, Gentiles, and all those who through faith in Jesus Christ are members of the olive tree, which in Romans 11:26 is called “all Israel.”  (Jer.31:1) At that time, saith the Lord, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. This includes the remnant of natural Jews that is to come back in, which I am calling “Benjamin,” who was the last fruit of Rachel. (Jer.31:2) Thus saith the Lord, The people that were left of the sword found favor in the wilderness … There was a sword that came upon Egypt, representing the world, to motivate God's people to be willing to leave the fleshpots of Egypt, to come out from among them and be separate and to worship God in the wilderness. Egypt had to suffer the plagues, while God's people in Goshen were separated from Egypt and delivered from those judgments. Then He moved them out of Egypt and into the wilderness, where God could once again deal with them and teach them faith. (Jer.31:2) Thus saith the Lord, The people that were left of the sword found favor in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest. God planned to bring Israel into His rest.  (Jer.31:3) The Lord appeared of old unto me, [saying,] Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. (4) Again will I build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel … You might think that He's referring to the Bride here when He says the “virgin of Israel,” like the virgin Mary, who brought forth the Man-child and also went into the wilderness to be instructed of the Man-child. In Revelation 12, the Man-child was birthed and then he was caught up to the throne of David, which is God's throne on Earth, where He rules over Israel, according to the Scripture. And from that place of authority, He led the woman, who brought forth the Man-child, through the wilderness. (Jer.31:4) Again will I build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: again shalt thou be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.When God's people are led out of bondage, it will be a time of rejoicing. (Jer.31:5) Again shalt thou plant vineyards upon the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant, and shall enjoy [the fruit thereof]. There is going to be freedom for people who have escaped the bondage of the Beast in the days to come. That's what Moses came to do, that's what Jesus came to do and that's what the Man-child is coming to do: escape the bondage of the Beast and help the Church do the same. Not everyone is going to escape that bondage. (Luk.21:36) But watch ye at every season, making supplication, that ye may prevail to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the son of man.  (Jer.31.6) For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the hills of Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the Lord our God. In other words, the second son is coming out of bondage. (7) For thus saith the Lord, Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout for the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O Lord, save thy people, the remnant of Israel. That's a good thing to cry today because here we are again. The Beast is about to bring God's people into bondage and the overwhelming majority of God's people have been in bondage all along. The bondage that we're talking about is more severe persecution, death, and destruction.  (Jer.31:8) Behold, I will bring them from the north country … The “north country” is the place of bondage. That's where Babylon brought them into captivity, that's where Assyria brought them into captivity and that's where the Medes and the Persians ruled over them. It represents the beast in the north. (Jer.31:8) Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth … This is because now God's people are in bondage to the beast all over the world. We are not talking about only little Israel, who is God's people, but worldwide spiritual Israel, who is circumcised in heart and not just in flesh. They're in bondage to the nations in which they live and God is calling them out of those nations to be a part of “all Israel,” one holy nation. (Jer.31:8) Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth, [and] with them the blind and the lame (Yes, God's people who are in bondage are quite often blind and lame, and God is calling them to be able to see and to be able to walk straight before the Lord.), the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together (In other words, those who have already borne fruit and those who will bear the fruit of Christ.): a great company shall they return hither. They're going to come back to their “borders,” inside the borders of their Promised Land. The borders could represent the outline of the way you live and you want to stay within the boundaries of God's Word, so to speak.  (Jer.31:9) They shall come with weeping; and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters … Amen! Rivers of living water, which Jesus spoke about in (Joh.7:38) He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, from within him shall flow rivers of living water. (39) But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believed on him were to receive … Out of your innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. Jesus Himself brought to His people rivers of living water. That's where their life came from – the Word that came out of His mouth. (Joh.6:63) It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life.  (Jer.31:9) They shall come with weeping; and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way wherein they shall not stumble; for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first-born. (10) Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off … (We are one of those “isles afar off” here in America.); and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as shepherd doth his flock. In other words, the Lord, Who sent His people into bondage in Egypt or in bondage to the nations, is going to draw them out now. This is a time of rejoicing. People are so fearful of the Tribulation, but they don't understand that the Tribulation is the judgment that's coming upon Egypt so that God's Israelites can come out and go into the wilderness to serve God. This is a good time. (Jer.31:11) For the Lord hath ransomed Jacob, and redeemed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he. Which is which? It's the Beast entity “that was stronger than he.” We are not talking about a man when we say “the Beast.” We're referring to the whole body of the Beast. You're either a part of the Body of Christ or you're a part of the body of anti-Christ. The anti-Christ is the Beast kingdom. (Jer.31:12) And they shall come and sing in the height of Zion … God is drawing His people to come into His very Presence on His holy hill. God told Moses, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be the token unto thee, that I have sent thee: when thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain (Exo.3:12).  (Jer.31:12) And they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow unto the goodness of the Lord, to the grain, and to the new wine, and to the oil, and to the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden(Praise the Lord! This is talking about the Tribulation and God is going to raise up His people to bear fruit and they're going to be blessed.); and they shall not sorrow any more at all. (13) Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old together; for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. (14) And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the Lord. Then it goes into the text we studied earlier, where Rachel was weeping for her children and God was comforting her by telling her not to worry, as they would return to their borders. They are coming back. Yes, they have been taken into bondage and are serving the flesh and are dead to the spiritual world, dead to the Kingdom of God, but He's going to change all of that. That's what God is saying in (Jer.31:21) Set thee up waymarks, make thee guide-posts; set thy heart toward the highway, (This refers to the highway of holiness that Isaiah 35:8 said leads to Zion.), even the way by which thou wentest: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities. (22) How long wilt thou go hither and thither, O thou backsliding daughter? In other words, while they're out there wandering around in the world, this is where they are supposed to dwell. These promises are the ones they are supposed to live upon.  …for the Lord hath created a new thing in the earth: A woman shall encompass a man. God is bringing the virgin into the wilderness to be led by the Davidic Manchild. The woman encompassing a man is the Bride encompassing the Man-child. Zion was the Bride, according to Revelation. God told John, Come hither, I will show thee the bride (Rev.21:9). And He showed him the New Jerusalem coming down, being born from above (Revelation 21:10). The Man-child David ruled in the midst of Zion, but he also ruled in the midst of the rest of the Church outside of Zion. So there is the larger Church, there is the Bride and there is the Man-child. This is the new thing that God is going to do: “A woman shall encompass a man.” It's not a new thing as far as history is concerned; it's a new thing as far as we are concerned, in our lifetime, because this is an end-time prophecy. (Jer.31:23) Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Yet again shall they use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity …It's an old English way to say it because it sounds like just the opposite in our modern ears. If you would translate that today, you would say, “I will bring them again from the land of their captivity.” It's a good thing to come out of captivity and into the Kingdom of God. There are only two places you can dwell in this world: you are either in Babylon or you are in Zion. We are coming out of Babylon, which is this world. All of the nations of the world were at Babel. They all came from Babel and they're all part of Babylon, but Zion is separate.  Zion is that holy place that we're all going to. God enjoins them to find this highway to Zion. (Jer.31:23) Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Yet again shall they use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity: The Lord bless thee, O habitation of righteousness, O mountain of holiness. Zion represents the place of holiness, the place of separation from the world. That's what “holiness” or “sanctification” means. It's the same word and it means giving up your sins in obedience to following the Lord. If you're obeying the Lord, you're walking in servitude to the Lord and you have matured in that obedience to the Lord. That is what Zion is. (Jer.31:24) And Judah and all the cities thereof shall dwell therein together, the husbandmen, and they that go about with flocks. (25) For I have satiated the weary soul, and every sorrowful soul have I replenished. (26) Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me. (27) Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast. (28) And it shall come to pass that, like as I have watched over them to pluck up and to break down and to overthrow and to destroy and to afflict, so will I watch over them to build and to plant, saith the Lord. While in Babylon, they were living under the curse. Zion is where the curse is done away. So, spiritually speaking, you cannot physically go to Zion because obviously there is no physical Zion. We are not physical Israelites; we are spiritual Israelites and we can spiritually go to Zion. It is the place of holiness, the place of God's presence, and the place of His temple. When we come into the presence of God, that is that place of holiness. Those who were slain by the Beast, by Herod, by Pharaoh, by Nebuchadnezzar, by whatever Beast conquered them, they're going to return to their Promised Land. And living in the Promised Land represents resurrection life, the resurrection of God. This same story is found in Isaiah. (Isa.11:1) And there shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots shall bear fruit. This is the Branch that in Jeremiah chapters 23 and 33 speak of an end-time David ministry that God is going to raise up. We've spoken about this already. This Branch represents the Man-child ministry in the end time, the one in whom Jesus lives, because Christ in you is the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).  I knew a brother years ago who had a dream and he called me about it. His name was Tubby and he said, “David, I had this dream and I was talking to you, and in the dream, I said, ‘David, you remind me of someone I read about in the Bible.' You quoted those verses from Isaiah 11:1-5 and you said, ‘Yeah, I know that person.' Then you quoted these verses.” He was saying that these are going to be an end-time people who are going to come into this image, walking in the Spirit of God as the Branch. (Isa.11:2) And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. (3) And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord; and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither decide after the hearing of his ears; (In other words, this is a people who are walking in the Spirit and not walking in the flesh, nor ruled by the fleshly senses. They have their senses exercised to discern good from evil, as in Hebrews 5:14.) (Isa.11:4) but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. (5) And righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist, and faithfulness the girdle of his loins. (6) And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. A little child, the Man-child, is going to lead them. Why these beasts? Well, if you remember Noah's Ark and the people who were saved in the Ark, the beasts were also saved in the Ark and they represented the Gentiles. When Peter saw the sheet come down out of Heaven with all the unclean beasts on it, God told him, Rise, Peter; kill and eat (Act.11:7). And Peter said, Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath ever entered into my mouth (8). But the Lord answered, What God hath cleansed, make not thou common (9). This was when Cornelius had sent his servants to Peter to get him to come and preach to them the Gospel (Acts 10:1-8) and Peter got the revelation of, “Oh, God has cleansed the Gentiles (Acts 10:46,47),” who became the Church. These were people who were members of the body of the Beast – different beasts around the world, as a matter of fact. They had come out of this beast and out of that beast. They were members of those bodies, but now they had come into the Kingdom and they were at peace with one another.  There is nothing that can bring the world together in peace except God's Kingdom. So here you see that God is going to raise up the Man-child. He's going to draw His people out of all nations, out of all beast kingdoms. By the way, they were all called beast kingdoms by Daniel, just as they are in Revelation 7. God was going to draw His people out of bondage and out of all these beast kingdoms to come and dwell in their land, which He called the land of rest, the land of milk and honey, the land of blessings, provision, and everything. Is a little child really going to lead all these beasts to be at peace and go back to the Promised Land? Yes, that's what He's talking about. (Isa.11:7) And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. At the end of 2007, I saw a vision of this happening. In the vision, the Lord was giving me a piece of property and there were all these beasts that were fleeing onto this property from the judgments that were happening outside the boundaries of this property. I saw it. They were all in total peace with one another, all these creatures that normally bite and devour one another, like the nations do. They were at peace and God's Kingdom was there; His peace was there. The Lord gave me a house and money to prepare and provide for these beasts that were coming to this refuge. (Isa.11:8) And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. (In complete safety!) (9) They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain … So where are these beasts? They are at God's holy mountain and a little child, the Man-child, shall lead them. When all the beastly people of the world get saved, when they come out from under the bondage of the Beast and come into God's holy mountain, then what this refers to will be fulfilled. These are Rachel's children about whom she did not have to worry anymore. They are going to be restored. (Isa.11:9) They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. (10) And it shall come to pass in that day, that the root of Jesse, that standeth for an ensign of the peoples, unto him shall the nations seek (Of course, this is the Lord.); and his resting-place shall be glorious. Amen! That's where they're going – to this holy mountain, His resting place. (Isa.1:11) And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord will set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people (Praise the Lord!), that shall remain, from Assyria … That's one of the “beasts” that conquered God's people and brought them into bondage. God is saying, “Come back out of bondage! Come back out of the north! Come back to your Promised Land!” God is telling us to come and dwell in Zion in the Presence of God on His holy mountain. You cannot dwell on His holy mountain without being holy because the highway that goes there is also called the “Highway of Holiness.” (Isa.11:11) And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord will set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, that shall remain, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam(These were all the nations that were round about Israel.), and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. (12) And he will set up an ensign for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.  The Lord will gather them out of all the beast kingdoms to come back and dwell in their Promised Land. God is going to do this in the Spirit in the days to come. There is going to be a people who will dwell in safety and be blessed of the Lord. All their provision is going to be sure because they are a holy people. They are not under the curse. Those who walk in rebellion to God are under the curse because the curse was pronounced on the people who walked in their stubborn ways. (Isa.11:13) The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and they that vex Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. (14) And they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines on the west; together shall they despoil the children of the east: they shall put forth their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them. Judgments are going to fall all over this earth where God's people are being persecuted. When they were in bondage in Egypt, the judgments that we see in the Book of Revelation fell upon Egypt, to deliver God's people out of Egypt and into their Promised Land. (Isa.11:15) And the Lord will utterly destroythe tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his scorching wind will he wave his hand over the River, and will smite it into seven streams, and cause men to march over dryshod. (16) And there shall be a highway for the remnant of his people, that shall remain, from Assyria; like as there was for Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.   Praise God!

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is due to make further cuts to welfare benefits and government departments when she speaks in Parliament later. The government already announced big welfare spending reductions last week - but the Chancellor's been told by the Office For Budget Responsibility her reforms to the system won't save as much as planned. Now dozens of women's organisations have written to Rachel Reeves urging her rethink plans for disability benefit cuts over fears it will remove a 'vital lifeline' for victims of abuse. Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson Director of the Women's Budget Group and Angie Airlie, Chief Executive of Stay Safe East speak to Clare McDonnell.In this week's Women's Prize discussion, Clare hears from two authors about the debut books they've had long-listed for this year's prestigious literary prize. Sanam Mahloudji's novel, The Persians, tells the story of the Valiat family from the perspective of five women from 1940s Iran into a splintered 2000s. And Labour MP Yuan Yang's non-fiction book, Private Revolutions, explores the lives of four women born in China in the 1980s and 90s during a time of rapid change in society. It's emerged that an NHS trust criticised over the avoidable death of a baby was paid £2m for providing good maternity care. It's the latest in a series of developments and failings which have led to calls for a national inquiry into maternity care. It's alleged that hospital trusts are failing to learn from past mistakes and failing to implement improvement recommendations. The BBC's Social Affairs Correspondent Michael Buchanan tells Clare what grieving parents want to happen.Do you enjoy a bit of gossip? The thrill of being the first to hear something and sharing it, or the irresistible urge to be let into the lives of others? What's the difference between idle gossip and hurtful criticism behind someone's back, do women gossip as much as men and can gossip be used to keep women safe? American journalist Kelsey McKinney joins Clare from the US to discuss her new book, You Didn't Hear This From Me: Notes on the Art of Gossip.Presenter: Clare McDonnell Producer: Claire Fox

Hana finds a place in Cáel's Amazon Life.Book 3 in 18 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.You never really know what you can't do until you've tried to do it and failedI saw Iskender at least once a week, so I didn't know this was a bad sign. My superiors were wary to meet Iskender because intelligence types like their routines. When assets start acting strange, strange things happen. I knew this to be true. When your normally suspicious girlfriend suddenly acts all lovey-dovey,, she knows ~ she knows.Iskender's face showed that he didn't much like this change to our meeting schedule either. Introductions went around. Odette was the only one to say 'Glad to finally meet you' and mean it."Cáel Nyilas," he finally turned to me, "I bear a request from the Great Khan himself." No beating around the bush with this crowd."What do you need?" I replied. Irrationally, I found myself hoping 'please say you need a second for 'beer-pong''."Here is a flash drive with the particulars, but the basics are that we need the United States and the United Kingdom to lend diplomatic support to our efforts to obtain war material and other equipment from other aligned nations," he said."Things like?" Addison asked."Ships from the United States, tanks from Germany, helicopters from France and computer components for Japan and South Korea," he replied. "This is a list of roughly five thousand items we are attempting to procure.""Sure, we'll help," I volunteered."Cáel, before someone has an aneurism, why don't you find out what your team can do," Pamela burst my bubble."Sir, what exactly does your faction think we at JIKIT can do? We are a covert interim unit with limited authority and oversight," Addison stated."Wouldn't this be something you could accomplish through your own extra-ordinary resources?" Yum-Yum asked."We can only get so much through back channels and shell companies," he replied. "With the quantities the Khanate needs," he trailed off."You can't make that many purchases," I nodded. Even I knew an eighteen year old could buy a six-pack with little effort and a so-so fake ID. Buying five kegs was a totally different matter.There was a silence."Iskender, give the team 48 hours to go over this data. We will either return it as if we never received it, or act upon the information on your behalf," Yum-Yum spoke with finality."I understand," he bowed his head. "I will await your response.""I'll see you out," I told Iskender. "I get the feeling you knew this would be our reply.""I didn't, but the Great Khan did," he gave a weak smile. "Honestly, I don't know what to make of the request.""We do and I think we can get it done," I assured him. I escorted him to the elevator then returned to the room.I didn't have to be told what was wrong with this. If your girl finds out you ate fast food with another chick, you can explain it away. If you got take-out, or breakfast at some nice nook, then you had trouble by association. By giving us their Christmas list, Temujin had told us more than what he needed. He was telling us what he didn't need as well.This gave us incredible insight into Khanate economic and military policy over the next three years. See, you could go to Best Buy and purchase a 72" widescreen TV. It was what Best Buy did. You couldn't show up expecting to buy 500,000 TV's though. To get them you had to tell the manufactures they needed to build them because there was a market for that many systems.In turn, they need to buy the various components they didn't build themselves. That meant you would need to smelt more copper, produce more plastics and mine more cadmium, because they would be needed. Therefore, what the Khanate was ordering was stuff they expected to get three to thirty-six months down the line. This went beyond the war with China.As an example, the Khanate was ordering 265 Leopard 2A7 tanks from Germany to be delivered within two years. Germany didn't have those tanks lying around. They needed to build them. They had to expand the factories to build them and therefore produce all the components you needed for a brand new cutting edge tank at a faster rate than ever before.This also told us the Khanate didn't expect to build enough tanks for their own use, much less export to allies such as Vietnam. Maybe they didn't have the construction capacity, or maybe they were busy building something else. We could figure that out by seeing what else they were purchasing abroad, things like cars, trucks, tractors and locomotives.This was an excellent and powerful gift. It was also,"This is poison," Addison began the next phase of the meeting."I disagree," Mehmet Ali Sharif (our State department analyst) countered. "This will provide JIKIT with exceptional insight into what the Khanate's medium term goals are.""It is both," Yum-Yum nodded."The question is 'who are we going to share this with?'" I sighed. That was the critical juncture. After all, the UK and US had team of analysts whose sole job was to make forecasts like this."We decide that in 47   hours," Yum-Yum stated. "Mehmet, lets farm out 15% of this packet to different agencies and see what they come up with. Keep things compartmentalized.""Will do. Addison, let's burrow through this data to see what we can send to who," he got to work."Cáel, what is your insight into the Great Khan's thinking," Addison turned to me. "Are we being suborned?" I had to think that over."Yeah," I nodded. "He's got six months to figure out who is friends and enemies are and he might as well decide where we stand right now. If we share this data, he gets hurt, but it will mean the end of our taskforce and the end of real hard information about what the Khanate is up to as well.""Serving three masters never turns out well," Yum-Yum smirked. "Still, our regular intelligence agencies are months away from piecing together the inner workings of the Khanate and we have jack-off HUMINT on the ground. Our respective countries have 'back-burner-ed' Central Asia and now that's biting us in the ass. Barring an excessive NBC (Nuclear, Biological, or Chemical weapons) platform, I think we buy in."That meant becoming a true intermediator between our respective governments and the Khanate. That also meant continuing to work with the Amazons and 9 Clans, because if we betrayed the Khanate at this juncture, how much could the others really trust us? No, to keep JIKIT going, we were going to hide this information, thus becoming complicit in what the Khanate planned.We had already wandered past the point of intelligence-gathering and analysis to actual policy-making some time ago. This was the point of no return though. This wasn't plausible deniability. This was actively helping the Khanate achieve their national goals and meant moving beyond the realm of covert activities and into one of co-conspirators. I honestly thought we'd all buy in."So, what's next on the agenda?" I posed the question."Someone is late for their knife-fighting training," Pamela gave me a shark's smile. I smiled too. Finally I had something to do that I didn't understand, but didn't mind being ignorant about. If I fucked up, it would all be on me.{9:45 pm, Thursday, August 28th ~ 11 Days to go}Brooke Lee was many things, but being a cook wasn't one of them. What inspired her to cook dinner was almost beyond me. It had to do with that checklist women go through when seeing what a guy doesn't see in them. Brooke was gorgeous, fun to be around (if a bit snobby) and good in the sack. So, what made me closer to Libra and Hana than her? She wasn't trying to compete with the Amazons, thank God.She was better looking than Libra (true) and just as much fun, and if Libra was a better lay she would have hung herself, so it had to come down to womanly stuff ~ things like housecleaning, buying stuff and cooking. House-cleaning was a continuous menial effort and she had a maid service for that. Buying stuff? She had that down pat.Cooking? How hard could that be? very, but she hadn't accepted that, so here I was eating charred prime rib, rubbery asparagus tips, lumpy mash potatoes (made from real potatoes, I'd seen the peals in the trashcan) and some sort of Tomato salad. When she informed me she was cooking, I began looking for a reason not to come over for a late night rendezvous. Then she dropped the E-bomb."If you don't come over, it will be just me and Casper (Winslow) again.""Casper's still in town?" I asked. Since that horrible weekend where I first met Hana (good for my life), her father (hates my guts) and her cruel brother Brennan (now dead by my indirect intervention), Casper's life had been one of healing from the worst kind of treatment (by Brennan's now deceased posse) possible. I couldn't treat her like a pariah."I'm coming over to see you, but it will be great to see Casper again as well," I elaborated/exaggerated."Great," she gushed. "I'll see you at nine.""Make in nine thirty," I said. "I need to see a girl about a bed.""You are horrible," she chided me playfully, clearly not believing me."No I'm not. I'm tucking Aya into bed. She has an early start tomorrow and she's going to be gone all weekend, so this will be the last time I'll see her until Monday night. I'll be at your place as soon as possible after that," I told her. Aya was going to Doebridge and I was making a habit of steering clear of that Amazon municipality. Their security and I had a disagreement last time I was there."It is sweet of you to keep up with that little girl you were kidnapped with," she cooed. "You are a cool, great guy.""She's a special kid. We share a bond," I said. That was true and then some."I'll see you at nine-thirty. You won't be disappointed."And so I was at Brooke's at nine-thirty, getting ready to eat a largely indigestible dinner. Casper had stammered a greeting while looking at me happily. The smoke from the kitchen was warning enough of what was to come. I made light of the charred disaster. I didn't point out that two hours at 350 didn't equate to an hour and a half at 450. It just didn't.Brooke made up for her culinary inadequacies by looking good enough to eat off the plate, off the floor, or between the covers. She had on an Aqua tank top, black bra and khaki shorts with open-toed sandals on her feet. Casper was in the same general get up, except her tank top was white as was her bra.I carved up the beast while those two stood around drinking wine. The roast beast (original species uncertain) was as dry as leather, but the knife was sharp. We discussed Brooke's job hunting lack of success. The jobs she was qualified for didn't pay enough, required her to ignore too much leering and were generally an insult to her intelligence. Basic 'intern' stuff really.I mentioned Libra's job with Hana. She created some excuses about making her own way in the world then followed that up by asking if I could use my newfound influence to send some job offers her way. 'Surely not everyone at Havenstone was that way'. No. She had seem them being polite. They could be much, much worse."Why don't you become a consultant?" I suggested."That would be nice," Casper said. Brooke had become her closest friend."What would I consult in?" Brooke inquired."Employment," I mused. "You know networking and you know people who are looking for specific kinds of jobs. Start your own business.""I like that idea," Brooke grinned. "I could create a web page and get business cards, raise the start-up capital and start getting listings and finding clients.""I know some people who could help out," I offered, "as long as Central Asia is an acceptable location.""What kind of work do you think you can find?""Well, they need to build a government," I worked on my idea quickly because Brooke was literally dripping with sex. I was thinking 'tapping that booty all night long' sex.Women love sex, romance and sensuality. They also want to love their lives, feel successful and have just as much independence as they fantasize to be a good thing. I was coming through for Brooke yet again. I'd bolstered her when her former fiance's life imploded, casting her aside. I'd later given her the strength to make a moral stand for Casper and now I was helping her out of her career doldrums. God, she was going to let me fuck her silly. She was going to be freaking animal.But first we had to pretend to eat before we somehow shuffled Casper off to bed. The tomato salad was edible. It turned out to be Casper's contribution to tonight's festivities. I made sure to compliment her on it, while not mentioning the rest of this disaster. Brooke didn't mind. Midway through the meal, she stood up and paced about while calling her parents. Her Mom answered, so she gave that woman the good news first.My name came up, to her father, and not in a bad way, which was rather rare.'Yes, I was engaged to Hana Sulkanen. I was also her friend as well as Libra's.''I had friends in the Khanate, where business opportunities were aplenty.''Security concerns? No. She knew some people (my Amazons) who did that kind of work. Besides, it wasn't like she was going there.'"You might want to consider going there and meeting some of their people on the ground before sending your friends to that part of the world," I whispered.'Oh, I'll probably go to,'"Astana."'Astana, their capital. Father, there are extraordinary opportunities there. I'll be fine.'"I'll hire you some private security," I suggested. I wouldn't use the Ghost Tigers I had guarding Hana. That would be inappropriate. I couldn't use Amazons for that kind of work either.I was thinking about using Captain Delilah Faircloth of Her Majesty's MI-6. They had all kinds of contractors they'd used in China who would be looking for work now that the shooting had temporarily stopped. For all I knew, Lady Yum-Yum could use Brooke's new business as a cover to insert British operatives into the former capital of Kazakhstan.Now that I thought about it, that was a good idea. Brooke would have her hand in an espionage operation and not even suspect it at first. Later on, she'd probably love the peripheral risks and experience was experience.'Cáel can hire some private security using his government contracts.''I know you know people in the government Papa, but Cáel's people actually kill people.' Which went over like a bamboo hut in a tidal wave, but Brooke was irrepressible. Her parents wished her luck, Brooke did a happy dance and Casper snuggled close to me."Hey Casper," I put an arm around her. I was relieved she didn't flinch. I remained a good guy in her estimations of such things. I'd also hack my own hand off if it tried anything overtly sexual. "How are you coming along?""Better, day by day and my therapy group is good, very caring.""Glad to hear it. If there is anything personal that I can do, don't hesitate to ask. It is not a matter of debts to one another. You are worth it.""I'm glad you still think so," she stared up at me. I could easily dismiss her being needy. She was truly a damsel in need of a shoulder, a warm hand and a kind word. I didn't owe her because of Brennan and Anima. I owed her as a fellow human being."Isn't he the best guy in the world?" Brooke beamed. "We need to find ourselves one just like him." I couldn't see how that was going to happen. I was born in the wrong neighborhood, went to the wrong school and hung out with a different brand of friends. The convergence of me with Trent, which then led to Libra and Brooke, had been beyond bizarre.Felix was such an idiot for not buying into Brooke instead of stupidly trying to use her against me. Even that had backfired when I sucker-punched him in front of nearly a hundred Amazons. I'd knocked him out cold because he had shown more balls than brains in that one encounter. I wouldn't get that lucky again. I'd have to figure a way a new way to kick his Alpha-male ass."I'd argue with you, but I'm a hell of a guy. I'm a prince among men," I joked. "I mean that literally, I'm a Prince of Hungary and Transylvania.""Does that come with one of those cool sashes and lots of medals and ribbons?" Brooke teased."I'm sure the Hungarians are working on that right now," I chortled."Magyarorszag es Erdely Hercege" Casper murmured. "I read it in USA Today. They said it was something the Romanians gave you, but I wasn't sure what it was.""In Romanian it is "Prinţul Ungariei şi Transilvaniei", I clarified. "Prinţul is,""Is what?" Brooke said after a moment's lapse."When I went into battle with the Romanians, that is what they called me. It was a jest of sorts, not real," I sighed, recalling that dark day. Casper patted my hand."Is Magyarorszag the name for 'prince'?" Brooke requested." Magyarorszag is the name the Hungarians call their homeland," I clarified. "Hercege is their word for prince, but let's not buy into the hype. I'm just a guy with a job that entails greater risk than a pizza delivery driver.""A Jewish pizza delivery driver in downtown Gaza, Cáel. Every time I see you, you are sporting a new scar, or scratch. What do you have for me this time?" she gave me a sultry 'come-hither' look. I caught it and liked what I saw. Casper caught it and sighed slightly."I'm sleepy," she yawned. "I should be going to bed.""Oh no," Brooke protested. I almost believed her. "Are you sure?""Yes. I'll take an Ambien then be out like a light," Casper said before giving my hand another squeeze."You don't have to do this," I whispered into Casper's ear. "I'll brave another one of Brooke's home-cooked meals to spend time with her." Casper giggled."Hey now! What was that about?" Brooke pouted. She was definitely going to be wrapping those scrumptious lips around my sceptre in the next three hours, of that I was certain."He, ah, was wondering if we could do this again real soon," Casper babbled, caught between fright and comedy."Soon," Brooke shot me more of the 'sexy'. "He hasn't even made it out of the door yet.""I like the way you think," I winked to Brooke."What do you think is on my mind," she was provoking me. I didn't say a word. I chose to undress her with my eyes instead. She knew what I was doing too."Bedtime," Casper put both hands on the table then stood. "Thanks for coming over tonight." I stood as well, hugged her then briefly watched her walk away. Just because she was 'handle with care' didn't mean she wasn't a handful. My miniscule number of rules included not doing it with girls not in their right minds. I wanted them to be free to hate me when the time came.Brooke saw Casper off to the bathroom for her meds and the whole pre-bedtime ritual stuff while I cleaned up the dinner table. Five minutes of work now meant not waking up to the smell of ruined food later. The only thing in need of saving was the salad. I Saran Wrapped the rest of it. I was going to claim I was taking it into work for breakfast then dispose of it at our HQ ~ One MiMA Tower.Once I was finished, I puttered around noisily until Brooke came looking. I could have gone to her bed and stripped naked, eagerly waiting for sex. Since Brooke was trying to play in the same league as Hana, she might have misconstrued that as me taking advantage of her. If not tonight then in the morning when she replayed the encounter. Brooke liked to be 'in charge', so I fed that instinct.I had come here for sex. We both knew that, but we could pretend we didn't. Brooke could then want to have me and got to make sure I wanted her with or without sex, so we could have guilt-free sex together. Brooke was not overly complicated, for a girl, and she was hot enough to be worth having to go through these sorts of games."Whatchya thinking about?" Brooke said as she sashayed into the kitchenette."You," I met her gaze. She licked her upper lip."I've been thinking about you too," she moved within my comfort zone. I obliged her aggression by placing my hands first on her hips then, as I pulled her close, to the small of her back. We were groin to 'growing' and I was very aroused by her presence and her scent."Are you going to toy with me some more so that I go home tonight stiff and moaning with lust?" I groaned."I like toying with you," she snickered. "You are fun.""You are fun and sexy. We need to try another beach weekend with less drama before the season ends," I played to her amusement."I don't think I can wait for the weekend," she protested by shimmying her hips against me. "While you were out saving the world, I've been all alone.""Oh hell no!" I hissed. "What brought that on?""You are a hard act to follow," she teased. "I've missed you.""I've missed you too," wasn't a total lie. I hadn't been celibate by a long shot. That didn't mean I didn't miss her."How about we do a little bit less 'missing'?" she suggested."I'd like to have you on the sofa," I pressed into her."I'd like to have you in the bedroom ~ my bed is bigger," she grinned. My eyes shown with anticipation, which was what she was looking for. Brooke took my hand and led me through the living room and around the corner to her bedroom.She cat-crawled onto the bed while I hurriedly stripped down. She languidly lay back on the pillows, hair billowed around her in a dark halo while she hungrily watched my physique being revealed to her. Brooke's left hand traced a line down around her breast to her pubic mound where she started playing with herself. Her eyes fluttered, her lust blossomed into womanhood and I was beside her in a flash.Instead of falling in beside her (she was close to her side of the bed), or to her far side, I came at her from the foot of her bed. I spent only a few seconds kissing her toes, shins and kneecaps. While my kisses made moist lip-prints up her thighs, I unbuttoned her short shorts and undid the zipper. Brooke raised her hips so I could pull her clothing down ~ no panties.To change things up slightly, I finished the removal by turning her over onto her stomach, then pulling on her hips until she was in the doggy-style position. She looked back at me, her eyes framed by dark lashes and darker eyebrows on her tanned flesh. I pressed her shoulder blades down until her breasts were squeezed against the bed.After that, I slid down until I was on my belly. Using my shoulders and neck, I began licking her labia from the hood to the anus. That got her going and before long, I was drinking from her nectar and loosening up her asshole with some quality rimming. Brooke had prepped for me carefully and cleanly and this made me attack her nether regions with renewed gusto. Butt sex was in the offing.Not yet though. I got her all nice and gushing, but I wanted to try something more. I kept my tongue action going on while I coiled my body behind her. With a quick, graceful repositioning, I rose up on my knees, her thighs resting on my shoulders while I made furious suction actions onto her."Yep, Yeah!" Brooke exhaled. "This is, aha, new."True to my predations, while I worried and nibbled her accoutrements, Brooke took one hand (the other she was using to pull her hair aside) and began stroking me. Her tongue touched my spongy head several times before she stopped the outright teasing and placed her lips upon me. She didn't suck it in. On no. She sucked on my angry red helmet, running her lips right to the edge then back again, as if I was a Popsicle.I was leaning back on my haunches because of the awkward hold on hips with the weight I had to support. Not that Brooke was at all heavy."Crawl forward," I mumbled from between her legs. It took her a few seconds to figure out I wanted to return us to our starting position. She made a great display of slithering forward. My tongue stayed in her cunt until both her knees hit the comforter.At that stage she was ready to go and my forcefulness lifted her knees temporarily off the sheets.With my third lunge, Brooke reached back and stopped my rocking motion. I stilled which allowed her to reach over to the side table, open the drawer and pull out a designer bottle of lubricant."I know this is what you like," she panted in anticipation. I knew this was what we both wanted by the way she ran her fingers along my palm before making the hand-off.This was one of those bottles with the glass stopper, so it make a slight grinding sound as I opened it. Brooke want down onto all fours, her palms resting on the comforter. Her head was down and her waist-long black hair masked her features, but not her sounds of pleasure."Arch your back Brooke," I said as I inhaled her intoxicating aroma. She did so willingly. I let the oil pour down in a thin stream and rubbed it in with my thumb.I had to carefully aim my phallus because Brooke hadn't been lying about her lack of sexual attention. She was tight and hadn't been plundered by anyone in my long (for me) absence. Hell, this long and I was normally back to 'make-up' sex. I certainly wasn't going to be ramming my rod home with any great passion for a few minutes.I didn't want to cause her (too much) pain nor have her anal muscles constrict the skin off my love missile."Oh," she moaned. "I love it when you are gentle, Cáel. It reminds me how much you care for how I feel." She punctuated that statement by rolling her hips, driving in my entire length in her lubricated alternate option. Her body tensed up then bucked. I popped out."Put it back in," she gasped. There was so much to love about Brooke and her enthusiasm. Once back in, I rested my left hand on the small of her back to keep her back arched while I reached around with my right and began twisting and palming her right breast through her shirt and bra. As I was slowly twisting and thrusting, Brooke's arms gave out and she went face first into her pillow. Her breast pressed my hand down on the comforter and her repositioning drove a full inch of me suddenly into her.Brooke gave out a strangled sob followed by a whimpering sound. My left hand took my weight. My right came around and pulled her hair away from her face so she could breathe easier and I could judge her pain through her facial expressions."Oh God," she spat a strand of hair out of her mouth, "It feels like you are going to split me in half.""Too late to back out now," I teased her."I can, hiss, take anything you can give me, Cáel Nyilas," she taunted me through clenched teeth. I gave her another inch for her impertinence. She tried to crawl forward before she surprised me by thrusting up and back."God damn!" she howled. "You're huge!"I imagined that I would feel like a fucking Sequoyah shoved up my ass if I pulled off a stunt like that too. Brooke was game for more. I had enough in that now I could start a rhythm  without fear of popping out. Her hands bunched up the comforter around her head as she hung on for dear life. This felt so good that squeezing my last bit in felt rather inconsequential after all the physical and erotic ground we had covered up until then.Brooke's stomach clenched up as her spontaneous ecstasy jumped her and me. Every muscle in her body spasmed, including her rectal ones. I was shooting off into her bowels inside a second. My heat only made her climax come that much harder. I kept humping away like a chimp on crack while Brooke began to squeal out between baited breathe."Damn, that was intense," I remarked as I fell to her side. Brooke was still face down/ass up with her eyes squeezed shut, still riding through her own aftershocks of her sensual seismic waves."Oh, oh, oh," she panted hoarsely. "I want to, (pant), do that again, real soon."I spanked her ass loudly and prepared on shaky legs to remount her."No," she moaned. "Give my ass a minute's rest. Can't we do something else for a while?""How about I get cleaned up and get you a hot wash cloth?" I suggested as my nostrils flared."I'll just lie here and feel sated," she murmured. Her knees slid down until her stomach was down on the bed. I gave her abused backside another tender spank then slid off the bed. I quick-stepped it out of Brooke's room, and nearly tripped over Casper who had been out in the hall watching us."I," she stammered. I shut the door then crossed the hallway from her."No problems, Casper. I was hoping that we wouldn't wake you up," I coaxed her down the hallway to her door, and away from Brooke's room. I noticed her eyes constantly flicking down to my crotch. "Hang on," I held up my hand. When she nodded, I quietly sprinted down to the living room, grabbed up a throw pillow then sprinted back. Now I could be covered up."Why didn't you get a towel out of the bathroom?" Casper whispered."I'm an idiot," I shrugged. She sniffled then giggled."You make Brooke very happy, but,""But?""But you are engaged to Hana Sulkanen.""I'm a Love Monkey," I shrugged. "I find it difficult to be with just one woman. It is never that a woman isn't enough for me. It is that there is something wrong with me that is never truly satisfied so I keep roaming.""Don't you, worry about the women you are with?""I'm not a wonderful human being, Casper. That is all I can think to say.""You aren't like Brennan, not like that, hold on." Casper retreated to her room then came back with a folded up piece of news print. By the size it was one of those articles you found on page 17. "Here," she handed it over. "It was delivered here in an envelope with my name on it."I looked it over. A 'Jane Doe' had been found in Charleston harbor, SC, dead from an overdose."Three days before I got that, I got a call from Anima," she told me. "She told me," Casper gulped. "She told me that she was very sorry about all that had happened. She was sorry. That was it.""Oh.""Anima is dead now, isn't she?""Yeah, I think so," I noted sadly. "Does that change anything with you?""I don't know. I mean, Brooke told me that you would make sure none of those people would ever be around to bother me again, but, was this you?""No and yes. I told someone with the power to make a difference what happened to you and who was responsible. After that, I never heard about the matter again. Anima did stop by once, crazy with fear but unrepentant. I honestly feel that how she ended up feeling wouldn't have made a difference on whether she lived, or died. I don't know what to make of her call.""She, it doesn't help. I still have to take a sleeping pill to keep the nightmares away. I haven't told my therapist about the death, or how everyone else is either dead or disappeared. I don't know what to think. I was hoping you would.""I'm not normally the person people go for answers. I'll make up an answer, if that's what you want."She reached up and touched my forearm."I prefer honesty," she smiled. "I guess I was hoping for you to be more, perfect than you are. That was unfair of me.""You wouldn't be the first person to mistake me for a decent human being," I joked. "Usually that misconception only lasts a week or so. I promise you... I'll be living down to your expectations in no time.""Brooke thinks highly of you, and so do I. We've known you more than a couple of weeks," Casper feebly jibed."I've been behaving myself," I teased her.'"Brooke sounded," she trailed off. I waited. "You two sound like you enjoyed one another.""That's how it is supposed to be. You'll feel that one day too. You'll meet someone who thinks of your pleasure first. And, if he doesn't, you will have to train him to do it right.""You make it sound so easy," Casper sighed."Do you really think I'm that unique?""A prince, avenger, soldier-of-fortune, titan of the bedroom?" she lightened up. We'd crossed a barrier. I was 'joke-able'."We have union meetings every third Wednesday," I grinned. "We kick back, drink a few beers and figure out what hot spots and hotties we need to concentrate on for the next month.""I, thank you, Cáel," she smiled."For what?""For not disappointing me. You are a nicer guy than you give yourself credit for.""Thank you, Casper," I reached over and hugged her. She didn't flinch. "For treating me like I can make a difference.""I need to go to bed now," she yawned. I hugged her again then stepped back. She walked to her door and began to shut it. I swore I heard her whisper 'you do', but I wasn't sure. I had to hurry to the bathroom, heat up a wash cloth while cleaning up, before finally getting back to Brooke. I found her reclining on the bed, totally naked."Sorry I took so long," I told her."I know. It is okay. I heard most of it," she glowed happily. "Casper needs someone, someone who isn't me. I'm not the most patient friend in the world. I sort of feel responsible for her and she needs someone to talk to about normal stuff, but I miss going to clubs and hanging out with friends who talk back." I sat on the bed and began to run the warm cloth up her thighs."What was it like, that fight in Romania?" she asked as we switched off with the washcloth. She tenderly worked over her abused anal region."The battle? A skirmish really,""Yes," she paused. "Between that and being kidnapped, you've had a mentally draining time since we last spent some time together. You act like you haven't changed much, but,""It's okay. I know it sounds clich , but it is hard to explain those things unless you've lived thru them.""If you don't want to talk about it," Brooke gave me an out. I could tell this was a part of my life she wanted to be a part of; my manliness on display."I'm okay. I can't really say I was scared for myself either time. During the kidnapping I was concerned for Aya. All of the normal human stuff came later, after the crisis was over. During the kidnapping, there isn't much to talk about. As for the fight, at the time I had a plan and was waiting for the opportunity to implement it. Bullets were flying. Men around me were getting wounded. I can't recall seeing any of the men on my side getting killed.""Did you get shot?" she stroked my abdomen."Bruised, though my flak jacket had to do its job once or twice," I sighed. I could almost hear the sounds of the bullets whizzing around me once more. Wounded men hadn't screamed out when they were hit. They'd grunted. The cries would come later when the enormity of their pain sunk in."I made sure the main bad guy ~ the Boss ~ didn't get away. I think I wounded one guy. That was it; my contribution to the battle.""It was your plan that won the fight though, right?""Yes. I did what leaders are supposed to do, but that didn't mean I could save all my guys and gals.""You are very courageous," Brooke cuddled in. "You don't back down often, but you are not an ass about it. You are the least 'macho-asshole' macho-man I've ever met, and I'd like to see more of you," she purred."I'm already naked," I played naive. Brooke pushed me down and straddled my lap."I guess I'll just have to appreciate the naked you some more then," she chortled. Brooke took charge long enough for me enter her then we combined our efforts, her moving with her thighs and me with my hands on her hips, to engage in some serious love-making.This is not a political commentary, public personalities have been butchered in order to make the story light-hearted{4:45 am Friday, August 29th ~ 10 Days to go}"Hey," Brooke asked softly, "can I join?"I was halfway thru my clean up when she'd opened the shower stall door, but I had some time. "Sure. I'll wash your back if you wash mine," I offered.She gave me a sly grin as she stepped in and closed the door behind her. I signaled her to turn with her back to me (never a safe position), poured some liquid soap in my hands and began lathering her up."Did you think you could leave me with only a kiss," she said as she backed up against me."I thought you were asleep when I kissed you," I whispered into her ear."I was. You are such a romantic, I assumed you kissed me because that's what you always do. You have a light touch.""We were up late," I teased."You are up early," she let her left hand travel down between us until she could wrap her fingers around my cock."Being with you, it is hardly a surprise," I chuckled."Are you implying you like me?" she serpentined her body against mine."Me likey, me likey a whole bunch," I told her as I nibbled her ear. Brooke responded by pulling my phallus around like a clock arm until it was fixed between her thighs and rubbing up against her. We left it there a while, she rocking her hips back and forward while I soaped up her front the way I had lathered her back. After all, this was foreplay.This was kisses planted along her shoulders, neck, ears and, as I turned her head around, on her lips. Brooke was whining with need after our last French kiss, so I pushed my hips back and pressed her down with a hand on her mid-back. At the perfect angle, I let her slip me in."Ah, this is never going to get old," Brooke moaned. She punctuated her statement by rolling her hips back and forth. In the interlude, I cut off the water so it would cease to be a distraction. Then my hands went to her hips and the rhythm began. It was a slow steady wave-like motion.Brooke had one hand against the tiled wall while the other reached under to play, as I went in. This was an excellent symmetry we had developed.I pulled out suddenly."No," Brooke protested. She turned around to see me pull a condom from behind the shampoo and quickly apply it. Brooke giggled. "Thank you for that, but don't you think it is a little late in our night together?""Would you rather I went without?" I smiled."No," she sighed happily. "It is so you." I took that as a sign to slip back in. I felt her fingernails run over the condom as I pressed forward. This time around, I let Brooke do all the work. I placed my torso onto her back so I could worry her shoulders and neck (yes, I gave her a hickey) and fondled her breasts."No fair," she whimpered. "No fair, I wanted you to, cum first.""I'm working as fast as I can," I huffed. Her fingers were strumming furiously, I was picking up my pace, pounding her with growing ferocity, and her breath was coming in labored gasps."No!" she howled as her climax gripped her. She bucked up once, twice, then a third time, holding herself tightly against me."I'm cumming," I growled and I did. Brooke's groans became longer and lower. She wiggled her cute ass against me, urging out every spurt of my semen into the condom. As I was pulling out of Brooke, she stopped me."Wait, I want to try something," she told me. She turned around and went to her knees.Brooke rolled off the condom and made deep, meaningful eye contact before tilting her head back and draining the contents of my condom down her throat. Oh, that was so sexy."Yummy," she gulped down my seed."Wow, that was so, unforgettable," I stroked her cheek."I've been reading some porn and wanted to try, oh, it has an aftertaste of spermicide. At least I think that is what it is," she snickered."I wouldn't know," I shrugged."Let me find out," she gave me more of that sultry eye-contact. She put her hand around my turgid phallus, stuck out her tongue then slipped it past her lips."No," it was my turn to moan. She was getting me hard again and I had a date I couldn't be late for. Maybe. The moment her gag reflex kicked in, I pulled her up into a kiss. My hands cupped each ass cheek, I raised her over and impaled her in one rapid motion. Face to face, I began bouncing her hard and deep.{8:00 am}I wasn't late, but it was a close thing. I had arrived with three minutes to spare, only to find Hana and Libra waiting for me at Amy's Bread on 9th Avenue. Over some coffee and scones we soaked up the city's morning ambience. I was in my biker clothes with my bike locked up within sight of the counter."So," Libra started off after the initial hugs and kisses (Hana on the lips, Libra on the cheek, no titty snuggle for me at the moment), "how was dinner with Brooke last night?"I didn't believe Brooke had given anyone any details in the period between since we'd had our last round of high octane love-making at one a.m. and before I grabbed my shower, or the two quickies in the shower, or feeling her up at the door. I had kissed her before leaving and she had been out like a light, naked and curled up with my pillow while resting her weary head on the other one. I had whispered a farewell to Casper, but not looked in. After that, I had biked over to Havenstone for my six o'clock firearm's practice.There, I had picked up my current minder, Juanita Leya Antonio Garza. She was a mocha-skinned Dominican, twenty-nine years old and a brand-spanking new member of the Isharan House Guard. She came to me by way of Havenstone's Buenos Aires' Acquisitions department. Juanita had earned her spot as my guardian by qualifying for that office's Rapid Response Team. (She had been good enough to qualify for that team's lead. Since there were not enough Security Detail (SD's) to staff all the satellite offices, the offices made do with teams trained by the SD as part of their normal career training.)She had spent the past week as part of an ad-hoc training program addressing how to bodyguard from on top a bicycle. (The SD had actually been planning this since I had been kidnapped.) Juanita had been identified by Buffy and Halen as a Runner to be brought into House Ishara and she had a seal of approval from both Buffy and Rachel as a bodyguard, so I was more than willing to put up with an aggressive road buddy."Entertaining," I grinned. "Definitely something we are going to have to work on together next time.""Next time?" Hana regarded me studiously. "Was last night that good?""We are not going to go there, Hana. I'm doing my best within my limited Code of Sexual Misconduct. I'm trying to be discreet.""Hana," Libra added her voice, "when you first met Cáel, he was simultaneously dating me and Brooke. At the same time he was also seeing that police officer,""Nikita," I clarified, "and we are keeping it at the 'strictly friends' level right now.""I was hoping to have something more than just a part-time husband," Hana stated softly. Hana wasn't whining. She was testing our boundaries, for the long term control of my being. After all, wasn't that what marriage was all about?"At this point in my life, I'm not that guy," I pushed back. Most of the women I'd been with hadn't been happy about sharing my attentions, often violently so. Those who did found ways to emotionally blackmail me into spending more time with them. Up until now, that had never worked."When I saw you with  Annela, I realized that you are much more than some sort of playboy," Hana countered."I'm learning to like kids," I shrugged happily. "I never thought I would, quite frankly. I wasn't called 'Captain Condom' for nothing.""I'm not on birth control," Hana enlightened me. Oh shit!"Good thing we are getting married," I joked feebly. "So, does  Annela want a baby brother, or sister?""Would there be a problem with a boy?" Libra asked."Not anymore," I guaranteed them both. "I couldn't,""Couldn't?" Hana requested what I had let slip."What used to happen to Amazon boys?" Libra pressed."Not something that I feel at liberty to discuss," I hedged."That doesn't sound good," Libra mused."Would our child be at risk if something happened to you?" Hana worried."No," I reached over and squeezed her hand. "There are plenty of people that know how I feel and wouldn't let anything happen to my children," I didn't quite lie. Honestly I had never talked over such things, even with Buffy. Would my sons be okay? Would my daughters?I needed to reexamine my future plans, which is to say I needed a plan."So how would we deal with your grandfather?" Hana redirected my thoughts."Oh," I had been worried about my Amazons, not my family."I will find a way to deal with Alal," I promised her. What a bold-faced lie. I hadn't a clue how to counter the man yet. I was still playing catch up with several thousand years of what he had already accomplished, much less plumbed the depths of his future conspiracies."You big liar," Hana smiled warmly. "That man has your number, even though you don't see it yet. We will have to work on something together.""I'll help," Libra offered. "That guy weirded me out.""He did?" I looked her way. I'd been good at avoiding ogling her cleavage for Hana's sake. "I wish I could clarify how I feel about him.""That man is evil," Hana insisted. "Don't you see that?""It isn't that simple for me," I shook my head. "It is, I can get inside his head and figure out what motivates him, and sometimes it is scary. In a way, he's lost faith in humanity. His friends have all long since died and he has carried on alone. I get the bizarre sense he is even looking forward to having something he's never had before, a family.""What about your, umm, aunts?" Libra challenged me."They don't count because he," I couldn't say 'made them in a lab'. "He never knew them as children, only after the fact and they have always lived in his shadow and under his control. This time, with me, us, things can be different.""He doesn't deserve a family in my book," Hana shook her head. "Not my family."I had to think about Katrina and Aya. How different was Katrina, who purposely sacrificed Aya to achieve her long term goals of screwing over the Seven Pillars of Heaven? Aya would bear a permanent scar of that betrayal, and Katrina had an ironclad faith I would save us both, a faith I didn't have in myself. I liked Katrina and even trusted her somewhat. Could I afford to feel the same way about Grandpa Cáel?"Hana, I'm not looking to give you a sane reason for dumping me, but my family is more than a little fucked up," I began. "I have to face the fact that right now, I really can't stop Alal from doing what he wants. That doesn't mean I accept the situation, yet it is what it is. When I have a chance at putting him away, I'll take it and that decision goes beyond my family. He needs to be stopped. As you said 'he's evil'.""Will you let us help you?" Libra inquired. 'Yeah right, what can you do versus a 5000 year old criminal mastermind' wasn't the appropriate thing to say. The truth rarely is."What would you suggest?" I did say. "Considering the resource gulf between what we can bring to bear versus his legions of followers and unspeakable power, what chances do the three of us have?""Is that a concession, insult, or genuine inquiry?" Hana questioned."Genuine inquiry," I answered. "I hardly feel I know it all. And the more insight I can gather, the better my long-term chances are.""We can start by finding a way to get rid of my Irish 'minders'," Hana gave me a quirky grin. "They are very good at fitting seamlessly into the background, but I can spot them.""Keep them around for a while, because all we can accomplish right now is getting a few more we can't identify," I pointed out. "The Ghost Tigers?""Oh, they are out and about," Libra snorted."They stop by long enough in the morning to get my itinerary, then, I guess they are out there somewhere," Hana told me. "A few times they have acted on my behalf, so I know they are close by, and that people really are trying to kill me. But they work their way, and that includes not being seen with me, it seems.""They are assassins, so I guess I should have expected that," I shrugged. "Still, while they are on the job, you are safer than you realize. None of the others ~ groups ~ will bother you while they know those two are close by. It is two, right?""I've seen two. A young woman and an older man," she elaborated."They both come across as diligent sociopaths," Libra added. "I've never seen them emit a single emotion, and they don't like my sense of humor.""I'd rather have you two alive than have them chucking at your innate comedic talents, Libra," I smirked. "Besides, the things they find funny you might not appreciate.""Good point," Hana nodded. "Some of the Great Khan's people certainly have an odd sense of humor, things that don't translate over well."I had an alternative to telling what I knew about the Earth & Sky and why they were so grim: that they saw their father's lifetimes, their own and that of their children filled with warfare and struggle. They were geographically trapped between two of the world's greate

Year two begins with a two-part summary episode! Herodotus of Halicarnassus (c. 484 - 425 BCE) wrote his epic history of the Greco-Persian wars and was an instant sensation. The Histories ("history" in those days meaning an inquiry or research) cover the rise of the Persians, the customs of all the peoples with whom they fought, architecture, geography, animals, religious practices, and smutty court gossip. This episode covers the first five books of The Histories, and (trigger warning) also mentions Dick Van Dyke.Want a transcript? Click here. Don't forget to subscribe and leave a rating or review! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

History sometimes has a habit of framing cultures as either heroes or villains, depending on the source. When it comes to Greek sources Herodotus "The Father of History", is kinda the go to when it comes to the period of antiquity. Every story needs a bad guy or a great evil to overcome, and when it comes to Herodotus his history was many times more fiction than fact. For the Greeks it was the vast and powerful Persian Empire coming to snuff out the light of the greek world. Weeeellllll...the Greeks were already doing a decent job of that themselves to be honest. While the first Persian Empire, established by the Acheamenid (Ack-a-men-id) Dynasty was central to the story of Greece "uniting", the Persians were across the Aegean doing some pretty incredible things. Founded by Cyrus the Great the Achaemenid Dynasty became the largest empire in the world during its time. Religious Tolerance, establishment of great road systems to carry trade and culture, the first mail system, a standardized monetary system based on the gold and silver, and a common language just to name a few. We owe a surprising amount of things in our modern world to this Empire. Tune in a find out just who were the Achaemenids and why maybe the Greeks kinda had it coming... Support the show

It's Nowruz again so this week we deep dive into how the legend of Siavash may have influenced Persians to jump over fire on Red Wednesday and how a proposed U.S. state would span the southern Oregon and Northern California region. A listener email explains how Disney perfected a hue of green for their trashcans as to become almost invisible to park goers.Episode Tabs:Chaharshanbe Suri: A Fire-jumping Festivalhttps://welcometoiran.com/chaharshanbe-suri-fire-jumping-festival/State of Jeffersonhttps://www.ijpr.org/state-of-jefferson500 Open Bingoshttps://mfbc.us/m/vq2j24fListener Tabs:I Just Learned A Cool Fact About Disneyland And Disney World That Adds A Whole 'Nother Layer To The Parkshttps://www.cinemablend.com/theme-parks/cool-fact-disneyland-disney-world-go-away-green-trash-can-attractions Bill's Beeshttps://www.billsbees.com/Email your closed tab submissions to: 500opentabs@gmail.comSupport us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/500OpenTabs500 Open Roads (Google Maps episode guide): https://maps.app.goo.gl/Tg9g2HcUaFAzXGbw7Continue the conversation by joining us on Discord! https://discord.gg/8px5RJHk7aSUPPORT THE SHOW and get 40% off an annual subscription to Nebula by going to nebula.tv/500opentabsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

If you think hairballs are just part of life with cats, think again! Frequent hairballs can signal serious health issues like digestive problems, excessive grooming due to stress or allergies, or even conditions like inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and pancreatitis.In this episode of Muddy Paws & Hairballs, veterinarian Dr. Linda Atkins breaks down the truth about cat hairballs, why they happen, and how to prevent them.Key Takeaways: ✔️ Healthy cats should have hairballs "seasonally", approximately four hairballs per year—weekly or monthly hairballs are a red flag. ✔️ Excessive grooming is often triggered by stress, food allergies, skin irritation, or parasites. ✔️ Digestive motility issues, like IBD, pancreatitis, or even constipation, can cause hairballs to form instead of passing through. ✔️ Brushing your cat regularly removes loose fur before they swallow it—the #1 way to prevent hairballs! ✔️ Wet cat food and fresh water improve digestive health and help move swallowed fur through the system. ✔️ Long-haired cat breeds (Persians, Maine Coons, Ragdolls) require extra grooming to prevent hairballs and matting. ✔️ Hairball-related coughing? It might not be hairballs at all—feline asthma or heart disease could be the real culprit. ✔️ Training pets early to accept brushing makes future grooming stress-free. ✔️ Thinking of adopting a cat? Know what you're signing up for—long-haired cats need lifelong grooming commitment!Don't Ignore the Signs! Frequent hairballs, vomiting, or excessive grooming are NOT normal cat behavior. If your cat is hacking up hairballs more than a few times a year, consult your veterinarian to rule out underlying health concerns.

He was born in Damascus to an eminent family, and was well educated in his youth. Discontented with the wisdom of the world, he entered monastic life in the monastery of St Theodosius, where he became the lifelong friend and disciple of John Moschos. Together they visited the monasteries and hermitages of Egypt; they later wrote down their discoveries among the holy monks in the classic Spiritual Meadow. After the death of his teacher, St Sophronius traveled to Jerusalem, which had just been liberated from the Persians. He was there to see the Precious Cross returned from Persia by the Emperor Heraclius, who carried it into Jerusalem on his back. A few years later, in 634, St Sophronius was elected Patriarch of Jerusalem, where he served his flock wisely for three years and three months. He was zealous in the defense of Orthodoxy against the Monothelite heresy: He convoked a Council in Jerusalem which condemned it before it was condemned at the Sixth Ecumenical Council. The holy Patriarch even traveled to Constantinople to rebuke the Patriarch Sergius and Emperor Heraclius, who had embraced the Monothelite error.   The years of peace were few for the Holy Land; for just as the Persian Empire was decisively defeated by Heraclius, the followers of Islam erupted out of Arabia, conquering most of North Africa and the Middle East in a few years. The Saint was so grieved by the capture of Jerusalem in 637 by the Caliph Omar that begged God to take him, so that he might not live to see the desecration of the holy places. His prayer was granted, and he reposed in peace less than a year later.   St Sophronios is the author of the Life of Saint Mary of Egypt, appointed to be read in the churches during every Great Lent. He also wrote the service of the Great Blessing of the Waters. Some have attributed the Vesperal hymn "Gladsome Light" to him, but we know that it dates from before the time of St Basil the Great, who mentions it in his writings. It seems though, that St Sophronios supplemented the hymn, and that its present form is due to him.

Contemporary fiction writer, Sanam Mahloudji joins us to chat about her debut novel, The Persians, the ups and downs of her publication journey and how her personal experiences influenced the novel.

Daniel 8 offers us a powerful reminder of God's sovereignty amidst challenging times. This apocalyptic vision, filled with symbolic animals and horns, reveals the rise and fall of empires - specifically the Medes, Persians, and Greeks. At its core, the passage assures us that despite appearances, God remains in control. The vision of the 'little horn,' identified as Antiochus IV, serves as both a warning and a comfort. It prepares God's people for future persecution while assuring them of ultimate deliverance. This speaks to us today, reminding us that in our own trials and tribulations, we can trust in God's overarching plan. The passage challenges us to empathize with persecuted believers worldwide and to find hope in Christ's ultimate victory over evil. As we navigate our own challenges, let's remember that just as in Daniel's vision, appearances can be deceiving - our God triumphs in the end.

6 It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 satraps, to be throughout the whole kingdom; 2 and over them three high officials, of whom Daniel was one, to whom these satraps should give account, so that the king might suffer no loss. 3 Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him. And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. 4 Then the high officials and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him. 5 Then these men said, “We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.” 6 Then these high officials and satraps came by agreement to the king and said to him, “O King Darius, live forever! 7 All the high officials of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the governors are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an injunction, that whoever makes petition to any god or man for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. 8 Now, O king, establish the injunction and sign the document, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked.” 9 Therefore King Darius signed the document and injunction. 10 When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously. 11 Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and plea before his God. 12 Then they came near and said before the king, concerning the injunction, “O king! Did you not sign an injunction, that anyone who makes petition to any god or man within thirty days except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?” The king answered and said, “The thing stands fast, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked.” 13 Then they answered and said before the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or the injunction you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.” 14 Then the king, when he heard these words, was much distressed and set his mind to deliver Daniel. And he labored till the sun went down to rescue him. 15 Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.” 16 Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king declared to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!” 17 And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. 18 Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no diversions were brought to him, and sleep fled from him. 19 Then, at break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions. 20 As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish. The king declared to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” 21 Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! 22 My God sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.” 23 Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. 24 And the king commanded, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and cast into the den of lions—they, their children, and their wives. And before they reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces. 25 Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: “Peace be multiplied to you. 26 I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end. 27 He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.” 28 So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian. The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Da 6:1–28.

The Notable Horn of Daniel 8. Many are starting to wonder if President Trump is the Anti Messiah or little horn of Daniel 8? Short answer, we don't believe that is the case. HOWEVER, in this message today we will show you why (with lots of evidence) we believe Donald Trump is the Notable Horn on Daniel's hairy goat which was already fulfilled one time by Alexander the Great and his conquering of the then known world power kingdom of the Medes and the Persians which as Daniel tells us are the two horns of the ram. In order to understand what's happening right now and what will very likely soon come to pass from a biblical understanding we need to take a look at Alexander the Great's very short history leading up to his great victories over world powers and untimely death. The AM figure of that time was fulfilled in Antiochus Ep IV as the little horn of Daniel 8) who rose from one of the four divisions of Alex kingdom after his death.

Sermon Note: During this message, Phil inadvertently mentioned the events occurring in 537 BC a few times. The correct year for these events is 539 BC.5:1 King Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in front of the thousand. 2 Belshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. 3 Then they brought in the golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. 4 They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. 5 Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote. 6 Then the king's color changed, and his thoughts alarmed him; his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together. 7 The king called loudly to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers. The king declared to the wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing, and shows me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” 8 Then all the king's wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation. 9 Then King Belshazzar was greatly alarmed, and his color changed, and his lords were perplexed. 10 The queen, because of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banqueting hall, and the queen declared, “O king, live forever! Let not your thoughts alarm you or your color change. 11 There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him, and King Nebuchadnezzar, your father—your father the king—made him chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers, 12 because an excellent spirit, knowledge, and understanding to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.” Daniel Interprets the Handwriting13 Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king answered and said to Daniel, “You are that Daniel, one of the exiles of Judah, whom the king my father brought from Judah. 14 I have heard of you that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you. 15 Now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, but they could not show the interpretation of the matter. 16 But I have heard that you can give interpretations and solve problems. Now if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” 17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king, “Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another. Nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation. 18 O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father kingship and greatness and glory and majesty. 19 And because of the greatness that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whom he would, he killed, and whom he would, he kept alive; whom he would, he raised up, and whom he would, he humbled. 20 But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was brought down from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him. 21 He was driven from among the children of mankind, and his mind was made like that of a beast, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. He was fed grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, until he knew that the Most High God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom he will. 22 And you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this, 23 but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven. And the vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored. 24 “Then from his presence the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed. 25 And this is the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin. 26 This is the interpretation of the matter: Mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; 27 Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; 28 Peres, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” 29 Then Belshazzar gave the command, and Daniel was clothed with purple, a chain of gold was put around his neck, and a proclamation was made about him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. 30 That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed. 31 And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old. The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Da 5:1–31.

Language Learning Collections - Book 1, Part 4 Title: LibriVox Language Learning Collections - Volume 1 Overview: This collection is part of an initiative to create a language learning resource at LibriVox. The LibriVox Language Learning Collections contain readings from various language learning books, grammars, primers, phrasebooks, dictionaries, readers, and even other works which contain information on various languages, recount experiences of language learning and encountering new languages, or provide guides for correct pronunciation, writing or discourse in a language. These works could describe English or any other language whatsoever, from Latin to Sumerian, Chinese to Wampanoag, Esperanto to Swahili (etc.). This Volume includes a treatise by Sir Arthur Cotton, author of an "Arabic Primer". His daughter, Lady Hope, on page 523 of her biography of her father, writes that he "had very strong theories on the subject of learning “Living Languages,” his opinion being that, as every child who comes into the world learns its mother tongue orally, and at first without grammar… so the learning of all modern languages would be very much facilitated by a similar process." Also included are the orientalist E.G. Browne's opinions on language learning (taken from the introduction to A Year Amongst the Persians), the first lesson from Dr. Emil Otto's "French Conversation-Grammar", a talk by ‘Abdu'l-Bahá on the need for a universal auxiliary language, Samuel Johnson's "A Grammar of the English Tongue", several sections from Henry Sweet's "First Steps in Anglo-Saxon", Lessons 1 - 5 from "Esperanto in Twenty Lessons", two sections on language by Varro, a story in Latin from "Fabulae Faciles", "Greek Lessons: 1-10", the Phonology Section from a "Primer of Persian" and Lessons 1 - 19 from "A Practical Arabic Course". Published: Various Series: LibriVox Language Learning Collections List: LibriVox Language Learning Collections, Language #4 Author: Various Genre: Language Learning, Education, Foreign Language, Culture, Vocabulary, Linguistics Episode: Language Learning Collections - Book 1, Part 4 Book: 1 Volume: 1 Part: 4 of 4 Episodes Part: 5 Length Part: 3:49:13 Episodes Volume: 20 Length Volume: 9:19:06 Episodes Book: 20 Length Book: 9:19:06 Narrator: Collaborative Language: Multilingual Rated: Guidance Suggested Edition: Unabridged Audiobook Keywords: Language, Linguistics, Education, Language Learning, Foreign Language, Culture, English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Arabic, Russian, Japanese, Portuguese, German, Latin Hashtags: #freeaudiobooks #audiobook #mustread #readingbooks #audiblebooks #favoritebooks #free #booklist #audible #freeaudiobook #Language #Linguistics #Education #LanguageLearning #ForeignLanguage #Culture #English #Spanish #French #Chinese #Arabic #Russian #Japanese #Portuguese #German #Latin Credits: All LibriVox Recordings are in the Public Domain. Wikipedia (c) Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. WOMBO Dream. Nicholas James Bridgewater.

Language Learning Collections - Book 1, Part 3 Title: LibriVox Language Learning Collections - Volume 1 Overview: This collection is part of an initiative to create a language learning resource at LibriVox. The LibriVox Language Learning Collections contain readings from various language learning books, grammars, primers, phrasebooks, dictionaries, readers, and even other works which contain information on various languages, recount experiences of language learning and encountering new languages, or provide guides for correct pronunciation, writing or discourse in a language. These works could describe English or any other language whatsoever, from Latin to Sumerian, Chinese to Wampanoag, Esperanto to Swahili (etc.). This Volume includes a treatise by Sir Arthur Cotton, author of an "Arabic Primer". His daughter, Lady Hope, on page 523 of her biography of her father, writes that he "had very strong theories on the subject of learning “Living Languages,” his opinion being that, as every child who comes into the world learns its mother tongue orally, and at first without grammar… so the learning of all modern languages would be very much facilitated by a similar process." Also included are the orientalist E.G. Browne's opinions on language learning (taken from the introduction to A Year Amongst the Persians), the first lesson from Dr. Emil Otto's "French Conversation-Grammar", a talk by ‘Abdu'l-Bahá on the need for a universal auxiliary language, Samuel Johnson's "A Grammar of the English Tongue", several sections from Henry Sweet's "First Steps in Anglo-Saxon", Lessons 1 - 5 from "Esperanto in Twenty Lessons", two sections on language by Varro, a story in Latin from "Fabulae Faciles", "Greek Lessons: 1-10", the Phonology Section from a "Primer of Persian" and Lessons 1 - 19 from "A Practical Arabic Course". Published: Various Series: LibriVox Language Learning Collections List: LibriVox Language Learning Collections, Language #3 Author: Various Genre: Language Learning, Education, Foreign Language, Culture, Vocabulary, Linguistics Episode: Language Learning Collections - Book 1, Part 3 Book: 1 Volume: 1 Part: 3 of 4 Episodes Part: 5 Length Part: 2:21:58 Episodes Volume: 20 Length Volume: 9:19:06 Episodes Book: 20 Length Book: 9:19:06 Narrator: Collaborative Language: Multilingual Rated: Guidance Suggested Edition: Unabridged Audiobook Keywords: Language, Linguistics, Education, Language Learning, Foreign Language, Culture, English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Arabic, Russian, Japanese, Portuguese, German, Latin Hashtags: #freeaudiobooks #audiobook #mustread #readingbooks #audiblebooks #favoritebooks #free #booklist #audible #freeaudiobook #Language #Linguistics #Education #LanguageLearning #ForeignLanguage #Culture #English #Spanish #French #Chinese #Arabic #Russian #Japanese #Portuguese #German #Latin Credits: All LibriVox Recordings are in the Public Domain. Wikipedia (c) Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. WOMBO Dream. Nicholas James Bridgewater.

Language Learning Collections - Book 1, Part 2 Title: LibriVox Language Learning Collections - Volume 1 Overview: This collection is part of an initiative to create a language learning resource at LibriVox. The LibriVox Language Learning Collections contain readings from various language learning books, grammars, primers, phrasebooks, dictionaries, readers, and even other works which contain information on various languages, recount experiences of language learning and encountering new languages, or provide guides for correct pronunciation, writing or discourse in a language. These works could describe English or any other language whatsoever, from Latin to Sumerian, Chinese to Wampanoag, Esperanto to Swahili (etc.). This Volume includes a treatise by Sir Arthur Cotton, author of an "Arabic Primer". His daughter, Lady Hope, on page 523 of her biography of her father, writes that he "had very strong theories on the subject of learning “Living Languages,” his opinion being that, as every child who comes into the world learns its mother tongue orally, and at first without grammar… so the learning of all modern languages would be very much facilitated by a similar process." Also included are the orientalist E.G. Browne's opinions on language learning (taken from the introduction to A Year Amongst the Persians), the first lesson from Dr. Emil Otto's "French Conversation-Grammar", a talk by ‘Abdu'l-Bahá on the need for a universal auxiliary language, Samuel Johnson's "A Grammar of the English Tongue", several sections from Henry Sweet's "First Steps in Anglo-Saxon", Lessons 1 - 5 from "Esperanto in Twenty Lessons", two sections on language by Varro, a story in Latin from "Fabulae Faciles", "Greek Lessons: 1-10", the Phonology Section from a "Primer of Persian" and Lessons 1 - 19 from "A Practical Arabic Course". Published: Various Series: LibriVox Language Learning Collections List: LibriVox Language Learning Collections, Language #2 Author: Various Genre: Language Learning, Education, Foreign Language, Culture, Vocabulary, Linguistics Episode: Language Learning Collections - Book 1, Part 2 Book: 1 Volume: 1 Part: 2 of 4 Episodes Part: 5 Length Part: 1:23:43 Episodes Volume: 20 Length Volume: 9:19:06 Episodes Book: 20 Length Book: 9:19:06 Narrator: Collaborative Language: Multilingual Rated: Guidance Suggested Edition: Unabridged Audiobook Keywords: Language, Linguistics, Education, Language Learning, Foreign Language, Culture, English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Arabic, Russian, Japanese, Portuguese, German, Latin Hashtags: #freeaudiobooks #audiobook #mustread #readingbooks #audiblebooks #favoritebooks #free #booklist #audible #freeaudiobook #Language #Linguistics #Education #LanguageLearning #ForeignLanguage #Culture #English #Spanish #French #Chinese #Arabic #Russian #Japanese #Portuguese #German #Latin Credits: All LibriVox Recordings are in the Public Domain. Wikipedia (c) Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. WOMBO Dream. Nicholas James Bridgewater.

Our latest live edition of the Roqe podcast recorded on Feb 6, 2025, in front of a sold out audience at City Playhouse in Thornhill, Canada, featuring Shohreh Aghdashloo (recipient of the Roqe Media Icon Award), Fardad Farahzad, Dang Show, Siamak Mehr, Ghazal Akhounzadeh, Anahita Nayebi, Mahsa Mortazavi, Pegah Ganji and DJ Blanch Echo. Jian kicks off the show with an essay about Persians and tardiness (“The Science of Being Late”) before being joined by all the special guests for interviews and memorable performances. Full video of the show is available on our YouTube Channel and audio across all of our podcast platforms. Thanks to the full Roqe team, crew, and volunteers. Makeup by Milad Beauty and lighting by Light Night Design And our sponsors for Roqe Live 4: Montrok Group @montrokgroup Anabel Sharouyan @anabel_sharouyan Beigi Law Firm @beigilaw Gta partyplatter @gtapartyplatter Famluxy @famluxy Aydin Rahimy @aydin_rahimy_realestate Twoar.t @twoar.t TIP Services @tip_services Dental forest wood @dentalforestwood Ontario Camera @ontariocamera Alia pastry @aliapastry Lazar prop creation @lazar_prop_creation

Language Learning Collections - Book 1, Part 1 Title: LibriVox Language Learning Collections - Volume 1 Overview: This collection is part of an initiative to create a language learning resource at LibriVox. The LibriVox Language Learning Collections contain readings from various language learning books, grammars, primers, phrasebooks, dictionaries, readers, and even other works which contain information on various languages, recount experiences of language learning and encountering new languages, or provide guides for correct pronunciation, writing or discourse in a language. These works could describe English or any other language whatsoever, from Latin to Sumerian, Chinese to Wampanoag, Esperanto to Swahili (etc.). This Volume includes a treatise by Sir Arthur Cotton, author of an "Arabic Primer". His daughter, Lady Hope, on page 523 of her biography of her father, writes that he "had very strong theories on the subject of learning “Living Languages,” his opinion being that, as every child who comes into the world learns its mother tongue orally, and at first without grammar… so the learning of all modern languages would be very much facilitated by a similar process." Also included are the orientalist E.G. Browne's opinions on language learning (taken from the introduction to A Year Amongst the Persians), the first lesson from Dr. Emil Otto's "French Conversation-Grammar", a talk by ‘Abdu'l-Bahá on the need for a universal auxiliary language, Samuel Johnson's "A Grammar of the English Tongue", several sections from Henry Sweet's "First Steps in Anglo-Saxon", Lessons 1 - 5 from "Esperanto in Twenty Lessons", two sections on language by Varro, a story in Latin from "Fabulae Faciles", "Greek Lessons: 1-10", the Phonology Section from a "Primer of Persian" and Lessons 1 - 19 from "A Practical Arabic Course". Published: Various Series: LibriVox Language Learning Collections List: LibriVox Language Learning Collections, Language #1 Author: Various Genre: Language Learning, Education, Foreign Language, Culture, Vocabulary, Linguistics Episode: Language Learning Collections - Book 1, Part 1 Book: 1 Volume: 1 Part: 1 of 4 Episodes Part: 5 Length Part: 1:44:19 Episodes Volume: 20 Length Volume: 9:19:06 Episodes Book: 20 Length Book: 9:19:06 Narrator: Collaborative Language: Multilingual Rated: Guidance Suggested Edition: Unabridged Audiobook Keywords: Language, Linguistics, Education, Language Learning, Foreign Language, Culture, English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Arabic, Russian, Japanese, Portuguese, German, Latin Hashtags: #freeaudiobooks #audiobook #mustread #readingbooks #audiblebooks #favoritebooks #free #booklist #audible #freeaudiobook #Language #Linguistics #Education #LanguageLearning #ForeignLanguage #Culture #English #Spanish #French #Chinese #Arabic #Russian #Japanese #Portuguese #German #Latin Credits: All LibriVox Recordings are in the Public Domain. Wikipedia (c) Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. WOMBO Dream. Nicholas James Bridgewater.

Daily Dose of Hope February 11, 2025 Day 3 of Week 46   Scripture:  Daniel 4-6; John 18   Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that goes along with the daily Bible reading for New Hope Church in Brandon, Florida.  Let's get into our Scripture for today.    For our Old Testament reading, we are in the book of Daniel, chapters 4-6.  All three of these chapters, though different, emphasize God's sovereignty through kings and kingdoms.  In chapter 4, Daniel interprets a dream for the king about a tree that shelters the world.  The tree is cut down by an angel.  Daniel, with a fair amount of trepidation, tells the king that it means he, the king, will essentially lose his mind.  He will become like a wild animal and eat grass in the pasture.  Daniel implores the king to stop sinning and get right with God.    Everything that Daniel interpreted in the dream eventually came true.  The king lost his sanity and became like a cow in the field.  But in time, Nebuchadnezzar came to and began to worship the one true God.  He gained his sanity and gave praises to the Lord.   By chapter 5, there is a new king, Belshazzar.  He holds a big feast and decides to use the vessels from the Lord's Temple to drink from.  A hand appears and begins to write on the wall.  The king's magicians can't understand it, so the king calls for Daniel.  Daniel boldly tells the king that God isn't pleased with his arrogance and how he is drinking from cups taken from the Temple while giving praise to false gods.    The message included these words: numbered, weighed, and divided.  Daniel interpreted what they meant.  Numbered indicated that the king's days were numbered and would end soon.  Weighed means the king was weighed on the scale but did not measure up.  Finally, divided means that the kingdom will be divided between the Medes and the Persians.  King Belshazzar died that very night and Darius, the Mede, was made king.   Chapter 6 is a passage that most of us are familiar with – Daniel and the lions' den.  When the Babylonians and King Nebuchadnezzar initially conquered Judah, Daniel and his friends would have been about 15.  Now, time has passed.  A lot has happened.  God has been faithful to these Jewish men living in exile.  They have remained faithful to the one true God, Yahweh, despite all the idolatry around them.  They have moved up the ranks and now fulfill very high positions in the Kingdom, despite the many political changes that have happened around them.    By now, Daniel is in his early 80's.  He was still exceptional, moving up, getting promoted, and the other administrators were jealous.  How in the world has this foreigner done so well and soon he is going to be placed over the whole Kingdom and be their boss. They look for a way to trap him.  But Daniel did not have any skeletons in the closet (don't you wish we had politicians like this in our world today) – no skeletons, there is nothing they can blackmail him with – he has such high integrity.  He is a Godly man.  But then they are like, “well, that's where we are going to have to set him up.  We know he will not betray his God, so that's it!  That's where we are going to cause his downfall.”   But they have to get the king onboard, and King Darius really liked Daniel.  But, if you want to sway someone in a high position, then what do you have to do – appeal to their ego, right?  They come up to him and say, “King, aren't you the highest and greatest in the land?  Aren't you the one who deserves worship?”  And the king, in all his arrogant glory, is like “yeah, yeah, I am…”  They get the king to issue a nonreversible decree that for thirty days, no one can pray to anyone but the king.  If they break the decree, they will be thrown into a den of hungry lions.  The king was obviously arrogant but he might not have been the sharpest tool in the shed either.    But Daniel was obedient to God.  He continued to get down on his knees and pray three times a day.  How easy would it have been for Daniel to just say, “Well, for 30 days, I'm just not going to pray so that I can stay safe.”  He could have said, “I'm going to just pray in my heart and no one will know.” He could have gone into an inner room where no one would have seen him.  But no, he goes up the stairs, opens his windows, and prays publicly.  He chose not to take the safe route.  I once read that we think of the miracle as Daniel being saved from the lions' den but the real miracle was that Daniel stayed true to his convictions and kept praying knowing that he would face death.  The real miracle was that he had made a decision to trust God no matter what.  He was not going to allow some human king to tell him when and to whom he could pray.  He had one Lord and it wasn't King Darius.   We all know how the story ends.  Daniel is saved from the lions.  But what do we learn here? I keep thinking how God's people should expect opposition.  When we live for Jesus Christ, then there are forces in this world that hate that.  Whenever we have a huge spiritual victory at New Hope, we typically see some kind of big issue afterward or in the midst of it.  If you have a personal spiritual victory, please know that the enemy is going to try to make a mess of it or discourage you or lead you astray.  Be aware and be vigilant. The other big thing to mention here is trust.  Maybe you've noticed, but trusting in God is the thread that has woven together the first half of the book of Daniel.   We can trust God because God can and will deliver believers from any danger we face.  We serve a God who is trustworthy.  We serve a powerful God.  We serve a God who cares for his people.  Now, I say that and I also know that how God chooses to deliver us from our lions' dens may not be the way we want him to deliver us from our lions' dens.  In this text, God chose to send an angel to close the mouths of the lions.  It could have had a different ending.  Here's our big question - do we trust God, even when we don't know what the ending will be?  With that, let's move to the New Testament.  Our text is John 18.  Jesus has been before the Jewish high priest and the Jewish ruling council.  They can't stand him.  They not only feel threatened by him, but they are appalled about how he speaks of forgiving sins and being like the Father.  They want him to die but they don't have the power to execute him under Roman law.  They have to take him to the Roman governor, who happens to be Pontius Pilate.  As you will see, Pilate does not find Jesus to have done anything worthy of death at all but he is scared of the Jewish leaders.  We could go in a lot of different directions with this.  But I want to focus on a portion of verses 37-38, ...Jesus responded, “You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.” “What is truth?” Pilate asked... Jesus came to testify to the truth.  Pilate questions if there can be truth.  The Greek word for “truth” is aletheia, and it means something like “divine revelation.”  It literally means “what can't be hidden.”  The Hebrew word for “truth” is emeth, which means firmness and immovability. Truth is not relative, nor does it change from person to person.  Truth can be offensive to some because they simply don't like how it makes them feel.  The reality is that many things can have some truth but there is only one TRUTH.  For believers, TRUTH is Jesus Christ.  John 14:6 reads, Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  Jesus is the map that leads us to all truth.  Blessings, Pastor Vicki        

With Molon dealt with, Antiochus III now turns his attention towards Lesser Media and the east. Hermias, the scheming minister, is fine with this decision given that there's an heir been born and the possibility of a regency should anything happen to the king. However, Antiochus has his own ideas- as does prince Achaeus over in Anatolia... Sources for this episode: Bevan, E. R. (1902), The House of Seleucus (Vol. I). London: Edward Arthur. Cook, J. M. (1999), The Persians. London: The Folio Society. Gershon, L., Smithsonian Magazine (2020), Grandson of President John Tyler, Who Left Office in 1845, Dies at Age 95 (online) (Accessed 24/06/2024). Polybius (1979), Polybius the Histories, in Six Volumes (Volume III). Translated by W. R. Paton. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: Harvard University Press and William Heinemann, Ltd. Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Artabazanes (online) (Accessed 24/06/2024). Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Darius III (online) (Accessed 24/06/2024). Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Harrison Ruffin Tyler (online) (Accessed 24/06/2024).

Muslims claim that Mecca is in Saudi Arabia, that Mohammad was born there, and that he also received his revelation of the Quran there. If that is true where is Mecca? Steven Shoemaker in his book Creating the Quran on page114 mentions that there is no mention of a mecca in any of the great civilizations of the time . Not only that,but another scholar; Patricia Corona said that there were no trade roues going through Mecca on land nor by the coast of the Red Sea bordering Mecca. Many scholars say that Islam started way north of Mecca and that most Muslim scholars were Persians. So Shoemaker concludes that Mecca was further north. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, we'll explore the critical decade between the Greek victory at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC and Xerxes' invasion of Greece in 480 BC—a period that shaped the course of the Greco-Persian Wars. Following their defeat at Marathon, the Persians, under King Darius I, began preparing for a renewed campaign, but internal challenges, including rebellions and Darius' death in 486 BC, delayed their plans.With the ascension of Xerxes I, the Persian Empire moved decisively. Xerxes crushed revolts in Egypt and Babylonia and set his sights on Greece, organizing one of the largest invasion forces in ancient history to fulfill his father's uncompleted ambitions of conquest.Meanwhile, growing awareness of the Persian threat pushed some Greek city-states toward greater unity. Despite internal rivalries, alliances began to form, with Athens and Sparta taking the lead in preparing for the storm to come. But would this fledgling cooperation be enough to stand against Xerxes' colossal forces?Let's find out. Contents:00:00  Recap and Introduction01:07 Darius' Legacy04:07 Xerxes becomes King06:38 The Great Debate: Mardonius15:47 The Great Debate: Artabanus19:45 On to War!27:15 The Grand Army of Xerxes 35:07 Gelon of Sicily and the Search for Allies45:52 Thank You and PatronsSupport the show

Daily Dose of Hope January 16, 2025 Day 5 of Week 42   Scripture: Jeremiah 50-51; 2 Peter 3 Welcome back, everyone, to the Daily Dose of Hope.  This is the devotional and podcast that complements the Bible reading plan at New Hope Church in Brandon, Florida.  It's Thursday so that means you will have two days, Friday and Saturday, for catch up, rest, or getting ahead.  Our Old Testament reading today is Jeremiah 50-51.  These two chapters prophecy the fall of Babylon.  God used Babylon for his purposes but they were a sinful, violent society.  We get the impression that God had always planned to punish Babylon for their sins, which included conquering Israel and many other nations.  So what happened?  Cyrus the Great (of the Persians) marched into Babylon and took the city in 539BC.  Cyrus was proclaimed king and he freed the Jewish people.  What we know from later books, such as Nehemiah, is that not everyone came back to Israel.  They had now been in exile for seventy years.  People had put down roots.  But others did venture back to Jerusalem...more on that soon. Our New Testament reading is 2 Peter 3.  This is a urgent plea to be ready.  Jesus is returning and we don't know the day or the hour.  Peter was dealing with scoffers/false teachers who didn't believe in the second coming.  Peter wanted the Christians to stay strong in their faith.  He noted that God is not bound by time in the same way as humans.  To God a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day.  One commentary I read about this chapter said that the last days basically started when Jesus ascended into heaven.  Peter was living in the last days when he wrote this letter and we are living in the last days right now.  If that is the case, then how should we live our lives?  Peter stresses that we should seek to live holy and Godly lives, as people waiting for a new heaven and a new earth. What does this mean to you?  Blessings, Pastor Vicki  

Dcn. Harrison Garlick and Adam Minihan are reunited to intro Aeschylus, the Father of Greek Tragedy.Aeschylus (b. 525 BC) was a warrior, statesman, and the father of Greek tragedy. Born into nobility, he grew up in Athens during its pivotal transition from tyranny to democracy. Furthermore, he famously fought in the Battle of Marathon (490 BC), defending a nascent Western civilization against Persian invasion. Aeschylus died in 456 BC, leaving behind a legacy that shaped the foundation of Greek drama.Check out thegreatbookspodcast.com for more information.From our guide on the Oresteia:1. What is the Ionian Revolt?To understand Aeschylus, we must first understand the Greco-Persian War (c. 499 BC to 429). In sum, what is called the “First Persian Empire,” founded by Cyrus the Great around 550 BC, stretched from modern-day Iran, Asia Minor, modern day Israel, and Egypt. In Asia Minor, this Persian empire ruled over Hellenistic city-states. One may recall that Troy, a polis with both Hellenistic and eastern traits, was also located in Asia Minor. In 499 BC, the city-states rebelled against their Persian overlords with the support of Athens in what is known as the “Ionian Revolt.” The revolt failed and the Persians retained control of Asia Minor; however, King Darius of the Persian Empire believed Athens should be punished and elected to invade Greece. 2. What was the first invasion in the Greco-Persian Wars?The Ionian Revolt sparked the larger Greco-Persian Wars and led to King Darius' invasion of ancient Greece in 492 BC. Athens led the federation of city-states against the Persians, and Aeschylus fought for the Athenian army. Notably, Aeschylus and his brother both fought at the famous Battle of Marathon in 490 BC at which the first Persian invasion was defeated.[1] Aeschylus' brother, however, died in the conflict.[2] The Battle of Marathon is often held as a watershed moment in the birth of Western culture. The battle is also the namesake of running a marathon, as the legend has it that an Athenian runner ran the twenty-six miles from Marathon to Athens to tell them of the Athenian victory. 3. What was the second Persian invasion in the Greco-Persian Wars?Ten years later, a second Persian invasion was headed by King Darius' son, King Xerxes. This is the setting for the famous Battle of Thermopylae (480 BC), in which the smaller Spartan force of approximately 7000 men under King Leonidas held off 120,000-300,000 Persian invaders. The word Thermopylae means “hot gates” and takes its name from the hot springs in that area—it is also fittingly one of the mythological entrances to Hades. After Thermopylae, the Athenians won a great naval battle against the Persians at Salamis in 480 BC. Notably, Aeschylus is said to have fought in this battle as well and wrote his play The Persians about the conflict. The Greeks, led by the Athenians and Spartans, would eventually expel the Persians and bring peace in 449 BC. 4. What do we know about Aeschylus' writings?Aeschylus is...

In this episode of History 102, 'WhatIfAltHist' creator Rudyard Lynch and co-host Austin Padgett explore how an interconnected world of chariot-riding elites, complex trade networks, and temple bureaucracies imploded within a single generation. From mysterious Sea Peoples to the rise of iron weapons, they unpack how this collapse birthed a new heroic age that gave us the Greeks, Jews, and Persians. --

“Jesus said to the people who believed in him, ‘You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’” (John 8:31–32 NLT) Believing in Jesus involves more than just accepting what He says as the truth. It involves being faithful to His teachings; changing not just your priorities, but the way you think and act; and restructuring your life so that it resembles His. That’s the message Jesus sends in John 8. You can’t be a casual disciple. The amazing thing about becoming a disciple is that it doesn’t feel like an obligation; it feels like freedom. When you know the truth about what Jesus offers, you’re set free from the pull of your sinful nature. You have what you need to resist temptation and discover a new way of living. The Jewish leaders who heard Jesus’ offer were unimpressed. “But we are descendants of Abraham . . . We have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean, ‘You will be set free’?” (verse 33 NLT). That was an odd claim, coming from people whose ancestors had been under the control of the Egyptians, Philistines, Babylonians, Persians, Syrians, and Romans at various times in history. Jesus tried to help them understand that if you sin, you’re a slave to sin because you have no choice in the matter. You have no power to break free from sin’s mastery over you. Only the Son, who enjoys the rights and privileges of being part of God’s family, can free a slave of sin. The Jewish leaders tried to argue that they were part of God’s family, too, because they were descendants of Abraham. Jesus pointed out that He was the litmus test because He was the true Son of God. Since the Jewish leaders were trying to kill Him, they couldn’t claim that God was their father too. If God were truly their father, they would have welcomed Jesus. They would have recognized that He had been sent by God. They would have done everything in their power to assist and support Him. Instead, they showed who their real father was by spreading lies about Him, turning people against Him, questioning His authority, trying to embarrass Him, scheming against Him, and plotting to kill Him. “You are the children of your father the devil,” Jesus told them (verse 44 NLT). Jesus saw these people for who they were: opponents of God’s work and His will. But not everyone could see through their disguise. The same problem exists today. It’s possible for people to be spiritual leaders, to have respect and authority in the eyes of many people, and still be obstacles to God’s real work. Their teachings may seem reasonable, spiritual, and even scriptural to those who aren’t listening closely. That’s why God’s Word instructs us to be discerning and wise, to test everything we hear against the truth of Scripture. — Listen to the Greg Laurie Podcast Become a Harvest PartnerSupport the show: https://harvest.org/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Roman Emperor Heraclius faced his gravest challenge yet in AD 626 as the Avars and Persians closed in on the capital city, Constantinople. But the year ahead would be full of surprises.For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickholmesauthor.comFind my latest book, Justinian's Empire, on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. For German listeners, find the German translation of the first book in my series on the 'Fall of the Roman Empire', Die römische Revolution, on Amazon.de.

Ezra: Fascinating ancient letters dramatize Israel's struggle with the ancient kings of the Medes and the Persians and with their neighbors. Why did God forbid the Jews from marrying their Gentile neighbors? Through Ezra the priest, God even commanded Israel to divorce their pagan wives. Contrarily, through the Apostle Paul, God commands Christians to stay married to unbelievers. Why did God issue different commands to Israel and the Body of Christ regarding divorce and marriage, what are the similarities, and what are the differences?   MP3-CD or MP3 download   BEL SUBSCRIPTIONS: Please consider one of our monthly subscriptions that will not only help support BEL, but they also promote better understanding of the Bible and may equip you to more effectively reach those around you. Monthly Downloads: Enjoy your monthly subscription is download form rather than on disc. Monthly Sermons: Enjoy all of Bob's sermons from the month on Sermon Video DVD, great also to watch with the family. Or, get these on Sermon Audio CDs which are standard audio Compact Discs that will play on any CD player including the one in your car. Or get them on a single Sermon MP3-CD which will play on an MP3 player, in a DVD player, or in your computer.Monthly Bible Studies: Enjoy the Scriptures with Bob's Monthly Bible Study DVDs, great too for a small group Bible study. Or get these teachings on a single Monthly Bible Study Audio MP3- CD which will play on an MP3 player, in a DVD player, or in your computer.Monthly Topical Videos: Coming to your mailbox, you'll get a Monthly Topical DVD to enjoy one of Bob's great videos specially selected to be entertaining and to teach about life from a biblical worldview.Monthly BEL TV Classics: Enjoy Bob Enyart's timeless, popular TV show delivered to your home on the Monthly BEL TV Classics DVDs with great audio and video clarity thanks to our state-of-the-art mastering from the studio-quality Sony beta tapes to DVD!Monthly Donation: For folks who just want to make sure that Bob Enyart Live stays on the air, please consider making a pledge in the form of a Monthly Donation

Ezra: Fascinating ancient letters dramatize Israel's struggle with the ancient kings of the Medes and the Persians and with their neighbors. Why did God forbid the Jews from marrying their Gentile neighbors? Through Ezra the priest, God even commanded Israel to divorce their pagan wives. Contrarily, through the Apostle Paul, God commands Christians to stay married to unbelievers. Why did God issue different commands to Israel and the Body of Christ regarding divorce and marriage, what are the similarities, and what are the differences?   MP3-CD or MP3 download   BEL SUBSCRIPTIONS: Please consider one of our monthly subscriptions that will not only help support BEL, but they also promote better understanding of the Bible and may equip you to more effectively reach those around you. Monthly Downloads: Enjoy your monthly subscription is download form rather than on disc. Monthly Sermons: Enjoy all of Bob's sermons from the month on Sermon Video DVD, great also to watch with the family. Or, get these on Sermon Audio CDs which are standard audio Compact Discs that will play on any CD player including the one in your car. Or get them on a single Sermon MP3-CD which will play on an MP3 player, in a DVD player, or in your computer.Monthly Bible Studies: Enjoy the Scriptures with Bob's Monthly Bible Study DVDs, great too for a small group Bible study. Or get these teachings on a single Monthly Bible Study Audio MP3- CD which will play on an MP3 player, in a DVD player, or in your computer.Monthly Topical Videos: Coming to your mailbox, you'll get a Monthly Topical DVD to enjoy one of Bob's great videos specially selected to be entertaining and to teach about life from a biblical worldview.Monthly BEL TV Classics: Enjoy Bob Enyart's timeless, popular TV show delivered to your home on the Monthly BEL TV Classics DVDs with great audio and video clarity thanks to our state-of-the-art mastering from the studio-quality Sony beta tapes to DVD!Monthly Donation: For folks who just want to make sure that Bob Enyart Live stays on the air, please consider making a pledge in the form of a Monthly Donation

Ezra: Fascinating ancient letters dramatize Israel's struggle with the ancient kings of the Medes and the Persians and with their neighbors. Why did God forbid the Jews from marrying their Gentile neighbors? Through Ezra the priest, God even commanded Israel to divorce their pagan wives. Contrarily, through the Apostle Paul, God commands Christians to stay married to unbelievers. Why did God issue different commands to Israel and the Body of Christ regarding divorce and marriage, what are the similarities, and what are the differences?   MP3-CD or MP3 download   BEL SUBSCRIPTIONS: Please consider one of our monthly subscriptions that will not only help support BEL, but they also promote better understanding of the Bible and may equip you to more effectively reach those around you. Monthly Downloads: Enjoy your monthly subscription is download form rather than on disc. Monthly Sermons: Enjoy all of Bob's sermons from the month on Sermon Video DVD, great also to watch with the family. Or, get these on Sermon Audio CDs which are standard audio Compact Discs that will play on any CD player including the one in your car. Or get them on a single Sermon MP3-CD which will play on an MP3 player, in a DVD player, or in your computer.Monthly Bible Studies: Enjoy the Scriptures with Bob's Monthly Bible Study DVDs, great too for a small group Bible study. Or get these teachings on a single Monthly Bible Study Audio MP3- CD which will play on an MP3 player, in a DVD player, or in your computer.Monthly Topical Videos: Coming to your mailbox, you'll get a Monthly Topical DVD to enjoy one of Bob's great videos specially selected to be entertaining and to teach about life from a biblical worldview.Monthly BEL TV Classics: Enjoy Bob Enyart's timeless, popular TV show delivered to your home on the Monthly BEL TV Classics DVDs with great audio and video clarity thanks to our state-of-the-art mastering from the studio-quality Sony beta tapes to DVD!Monthly Donation: For folks who just want to make sure that Bob Enyart Live stays on the air, please consider making a pledge in the form of a Monthly Donation

Ezra: Fascinating ancient letters dramatize Israel's struggle with the ancient kings of the Medes and the Persians and with their neighbors. Why did God forbid the Jews from marrying their Gentile neighbors? Through Ezra the priest, God even commanded Israel to divorce their pagan wives. Contrarily, through the Apostle Paul, God commands Christians to stay married to unbelievers. Why did God issue different commands to Israel and the Body of Christ regarding divorce and marriage, what are the similarities, and what are the differences?   MP3-CD or MP3 download   BEL SUBSCRIPTIONS: Please consider one of our monthly subscriptions that will not only help support BEL, but they also promote better understanding of the Bible and may equip you to more effectively reach those around you. Monthly Downloads: Enjoy your monthly subscription is download form rather than on disc. Monthly Sermons: Enjoy all of Bob's sermons from the month on Sermon Video DVD, great also to watch with the family. Or, get these on Sermon Audio CDs which are standard audio Compact Discs that will play on any CD player including the one in your car. Or get them on a single Sermon MP3-CD which will play on an MP3 player, in a DVD player, or in your computer.Monthly Bible Studies: Enjoy the Scriptures with Bob's Monthly Bible Study DVDs, great too for a small group Bible study. Or get these teachings on a single Monthly Bible Study Audio MP3- CD which will play on an MP3 player, in a DVD player, or in your computer.Monthly Topical Videos: Coming to your mailbox, you'll get a Monthly Topical DVD to enjoy one of Bob's great videos specially selected to be entertaining and to teach about life from a biblical worldview.Monthly BEL TV Classics: Enjoy Bob Enyart's timeless, popular TV show delivered to your home on the Monthly BEL TV Classics DVDs with great audio and video clarity thanks to our state-of-the-art mastering from the studio-quality Sony beta tapes to DVD!Monthly Donation: For folks who just want to make sure that Bob Enyart Live stays on the air, please consider making a pledge in the form of a Monthly Donation

ISLAMIC REPUBLE OF IRAN FALSE FROM THE START:  1/4: Iran is More Than Persia: Ethnic Politics in Iran Hardcover –  by  Brenda Shaffer  https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/helicopter-iranian-presidents-convoy-accident-says-strate-tv-2024-05-19/ https://www.amazon.com/Iran-More-Than-Persia-Politics/dp/311079621X Iran is More than Persia: Ethnic Politics in Iran analyses Iranian politics from a unique perspective, one that focuses on the relations between the Persian-dominated Iranian state and the country's ethnic minorities. The book explores the stability of the ruling regime in light of the challenges that multiethnicity brings. Persians comprise less than half of the population of Iran and more than 40 percent of Iranians lack fluency in the Persian language. An overwhelming majority of non-Persian groups inhabit most of Iran's border regions; as such the book explores Iran's foreign policy toward neighboring states that share co-ethnic populations. Iran's ethnic minorities inhabit the state's poorest provinces and the country's growing environmental and water supply challenges hit the ethnic minority provinces harder than the Persian center, adding an ominous ethnic character to what are often presented as purely environmental or economic challenges. The book further examines the potential impact of ethnic based unrest in Khuzestan on Iran's oil production, Iran's main oil producing region. Drawing on a rich assortment of primary data and interviews, this book offers unparalled insights into ethnic politics in Iran. It will be of interest to upper-level undergraduates and postgraduates, researchers and professionals interested in the Middle East, international relations, and ethnic studies. UNDATED PERSIA

ISLAMIC REPUBLE OF IRAN FALSE FROM THE START:  2/4: Iran is More Than Persia: Ethnic Politics in Iran Hardcover –  by  Brenda Shaffer  https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/helicopter-iranian-presidents-convoy-accident-says-strate-tv-2024-05-19/ https://www.amazon.com/Iran-More-Than-Persia-Politics/dp/311079621X Iran is More than Persia: Ethnic Politics in Iran analyses Iranian politics from a unique perspective, one that focuses on the relations between the Persian-dominated Iranian state and the country's ethnic minorities. The book explores the stability of the ruling regime in light of the challenges that multiethnicity brings. Persians comprise less than half of the population of Iran and more than 40 percent of Iranians lack fluency in the Persian language. An overwhelming majority of non-Persian groups inhabit most of Iran's border regions; as such the book explores Iran's foreign policy toward neighboring states that share co-ethnic populations. Iran's ethnic minorities inhabit the state's poorest provinces and the country's growing environmental and water supply challenges hit the ethnic minority provinces harder than the Persian center, adding an ominous ethnic character to what are often presented as purely environmental or economic challenges. The book further examines the potential impact of ethnic based unrest in Khuzestan on Iran's oil production, Iran's main oil producing region. Drawing on a rich assortment of primary data and interviews, this book offers unparalled insights into ethnic politics in Iran. It will be of interest to upper-level undergraduates and postgraduates, researchers and professionals interested in the Middle East, international relations, and ethnic studies. 1832

ISLAMIC REPUBLE OF IRAN FALSE FROM THE START: 3/4: Iran is More Than Persia: Ethnic Politics in Iran Hardcover –  by  Brenda Shaffer  https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/helicopter-iranian-presidents-convoy-accident-says-strate-tv-2024-05-19/ https://www.amazon.com/Iran-More-Than-Persia-Politics/dp/311079621X Iran is More than Persia: Ethnic Politics in Iran analyses Iranian politics from a unique perspective, one that focuses on the relations between the Persian-dominated Iranian state and the country's ethnic minorities. The book explores the stability of the ruling regime in light of the challenges that multiethnicity brings. Persians comprise less than half of the population of Iran and more than 40 percent of Iranians lack fluency in the Persian language. An overwhelming majority of non-Persian groups inhabit most of Iran's border regions; as such the book explores Iran's foreign policy toward neighboring states that share co-ethnic populations. Iran's ethnic minorities inhabit the state's poorest provinces and the country's growing environmental and water supply challenges hit the ethnic minority provinces harder than the Persian center, adding an ominous ethnic character to what are often presented as purely environmental or economic challenges. The book further examines the potential impact of ethnic based unrest in Khuzestan on Iran's oil production, Iran's main oil producing region. Drawing on a rich assortment of primary data and interviews, this book offers unparalled insights into ethnic politics in Iran. It will be of interest to upper-level undergraduates and postgraduates, researchers and professionals interested in the Middle East, international relations, and ethnic studies. 1906 RUSSIANS IN TABRIZ

ISLAMIC REPUBLE OF IRAN FALSE FROM THE START:  4/4: Iran is More Than Persia: Ethnic Politics in Iran Hardcover –  by  Brenda Shaffer  https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/helicopter-iranian-presidents-convoy-accident-says-strate-tv-2024-05-19/ https://www.amazon.com/Iran-More-Than-Persia-Politics/dp/311079621X Iran is More than Persia: Ethnic Politics in Iran analyses Iranian politics from a unique perspective, one that focuses on the relations between the Persian-dominated Iranian state and the country's ethnic minorities. The book explores the stability of the ruling regime in light of the challenges that multiethnicity brings. Persians comprise less than half of the population of Iran and more than 40 percent of Iranians lack fluency in the Persian language. An overwhelming majority of non-Persian groups inhabit most of Iran's border regions; as such the book explores Iran's foreign policy toward neighboring states that share co-ethnic populations. Iran's ethnic minorities inhabit the state's poorest provinces and the country's growing environmental and water supply challenges hit the ethnic minority provinces harder than the Persian center, adding an ominous ethnic character to what are often presented as purely environmental or economic challenges. The book further examines the potential impact of ethnic based unrest in Khuzestan on Iran's oil production, Iran's main oil producing region. Drawing on a rich assortment of primary data and interviews, this book offers unparalled insights into ethnic politics in Iran. It will be of interest to upper-level undergraduates and postgraduates, researchers and professionals interested in the Middle East, international relations, and ethnic studies. 1900 NESTORIAN CHRISTIANS

(Matthew 2:1-11 – MATTHEW IN THE NOW) ” 1. Now when the man Jesus was born as a baby in Bethlehem of Judea during the reign of Herod the king, astrologers from the East came to Jerusalem to inquire about Him. These astrologers, or “Magi” originated from a religious caste among the Persians who were … Read More Read More

The year AD 622 was a difficult one for the Roman Empire and its emperor, Heraclius. Surrounded by the Avars in the west and the Persians in the east, the position looked hopeless. But Heraclius was a truly remarkable emperor and soldier. And he knew what the best form of defence was.If you're looking for a good read over the Christmas Holidays, check out my latest book 'Justinian's Empire' at Amazon US and Amazon UK. And if you speak German, please take a look at the German translation of 'The Roman Revolution' (first book in my series on 'The Fall of the Roman Empire') just published on Amazon.de.For a free ebook, maps and blogs check out my website nickholmesauthor.comFind my latest book, Justinian's Empire, on Amazon

In the last episode of this series, we covered the rise of the Achaemenid Persian Empire under Cyrus the Great and its expansion into Anatolia and the eastern Aegean, including the predominantly Greek-speaking region of Ionia.  Though much of Ionia prospered under their new overlords, in 499 BC, the Ionians revolted with their help of their allies, including the city-states of Athens and Eritrea.  By 493 BC, what become known as the Ionian Revolt had been crushed, and order restored to the western fringes of the Persian Empire.  However, the empire's king, Darius I, vowed to punish Athens and Eretria for their involvement in the uprising. The Great King of Persia sent several of his most trusted commanders to subdue both city-states and any others who opposed him, resulting in the first major armed encounter in Europe between the Greeks and Persians on the plains of Marathon. Drawing on historical sources and the latest archaeological research, this series will explore everything from the causes of the conflict to its key figures, the various phases of leading up to this epic encounter and its aftermath.  Contents:00:00  Recap and Introduction01:45 The Northern Aegean Campaigns of Mardonius05:10 Looking to the West08:18 Athens and Eretria09:49 How many Men and Ships?14:30 Island Hopping Around the Aegean16:33 Euboea and Eretria 19:23 Onward to Athens22:21 Decisions27:07 War it is! 29:33 The Battle of Marathon35:44 Counting the Dead38:57 If not by Land, then by Sea!40:00 Aftermath of Marathon44:41 Thank You and PatronsSupport the show

The story of the Three Wise Men has been reinterpreted since it was first written down. The gift-bearing visitors to the newborn Jesus were initially described as “Magi”, meaning Persians of a priestly caste, but by the 4th century they were given the individual names of Gaspar, Melchior and Balthazar. And in Medieval Europe they were described not as Three Wise Men, but as Three Kings. Yet there's more to the evolution of the Magi than Western ideas, in Syriac Christian traditions there are up to 24 Magi, and in the Ethiopian church they are named Hor, Karsudan, and Basanater. So how have these ideas developed over time? Listen as William and Anita are again joined by Professor Lloyd Lewellyn-Jones to discuss the evolution of the story of the Magi, and the influence of British imperialism on their symbolism… Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: empirepoduk@gmail.com Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producers: Anouska Lewis  Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The truth behind the story of the Three Wise Men has more connections to empire than many of us realise… Featured in every Nativity scene in school plays, churches, and art around the world, the Three Wise Men are key characters in the Christmas story. They are only mentioned once in the Bible, appearing in Matthew's gospel described as the Magi - meaning Persians of a priestly caste from Persia. But who were they? Where were they from? And what was the meaning behind their gifts? Listen as Anita and William are joined by Professor Lloyd Lewellyn-Jones to discuss how the story of the Magi highlights the intermingling of Persian and Jewish culture at the time, as well as tensions between two great empires: the Parthians and Rome… Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: empirepoduk@gmail.com Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producers: Anouska Lewis & Becki Hills Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rabbi Jacobson will discuss the following topics: How should we react to the horrific murder of R' Zvi Kogan hy”d? What are its deeper implications? Is this a sign of a widening war against Jews? Should we be afraid? How are we to understand Iran's extreme hostility and hatred toward Israel and Jews? If we defeated the Persians on Purim, why do we still need to contend with Iran? Can we interpret the Yalkut Shemoni as referring to today's events? Would it be correct to say that the current Iranian regime, established in 1979, is like an alter ego (le'umas zeh) of Chabad, l'havdil elef havdolos? Is evil a creation or only the absence of good? Why do we need evil, especially extreme evil? How do we explain why we are challenged today to face rising crime and terrorism? How does the Rebbe Rashab explain why saying amen yehei shmei rabba with all our might eliminates negative decrees? What do we learn from Parshas Toldos? What can we learn from the Baal HaTurim explaining the connection between the end of last week's portion and the beginning of this week's? What is the central theme of this Torah portion? Why did Rivkah not try to intervene after hearing that she was carrying the wicked Esau in her womb? How could Eisav legally sell his birthright, and how could his blessings be “stolen”? Should I attend a family Thanksgiving turkey dinner?

Live from the Cardiff Dan, James, Anna and Andy discuss wax, water, Persians and perverts.   Visit nosuchthingasafish.com for news about live shows, merchandise and more episodes. Join Club Fish for ad-free episodes and exclusive bonus content at apple.co/nosuchthingasafish or nosuchthingasafish.com/patreon

Hello everyone,Here are 3 podcast-related things you may be interested in.Roman Graphic NovelFriend of the show Marco Capelli has made a comic book set in 6th century Italy. It follows two figures that we know about from an Ostrogothic jewellery collection that was discovered in 1938. A Roman Patrician Stephanus who marries a Gothic noblewoman Valatrud. They are subjects of King Theodoric who is trying to create a functioning Gothic-Roman kingdom in Italy. But their union comes shortly before Italy submerges into chaos. And Justinian sends Belisarius out to retake the home peninsula.You can get your hands on a copy in English or Italian. In paper or in a digital format. Plus loads of other goodies are available from Marco's Kickstarter campaign.The Kickstarter ends on October 11th so act now.Tour of GreeceLantern Jack, the host of the podcast Ancient Greece Declassified, is leading a tour to Greece.It's taking place from January 3rd to the 11th 2025. And it visits every site connected with the famous war between the Persians and the Athenians and Spartans. If you want to go you will visit the Acropolis, the Straits of Salamis, Marathon, Eubeoa, Thermopylae, Delphi, Plataea and you'll get to try on Hoplite Armour!Click here to find out moreThe History of Byzantium T-ShirtsFinally my new friend Magnus who creates Roman themed merchandise on Etsy has created an actual History of Byzantium podcast t-shirt. Or I should say t-shirts. Branded with the podcast logo you have several to choose from. I'm sure they will light up any occasion you go to with looks of confusion and bewilderment. But I think they look beautiful.Check them out here. He also has t-shirts and mugs celebrating lesser figures than me – such as Constantine, Justinian, Basil II, Marcus Aurelius and others. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.