Podcasts about precisely

Have you ever poured your heart into a proposal, only for your potential client to disappear without a trace? In this fast-paced world, where new trends shape the landscape of client engagement every day, the ability to secure ideal prospects and craft proposals that convert is more essential than ever. For anyone in the marketing agency space, dealing with prospects going silent post-proposal can be both frustrating and costly, hindering business growth and wasting valuable resources. By tuning into this episode of The Agency Accelerator podcast, you'll discover how to: 1. Precisely identify prospects that align with your agency's expertise and values — paving the way to more meaningful connections and a higher success rate. 2. Develop strategies to create proposals that resonate deeply with clients' needs, setting you apart and making sure your hard work is acknowledged. 3. Employ effective communication and follow-up tactics to not only present your proposals with impact but also to avoid the dreaded 'proposal ghosting' that leaves you in limbo. Let's transform your proposal woes into wins!  So grab a coffee and let's get started. Questions answered in this episode: Q: How do you effectively pinpoint your ideal prospects to save time and maximise agency success? Q: How do you qualify leads to ensure a focus on prospects with the highest conversion potential? Q: What are the crucial steps to take when presenting a proposal to prevent it from being ghosted? Q: How do you maintain client engagement while waiting for a proposal decision? Q: What methods have proven effective for soliciting honest feedback and adjusting client acquisition strategies accordingly? Quotations “Position yourself as the expert in your specific niche to naturally attract clients who are looking for exactly what you offer." - Rob Da Costa, Agency Accelerator Podcast “Be a ‘Rottweiler' with your proposals; the only outcomes should be a yes or no, not an endless wait in purgatory." - Rob Da Costa, Agency Accelerator Podcast Rate, Review, & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts “I enjoy listening to The Agency Accelerator Podcast. I always learn something from every episode.” If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people like you to move towards a Self-Running Agency. How to leave a review on Apple Podcasts Scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then, let me know what you loved most about the episode! Also, if you haven't done so already, subscribe to the podcast. I'm adding a bunch of bonus episodes to the feed and, if you're not subscribed, there's a good chance you'll miss out. Subscribe now! Useful links mentioned in this episode: Download the free Ideal Client Persona WorkbookGuide on niching for your agencyFurther information on the Creative Crew Community

So many of us do it: You get into bed, turn off the lights, and look at your phone to check social media one more time. Before you know it, you've spent hours incessantly scrolling through X, Tik-tok or Reels...a bottomless doom-and-gloom of negative information, thoughtless antics and cheap entertainment.    This habit has become known as doomscrolling--the act of consuming an endless procession of negative or meaningless online content. According to a recent survey from the Pew Research Center, 66% of Americans feel worn out by the amount of news available. Other articles have found connections between doomscrolling and mental health issues like depression and anxiety, not to mention the impact on quality sleep.  Recently, Dictionary.com named doomscrolling one of its “New Words We Created Because of Coronavirus.” There's something else in the etymology, though. Particularly in the word doom. The act of doomscrolling, then, is to roll toward annihilation. Kind of an eerie word if you look at it that way. The bigger point in all of this lies in the simple truth: You become what you consume. The result of doomscrolling over time is a hunger for good news. News that satisfies, brings hope, give life, provides joy, and is true. In this new sermon series, we begin a journey of good news. In The Big Picture series, we will discover the singular good news message of the Bible and how we can track it every part of scripture. This series is going to provide us with a great opportunity to better grasp the grand narrative of the Bible. Give a listen to part one of the Big Picture, and join the conversation! 

We are joined by author and scientist Bruce E. Rapuano to discuss his book Dominion Lost: A Scientist's Own Alien Abduction Encounters. “ A fantastic book that will make an impact on the field. ” – George Knapp. Amazon book link: https://a.co/d/6KtySC3 Mainstream American Scientist Bruce E. Rapuano Goes On the Record With His Own UFO Close Encounters and Alien Abduction Experiences In a Newly Released Book New York, NY – February 5, 2024 - A newly published nonfiction book is the only first-person account to date of multiple UFO close encounters and alien abductions authored by a mainstream American scientist. In Dominion Lost: A Scientist's Own Alien Abduction Encounters recently discussed by the author with George Knapp on Coast to Coast AM, Dr. Bruce E. Rapuano goes on the record. Dr. Rapuano, who has multiple degrees in neuroscience, describes his UFO close encounters, including one in which he was abducted from a group of eight other witnesses, as well as experiences with advanced non-human beings and an unexplained nasal implant of specific structure all of which were recalled without regressive hypnosis. Also described are the author's interactions with short humanoid beings that reveal all the ways that that the aliens appear to control human behavior during the abduction process. The book further explains : · How the implants that are frequently reported by abductees work to analyze and influence the activity of the human brain. · Exactly how the “grey aliens” were genetically reengineered from our early hominin ancestors. · Precisely how the UFO propulsion system creates gravitational wave energy. At the same time, relying on his professional background, insight from his personal abduction experiences and hundreds of cited scientific articles from peer-reviewed journals, the author demonstrates that the ultrasophisticated technical capabilities exhibited by the visitors to our planet are more than plausible. They represent a logical extrapolation of current human theoretical and applied science. Moreover, according to Rapuano, “ the powerful evidence of such technology which has existed for more than 60 years, especially with respect to incredibly advanced propulsion systems for interstellar space travel and implanted devices that are likely instruments of mind control, proves that the aliens are here. Potentially breakthrough scientific innovations underlying these highly advanced alien capabilities are revealed that make the book a de facto whistleblower report on the subject of UFO's and alien abduction. “ More importantly, this book, says Rapuano “ is a wake-up call to our species to finally accept the reality that we are now sharing our world with technologically superior non-human beings. This new reality must be addressed immediately. “ Bruce E. Rapuano has a B.A. degree from the University of Pennsylvania where he majored in Neurobiology and minored in Psychology, a Ph.D. in Neuropharmacology from the University of Connecticut and a J.D. from New York Law School. He has conducted independent biomedical research as a cell biologist at internationally recognized medical institutions. *************************************************************** You can email the hosts with your UFO/UAP and Paranormal stories at: mi.ufo.podcast@gmail.com Help support the show with the links below: Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjUTzsRX5rBq9_r7_YtaEJg/join You can now purchase our Merch on the "STORE" TAB in the channel description All Our Links Including Our MERCH Store: https://linktr.ee/mi.ufo.podcast Paypal: Donate via paypal: https://paypal.me/miufo Become a Patreon supporter and get a show shoutout for as long as you're a member! Become a Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/miufospep --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/michiganufos/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/michiganufos/support

NOW THAT CRYOTO MAKES MILLIONAIRES:  1/4: The Money Confusion: How Illiteracy About Currencies and Inflation Sets the Stage for the Crypto Revolution by John Tamny  (Author) https://www.amazon.com/Money-Confusion-Illiteracy-Currencies-Revolution/dp/1958682268/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Money, Tamny argues, is a natural market phenomenon and one that asserts itself even in a world of government-issued paper. While economists and pundits hide behind charts, equations and supercilious commentary about the so-called "money supply," Tamny provides familiar examples from the real-world to expose this mysticism as modern-day phrenology. He makes plain throughout a book that rejects nearly all conventional wisdom about money that a focus on "money supply" is the surest sign of a thought process hopelessly off course. In truth, trusted money in circulation is a natural consequence of commerce, not the instigator as economists imagine. That a free market for money has formed in a world of government currencies is what sets the stage for private money as the eventual replacement for government mediums of exchange. Precisely because money facilitates global cooperation on the way to staggering advances in productivity, it's essential that money be trusted as a measure in the same way that the mile, degree and tablespoon are trusted today. Although academia and policymakers misunderstand money and inflation to a frightening degree, the thinkers, innovators, and risk-takers have forged a better way. The future is here for money; and that future, Tamny explains, is blindingly bright. 1872 JULES VERNE THE BLOCKADE RUNNERS

NOW THAT CRYOTO MAKES MILLIONAIRES:  2/4: The Money Confusion: How Illiteracy About Currencies and Inflation Sets the Stage for the Crypto Revolution by John Tamny  (Author) https://www.amazon.com/Money-Confusion-Illiteracy-Currencies-Revolution/dp/1958682268/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Money, Tamny argues, is a natural market phenomenon and one that asserts itself even in a world of government-issued paper. While economists and pundits hide behind charts, equations and supercilious commentary about the so-called "money supply," Tamny provides familiar examples from the real-world to expose this mysticism as modern-day phrenology. He makes plain throughout a book that rejects nearly all conventional wisdom about money that a focus on "money supply" is the surest sign of a thought process hopelessly off course. In truth, trusted money in circulation is a natural consequence of commerce, not the instigator as economists imagine. That a free market for money has formed in a world of government currencies is what sets the stage for private money as the eventual replacement for government mediums of exchange. Precisely because money facilitates global cooperation on the way to staggering advances in productivity, it's essential that money be trusted as a measure in the same way that the mile, degree and tablespoon are trusted today. Although academia and policymakers misunderstand money and inflation to a frightening degree, the thinkers, innovators, and risk-takers have forged a better way. The future is here for money; and that future, Tamny explains, is blindingly bright. 1917 JULES VERNE MICHAEL STRGOFF

NOW THAT CRYOTO MAKES MILLIONAIRES:  3/4: The Money Confusion: How Illiteracy About Currencies and Inflation Sets the Stage for the Crypto Revolution by John Tamny  (Author) https://www.amazon.com/Money-Confusion-Illiteracy-Currencies-Revolution/dp/1958682268/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Money, Tamny argues, is a natural market phenomenon and one that asserts itself even in a world of government-issued paper. While economists and pundits hide behind charts, equations and supercilious commentary about the so-called "money supply," Tamny provides familiar examples from the real-world to expose this mysticism as modern-day phrenology. He makes plain throughout a book that rejects nearly all conventional wisdom about money that a focus on "money supply" is the surest sign of a thought process hopelessly off course. In truth, trusted money in circulation is a natural consequence of commerce, not the instigator as economists imagine. That a free market for money has formed in a world of government currencies is what sets the stage for private money as the eventual replacement for government mediums of exchange. Precisely because money facilitates global cooperation on the way to staggering advances in productivity, it's essential that money be trusted as a measure in the same way that the mile, degree and tablespoon are trusted today. Although academia and policymakers misunderstand money and inflation to a frightening degree, the thinkers, innovators, and risk-takers have forged a better way. The future is here for money; and that future, Tamny explains, is blindingly bright. 1885 JULES VERNE

NOW THAT CRYOTO MAKES MILLIONAIRES:  4/4: The Money Confusion: How Illiteracy About Currencies and Inflation Sets the Stage for the Crypto Revolution by John Tamny  (Author) https://www.amazon.com/Money-Confusion-Illiteracy-Currencies-Revolution/dp/1958682268/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Money, Tamny argues, is a natural market phenomenon and one that asserts itself even in a world of government-issued paper. While economists and pundits hide behind charts, equations and supercilious commentary about the so-called "money supply," Tamny provides familiar examples from the real-world to expose this mysticism as modern-day phrenology. He makes plain throughout a book that rejects nearly all conventional wisdom about money that a focus on "money supply" is the surest sign of a thought process hopelessly off course. In truth, trusted money in circulation is a natural consequence of commerce, not the instigator as economists imagine. That a free market for money has formed in a world of government currencies is what sets the stage for private money as the eventual replacement for government mediums of exchange. Precisely because money facilitates global cooperation on the way to staggering advances in productivity, it's essential that money be trusted as a measure in the same way that the mile, degree and tablespoon are trusted today. Although academia and policymakers misunderstand money and inflation to a frightening degree, the thinkers, innovators, and risk-takers have forged a better way. The future is here for money; and that future, Tamny explains, is blindingly bright. 1886 JULES VERNE ROBUR THE CONQUEROR

PREVIEW: ELON MUSK: Conversation with colleague and author John Tamny re the early moments of online banking when Elon Musk and colleagues created what is now called PayPal -- and how reluctant Wall Street was about the notion that customers would trust and manage digitally accounted money.  More of this tonight. 1883 Wall Street The Money Confusion: How Illiteracy About Currencies and Inflation Sets the Stage for the Crypto Revolution by John Tamny  (Author) https://www.amazon.com/Money-Confusion-Illiteracy-Currencies-Revolution/dp/1958682268/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Money, Tamny argues, is a natural market phenomenon and one that asserts itself even in a world of government-issued paper. While economists and pundits hide behind charts, equations and supercilious commentary about the so-called "money supply," Tamny provides familiar examples from the real-world to expose this mysticism as modern-day phrenology. He makes plain throughout a book that rejects nearly all conventional wisdom about money that a focus on "money supply" is the surest sign of a thought process hopelessly off course. In truth, trusted money in circulation is a natural consequence of commerce, not the instigator as economists imagine. That a free market for money has formed in a world of government currencies is what sets the stage for private money as the eventual replacement for government mediums of exchange. Precisely because money facilitates global cooperation on the way to staggering advances in productivity, it's essential that money be trusted as a measure in the same way that the mile, degree and tablespoon are trusted today. Although academia and policymakers misunderstand money and inflation to a frightening degree, the thinkers, innovators, and risk-takers have forged a better way. The future is here for money; and that future, Tamny explains, is blindingly bright.

Listen to this compilation of our award-winning series Remembering Pittsburgh, exploring how the horrific shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue affected the Jewish community in Pittsburgh, the U.S., and around the world. In the four-part series, we take listeners behind the scenes of how the Pittsburgh Jewish community continues to rebuild and honor the lives lost on October 27, 2018. The anniversary came during the same month as the most lethal attack on Jews since the Holocaust: Hamas' October 7 massacre of Israelis. Rising antisemitism has led to the murder of Jews around the world, from Pittsburgh, to Paris, to Israel. All forms of antisemitism must be countered to ensure a safe and secure Jewish future. Listen to the entire series at AJC.org/TreeofLife. Episode Lineup:  (0:40) Eric Lidji, Carole Zawatsky, Howard Fienberg, Marnie Fienberg, Belle Yoeli, Anne Jolly, Ted Deutch Show Notes: Music Credits: Relent by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com),  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Virtual Violin Virtuoso by techtheist is licensed under a Attribution 4.0 International License Tree of Life by Nefesh Mountain Shloime Balsam - Lo Lefached Hevenu Shalom - Violin Heart Listen – People of the Pod on the Israel-Hamas War: Jewish College Student Leaders Share Their Blueprint for Combating Antisemitism Matisyahu's Message to His Fellow Jews and to the Israel Haters Trying to Cancel Him Unheard, Until Now: How Israeli Women Are Powering Israel's Resilience 152 Days Later: What the Mother of Hostage Edan Alexander Wants the World to Know Follow People of the Pod on your favorite podcast app, and learn more at AJC.org/PeopleofthePod You can reach us at: peopleofthepod@ajc.org If you've appreciated this episode, please be sure to tell your friends, and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. Episode Transcript: Manya Brachear Pashman: Last month, the Senate earmarked $1 million in federal funding to create a curriculum for students about antisemitism and other forms of discrimination and bigotry. The recipient of that money? An organization that knows the consequences of that hatred all too well: the newly imagined Tree of Life, an education center dedicated to ending antisemitism that emerged after 11 worshipers inside Tree of Life synagogue were murdered by a white supremacist on October 27, 2018.  This week, we are presenting a compilation of our award-winning series Remembering Pittsburgh, which launched on October 5, 2023 -- right before the October 7th terrorist attacks in Israel.  Listen to the series at AJC.org/TreeofLife. __ Episode 1, which originally aired on October 5,  takes you inside the Tree of Life building before it was demolished to make way for a new complex dedicated to Jewish life and combating antisemitism.  Eric Lidji: Pittsburgh definitely is not forgetting. It's ever-present here. There are people who are healing and doing so in ways that, at least from the outside, are remarkable and very inspiring. And there are people who I'm sure have not fully reckoned with it yet. Carole Zawatsky: It's all too easy to walk away from what's ugly. And we have to remember. We can't walk away. Manya Brachear Pashman: Five years have gone by since the horrific Shabbat morning at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life Synagogue, when eleven congregants were gunned down during prayer – volunteers, scholars, neighbors, doing what they always did: joining their Jewish community at shul.  Today, we take you to the Tree of Life building that stands on the corner of Shady and Wilkins Avenues in Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill neighborhood to hear from two people in charge of preserving the artifacts and memories of the vibrant Jewish life that unfolded inside those walls until October 27, 2018.  Manya Brachear Pashman: In early September, our producer Atara Lakritz and I visited the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill neighborhood. Squirrel Hill, where Jews have settled since the 1920s, is quite literally Mister Rogers' neighborhood. We were there to interview those touched by the events of October 27. But it didn't take us long to figure out that everyone there had been affected in some way.  All along Murray Avenue, in 61C Cafe, at Pinsker's Judaica Shoppe, at the Giant Eagle supermarket, when we told people why we were there, they all had a story, an acquaintance, a connection.  Later, walking through the glass doors of the synagogue felt like we were stepping through a portal, traveling back five years, when life stopped, and the reality of the hatred and terror that unfolded there began to haunt every step.  Atara and I were invited to accompany a final group tour of the building before it closed in order for preparations to begin for the building's demolition. The tour was painful, but we felt it necessary to share with our listeners.  As we left the lobby, we were told to take the stairs to the left. The stairs to the right were off limits. Someone had been shot there.  We were led to a small, dark storage room where chairs had been stacked for guests. A handful of people had hidden there as the shooter continued his rampage, but one man walked out too soon, thinking it was safe. When first responders later came to get the others, they had to step over his body.  In the kitchen, there were still marks on the wall where the bullets ricocheted when he shot two women hiding underneath a metal cabinet. The calendar on the wall there was still turned to October 2018 with a list of activities that were happening that week posted alongside it.  And in the Pervin Chapel where seven people died, pews punctured with bullet holes and carpet squares stained with blood were no longer there. No ark either.  But remarkably, the stained glass windows remained with images and symbols of Jewish contributions to America, the land to which the ancestors of so many worshipers once inside that synagogue had fled to and found safety. Those windows will be carefully removed by the son of the man who first installed them 70 years ago. And they will return, when the reimagined Tree of Life rises again.   Carole Zawatsky: The tragedy is a Pittsburgh experience. But it's also every Jew's experience. It shattered for so many of us our sense of security in America. This is our safe haven. This is where we came to. Manya Brachear Pashman: Carole Zawatsky is the inaugural CEO of the reimagined Tree of Life. Since November 2022, she has overseen the development of a new complex on the hallowed ground: an education center dedicated to ending antisemitism, including a new home for the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh; a memorial to the lives lost that Shabbat morning; a dedicated synagogue space where the Tree of Life congregation can return. Carole Zawatsky: What can we build to enrich Jewish life, to remember this tragedy, and to show the world that we as Jews should not be known only by our killers and our haters, we should be known by our joy, our celebrations, our rituals, our resilience. __ Manya Brachear Pashman: Next, hear from the son and daughter in law of Joyce Fienberg, one of the 11 victims. In this second installment of our series, we sit down with Joyce's son, Howard Fienberg, and his wife, Marnie, as they share their journey of mourning and resilience. After her husband and mother died in 2016, Joyce Fienberg started each day at Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, to recite Kaddish, the mourner's prayer. Even when she was no longer officially considered a mourner as Jewish tradition prescribes, 11 months, she continued to attend services each morning at the synagogue.  That's why Howard Feinberg knew his mother Joyce was at Tree of Life when he heard there had been a shooting there on the morning of October 27, 2018. It would be more than 12 hours before he learned she was among the 11 killed that day.  Howard and his wife Marnie are with us now from their home in Northern Virginia. Howard, you followed your mother's example and recited kaddish for 11 months. Can you tell us a little bit about that experience? That experience of saying Kaddish and mourning for your mother, and also can you share with our listeners why it felt like the mourning period was extended? Howard Fienberg: I felt a huge amount of support everywhere I went, in order to be able to say Kaddish every day. Which for someone who was not the most observant of Jews, it was a big lift to be able to do that every day. In fact, even when traveling in disparate places, that I could always find, somehow, be able to pull together 10 people to be able to say Kaddish was a big deal. And I wanted to make sure that no one would struggle in similar circumstances as well.  Obviously, initially, in Pittsburgh putting together 10 people was not a particularly big lift. Because the community support in that first week of Shiva was phenomenal. But it's not an easy thing in many congregations, and I think we are fortunate in mine that we always seem to pull it out every day. But I want to make sure that it happens. So in practice wise, that's one of the biggest things, my involvement with the synagogue, and prayer.  The broader extension of the mourning period, in a way, was a result of the constant delay of the trial for the monster that committed the massacre. And that was a result of both just the general usual procedural delays that you would expect, combined with COVID excuses that dragged things out during the trial. And once a new judge took over responsibility for this case, things suddenly snapped into gear and it moved forward. And we're particularly grateful for the judge in this case, just for his very no-nonsense approach moving forward. Manya Brachear Pashman: Can you talk about whether the guilty verdict once it did take place, and a verdict was delivered, how that verdict changed anything for you and your family? Howard Fienberg: It was a matter of relief, to a great extent. I sat through almost the entirety of the trial, heard and saw all of the evidence. A lot more than I expected to and ever wanted to, but I felt duty to do so. From an outside perspective, looking at it all, you would say this is a slam dunk case, lined up for all the federal hate crimes that were involved. And at the same time, I was in doubt until the jury came back and said, all said guilty. It's just the nature of things. I was on pins and needles. Massive relief afterwards and the same thing with the final verdict and sentencing. Massive relief for us and our families.  And that did allow…nothing's ever closed. You don't finish feeling the loss of somebody, especially when they're taken in, you know, horribly violent terrorist circumstances. But you move from segment to segment. So the same as we do in the year of mourning, you're moving from shiva, which is one kind of thing, to the 30 days, and then to the end of the mourning period. And this was moving to yet another period. And what exactly this is and how long it will be, I don't know. But we're figuring that out as we go. I certainly feel a lot more relaxed. Marnie Fienberg: Feels a little lighter. Howard Fienberg: Yes, definitely lighter. Manya Brachear Pashman: That's good to hear. That's good to hear. I am curious, you said you felt a duty to listen to those details, even though you didn't want to. Can you explain why you felt that sense of obligation? Howard Fienberg: Part of it is, somebody in our family needed to. And it wasn't something that I wanted everybody to sit and hear and see. And I specifically told friends and family as much as I could, to stay far away and said, as much as you want to know, I'll let you know. But otherwise, it's horrific. And it wasn't anything that I would wish for anybody to see and hear. But at the same time, it's the reality of how my mom died. And what the circumstances were, what was going on with the antisemitic conspiracy theories that drove the monster that killed her. And what did he have in mind, and what was his intention, what did he plan, what did he do? These were important things.  And the bigger picture, which I didn't even know going in, was the extent to which the police in Pittsburgh were so heroic. And while they were not able to save my mom, they saved other people, including friends of ours, and people who are now friends, who would not be alive if those cops had not tried to charge at the front door trying to charge the building and getting shot.  And then the SWAT teams going into the building, and in a couple cases getting almost murdered themselves, trying to rescue the people that were inside. And they did rescue some people. And those people would most likely be dead if the SWAT had not rushed in. Equipment wise, they were not ready ordinarily for this sort of situation. But they went in anyways because they knew they needed to, and they didn't hesitate. And that's the kind of thing that you can only understand, having gone to the trial and learned what went on.  ___ Manya Brachear Pashman: In the third installment, we look back at how horror drew people to solidarity. We interviewed Belle Yoeli, AJC chief advocacy officer, as well as others who showed up for Shabbat.  Belle Yoeli: We saw hundreds of thousands of people show up. And we saw pictures later, after the fact, and videos, and people making speeches, and just so much solidarity. This was captured on the news. I think it really stands out as one of the most amazing responses to antisemitism that we've seen in modern history. Manya Brachear Pashman: On October 27, 2018, Americans witnessed the deadliest antisemitic attack in this nation's history. The senseless slaughter inside a house of worship devastated and shocked American senses because it was simply unAmerican. But the aftermath of the atrocity became an American moment when so many people showed up – showed up with hugs, showed up with flowers, showed up with prayers for their Jewish neighbors.  The most visible expression of this came a week after the massacre with the unprecedented turnout of people of all faiths at synagogues across the nation as part of AJC's #ShowUpForShabbat campaign. Together, Americans sent a message that hate will not prevail. Belle Yoeli: Everyone wanted to do something, and the entire Jewish community mobilized to make this happen with the understanding that as AJC has always said that antisemitism is not just about the Jewish community. It starts with the Jewish community, but it's a threat to democracy, and the murder of Jews in their religious institution is such a breaking, a fracturing of everything that the United States stands for, everything that democratic society stands for. Manya Brachear Pashman: Today, Belle Yoeli is the chief advocacy officer for AJC. In 2018, she worked as the chief of staff for then AJC CEO David Harris. David had spent nearly 20 years counseling European leaders on the rise of antisemitism in their midst, calling their attention to violent crimes against Jews when conflict erupted between Israel and their Arab neighbors. Belle was on her way to a nephew's birthday party when she got the call on October 27 about what had happened in Pittsburgh. She remembers sobbing in the car on the phone with colleagues as they all grappled with the reality that whether they were regular shul-goers or had just happened to go to synagogue to celebrate a friend's bar mitzvah that day – it just as easily could've been them. For many, what they needed now was to go to shul and not be afraid, and to see others, not just their own community, but others of all faiths in the pews alongside them. What they needed most now was to know they were not alone. So they drew up a plan. Belle Yoeli: A couple members of our staff actually kind of simultaneously came up with a similar idea, which was that we need to, more than anything, rally non-Jews to come and support the Jewish community at this time, and what better time to do that than the following Shabbat. Manya Brachear Pashman: Dubbed #ShowUpForShabbat, the social media-based campaign called on both Jews and those of other faiths to flock to synagogues that coming Shabbat on the weekend of November 2 in support of the Pittsburgh Jewish community and all of American Jewry. The response across 80 countries was astounding. Manya Brachear Pashman: We connected with people who showed up that Shabbat five years ago, and ask them what the experience meant to them.  Anne Jolly: An important part of what we proclaim is love God, love your neighbor, change the world. And so we believe that means, we show up for each other. We can't love each other without being present with each other. So we have to be together. You have to show up. Manya Brachear Pashman: Episcopal Bishop of Ohio Anne Jolly was serving as the rector of St. Gregory Episcopal Church in Deerfield, Illinois in October 2018. A former hospital chaplain, she was sitting in her office when she heard the news break that Saturday morning. Her first call was to her friend and colleague Rabbi Karyn Kedar down the road at the Reform temple commonly known as Congregation BJBE. Rabbi Kedar had recently preached at St. Gregory and then-Pastor Jolly was scheduled to deliver the guest sermon at BJBE the following Friday night. Anne Jolly: I called her and we talked and we prayed. And I said to Karyn, I think probably you need to preach on the Shabbat following the shooting at your temple and she said, ‘I want you to do it.' She said ‘I think I think we need to hear your voice and that the congregation needs to hear you. Rabbi Kedar I think thought that to hear a voice of someone who is not Jewish saying aloud, We love you, we care for you. We believe we are all created in God's image together. And that means we need to show up for each other. It means we need to be present with each other, that to hear that from someone who was not part of their community might be more powerful, more impactful, and more important for the community here at that time. Manya Brachear Pashman: When Bishop Jolly arrived that following Friday she did not expect her sudden sense of fear when she encountered armed guards. Anne Jolly: I didn't realize I was afraid until I walked in the door. And I stopped and had to take a deep breath and realize that I was afraid because I was entering into a space of people who have long been afraid. And that I had never had to experience that before in that way. And I wasn't really afraid for my congregation the same way I was for my beloveds in the synagogue, that they had more of a reason to be afraid than I did. And that was all the more reason for me to be there, and to be present with them. Manya Brachear Pashman: Bishop Jolly credits that night at BJBE for the deep connection that formed with the congregation. In fact, she returned to BJBE many more times to celebrate Shabbat. Precisely a year later, the members of the Jewish congregation showed up at her door after a pumpkin patch at St. Gregory had been destroyed by vandals. Anne Jolly: There were a bunch of them that came to our patch and we were talking about it and they said, ‘We just wanted to show you that we are supporting you. And they were worried that that vandalism had been an act of aggression against us. And I just thought it was kids. And that was a really clear distinction of how our worldviews are different. For them, a vandalism thing would, of course, of course, be something hateful against them. In this case, it was children, it was just teenagers being dumb. But it reinforced that understanding that for them, fear is always in the background because of the violence perpetrated to them – again and again and again. ___ Manya Brachear Pashman: For this closing episode of the series, I sat down with AJC CEO Ted Deutch, who served as a congressman at the time of the Tree of Life massacre. We discussed this anniversary and its parallels to the October 7 attack on Israel, when once again Jews were murdered just for being Jewish. Ted, where were you on the morning of October 27, 2018 when you heard about the Tree of Life?    Ted Deutch: I was a congressman who represented Parkland, where the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas took place. And the morning of Tree of Life, I spoke to a group of high school students from all around South Florida, who participated in a program about how they can become leaders in the community. I spoke with them about what had happened a few months before in Parkland, and what I had seen from high school students in Parkland and how they responded and how you stand up to violence and try to stop it and how you respond to evil and how important it is to use the power that you have as young people. That was literally what I was doing right before I walked out of the Florida Atlantic University auditorium and saw my phone start to buzz with news of Tree of Life. Everything that I had said to the students in the discussion, that really difficult conversation we had with these students who shared with me their fears of violence, their fears of going to school–those fears hit home really hard for me and for the Jewish community.  Manya Brachear Pashman: So in our first episode of this series, our producer Atara Lakritz and I went on the last tour of the Tree of Life building. You also walked through the building back in June, before many of the artifacts had been removed. Would you mind reflecting on that experience? Ted Deutch: I couldn't help but think of my synagogue where I grew up on the other side of Pennsylvania in a lovely community, like Pittsburgh. I was struck that, forget that this was a synagogue, I really couldn't stop thinking that it was inconceivable that that kind of horrible tragedy could happen in a community like that.  And walking through the synagogue and seeing the site where hatred, and antisemitism, and manifestations, the worst manifestations of antisemitism were brought to this lovely place, in this wonderful synagogue. It was overwhelming to think about what was happening that Shabbat and the fear and terror that people felt as that was happening. That was number one. Secondly, I walked into the main auditorium where they were gathering all of the things that hadn't yet been taken away to be used in the museum and the memorial that's going to be constructed, that haven't been given back to families.  There were lots of things that are just not identified, they don't have families to return them to. And to see tallaisim and tefillin and all kinds of items that are used for Jewish rituals and Jewish customs just sitting on this table where they didn't know what they were going to do with them because the synagogue that existed there, the life that existed there, that simple, wonderful community, that was gone. It was gone.  That community will never be the same. And I think for our community, for the Jewish community, we're really never gonna be the same after what happened there. Manya Brachear Pashman: You were telling me before we started this conversation that they gave you something during your visit. Ted Deutch: As I walked through, and they saw how moved I was by this massive display. They came over and made such a kind gesture to me. And of all of the gifts that I've received in all of my travels, as a member of Congress, and now as CEO of AJC, I don't think there's anything that's as meaningful as the tefillin that they gave me. I don't know, obviously, I don't know whose it was. And it may well have been someone that was a synagogue member years and years ago. But the connection that I felt at that moment to that community at Tree of Life and the connection that I felt thinking about, not just Tree of Life, but tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people throughout our history.  And knowing that I was going to return to New York, I was going to have the opportunity to join the Jewish community around the world in overcoming these tragedies, and making sure the world understands why these kinds of attacks will never, they'll never work, they'll never, they'll never defeat the Jewish community. As we endure this really challenging time now in Israel, I've been thinking the same thing. We've gone through a lot in our history, and we've constantly, constantly overcome, and have grown and have learned and have continued to enrich the world. As Tree of Life rebuilds and will help shape a national and international conversation for years to come about fighting antisemitism. And as we continue to do our work and as Jews around the country and around the world go through whatever security measures they have to to go to synagogue and to drop their kids at day school and Hebrew school and for people to show up for programs at the JCC, there is a defiance that I felt at that moment that is perhaps the most important thing I took away from that day. Because it was awful. But I'm not going to dwell on how terrible it was. We're going to think about every way we can to honor the memories of the lives that were taken, and to strengthen the Jewish people in their memory as we go forward. Manya Brachear Pashman: We planned this series and invited you to speak before the October 7th terrorist attack in Israel and the war with Hamas that has unfolded since. At first we wondered whether we should even proceed with this series. How could we focus on anything other than Israel at this moment? Of course, the parallels between the Tree of Life and October 7th are all too stark– Jews are once again being targeted simply because they are Jewish. Can you share your thoughts on this difficult moment for the Jewish people? Ted Deutch: That sense of unease that all of us felt when we heard that story, like how could that possibly happen in the United States, really, it's an unease and fear that we feel when we've watched what's happened in Israel and when a horrific and brutal and barbaric attack takes place against our family, our brothers and sisters in Israel, we feel that here, and especially when it was, it was unthinkable what happened with this Hamas attack. Just as somebody shooting up a synagogue was unthinkable in America, it again, it puts us on edge, and it makes us redouble our efforts. Not just to fight antisemitism, but to really bring the community together. What I've really been proud of since this terrible time in Israel began is the way that AJC has responded, not just in putting out meaningful information to help people get the facts and get through this, and to fight back against lies. But the way that we've really worked to bring the community together.  There are 16 million Jews in the world, out of eight and a half billion people we need to stick together. Moments like Tree of Life remind us of that, and what's been happening in Israel absolutely reminds us of that. That informs so much of what AJC does, and has done in response to Tree of Life and certainly is doing in response to the current situation.

The Judiciary Committee of the House is presently looking into the possible contravention of antitrust regulations by significant advertisers, who may have conspired over which media agencies to exclude. Confidential documents obtained from the World Federation of Advertisers lend insight into a plan devised to ipso facto dissuade prominent advertisers from collaborating with certain news organizations. This concerted action may potentially lead to financial ruin for those media entities unable to secure the desired endorsement. The documents, as per the letters, suggest that the consortium may have sought to exclude established conservative news outlets. This includes, as per the documents, key players in the digital news frontier such as Fox News, Daily Wire, and Breitbart. Further probing into the matter has led the committee to seek answers from large corporations that make up GARM's 'steering committee', including Unilever, Procter & Gamble, GroupM, Diageo, and Mars. These particular documents ostensibly connect these corporations with such endeavors. These organizations have yet to publicly release any documents relevant to the active investigation. In addition, the letters have called for any communication originating from these corporations associated with the categorization, demonetization, or censuring of online speech. Furthermore, these inquiries also extend to communications concerning alterations subsequent to Elon Musk's X acquisition, a period marked by an exodus of many advertisers in reaction to the ousting of the more liberal-leaning Jack Dorsey in favor of Elon Musk. The investigation raises the possibility of individual accountability for these companies in relation to the actions of the collective body formulated. The group, known as GARM, appears to display cartelistic tendencies, despite the ostensibly rival status of many of its constituents. Announcing its objective of producing 'a safe media ecosystem', the Global Alliance through the World Economic Forum mirrors a mission statement you might expect from a figure akin to Darth Vader. The Global Alliance or GARM, as it is popularly known, is committed to ensuring consumer safety, minimalizing advertiser risks, building digital platform credibility, and above all, cultivating a sustainable online ecosystem. Major players who have pledged their support for the Global Alliance for Responsible Media through the Forum's Platform for Shaping the Future of Media, Entertainment and Sport include some of the biggest names in the business world such as the LEGO Group, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, NBC Universal – MSNBC, Dentsu Group, WPP (through GroupM), Interpublic Group, Publicis Groupe, Omnicom Group, Facebook, and Google. In an escalating response to 'misinformation', GARM resolved in 2022 to list it among the online content classifications it deems unethical to support with advertising. Precisely, it advised corporations to consider the likes of NewsGuard, the Global Disinformation Index, and the Journalism Trust Initiative when deciding which media outlets to collaborate with. These organizations are believed to serve as arbiters of safe and reputable spaces for both ad buyers and news consumers. GARM assures its members of 'Brand Safety'. Concrete embodiments of this concept have been shown through commercial agencies like Newsguard. Here, potential ad buyers are provided with compliant lists distinguishing which TV shows, channels, podcasts, or newspapers are either safe for advertising or best evaded. This method is presented as a safety measure to guard their reputation against potential boycotts or negative campaigns. The crux of this approach is to protect corporations from facing backlash or smear campaigns from left-leaning factions. This essentially advises corporations to steer clear of certain media outlets if they wish to avoid any potential controversy. In its 2022 progress report, GARM reveled in qualities that, when viewed from a different perspective, could highlight anticompetitive practices. GARM's inception hinged on an exceptional alliance, marked by a novel approach to collaboration. This relies on the understanding that all sectors of the advertising industry stand to gain from forming partnerships. This partnership goes on to generate new brand safety protocols and universally accepted industry solutions where there had previously been none. The complex task of authentically influencing the entire media environment was a towering one, GARM acknowledged. Nevertheless, GARM boasts a comprehensive network of 61 significant companies that collectively account for a significant global advertising share, as well as 35 distinct industry affiliations representing numerous other advertisers. As companies looking to advertise are more likely to defer to such 'experts' given judgment on credibility, it potentially paves the way for extensive, coordinated blacklists. Evidently, even the most balanced and staid news outlets can be labeled as risky if they gear towards a conservative audience, such as the New York Post and Reason Magazine. Interestingly, these media raters often assign credibility scores on the basis of how closely the outlets align with the government's official narrative. They penalize outlets who dare to question official stances on topics like the origins of COVID — a theory initially discredited by the government but now largely backed by it. Newsguard has even been known to collaborate directly with the U.S. government, a move that sparked legal action by The Daily Wire and the Federalist. They filed a lawsuit against the State Department that condemns what they call ‘one of the most egregious, manipulative, clandestine, and severe abuses of power and breaches of First Amendment rights by the federal government in American history.' The ongoing Judiciary Committee investigation presents an intriguing landscape demonstrating the evolving dynamics between digital advertisers and online news organizations, where the struggle for credibility, advertising revenue, and ideological influence continues to shape the present and future of the media industry. Real News Now Website Connect with Real News Now on Social Media Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RealNewsNowApp/ X Twitter: https://twitter.com/realnewsapp Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realnews/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@realnewsnowapp Threads: https://www.threads.net/@realnews/ Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/realnewsnow Truth Social: https://truthsocial.com/@RealNews YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@realnewsnowapp End Wokeness: https://endthewokeness.com #realnewsnow See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're back in the saddle again with Philippians, and today's passage is a doozy!Have you ever bailed on something, and the reason you gave was about your preferences? For example, have you ever left a church because you thought the music was too loud? Have you ever refused to go to a club meeting because you just didn't have any friends there? Have you ever written a strongly worded email to a pastor/teacher/professor because they do something during their sermons that just really bugs you? Like clearing their throat or drinking from a water bottle?If you have done that, you might be a "consumer".What is a "consumer", and why is that a bad thing? We'll dive into that and more as we explore two men that Paul holds in high regard PRECISELY because they chose to follow Jesus, rather than make Jesus follow them.We're glad you're here! Let's get into it!

Donald Trump may have been hit with multiple steep fines from the E. Jean Carroll suits and the NY fraud case, but he's still managed to avoid accountability in a plethora of legal battles. How does he keep getting away with it? Legal expert Kimberly Atkins Stohr joins David Rothkopf to break down the latest from Trump's many trials. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Allen and Joel interview Tone Søndergaard, Director of the Offshore Wind Innovation Hub. The hub's six-month accelerator program provides mentorship, industry connections, and resources to help startups scale. Tone shares insights from the first cohort's outcomes and discusses the global application process for cohort two. If you're interested in learning more, visit https://www.offshorewindnyc.com/. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly email update on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard's StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary Barnes' YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! Pardalote Consulting - https://www.pardaloteconsulting.comWeather Guard Lightning Tech - www.weatherguardwind.comIntelstor - https://www.intelstor.com Allen Hall: Welcome to the special edition of the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast. I'm your host, Alan Hall, along with my co host, Joel Saxam. Starting a new business in the wind industry is particularly difficult. Uh, there are multiple challenges beyond creating a product that the industry needs or wants. Fundraising, staffing, finding an office, technology development, marketing, international sales, the list goes on. Well, there is help on the way. The Offshore Wind Innovation Hub, located in Brooklyn, New York, is a groundbreaking initiative launched by the NYU Tandon School of Engineering in collaboration with Ecuador, and supported by the New York City Economic Development Corporation. The hub's mission is to accelerate the growth of the offshore wind industry by supporting startups developing cutting edge technologies, by providing access to mentorship, industry connections, and resources to scale up. The hub aims to position New York City as a major player in the rapidly growing Offshore wind sector. Leading this ambitious initiative is Tone Sundegaard, uh, the director of the Offshore Wind Innovation Hub. With a background deeply rooted in the Danish wind industry and expensive experience fostering clean tech collaboration between Denmark and the United States, Tone brings a wealth of expertise and passion to her role in shaping the future of offshore wind innovation in New York City and beyond. Tona, welcome to the program. Tone Søndergaard: Thank you so much. Allen Hall: So there is a lot to talk about today, uh, because Hey, we know a lot of small businesses in wind that are trying to get established. We are one of them Uh, and and uh your offshore wind innovation hub Popped up on our radar screen recently, like, Oh, Hey, there's a lot going on there that we didn't know about. And let's get some, get them on the podcast to talk about all the great activities that are happening there. But I want to first step back and talk about what are some of the problems with starting a small business in wind. Tone Søndergaard: I think one of the reasons we really started this innovation hub and found that there was a need for an accelerator program and ecosystem development for the smaller businesses within offshore wind was partly twofold in a way. The first reason really being that we found that smaller businesses, especially within offshore wind, were challenged by what we call information asymmetry, and it was really difficult for many of the smaller businesses who wanted to either move into offshore wind or pivot into offshore wind from other industries to figure out Precisely what is my value proposition? Precisely when in the supply chain do I fit in? Um, and data in this industry tends to be fairly privileged and sort of like held by some of the really major corporations. Um, so that was really one of the problems that we wanted to try and solve with Innovation Hub was to try and give smaller players access to some of this infor...

Donald Trump may have been hit with multiple steep fines from the E. Jean Carroll suits and the NY fraud case, but he's still managed to avoid accountability in a plethora of legal battles. How does he keep getting away with it? Legal expert Kimberly Atkins Stohr joins David Rothkopf to break down the latest from Trump's many trials. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many inquire about my interactions with God and how knowledge is conveyed in the spiritual realm. Kristen, how can one manifest spiritual ideas in the physical world? Today, I share insights from my journal | ~ 5 Daily tips Going back to your Happy Place in God Covering your day before you even get out of bed. Strength in your Gratitude First Manifest Story (EVER) The power of First Class: a Genesis Story Realize that your life is God's building; his sanctuary, designed for his permanent abode. His Spirit inhabits you. (He designed every cell in your body to accommodate and express him.) 1 Corinthians 3;16INTERVIEWING JESUS PODCAST SHOW NOTES   with a fun download: What's "NOT" living in the Moment.Connect with Kristen onInstagram #interviewingjesuspodcast. Facebook Twitter   Linkedin YouTubeWebsite KristenWambach.comThank you for spending this time with me, I am honored. See you next week Kristen Patron Activate Music Credits  by Stockaudios from Pixabay  

Today, we uncover a Roblox malware scam, explore the rise of FakeBat through malvertising, and highlight Tor's innovative WebTunnel for evading censorship. From the playful realms of Roblox to the frontlines of digital freedom with Tor, this episode is a journey through the evolving challenges and solutions in our online world. Protect your digital footprint and join the conversation on cybersecurity, privacy, and the relentless quest for a free internet. Article URLs: Roblox: https://www.zscaler.com/blogs/security-research/tweaks-stealer-targets-roblox-users-through-youtube-and-discord FakeBat: https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/threat-intelligence/2024/03/fakebat-delivered-via-several-active-malvertising-campaigns TOR: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/tors-new-webtunnel-bridges-mimic-https-traffic-to-evade-censorship/ Thanks to Jered Jones for providing the music for this episode. https://www.jeredjones.com/ Logo Design by https://www.zackgraber.com/ Tags: Roblox, malware, cybersecurity, digital privacy, FakeBat, malvertising, Tor, WebTunnel, online security, internet censorship, gaming, digital rights, data protection, hacking, antivirus Search Phrases: How to protect against Roblox malware Understanding malvertising and FakeBat malware Tor's WebTunnel for bypassing internet censorship Latest cybersecurity threats 2024 Safe gaming practices for parents and children Fighting digital surveillance and censorship Effective antivirus and malware protection tips Digital privacy concerns in online platforms Strategies for secure internet browsing Overcoming hacking in gaming communities Enhancements in Tor for secure communication Detecting and preventing online ad-based malware Innovations in digital privacy and security Techniques for safeguarding personal data online Analysis of current cyber threats and solutions Transcript: Mar 14 [00:00:00] offsetkeyz: A nefarious malware targets Roblox users, tricking them with the false promise of enhanced gameplay, only to steal personal information. [00:00:12] HGF: Fake bat malware leaps from the shadows of online ads, preying on unsuspecting victims with the disguise of legitimacy. [00:00:20] offsetkeyz: Tor Project unveils WebTunnel, a masterstroke in digital disguise. Outmaneuvering censorship with a stealthy sophistication. In the digital playground of Roblox, a new villain lurks. Not in the game, but in the guise of a performance boost. [00:00:42] HGF: Oh, Roblox, where my niece says she's gonna be the next digital Picasso. But really, what is it? Just a bunch of blocky characters bumping into each other? [00:00:50] offsetkeyz: It's more than that. Roblox is a sprawling online platform that lets users design, play, and share their own games and experiences. Think of it as [00:01:00] a digital Lego set, but with infinite pieces and possibilities. [00:01:04] HGF: Infinite pieces? You're saying if I wanted to build a castle with a moat filled with laser sharks, I could? Mmm, [00:01:11] offsetkeyz: sharky. Absolutely! Roblox provides the tools and the canvas. Your imagination brings it to life! Roblox It's powered by a robust game development system that lets creators script events, design levels, and even monetize their creations. [00:01:27] HGF: Monetize? So kids are making bank on this? My lemonade stand suddenly seems less impressive. [00:01:34] offsetkeyz: Yep, gone of the days of lemonade stands. Some developers on Roblox earn serious money through in game purchases using a virtual currency called Robux. It's a whole economy. Roblox is a vibrant community with millions of user generated games. There's something for everyone, from obstacle courses and simulators, to role playing games and beyond. But here's the twist. Discovered by Zscaler's Threat [00:02:00] Labs, attackers are exploiting platforms like YouTube and Discord to distribute a malware called Tweaks, or Tweaker. It promises to optimize your frames per second, but instead it's a one way ticket to Hacksville. So, [00:02:15] HGF: it's like ordering a performance enhancing smoothie but ending up with a bellyache that steals your wallet? [00:02:21] offsetkeyz: Oh yeah, there are tummyache survivors out there. But this PowerShell based malware silently siphons off sensitive data. Think Wi Fi passwords, location, Roblox IDs, and even in game currency. Like [00:02:35] HGF: a digital pickpocket. But wait, PowerShell? Is that like a superhero power? [00:02:40] offsetkeyz: Quite. PowerShell is a scripting language for Windows, often used by system administrators for automation, but in our villain's hands, it becomes a tool for theft. [00:02:51] HGF: I see, so they're using PowerShell for evil. Got it. How bad is this [00:02:57] offsetkeyz: breach? Given Roblox's [00:03:00] massive user base, where 45 percent are under 13, the scale is concerning. It's not just gamers at risk, it's potentially their parents and even corporations, thanks to remote work blurring the lines between personal and professional devices. [00:03:15] HGF: Yikes, so my quest for smoother gameplay could put dad's spreadsheets in jeopardy? [00:03:21] offsetkeyz: Precisely! The attackers cleverly disguised their malicious intent, using legitimate looking videos and discord communities to spread tweaks. They even offer a free version to lure users into their trap. Free? [00:03:36] HGF: Sounds like the only thing free about it is the trip to hackerland. What can the good folks at home do to protect themselves? [00:03:43] offsetkeyz: The golden rule is stick to reputable sources for game enhancements, avoid disabling antivirus software for dubious downloads, and maintain skepticism towards too good to be true offers on social platforms. Got [00:03:57] HGF: it. Keep it legit or risk a cyber hit. [00:04:00] Any word from the digital knights at Zscaler? [00:04:03] offsetkeyz: Zscaler's Threat Labs is on the front line. Their sandbox technology uncovering the murky tactics and techniques of this malware campaign. It's a reminder of the constant cat and mouse game in cyber security. [00:04:15] HGF: So the moral of the story, if an FPS booth sounds too good to be true on Discord or YouTube, it probably is. [00:04:29] offsetkeyz: February saw a surge in search based malvertising. with Fakebat leading the charge. A cunning malware distributed through ads for popular software, which was reported by Malwarebytes on Tuesday. See the link in the show notes. [00:04:44] HGF: Fakebat? That sounds like a villain from a Saturday morning cartoon. So what, now I can't even click on things I search for with [00:04:51] offsetkeyz: Google? Remember, if you're searching for something specific, try not to click on the advertisement results. Anyone can buy these advertisement [00:05:00] spaces, and trick you into clicking them by impersonating the site you're trying to find. This malware has been impersonating brands like Parsec and FreeCAD. Both are cutting edge technologies in their respective fields. Like a wolf in sheep's [00:05:14] HGF: clothing. How do they even get these ads in front of people? [00:05:18] offsetkeyz: malvertising campaign gets creative., They've leveraged URL shorteners and even compromised legitimate websites, making these malicious ads appear trustworthy. Victims are lured into clicking, which kicks off a redirect chain ending in malware installation. Once installed, Fakebat reaches out to its command and control servers, putting victims data at risk. So, what's [00:05:41] HGF: the digital equivalent of locking our doors and windows? [00:05:44] offsetkeyz: The key is caution. Avoid clicking on ads for software downloads, and ensure your system's security measures are up to date. Utilizing tools like Threat Down DNS Filter can block malicious ads at the source, offering a layer [00:06:00] of protection. Got [00:06:01] HGF: it. Be skeptical of too good to be true ads and maybe invest in a cyber guard dog. How is Google dealing with this ad [00:06:09] offsetkeyz: apocalypse? The incidents have been reported to Google, highlighting the ongoing battle between security researchers and malvertisers. It's a digital cat and mouse game. with each side constantly evolving their strategies. [00:06:23] HGF: This actually happened to me when I was shopping for a pan at our place. It was like a website. I clicked on the sponsored one and it was like at our place. com and it almost got me, but the font looked a little bit off. Really? Yeah. I think I sent it to, this is like last year, but I'll never forget how identical to the site it looked, but everything was on super sale and it was like, hurry, act now. And they never do that. And I was like, Good [00:06:50] offsetkeyz: catch. I actually had a friend order shoes at my recommendation from my favorite shoe store called Vivo Barefoot. Except he went [00:07:00] and googled it, and it, the first one on Google was vivobarefootusa. com, and he actually ordered shoes from them. And never got [00:07:09] HGF: them. [00:07:10] offsetkeyz: And never [00:07:12] transition: Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh. [00:07:24] offsetkeyz: The Tor Project has just unveiled their latest innovation, WebTunnel. A new bridge designed to camouflage Tor connections amidst regular HTTPS traffic, making it a formidable foe against censorship. Tor is all about privacy and overcoming digital barriers. Bridges in the Tor network are like secret pathways that aren't listed in the public directory, helping users connect without drawing attention. However, countries with tight censorship have gotten better at spotting these connections, Causes the need for WebTunnel, which disguises Tor traffic to look just like any other HTTPS web traffic.[00:08:00] This makes it much harder for these countries to block without also disrupting HTTPS connections, which are vital for a secure internet. How does this magic work? It's all about the art of disguise. WebTunnel wraps Tor's data packets in a layer that mimics WebSocket like HTTPS connections. To any observer on the network, it appears as if the user is simply visiting websites, making it difficult to distinguish and block Tor users specifically. And what about [00:08:29] HGF: those living under the watchful eye of Big Brother? Any luck for [00:08:33] offsetkeyz: them? That is the heart of the matter. WebTunnel proving to be effective in countries who govern internet usage, but some of them, like China and Iran, are figuring out ways to detect it. Tor recommends adding a layer of obfuscation using the OBFS4 protocol. [00:08:52] HGF: OBFS what? Sounds like something out of a spy novel. [00:08:56] offsetkeyz: Not far off, oBFS4, or as I like to [00:09:00] call it, the OB4 Skater, is a protocol designed to disguise internet traffic, making it difficult for third parties to determine what's being transmitted. This is crucial in places where censorship is rampant and access to information is restricted. [00:09:15] HGF: Hide and seek with your internet connection. If I'm in a country that's not too fond of free information, it's OBFS4 could be my ticket to [00:09:23] offsetkeyz: the wider world. Exactly, yeah. OBFS4 is a critical tool for those in oppressive regimes, offering a lifeline to unrestricted information. It exemplifies the ongoing battle for digital freedom, ensuring that the internet remains open and accessible to all. A lot of companies IT departments block Tor on their network. For good reason. So, the main purpose of the WebSocket is to allow citizens of oppressive regimes to Access the internet unrestricted, but I'm wondering what the implications will be for IT departments trying to detect [00:10:00] this type of traffic on their networks. It will blend in with everything else, which could open some, some floodgates for some activity. And that's all we've got for you today. Huge thanks to Hot Girl Farmer for joining us and delivering the news. And we will talk to you some more tomorrow.

In the winter of 2001, I was a sophomore at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina.As a freshman I had become part of a ministry called Campus Outreach. Its theology was called “Reformed,” which I did not grow up with. In my teens, I heard talk about God being “sovereign,” but I had never wrestled with the extent of his sovereignty — that he was sovereign over all, over good and evil, over angels and demons, over sunny days and natural disasters, over my good deeds and my sin, and (most uncomfortably) sovereign over my own will and choices. But once I saw the verses, dozens of them (if not hundreds), I couldn't deny that the Bible taught that God's sovereignty was absolute, over all, no exceptions.But what I also knew from two decades of human life, and from dozens (if not hundreds) of verses, is that I was accountable. I had thoughts and feelings. I had a will and made real decisions that mattered and had consequences. So, how do I reconcile these two — not just my experience versus what the Bible says, but what the Bible says versus what the Bible says?So, that winter of 2001, a pastor from Minnesota, named John Piper, spoke at our Campus Outreach New Year's conference in Atlanta, and not long after that event, I got on desiringGod.org to look for more messages. There I listened to a sermon he had preached that Christmas Eve. And this one message put together for me, so clearly and memorably, how these major theological truths of God's sovereignty and my human responsibility come together in my everyday Christian life and experience. The sermon was on the end of Romans chapter 6 (verses 22–23), but at a key moment Piper flipped over to Philippians 2:12–13 to explain this real-life dynamic, and as he did so, lights went on for me one after another.So, 23 years later, it's personally significant for me to be assigned these verses, and I pray that for some in this room, new lights might go on like they did for me in those days. How the truth of God's sovereignty and his choices relates to my responsibility and my choices, in fighting against sin and for Christlikeness, doesn't all come together at once. Much of it is a lifetime journey. Yet, for me, there was a particular sermon, and a particular text — Philippians 2:12–13 — where new categories were created that have deeply affected my everyday life.Humbled and ExaltedLast Sunday we stood in awe at the foot of the mountain of Christ's accomplishment for us in verses 5–11. First, he chose to become man. He did not cling to the comforts of heaven, but he emptied himself of that privilege. Precisely because he was God, gracious and merciful, full of steadfast love and faithfulness, he took on our creatureliness and limitations and the pains and frustrations of our fallen world. His emptying himself was not an emptying of his deity, as if that were possible, but it was a taking, as verse 7 says. His emptying came through addition of humanity, not subtraction of deity. He…“emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”Then came that amazing “therefore” in verse 9,“Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name . . . .”In the biblical pattern of self-humbling from Exodus to the Epistles, Jesus stands at the center as our greatest example: he humbled himself, and therefore God exalted him. Jesus went down, down, down: human, death, the cross. And his Father brought him up: up from the grave, up in the ascension, up to the very throne of heaven. So we walked through three truths, in Pastor Jonathan's sermon last week, about the example of Jesus.Which leads us right into verses 12–18, and how Paul turns from Jesus's obedience and his reward to ours. And so this morning we look at three truths about our following his example. Or: how we become like Jesus.1. We follow the one who obeyed and was rewarded.There is a second huge “therefore” in Philippians 2. The first one was verse 9. Jesus humbled himself; therefore God exalted him. Now, verse 12: in light of Jesus's self-humbling and God's exalting him, therefore . . .I can see at least two ways this “therefore” works in verse 12. One is the straightforward charge He is Lord, therefore obey. God has highly exalted Jesus, now his name is above every name, and at his name every knee should bow and every tongue confess he is Lord; therefore, Christians, obey. Simple as that. He is Lord; we are servants. He says it; we do it. Children obey their parents; servants obey their masters; and all the more, creatures obey your Creator, and Christians your Lord.But there's also another way this “therefore” works, as an appeal to desire, as a pattern and promise of reward. I say that because the word “obedient” just appeared in verse 8 (and “obey” in verse 12). Jesus was “obedient to the point of death,” and because he obeyed, he was rewarded. Therefore, Christians, obey, like Jesus, that you might be rewarded, like Jesus. Humble yourself, like he did, that you too might be exalted.Which is crazy countercultural for self-exalting sinners! We want to be exalted, so what do we do? Exalt ourselves. In our own minds, in our words and humble brags, in what we post online, in how we angle for opportunities. And God says to us in our folly, “No, sinners, I do the exalting. Exalt yourself, and I'll humble you. But humble yourself, and I will exalt you.”So, the therefore in verse 12 is an appeal to desire, and a profound glimpse into what it meant for Jesus to endure the cross “for the joy set before him.” As man, Jesus humbled himself, obeying to the point of death, by looking to the joy of being exalted by his Father. And so too for us as we obey him. Christian obedience is from sheer duty and force of will. We obey for the joy set before us.And Paul puts his own joy on display in verses 17–18. Jump down there:“Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering [this is his self-humbling obedience] upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.”Paul calls the Philippians' obedience “the sacrificial offering of your faith.” This is like Romans 12:1: the Christian life of faith “as a living sacrifice” — God's people no longer offer slaughtered animals as sacrifices, as they did under the first covenant, but offer themselves, all they are, their whole lives, in obedience to him. This is what Paul is giving his life to: that Christians like the saints in Philippi, and like us, would be living sacrifices, obedient to Christ. And Paul, in prison in Rome for his labor, says to them, even if I die in this prison, I rejoice. The pursuit of joy got him into prison, and joy will be his if he never makes it out of prison — because he looks forward to the reward of being with Christ, and having worked for others' joy in Christ. And in this joy, Paul casts his work in self-humbling terms. The Philippians' lives of obedience are the main sacrifice, and his labor is just the drink offering, the side offering, the supplement to their healthy, obedient, Christians lives.So, first, like Paul, and like Jesus, we obey our Lord, in joy, anticipating reward. We follow the one who obeyed and was rewarded.2. We work out the salvation he worked for.Now, the rest of verse 12:“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling . . .”So, the obedience that Christ, through Paul, is calling for here is “work out your own salvation.” I realize that sounds like nails on a chalkboard for some ears. If so, perhaps I could just warn you: this might feel uncomfortable for a few minutes. Remember we're praying for biblical categories. And to get there, we may need to sit in the challenge of this “work out your own salvation.” It's in the Bible. And this is a good translation. The Greek doesn't fix our discomfort, but might only make us cringe a little bit more. What if we said “produce your own salvation,” or “give rise to your own salvation,” or “grind out your own salvation”?As we sit in this tension, it's okay to remember Christ's obedience on the frontend and underneath — and in just a few minutes, we'll see that we have even more help on the backend. But we need to linger here. Just because there's help in front and back doesn't mean our lives in the middle aren't real. We need to stay here, in the call and dignity of the Christian life to be, to think, to feel, to will, to act. God is sovereign, and we are responsible.This word for “work out” is a typical word for “work” but with an intensifying prefix. The kind of work we're getting at here is not just overflow. Some work feels effortless. But this work means expending effort. It's the kind of work that requires effort to move inward desires into outward acts. In other places, this word is translated “produce” or “accomplish” or “perform.”So, this is not just overflow. It requires counting, reckoning, considering (as in verses 3, 5, and 6). There is effort to be given; energy to be expended; work to be done. “Work out your salvation,” Paul says. Not “work for” — Jesus uniquely worked for our salvation in verses 5–11 — but now we “work it out.”An important question to ask at this point is “salvation from what?” Paul implies the Philippians need deliverance, but from what? Well, what's clearly at stake in chapter 2, going back to 1:27, is their unity (their fellowship, their relationships in the church). Paul says he longs to hear that they “are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.” And 2:2: “complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” He's saying that because at present they're not that. Then verse 3: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit.” Note the two specific sins from which the Philippians and we need deliverance: selfish ambition and conceit.And Paul has more specifics to give in verse 14: “Do all things without grumbling or disputing.” Okay, so now we have at least four specific sins from which Paul says to “work out your salvation.” Want it, will it, act it, produce it. Christ died to save you from grumbling, from constant complaining and criticizing and scoffing and wallowing. He died to deliver you from petty disputes. So, trust him and don't grumble. Trust him and be free from disputing.The new category this leads to is this: the Christian life is both gift and duty. Fighting sin is both a gift from God and a duty we act. Increasing holiness is both gift and duty. It is a gift of grace we receive from Jesus, and the way we receive a grace that involves our own thoughts and desires and actions is by having the thoughts and desires and doing the actions. That is, living out the gift, or working out your salvation.Look over to Philippians 3:12. Two of the best texts for getting this dynamic of the Christian life as both gift and duty are right here in Philippians. So, first 2:12–13. Now 3:12:“Not that I have already obtained this [resurrection to eternal life] or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.”This is so important in getting the order right between God's working and ours. Paul says, “I press on to make it my own” — I count, I will, I act, I choose righteousness, I fight sin, I press on — why? “Because Christ Jesus has made me his own.” Mark this: I don't become his by pressing on. Rather, because I am his, because he already took hold of me, I strive and strain and press on. He worked for my salvation. Now I work it out over sin. (Other key texts that show this gift-and-duty dynamic: Hebrews 13:20–21; Romans 15:18; 1 Corinthians 15:10.)The Christian life is grace from beginning to end. Some graces we receive instead of our effort and action (justification) and some graces we receive as our effort and action.Which leads us to verse 13, but let me first try to make this more practical. Let me take you back to my time at Furman University. Now it's the fall of 2002, my senior year, and I'm trying to figure out what to do after graduation. And I am awash in anxiety. I didn't remember being so anxious in my life before then, and I don't remember being as anxious since.So, I needed deliverance from anxiety. So what do I do? Just wait? How do you seek to be free from oppressive anxiety when God is sovereign and you are responsible? As one who is justified by faith in Jesus, how do I work out my salvation? First, I need truth to work with. I need a specific word to believe. So I found three biblical promises about anxiety:Matthew 6:34,“Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”1 Peter 5:6–7,“Humble yourselves . . . under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”Philippians 4:67,“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”So I printed them out, posted them next to my bed, and reviewed them every morning when I woke up, and every night when I went to sleep. And (with Christ before me and his Spirit in me), I worked out the grace of my deliverance from anxiety. God gave me the gift of deliverance from the dominance of anxiety in that season. And that doesn't mean I don't still fight anxiety as it comes in new ways in new times and seasons of life. But I know how to fight: recognize it, address it with promises of reward, pray for help, and act.So whether it's sinful anxiety, selfish ambition and conceit, grumbling and disputing, or sinful anger or lust or greed, work out the deliverance Christ has worked for you. Don't presume that God will defeat your sins while you're passive. And don't presume to fight sin on our own. Look to the sovereign Christ, trust his promises, pray for his help, and act the miracle you seek to have from him.And just to comment very quickly on verses 15–16: I think Paul has in mind the relationship between unity in the church and witness in the world like he did in 1:27–28. There he said that our “standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel” leads to the church “not [being] frightened in anything by your opponents” — and this is “a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation.” In working out our salvation against the relationship-killing sins of selfish ambition, conceit, grumbling, and disputing, we come to stand out “in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation.” Unified in Jesus, we “shine as lights in the world.” How? “Holding fast to the word of life,” that is, the message about true life, eternal life — the life and death of Jesus in place of our death to give us life.So, if ever you find yourself discouraged about the “crooked and twisted generation” in which you find yourself, remember two truths from Philippians 2: (1) this is nothing new for Christianity (this is how it usually is in this age) and (2) grumbling and disputing are not the Christian response. But exactly the opposite. The Christian response is this: hold fast to our word of life, work out our salvation from grumbling and disputing, and shine as lights in the world, not as more of the same darkness.What about that last phrase in v. 12, “with fear and trembling”? Now our third and final truth.3. We have His Spirit at work in us.We finish with the end of verse 12 and with verse 13: “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”What in the world could Paul mean here by “with fear and trembling.” Perhaps “fear and trembling” only sounds negative in your ears. Fear and trembling, yikes. How about with hope and joy? Why fear and trembling?Scripture has a broader vision for inward fear and outward trembling than modern people. Throughout the Bible, “fear and trembling” is what wise, in-touch, healthy humans do when they find themselves in the presence of God almighty. Like Moses at Mount Sinai, as we saw in Hebrews 12:21: “I tremble with fear.” And Paul talks how the Corinthians received Titus, as a messenger from Christ, “with fear and trembling” (2 Corinthians 7:15).Or perhaps most instructive of all is the way the Gospel of Mark ends, with the women who found the tomb empty and heard from the angel, “He has risen; he is not here.” Mark 16:8: “They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them.”Or, as Matthew 28:8 reports,“They departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy.”“Fear and trembling” is not only the response of someone taken aback by great horror, but also of someone struck with great joy. It's the response of a believing heart in the presence of God himself — and it's the appropriate response of a Christian who learns that God himself has come to dwell in me.Verse 13 provides, essentially, threefold confidence for us as we expend energy and effort to obey our Lord and live the Christian life. So, as we close, let me turn verse 13 and address it to you.First, brothers and sisters in Christ, you have God in you! What an awesome thing to have the Holy Spirit, poured out on us, sent into our hearts, dwelling in us, leading us, working in us. You are not on your own to fight against sin and for Christlikeness. You have God in you! This is no standard joy. This is cause for fear and trembling.Second, he is in you not only to will but even to work! God works in us to (will and) work our work. He gives us new desires and willing, and even then doesn't leave us to ourselves. He is in us to prompt, to lead, to empower, to execute our working out those holy desires through the exertion of effort.Third, all this stands on the rock of God's own joy, his delight, his good pleasure. He is not reluctant in helping us fight sin and pursue Christlikeness. He is happy to do it, thrilled to do it. He delights to do it. He works in us, in our willing, in our working, for his good pleasure. We work with the grain of God's own joy when we work out our deliverance from sin.So, we close with this question: What sin or sins came to mind this morning in our time of silent confession? Or, what do you most often confess week after week? Brothers and sisters, don't just say it again, move on, continue in sin, and make empty confession again and again. Work out your salvation. Act the miracle. With Jesus before you and beneath you, and his Spirit in you and through you — hemmed in on every side by his grace — work out your salvation. Will it, work it, act it, do it — with prayerful dependence in every step.Jesus Willed and WorkedWhat makes possible our having the Holy Spirit at work in us to will and work, is that first the Spirit was at work in Christ to will and to work. How he worked, for the joy set before him, is an example we follow. How he worked, by the Spirit, is imitable. But what he accomplished at the cross for us is inimitable.At this Table, we do not mainly remember Jesus as our example but as the one who worked for us in a way in which we could not work for ourselves.

I am thrilled to share that I got a chance to sit with Tendü Yoğurtçu, CTO of Precisely! We discussed about, ✅ The Role of Trusted Data in AI Success, ✅ Implications of Neglecting Data Quality, ✅ AI Predictions for 2024.

Amazon generate a lot of trash. Precisely how much is a matter of some debate. In 2021, the company says it used 214 million or so pounds of single-use plastic in its packaging. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Full article: https://www.ajronline.org/doi/10.2214/AJR.23.30651  Hong Linda Li, MD discusses a research letter highlighting the potential use of GPT-4 into radiology reports to flag the presence of three incidental findings that may require further management. 

Paramount and Warner Bros., the storied media empires, are in crisis; TV is bleeding viewers; VICE is nearing death, while The Messenger is already dead; big layoffs at the Washington Post and LA Times. Precisely the time to talk to Josh Tyrangiel, the veteran producer, executive and editor who has traversed many of these lands.

563. Cordelia Frances Biddle visits with us this week. She has written a biography of Saint Katharine Drexel, the founder of Xavier University founded by Saint Katharine Drexel. Saint Katharine: The Life of Katharine Drexel. "Katharine Drexel devoted her life to social justice, creating schools for those whom racism marginalized and persecuted. Born in 1858, she died in 1955; her life reflects the nation's history: the tumultuous years leading to the Civil War, Lincoln's assassination, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, the movement for Women's Suffrage, and the Equal Rights Movement.” “Cordelia teaches creative writing at Drexel University's Pennoni Honors College. She won the Honors College Teaching Excellence Prize in 2012, and The Adjunct Faculty Award in 2021.” This week in Louisiana history. March 2, 1805. Louisiana becomes "organized" territory, upper part becomes District of Louisiana with capital at St. Louis by act of Congress This week in New Orleans history. March 1, 1967, New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison arrested Clay Shaw on the charge of conspiracy to assassinate President John F. Kennedy. Precisely two years later, on March 1, 1969, Shaw was acquitted by the jury in less than an hour of deliberation. This week in Louisiana.Here's the Beef Cook-Off.The annual Here's the Beef Cook-Off in Opelousas is the best place to sample brisket, roast, gravies, and stews. There's also live music and a trail ride.March 2, 20248:00 AM - 12:00 AMYambilee Building1939 West Landry Street Opelousas, LA 70570 United States Postcards from Louisiana. John Joyce at dba.

I remember it like it was yesterday…Feeling exhausted. Frustrated. Over-worked. Like a frenzied hamster on its never-ending wheel of doom.There has to be a better way, right? I thought a gazillion times a day.The answer: Precisely.And I'll share what I've learned with you. (Me? Gatekeep?... NEVER!)In this episode, you'll learn the exact 4 pillars that I use for my 7-figure launches — and you'll understand how to implement them, too.So, prepare your hearts because we're covering everything from creating a high-value masterclass and writing conversion-driven email funnels to using my very own messaging framework and designing a profitable sales page.The doors are now open to my 8-week LIVE course experience packed with million-dollar strategies, revenue-generating guidance, and proven frameworks designed to make your next launch the biggest ever. >>JOIN NOWJOIN NOW

In this game-changing episode of the Matt Clark Show, we dive deep into the heart of what could be holding your business back from achieving its full potential. With a clear, checklist-like approach, I walk you through a five-step diagnostic tool designed to pinpoint and address the core issues stifling your growth. Whether it's boosting sales, enhancing profits, optimizing conversion rates, or refining your product offer, this episode is your roadmap to breakthrough success.Discover how to: Precisely identify whether sales or profits are your main hurdle. Analyze where your traffic and sales are currently flowing and how to capitalize on this. Strategically increase your conversion rates and average order value with simple yet effective tweaks. Reassess your front-end offer to ensure it's irresistible to your target market. Operate with the focus and discipline of a professional athlete to maximize your entrepreneurial effectiveness.This episode isn't just about identifying problems; it's about providing actionable solutions that you can implement right away. Whether you're a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting out, these insights will empower you to take control, accelerate your growth, and achieve unprecedented success in your business ventures.

The U-19 Cricket World Cup once again highlighted a couple of things. India's consistent performance to make it to the final for the fifth consecutive time. However, their unbeaten run came to a grinding halt against a familiar foe in the final - Australia. But what are the takeaways of this tournament? Uday Saharan came out with flying colours as a skipper and a batter. Musheer Khan and Sachin Dhas showed why they are so highly regarded. On the flip side, Arshin Kulkarni, who promised so much in the lead-up, had an underwhelming tournament. Precisely the pitfalls one must look out for. It is a collective responsibility of the Indian Cricketing ecosystem that these young boys are groomed well so that they can represent the country at the highest level. Amol Gokhale analyzes the U-19 World Cup from India's perspective in this episode of Weekly Katta.  १९-वर्षाखालील मुलांच्या विश्वचषकाने काही गोष्टी पुन्हा अधोरेखित केल्या. एक म्हणजे भारताचं स्पर्धेतील सातत्य आणि दुसरी गोष्ट म्हणजे विश्वचषक आणि ऑस्ट्रेलिया ह्यांचं समीकरण. अंतिम सामन्यापर्यंत अपराजित असलेला भारतीय संघ पुन्हा एकदा शेवटच्या पायरीवर ऑस्ट्रेलियासमोर अडखळला. उदय सहरण, मुशीर खान, सचिन धस, सौमी कुमार पांडे, नमन तिवारी अशी नावं ह्या वर्ल्ड कपने भारतीय क्रिकेट चाहत्यांना ओळखीची झाली. असं जरी असलं तरी वास्तवाचं भान राखणं गरजेचं आहे. ह्या कामगिरीने हुरळून न जाता पाय जमिनीवर ठेवून सर्वांनीच - खेळाडू, राज्य संघटना आणि ईतर घटक - ह्या खेळाडूंचा खेळ अजून कसा बहरेल, ह्यातून भावी भारतीय खेळाडू कसे तयार होतील याकडे लक्ष देणं तेवढंच महत्त्वाचं आहे. ह्या १९-वर्षाखालील विश्वचषकाचा लेखा-जोखा घेतला आहे अमोल गोखलेने ह्या वीकली कट्ट्यावर…

Welcome to a groundbreaking episode of the "Position of Neutrality Podcast," where we dive deep into the heart of recovery, innovation, and transformation. In this special episode, our host Joe McDonald, a beacon of hope and a pivotal figure in the recovery community, unfolds the essence of Alcoholics Anonymous through a profound discussion on the program of action that has liberated over a hundred men and women from the grips of addiction.Join us as Joe illuminates the core message of the Big Book: showcasing the path to recovery and offering an intimate look at how precisely the members of Alcoholics Anonymous have reclaimed their lives from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body. This episode is not just a narrative; it's an invitation to witness the journey of healing, hope, and the establishment of a new freedom and happiness that many thought was beyond reach.We'll explore the innovative approaches that Position of Neutrality brings to the 12-step process, including the Digital Step Experience that offers mentorship, community support, and the opportunity to engage with recovery from anywhere in the world. Discover how the principles of neutrality mindset, spiritual fitness, and making amends are transforming lives and fostering a supportive recovery community.This podcast is a beacon for anyone touched by addiction, seeking a way out of darkness and into the light of recovery. Whether you're looking for inspiration, guidance, or a community that understands, join us on this transformative journey towards new freedom and new happiness. For more insights and to embark on your own 12-step digital journey, visit www.positionofneutrality.org.#PositionOfNeutrality #RecoveryInnovation #12StepDigitalJourney #FreedomFromAddiction #HealingAndHope #TransformativeRecovery #NeutralityMindset #CommunitySupport #LifeBeyondBars #SpiritualFitness #MakingAmends #DigitalStepExperience #RecoveryJourney #MentorshipMatters #NewFreedomNewHappiness

Who is the master of the cutter: Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, DDP or Will Ospreay? Simon Miller presents 10 Wrestlers Who Are The Best At Precisely ONE Move...ENJOY!Follow us on Twitter:@SimonMiller316@WhatCultureWWEFor more awesome content, check out: whatculture.com/wwe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Four scientists find their mission led astray, by paradise.Based on a post by PhilippaMaQuente. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories.Forward:In the beginning, defiance led to rejection and expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Our species was transported to the parallel universe we've now occupied for several millennia. Legends of that previous world have been handed down to us, along with various elaborations and moral lessons.If we could only access that previous world. A world designed for our inclusion. Does it exist? Is it yet flourishing in our absence? Can we gain a second chance to rejoin Eden?Sally joins an expeditionary team. You know, the job of a scientist is not always easy, but it’s usually pretty rewarding. I’ve helped discover new species of plants and animals, and I derived a number of medicinal properties from my discoveries, too. I’m a naturalist and explorer.But, sometimes I think existence has an absolutely weird sense of humor. How else could I possibly explain the misadventures my team's had this past week? I mean, where do I even begin to explain all this craziness?We were on the trail of an extremely elusive lemur species on Madagascar when my teammate Brad stumbled into a burrow of some kind.“Shit!” he shrieked, his leg sinking calf deep in an extremely well disguised hole. I rushed over.“Oh man! Are you hurt?” I crouched behind him, putting my arms around his chest, hooked under his pits. I used my legs to try and pry him out of the hole. Our other team members, Marty and Mindy, rushed over to help.“I don’t think it’s injured, I was just really fucking surprised.” He began shifting his weight pushing back with his free leg. “Damn, this hole is deep! What makes burrows like this out here?”“What’s the angle like?” Mindy asked. “Most everything in this area are tree-dwellers,”“It’s weird, it’s straight down,” Brad said, “and it’s like there's nothing below, nothing on all sides. I’m only being squeezed right here at the calf.” He pointed to the section of leg we could actually see touching earth.“That is super weird,” I grunted, still pulling. He was coming loose. “But maybe, it was just a hollow that got buried by, a storm, or shifting ground. No biggie.” Marty threw himself into a crouch and aided me by wrapping his arms around my middle.“On my count,” he said. “One, two, three!” we both pulled, throwing our weight collectively into the effort.“It’s working!” Brad said happily. “My leg’s coming free.” After a couple of minutes of combined work, Marty and I got him out and we all fell back in a heap.“Whew!” I grunted. "Brad, your leg ok? Let’s see.“ Pulling away from the hole, Brad rolled up his pant leg and removed his boot. No blood, no bad scratches. It didn’t look twisted, and I saw no swelling."Looks good, Sally,” he told me. “Doesn’t hurt but I could just be pumping with adrenaline. I’ll give it a few.”“Good idea,” I nodded. “Let’s all take ten. Our little kerfuffle probably scared off everything within fifty yards anyway.” My team settled down and busted out water and some snacks. Tromping through rainforest looking for tiny primates was hot, thirsty work.“I kinda want to take a look at this hole,” Mindy said, walking cautiously toward it. “Could be a nest, could be just an odd patch of hollow ground.”“Yeah, let’s poke around a little,” I replied, after taking a gulp of my canteen. “If it’s not an animal den maybe we could fill it up, just so no one else stumbles in and gets hurt.” Mindy put herself on her belly and inched over.“Wow Brad, you must’ve caught it just right. It’s hardly big enough for a boot your size.”“Hey, you know what they say about men with big feet,” Brad quipped in response. He held his palms open nearly a foot and a half to illustrate his point. “You know what I mean?” I playfully punched him on the shoulder.“Sure, but you’re not supposed to stick your foot in those holes,” I countered. We all laughed, except Mindy. Totally focused, she was peering into the opening with her flashlight.“Guys, this is really fucking weird,” she said. “There's nothing down there I can see, nothing at all! And, it’s the weirdest thing, but, There's air flowing out of the hole. Cold air!" We all leaned in. I was fascinated."Buried cave, maybe?” I hypothesized.“Buried something,” she answered. “I say we open it up.”“Agreed,” I said.“Second,” Marty put in. Like Mindy, we all flopped down on our bellies and began pulling clumps of dirt away from the hole. The tree roots beneath us had formed a pretty good network to secure the dirt, leaving only that one gap. Pretty soon we’d uncovered a genuine hole in the ground, only about five feet wide, and deep. So deep, and cylindrical in shape, it was like an abandoned well. I said as much.“Solid theory,” Brad remarked. “What do we do now? Do we just leave it? We can’t fill it in.”“We could make a crude sign or marker and post it to warn passerby.” Mindy remarked thoughtfully. I used my headlamp to beam down into the hole. It loomed below us, black and yawning, but somehow, though I felt like I ought to be frightened, it seemed more mysterious and tantalizing than scary. I stuck my head in, bracing my upper body at the rim.“Hello!” I shouted into the void, and waited. My voice dropped down, but did not come bouncing back, I waited a while. "Echo!“ I dropped the second time, listening intently. Nothing. "This thing must be fucking deep,” I muttered, beginning to shimmy back out. Distracted by my own effort, I had to pause when I half caught something that sounded like my name, coming not from my team but somewhere below me. Twisting to look back at them, I asked: “Did somebody call me?”“No,” Marty said. “We were all waiting for you.” I shook my head and continued dragging myself out of the hole by my elbows.“Let’s make the sign,” Brad was saying when I felt something touch my wrist. I jerked, startled, but saw what appeared to be a root that I’d brushed, and relaxed again. However, when I was unable to pull free of it, I sought the source, And found myself peering straight down, at a vine curled snugly around my wrist, risen from the depths of nowhere.“Uh, guys?” I started, tugging at my captor. It was firmly set, somewhere. Before they could even look, I felt something, odd. The vine trapping me began to writhe, and suddenly the largest, most spectacular flowers I’d ever seen began to sprout and bloom from it. Big as dinner plates, with a five-petal bloom in the most vivid electric purple. I goggled at the sight of the one closest to me. As the flower came into its full beauty, it released a scent that hit me right in the face, immediately making me swoon with heady intoxication. My body, grew hot. And my mind told me to go down, to let the vine take me. That paradise awaited me down there,Mindy was the first to notice my predicament, and the first to react when I shot forward into the hole not of my own volition.The portal“Oh shit,” I declared, feeling myself dragged headfirst down into what I was already envisioning as some kind of wonderland. Mindy dove on my legs, screaming at the guys to help her, and I felt their weight momentarily halt my progress. It was just my round ass and legs sticking out of the hole at that point. The vine on my wrist grew thicker, and suddenly began growing. It enveloped my whole upper body as I watched and began pulling again. Then more vines, already blossoming like mine had, crept out around me to ensnare my team, dosing each one of them with the intoxicating perfume. I was feeling very warm and very good about the whole thing by then. “Hang on!” I giggled. “We’re going for a ride!” The vines got all of us in one fell swoop, and before we knew it, we were all being rushed right along down the tunnel to somewhere, screaming bloody murder in the dark.We fell a long, long time, and at some point I blacked out into nonsensical dreams full of vivid colors and scents but no substance. I didn’t know how long I was out, but I did know why I came to. Something was tickling me, between my legs. I was fuzzy, waking up, but when I felt something thick and incredibly bendy probe between my cunt lips and slide inside me, I hollered, coming awake more violently than anything else could have done. Intense pleasure shot through my cunt as something thrust itself deep inside. I looked down. I was sprawled in a plant that resembled a strawberry patch, naked, with my legs tethered open by tendrils of plant life, a shining green vine filling my cunt. It was growing out of the bottom of the thing, which cradled me like a bed. My arms were tethered above my head, and I watched helplessly as another part of the giant vine-plant wrapped my breasts. Two little buds, different from the previous purple ones, latched on to my nipples and began dripping something- I guess nectar- onto them. The long tendril actually inside me plunged deep into my womb, bypassing my cervix in a moment of strange ecstasy. I felt a tremendous rush of liquid fill me, like, a huge swelling, but then it all absorbed into my body. After that, my blood began to heat. My arousal tipped up to an insane degree.“Oh holy fuck!" I shouted. "Mindy? Marty, Brad- where are you? Are you okay?” The vine in my cunt gently plunged in and out of my hole. The buds on my nipples somehow made them extra sensitive and dying for touch. I began to pant. Nearby I heard what sounded suspiciously like Mindy, screaming an orgasm. A third bud grew toward my clitoris and latched on. I howled. The nectar gushed onto that part of me too and sent my insides roiling with need. Brad popped up into my plant-bed. He wasn’t restrained, but I did notice he was naked, and had a rather interesting new accessory. A vine was in his ass, plunging back and forth.“Sally!” he gasped, steeling himself against his body’s invader. “Everyone’s, uh okay, but,” He climbed toward me, his erection stiff as hell and huge. “Marty and Mindy are like this too, They're already fucking, God Sally I’m so sorry! I can’t help it!” Spurned forward by the vine using his asshole, Brad dove on top of me like a man starving and plunged his tongue into my mouth. Already wild with arousal, I responded eagerly. The vine filling my cunt pulled away and redirected itself into my other hole, The same place it was filling Brad and driving him mad. Once inside me there, the plant spread my legs further and opened me for Brad’s cock.“We can worry about this later,!” I grunted out. “Fuck me, fuck me now!” Nothing in the world was more important at that moment than being fucked. Brad did not hesitate. His huge cock speared me immediately. I howled, he groaned. He started thrusting inside my burning hot hole immediately, and as our bodies entwined we realized the heat was overwhelming, our lust scorching.“Oh fuck! Oh fuck, Sally!” he growled, slamming his hips into mine. I bucked against him, taking everything he had, wanting more.“Yes, yes, yes, oh Brad!” Each of us had our asses plundered, and I felt the penetration from each side within me and screamed my bliss. Brad was fucking like a man on fire, driving his dick so hard into my cunt it was miraculous I felt no pain. Instead I felt heat and good and pleasure so profound my whole body was singing. The buds nipping at my nipples and clitoris had made them so stiff, so swollen in arousal that I marveled they didn’t shoot right off my body. The buds finally left my nipples, and Brad seized downward as he fucked me to latch on with his lips, as if driven by innate primal desire.“So, sweet,” he groaned through his teeth. I could feel a climax building powerfully inside me. The bud on my clit hadn’t stopped its curious brand of soaking aphrodisiac nectar into that most sensitive place, and I was veering dangerously close to stimulation overload. Brad’s cock was thicker and bigger and harder than any man I’d ever had before, and the savagery of his thrusts ought to hurt, but they just felt amazing. I was so rabid I just screamed his name, over and over, and I felt another gush of fluid from the vine in my ass. At the same time, Brad surged forward like he’d gotten the same.“I’m going to cum in you, Sally!” he told me with a tinge of regret.“I’m going to cum too, Brad! It’s ok, this isn’t us!” He wrapped me in his arms. “We’re being used, It’s not your fault.” I breathed raggedly, thrashing myself against him.“No!” he groaned. “I really do like you, Sally! A lot! But I wouldn’t have wanted it this way!”“I know! Me too, it’s ok, you can cum in me! I need you to cum in me!” I screamed. “Please, please cum in me!” My body, overloaded with aphrodisiacs and stimulation, pitched over the edge. The muscle spasms that went off in my cunt were tremendous, and would have crushed a normal cock. But Brad, inundated by the plant’s strange properties, had a dick of steel and pistoned it to the back of me expertly until his body gave up his seed. And believe me, I felt it. It was like the fluid from the vine that had gushed tremendously and then absorbed. He poured shot after shot inside, but it was molten hot and he just kept cumming as I kept cumming, on and on.The orgasm we shared caused an explosion of blue-green blossoms all over our plant bed, and the vines finally released us as we lay shaking in each other’s arms. Mindy and Marty finally found us; they were huddled together and spent from their bout of lovemaking. Brad and I joined our comrades, totally naked as well. All four of us left the now docile and incredibly beautiful bloomed plants that had fucked us, and spurned us to fuck each other, behind. When we did, we could not believe the world spread before us.It was a riot of color. Plant life like none of us had ever seen before. Huge blossoms, trees that dwarfed even redwoods, in hot cinnamon red and mossy green. Tall gold grasses that danced in the breeze. Looking around, we noticed all of our clothing and equipment was totally gone, like it had never existed in the first place. We also noticed that Mindy and I were both now sporting breasts the size of small melons, both of our nipples a deep ruby red, our clitorises the same rich color. I also noticed that my belly seemed to be rounding, and growing heavy. Hers too. My breasts ached, almost as if they were filling up with liquid.“I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore, Toto,” I hummed forebodingly. Instinctively I cupped my stomach with my palm.“What, the hell, Did we fall into?” Marty croaked out, holding Mindy to him possessively.“I don’t know,” Brad answered.“Am I the only one that heard the voice before we got pulled down here?” I started, trying to keep my rational scientific mind. In fact, I began studying my environment with more critical detachment. I looked up into an overcast, but still sunny, sky, with a faint mixture of pale blues, purples and greens, but saw no hole. Nothing. No cave, either, just lush foliage and Technicolor world.“Voice?" Mindy suddenly barked. "What did you hear?” Her reaction, so sharp and intent, clued me in.“Don’t flip out yet, any of you,” I said, holding up a hand. “We're scientists. We are making discoveries, got it?” I waited, to see them all understand my meaning and nod. “When the vine grabbed my wrist, I thought I heard my name, first,” recollection hit them of the moment, “And after I got dosed by the flower I thought I heard a voice say I should come down here.”“I heard the same fucking thing!” Mindy said. “I thought I was experiencing a panic-induced hallucination! It said ‘paradise’ was down here.” I gasped.“I heard that too!”“I didn’t hear anything besides our screaming,” Brad said, shrugging. He looked at Marty.“Nothing here. But I did get hit by a load of that flower perfume. It made me sneeze but I didn’t otherwise feel anything different.”“It made me feel drunk, and, horny.” I blushed. Stupidly, really.“Yeah,” Mindy said. “Me too,” she looked down, as if realizing she was naked for the first time. Our erogenous zones were like fat cherries on our breasts and loins. The ache in my tits and the swelling of my lower body led me to my logical conclusions.“Okay, Mindy and I were both dosed by the perfume and had physical reactions, and heard a voice prior to being pulled down here. Logically it seems that the targets are females. Though obviously this place makes use of males as well. Based on my physical sensations and everything that happened in the blue-flower plant, Mindy and I are pregnant. The pregnancies are escalated, and not entirely human. I think, this world not only enhances our reproductive capabilities but needs our fertility for its own.”“If it needs both males and females to help it propagate, why didn’t it try and lure us too?” asked Marty.“Maybe because it knows that the males will follow their females, especially if they seem to be in danger. Breeding females are an important resource.” Mindy added on, suddenly holding her belly. “You wouldn’t have let us disappear down that hole without trying something.”“No, we wouldn’t have.” Brad said. “Alright, the million-dollar question now is what do we do?”“Well, I can’t see where we came in here from, can any of you?” They all looked, and once each of them had surveyed the landscape to their satisfaction, they shook their heads.“Fuck,” Marty said.“I postulate that we have discovered a pocket dimension or a passage through space-time, friends,” I said. “Which means that if we get back, We're going to have more money than God.” I grinned, trying to break the tension and get a laugh. It worked, and my team cracked up.“Oh my God,” Mindy started, wiping away a few tears from laughing so hard. “We’ll be the most famous fucking science team that has ever been.”“We went searching for monkeys and ended up proving parallel universes exist,” Brad continued. “Or at least that Narnia might really be in a closet somewhere.”“Wardrobe,” I corrected. Brad laughed.“Oh forgive me, Sir Reads-a-lot.”“Alright seriously though,” Marty said, once the mood had relaxed. “If Mindy and Sally really are pregnant, we’ve got to deal with that.”“Yeah, and we’ve gotta survive,” I said.“We need to find shelter and resources,” Mindy added.“Precisely. Alright team, we can do this.” I put my hand palm down in front of them. “Pile on.” They added their hands to the stack. “What happened back there we can talk about. We’ll talk about how we want to move forward, with these potential babies, and this world. Right now, we focus on food, water, shelter, warmth. Let’s spread out and begin observing.” Everyone nodded.“I’m going to scout the area for potential camping ground or natural shelter,” Marty said. “I’ll also take note of building resources. I think we should remain as close as we can here just because our passage back is likely accessible here.”“Agreed,” Brad chimed. “I’m going to search for fresh water resources and examine these flowers. I want to see if the other plants demonstrate any more signs of sentience.”“I’m going to start looking for edible plants and signs of animal life,” Mindy said. “There could be berries, fruits, roots. We’re going to need as much nutrition as possible if we’re out here a while.” I nodded.“I’m going to see if those grasses can be harvested and woven.” I said, eyeing the long gold strands. “Clothing and blankets for exposure and warmth, baskets, hammocks maybe, hats, water skins- I might be able to make anything we need to survive.”Then, I did something corny, harkening back to our undergrad college biology club days. Our competitive chant seemed the thing to do. All of us nodded, pumped our hands together and raised them with a shout of “For Science!” all together.After we split apart to our chosen tasks, I headed right for the golden grasses. They were silky but strong, like the husk on fresh corn, without the little fibers on the inside. As I ran my fingers up the stalks, moving forward, I felt and saw them bend to accommodate my body. They allowed me to pass without me having to bend or cut them. Well, there was at least some evidence of the world’s sentience. Perhaps cognizance had evolved in the plants of this world, and not the animal life. As I wandered through the stalks, they caressed my body like tiny hands, and I began to notice how direct the touches were. I stopped walking. Immediately the grasses all around me wrapped my body all over and began stroking every one of my curves. I moaned aloud as the tendrils rubbed my incredibly sensitive nipples and wrapped my breasts. They began to squeeze the heft of each tit and tug on my nipples, almost like they were milking me. I felt stalks wind up my legs and find my labia’s cleft. I was already gushing juice from my slit, and they dove into it- four, five, six stalks writhing inside me all at once, squirming and pleasuring my g-spot and my tender cervix. My nipples started gushing clear, sweet-smelling liquid like rain all over the stalks. I cried out in delight as I was rubbed on my clit too, the grasses keeping me pleasured so that I kept producing nectar for them to soak up. As they did, they ripened before my eyes, turning from bright gold to bronze, and they shook off the outer coat, leaving behind a silky strip I could harvest for raw materials. The plants milked me and fucked me to multiple orgasms, shedding piles of their golden husks and turning rich bronze, getting taller and thicker. Soon a whole little patch of bronze was all around me, and I was both thirsty and exhausted, my arms full of weaving material.Not too far off, Mindy was wandering in a brushier part of the landscape, searching for root plants and berries, or fruit-bearing trees. She was getting hungry and thirsty, her belly becoming more of a burden. Sally had to be right. They were pregnant with something. Mindy’s nose detected a sweet aroma and she followed it. A cluster of trees, small, lemon-yellow in bark and emerald green in foliage, were growing just upwind. Their branches were low enough to reach, and she saw a number of fist-sized fruits growing there. Only one way to know if they were edible. She examined the colors of the fruits, and looked for evidence of fallen ones. It seemed as though they started green, like the leaves, and soon turned an orange yellow to indicate ripeness. For starters, Mindy picked up a recently fallen ripened fruit and sniffed it, touched it. It emanated a tangy-sweet aroma and was about the feel and size of a peach. Her Mouth watering, she bit into the fruit.An explosion of delectable flavors coated her tongue. Tangy, tart and sweet, with firm, smooth flesh and thick juice, the fruit was absolutely delicious, and calmed her belly immediately. She felt refreshed and strengthened by it as well, and devoured the whole piece down to the stone inside. Mindy began loading her arms full and took the fruit with her back to the central area. Along the way she felt her cunt getting warm. Just like when the plant had ensnared and injected her before, she was becoming incredibly horny. Mindy found me as I stumbled out of the grasses, arms full of plant material and panting hard.Give her fruit, a voice whispered. Then go into the grasses. The voice startled Mindy but she knew there was nothing to fear, somehow.“Eat this, Sally,” she said, bending to offer me one of the fruits. Parched, I grabbed it and took a bite. It immediately refreshed me, and I moaned at the flavor. It was incredible. “It wants me to go in there. What’ll happen?”“Well for me, like ten orgasms. I helped ripen it somehow, and it shed these stalks.” I pointed. “Our breast juice helps it.” Mindy shrugged, and stepped into the grasses. They took my friend down the road to pleasure, and as soon as I began feeling the effects of the fruit, I understood why. The grasses reached out and dragged me back in. Our screams of pleasure began rising in harmony.Oblivious to the women, Brad was bent over several flowers in the field, absorbed by the wondrous nature of them, their colors, complex perfumes and variegated shapes. He was looking for a fresh water resource, like a stream or a pond, but what he was discovering was even more astounding. Some of the flowers held a reserve of water or nectar inside bulbous lower chambers. But how could he access it without damaging the plant? Carefully, he probed the opening with his fingers. It was large enough to slip something like a straw in there, if he could make one. But as he examined, he brushed the flower’s stamen, releasing some pollen, which he breathed in. The flower then gave up the entire cup-like lower petal, thick as a cabbage leaf and full of liquid, right into his hand. The pollen had a curious effect on him. Immediately his cock thickened and surged rigidly erect.Go to the grasses and pollinate your female again, a voice out of his mind told him. The environment here will see to all your needs. Go. Compelled and horny, Brad took the petal-cup with him and sprinted back to where the girls were being pleasured and harvested by the golden grasses.Marty’s quest through the tall trees and forest-like area had proven rich with sticks and limbs, foliage, mud, and other such raw building materials. He was busily gathering them into a pile when he came upon a tangle of small green plants growing at the base of one of the cinnamon red giant trees. They resembled basil and gave off an herbal scent. Curious, Marty leaned down and plucked a leaf. He brought it to his nose, and it smelled pleasant, minty and fragrant. Deciding it was better to try and document any possible edible greenery, he popped the leaf in his mouth and chewed. It was like spiced mint, enjoyable and unusual. Chewing, Marty went to return to his work, but was quickly blindsided by a ferocious erection.Go to the grasses, the voice told him too. Go pollinate your female.Confused, all four of us were soon converged. The men found us bound by bronze and gold grasses, our tits being milked and our cunts kept in a state of perpetual orgasm. We’d each eaten three of the stone fruits Mindy had found, and our bodies were producing insane amounts of nectar from our breasts. The planet’s voice became audible to all of us in that moment.“Drink of their nectar and seed them,” the voice said, directing the men. The grasses began looping their engorged and enormous cocks. The men were pulled forward, compelled by sexual desire so fierce it could not be denied, like we were. Brad’s lips fell to one of my breasts first, and he began suckling. My cunt and Mindy’s were held open by the grasses. Marty descended on Mindy. I would have thought the grasses filling me and wrapping Brad’s cock would recede when we joined, but they didn’t. Instead I was filled with the mass of flesh and plant, my cunt so full I couldn’t move. I stretched easily to accommodate the girth of everything inside me, and it felt so good I couldn’t do much more than yelp as I received it. The grasses bound Brad at the base of his cock and squeezed, trapping blood in his erection, making him fiercely hard, prolonging his orgasm. They also wrapped his balls and added stimulation there. Finally we both felt the tendrils fill our asses.“Oh fuck!” he cried, jolting inside me.“Ah!” I screamed. Brad started thrusting, but it was half him and half the plants, spurring him deep. Mindy and Marty were right next to us, undergoing the same. She and I grasped each other's fingers together as we each got fucked and filled.Once the orgasms started, they never stopped. My body kept cumming, over and over again on Brad’s dick as he grunted and desperately sought orgasm in my overheated cunt. Adding more aphrodisiac juices to each of us as our bodies were used, the plants finally allowed the men to come, and Brad filled me with I think, a literal gallon of cum. As he did, both my tits and belly swelled even larger, and now we were very obviously pregnant. I ached, and my belly was full and round in my arms. The sight of us like that, Did something to the guys. Without speaking, both of them broke away, as if possessed, and ran off. The grasses moved Mindy and me toward each other, and though they had released the men, we were still trapped, and still being pleasured. We squealed in one another’s arms. We even pressed our lips together as we were both used, our tits and bellies rubbing on each other, and we made out fiercely. Mindy and I were lost in a haze of pure lust.Brad and Marty, meanwhile, had run on instinct back to the flower patch and taken more of the pollen that triggered the voice for Brad. They each took pollen on their tongues and felt their pricks swell again. The flowers gave up their nectar cups and they drank. It refreshed both their parched throats and readied them to return.When they did, they found us tangling our tongues and stroking each other’s tits, our legs still splayed open for them. The boys each grabbed another fruit and came toward us. Marty took me this time, and Brad took Mindy. They plunged their cocks inside without asking, without a word, and began fucking us hard. Pulling our mouths apart, Mindy and I moaned. Each man bent down to make us eat the fruit they bore, even as they rode us so hard I was afraid they’d hurt our babies. But it felt so good I forgot to worry. It was just an oblivion of pleasure and I fell into it.I lost count of how many times the men fucked us, switching between pussies and impregnating us bigger and bigger with every load of cum.“You’re going to give birth soon,” Brad said, as he helplessly fucked the absolutely hell out of my cunt. “We’re going to be giving you sperm until you both give birth!”“The voice keeps telling us, to pollinate,” Marty choked. Every load had made my tits and belly bigger. I felt the child in my womb now, and I heard it. It was made of my and Brad’s human genetics, and enhanced by the sentience of the plants. It would be a new evolution of humanity.“Not long now!” I panted. “Not long,” Brad fucked another load of molten cum into my cunt, and I shrieked as another orgasm tore through me. As it did, my womb opened up, Brad’s cock slipped out of me, and my child fell into my birth canal. The birth itself wasn’t horribly painful, as the whole escapade had prepared my cunt to stretch much wider than before, but it did feel weird. My baby’s head, followed by the rest of her, slid into my vaginal canal, and the remnants of my orgasmic contractions pushed her out of my hole. “Oh fuck!” I cried. Mindy next to me screamed as she too felt life coming out of her body. Brad was right between my legs to catch our daughter as she was born.“Oh my God!” he cried. Our child was attached to me inside, not by an umbilical cord, but a vine, and though human in shape and features, her hair was leafy and her skin had the sheen of silvery bark. “It’s a girl,” he said, wiping startled tears off his face.“We have a boy!” shouted Marty.“Oh my God,” I said, gasping, “we’ve given birth to a new race.”“Thank you,” said the voice. “We’ve been waiting for a species like yours to help us evolve. Now we can begin the Dryad race. Your sacrifices will not be unrewarded.” My body was sweaty, and I was exhausted, but I raised my beautiful new daughter to my swollen tits and she latched on to drink. The world compelled Brad and Marty to run off again for more of its special sustenance. We were left to expel the afterbirths of our children alone, at least until the voice spoke to us alone. “You will be used to birth our children many times, but your bodies will experience pleasure unlike any you could ever dream, and you will never want for anything. We thank you for your service.” Our babes suckled, cooing and growing at an alarming rate, and when our mates returned with more fruit and nectar we were soon seeded by them again. Brad and Marty’s enhanced cocks proved insatiable, and our cunts proved endlessly fertile. Mindy and I have already gestated and given birth at least once a day, and our eldest children already are like seven years old instead of seven days. They’ve already started making the world their own while we are giving them siblings. I don’t know how long we’ll be here, fucking and being pregnant with our dryad children, but it feels so incredible we may never want to leave.Brad’s cock was inside me even as I wrote this, cumming huge amounts and making my belly swell. I’ll be giving birth again soon, to my eighth child. While we’re busy making more, the plants around us show the kids their world and take care of them in the way I guess only sentient plant parents can. We, the humans, can’t stop fucking! The youngest babies drink my nectar while more babies are gestating in me, every day. I never ended up making any clothes. We’ve been too busy having sex since, we got here.Post script:The foliage of this place seems to retain dominion over our team, unlike Adam & Eve's dominion over that first ‘Garden of Eden'. Life in this world seems preoccupied with procreation and pleasure; less so on curiosity and learning. The vines did not tolerate non-compliance in this domain.Has mankind been here before? Is the transporting vine actually a ‘Tree of Life'?  Were we the first human-like race? Will the Dryads ever be transported back to our world? Will Dryads and humans live in harmony?Based on a post by PhilippaMaQuente for Literotica

Four scientists find their mission led astray, by paradise.Based on a post by PhilippaMaQuente. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories.Forward:In the beginning, defiance led to rejection and expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Our species was transported to the parallel universe we've now occupied for several millennia. Legends of that previous world have been handed down to us, along with various elaborations and moral lessons.If we could only access that previous world. A world designed for our inclusion. Does it exist? Is it yet flourishing in our absence? Can we gain a second chance to rejoin Eden?Sally joins an expeditionary team. You know, the job of a scientist is not always easy, but it’s usually pretty rewarding. I’ve helped discover new species of plants and animals, and I derived a number of medicinal properties from my discoveries, too. I’m a naturalist and explorer.But, sometimes I think existence has an absolutely weird sense of humor. How else could I possibly explain the misadventures my team's had this past week? I mean, where do I even begin to explain all this craziness?We were on the trail of an extremely elusive lemur species on Madagascar when my teammate Brad stumbled into a burrow of some kind.“Shit!” he shrieked, his leg sinking calf deep in an extremely well disguised hole. I rushed over.“Oh man! Are you hurt?” I crouched behind him, putting my arms around his chest, hooked under his pits. I used my legs to try and pry him out of the hole. Our other team members, Marty and Mindy, rushed over to help.“I don’t think it’s injured, I was just really fucking surprised.” He began shifting his weight pushing back with his free leg. “Damn, this hole is deep! What makes burrows like this out here?”“What’s the angle like?” Mindy asked. “Most everything in this area are tree-dwellers,”“It’s weird, it’s straight down,” Brad said, “and it’s like there's nothing below, nothing on all sides. I’m only being squeezed right here at the calf.” He pointed to the section of leg we could actually see touching earth.“That is super weird,” I grunted, still pulling. He was coming loose. “But maybe, it was just a hollow that got buried by, a storm, or shifting ground. No biggie.” Marty threw himself into a crouch and aided me by wrapping his arms around my middle.“On my count,” he said. “One, two, three!” we both pulled, throwing our weight collectively into the effort.“It’s working!” Brad said happily. “My leg’s coming free.” After a couple of minutes of combined work, Marty and I got him out and we all fell back in a heap.“Whew!” I grunted. "Brad, your leg ok? Let’s see.“ Pulling away from the hole, Brad rolled up his pant leg and removed his boot. No blood, no bad scratches. It didn’t look twisted, and I saw no swelling."Looks good, Sally,” he told me. “Doesn’t hurt but I could just be pumping with adrenaline. I’ll give it a few.”“Good idea,” I nodded. “Let’s all take ten. Our little kerfuffle probably scared off everything within fifty yards anyway.” My team settled down and busted out water and some snacks. Tromping through rainforest looking for tiny primates was hot, thirsty work.“I kinda want to take a look at this hole,” Mindy said, walking cautiously toward it. “Could be a nest, could be just an odd patch of hollow ground.”“Yeah, let’s poke around a little,” I replied, after taking a gulp of my canteen. “If it’s not an animal den maybe we could fill it up, just so no one else stumbles in and gets hurt.” Mindy put herself on her belly and inched over.“Wow Brad, you must’ve caught it just right. It’s hardly big enough for a boot your size.”“Hey, you know what they say about men with big feet,” Brad quipped in response. He held his palms open nearly a foot and a half to illustrate his point. “You know what I mean?” I playfully punched him on the shoulder.“Sure, but you’re not supposed to stick your foot in those holes,” I countered. We all laughed, except Mindy. Totally focused, she was peering into the opening with her flashlight.“Guys, this is really fucking weird,” she said. “There's nothing down there I can see, nothing at all! And, it’s the weirdest thing, but, There's air flowing out of the hole. Cold air!" We all leaned in. I was fascinated."Buried cave, maybe?” I hypothesized.“Buried something,” she answered. “I say we open it up.”“Agreed,” I said.“Second,” Marty put in. Like Mindy, we all flopped down on our bellies and began pulling clumps of dirt away from the hole. The tree roots beneath us had formed a pretty good network to secure the dirt, leaving only that one gap. Pretty soon we’d uncovered a genuine hole in the ground, only about five feet wide, and deep. So deep, and cylindrical in shape, it was like an abandoned well. I said as much.“Solid theory,” Brad remarked. “What do we do now? Do we just leave it? We can’t fill it in.”“We could make a crude sign or marker and post it to warn passerby.” Mindy remarked thoughtfully. I used my headlamp to beam down into the hole. It loomed below us, black and yawning, but somehow, though I felt like I ought to be frightened, it seemed more mysterious and tantalizing than scary. I stuck my head in, bracing my upper body at the rim.“Hello!” I shouted into the void, and waited. My voice dropped down, but did not come bouncing back, I waited a while. "Echo!“ I dropped the second time, listening intently. Nothing. "This thing must be fucking deep,” I muttered, beginning to shimmy back out. Distracted by my own effort, I had to pause when I half caught something that sounded like my name, coming not from my team but somewhere below me. Twisting to look back at them, I asked: “Did somebody call me?”“No,” Marty said. “We were all waiting for you.” I shook my head and continued dragging myself out of the hole by my elbows.“Let’s make the sign,” Brad was saying when I felt something touch my wrist. I jerked, startled, but saw what appeared to be a root that I’d brushed, and relaxed again. However, when I was unable to pull free of it, I sought the source, And found myself peering straight down, at a vine curled snugly around my wrist, risen from the depths of nowhere.“Uh, guys?” I started, tugging at my captor. It was firmly set, somewhere. Before they could even look, I felt something, odd. The vine trapping me began to writhe, and suddenly the largest, most spectacular flowers I’d ever seen began to sprout and bloom from it. Big as dinner plates, with a five-petal bloom in the most vivid electric purple. I goggled at the sight of the one closest to me. As the flower came into its full beauty, it released a scent that hit me right in the face, immediately making me swoon with heady intoxication. My body, grew hot. And my mind told me to go down, to let the vine take me. That paradise awaited me down there,Mindy was the first to notice my predicament, and the first to react when I shot forward into the hole not of my own volition.The portal“Oh shit,” I declared, feeling myself dragged headfirst down into what I was already envisioning as some kind of wonderland. Mindy dove on my legs, screaming at the guys to help her, and I felt their weight momentarily halt my progress. It was just my round ass and legs sticking out of the hole at that point. The vine on my wrist grew thicker, and suddenly began growing. It enveloped my whole upper body as I watched and began pulling again. Then more vines, already blossoming like mine had, crept out around me to ensnare my team, dosing each one of them with the intoxicating perfume. I was feeling very warm and very good about the whole thing by then. “Hang on!” I giggled. “We’re going for a ride!” The vines got all of us in one fell swoop, and before we knew it, we were all being rushed right along down the tunnel to somewhere, screaming bloody murder in the dark.We fell a long, long time, and at some point I blacked out into nonsensical dreams full of vivid colors and scents but no substance. I didn’t know how long I was out, but I did know why I came to. Something was tickling me, between my legs. I was fuzzy, waking up, but when I felt something thick and incredibly bendy probe between my cunt lips and slide inside me, I hollered, coming awake more violently than anything else could have done. Intense pleasure shot through my cunt as something thrust itself deep inside. I looked down. I was sprawled in a plant that resembled a strawberry patch, naked, with my legs tethered open by tendrils of plant life, a shining green vine filling my cunt. It was growing out of the bottom of the thing, which cradled me like a bed. My arms were tethered above my head, and I watched helplessly as another part of the giant vine-plant wrapped my breasts. Two little buds, different from the previous purple ones, latched on to my nipples and began dripping something- I guess nectar- onto them. The long tendril actually inside me plunged deep into my womb, bypassing my cervix in a moment of strange ecstasy. I felt a tremendous rush of liquid fill me, like, a huge swelling, but then it all absorbed into my body. After that, my blood began to heat. My arousal tipped up to an insane degree.“Oh holy fuck!" I shouted. "Mindy? Marty, Brad- where are you? Are you okay?” The vine in my cunt gently plunged in and out of my hole. The buds on my nipples somehow made them extra sensitive and dying for touch. I began to pant. Nearby I heard what sounded suspiciously like Mindy, screaming an orgasm. A third bud grew toward my clitoris and latched on. I howled. The nectar gushed onto that part of me too and sent my insides roiling with need. Brad popped up into my plant-bed. He wasn’t restrained, but I did notice he was naked, and had a rather interesting new accessory. A vine was in his ass, plunging back and forth.“Sally!” he gasped, steeling himself against his body’s invader. “Everyone’s, uh okay, but,” He climbed toward me, his erection stiff as hell and huge. “Marty and Mindy are like this too, They're already fucking, God Sally I’m so sorry! I can’t help it!” Spurned forward by the vine using his asshole, Brad dove on top of me like a man starving and plunged his tongue into my mouth. Already wild with arousal, I responded eagerly. The vine filling my cunt pulled away and redirected itself into my other hole, The same place it was filling Brad and driving him mad. Once inside me there, the plant spread my legs further and opened me for Brad’s cock.“We can worry about this later,!” I grunted out. “Fuck me, fuck me now!” Nothing in the world was more important at that moment than being fucked. Brad did not hesitate. His huge cock speared me immediately. I howled, he groaned. He started thrusting inside my burning hot hole immediately, and as our bodies entwined we realized the heat was overwhelming, our lust scorching.“Oh fuck! Oh fuck, Sally!” he growled, slamming his hips into mine. I bucked against him, taking everything he had, wanting more.“Yes, yes, yes, oh Brad!” Each of us had our asses plundered, and I felt the penetration from each side within me and screamed my bliss. Brad was fucking like a man on fire, driving his dick so hard into my cunt it was miraculous I felt no pain. Instead I felt heat and good and pleasure so profound my whole body was singing. The buds nipping at my nipples and clitoris had made them so stiff, so swollen in arousal that I marveled they didn’t shoot right off my body. The buds finally left my nipples, and Brad seized downward as he fucked me to latch on with his lips, as if driven by innate primal desire.“So, sweet,” he groaned through his teeth. I could feel a climax building powerfully inside me. The bud on my clit hadn’t stopped its curious brand of soaking aphrodisiac nectar into that most sensitive place, and I was veering dangerously close to stimulation overload. Brad’s cock was thicker and bigger and harder than any man I’d ever had before, and the savagery of his thrusts ought to hurt, but they just felt amazing. I was so rabid I just screamed his name, over and over, and I felt another gush of fluid from the vine in my ass. At the same time, Brad surged forward like he’d gotten the same.“I’m going to cum in you, Sally!” he told me with a tinge of regret.“I’m going to cum too, Brad! It’s ok, this isn’t us!” He wrapped me in his arms. “We’re being used, It’s not your fault.” I breathed raggedly, thrashing myself against him.“No!” he groaned. “I really do like you, Sally! A lot! But I wouldn’t have wanted it this way!”“I know! Me too, it’s ok, you can cum in me! I need you to cum in me!” I screamed. “Please, please cum in me!” My body, overloaded with aphrodisiacs and stimulation, pitched over the edge. The muscle spasms that went off in my cunt were tremendous, and would have crushed a normal cock. But Brad, inundated by the plant’s strange properties, had a dick of steel and pistoned it to the back of me expertly until his body gave up his seed. And believe me, I felt it. It was like the fluid from the vine that had gushed tremendously and then absorbed. He poured shot after shot inside, but it was molten hot and he just kept cumming as I kept cumming, on and on.The orgasm we shared caused an explosion of blue-green blossoms all over our plant bed, and the vines finally released us as we lay shaking in each other’s arms. Mindy and Marty finally found us; they were huddled together and spent from their bout of lovemaking. Brad and I joined our comrades, totally naked as well. All four of us left the now docile and incredibly beautiful bloomed plants that had fucked us, and spurned us to fuck each other, behind. When we did, we could not believe the world spread before us.It was a riot of color. Plant life like none of us had ever seen before. Huge blossoms, trees that dwarfed even redwoods, in hot cinnamon red and mossy green. Tall gold grasses that danced in the breeze. Looking around, we noticed all of our clothing and equipment was totally gone, like it had never existed in the first place. We also noticed that Mindy and I were both now sporting breasts the size of small melons, both of our nipples a deep ruby red, our clitorises the same rich color. I also noticed that my belly seemed to be rounding, and growing heavy. Hers too. My breasts ached, almost as if they were filling up with liquid.“I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore, Toto,” I hummed forebodingly. Instinctively I cupped my stomach with my palm.“What, the hell, Did we fall into?” Marty croaked out, holding Mindy to him possessively.“I don’t know,” Brad answered.“Am I the only one that heard the voice before we got pulled down here?” I started, trying to keep my rational scientific mind. In fact, I began studying my environment with more critical detachment. I looked up into an overcast, but still sunny, sky, with a faint mixture of pale blues, purples and greens, but saw no hole. Nothing. No cave, either, just lush foliage and Technicolor world.“Voice?" Mindy suddenly barked. "What did you hear?” Her reaction, so sharp and intent, clued me in.“Don’t flip out yet, any of you,” I said, holding up a hand. “We're scientists. We are making discoveries, got it?” I waited, to see them all understand my meaning and nod. “When the vine grabbed my wrist, I thought I heard my name, first,” recollection hit them of the moment, “And after I got dosed by the flower I thought I heard a voice say I should come down here.”“I heard the same fucking thing!” Mindy said. “I thought I was experiencing a panic-induced hallucination! It said ‘paradise’ was down here.” I gasped.“I heard that too!”“I didn’t hear anything besides our screaming,” Brad said, shrugging. He looked at Marty.“Nothing here. But I did get hit by a load of that flower perfume. It made me sneeze but I didn’t otherwise feel anything different.”“It made me feel drunk, and, horny.” I blushed. Stupidly, really.“Yeah,” Mindy said. “Me too,” she looked down, as if realizing she was naked for the first time. Our erogenous zones were like fat cherries on our breasts and loins. The ache in my tits and the swelling of my lower body led me to my logical conclusions.“Okay, Mindy and I were both dosed by the perfume and had physical reactions, and heard a voice prior to being pulled down here. Logically it seems that the targets are females. Though obviously this place makes use of males as well. Based on my physical sensations and everything that happened in the blue-flower plant, Mindy and I are pregnant. The pregnancies are escalated, and not entirely human. I think, this world not only enhances our reproductive capabilities but needs our fertility for its own.”“If it needs both males and females to help it propagate, why didn’t it try and lure us too?” asked Marty.“Maybe because it knows that the males will follow their females, especially if they seem to be in danger. Breeding females are an important resource.” Mindy added on, suddenly holding her belly. “You wouldn’t have let us disappear down that hole without trying something.”“No, we wouldn’t have.” Brad said. “Alright, the million-dollar question now is what do we do?”“Well, I can’t see where we came in here from, can any of you?” They all looked, and once each of them had surveyed the landscape to their satisfaction, they shook their heads.“Fuck,” Marty said.“I postulate that we have discovered a pocket dimension or a passage through space-time, friends,” I said. “Which means that if we get back, We're going to have more money than God.” I grinned, trying to break the tension and get a laugh. It worked, and my team cracked up.“Oh my God,” Mindy started, wiping away a few tears from laughing so hard. “We’ll be the most famous fucking science team that has ever been.”“We went searching for monkeys and ended up proving parallel universes exist,” Brad continued. “Or at least that Narnia might really be in a closet somewhere.”“Wardrobe,” I corrected. Brad laughed.“Oh forgive me, Sir Reads-a-lot.”“Alright seriously though,” Marty said, once the mood had relaxed. “If Mindy and Sally really are pregnant, we’ve got to deal with that.”“Yeah, and we’ve gotta survive,” I said.“We need to find shelter and resources,” Mindy added.“Precisely. Alright team, we can do this.” I put my hand palm down in front of them. “Pile on.” They added their hands to the stack. “What happened back there we can talk about. We’ll talk about how we want to move forward, with these potential babies, and this world. Right now, we focus on food, water, shelter, warmth. Let’s spread out and begin observing.” Everyone nodded.“I’m going to scout the area for potential camping ground or natural shelter,” Marty said. “I’ll also take note of building resources. I think we should remain as close as we can here just because our passage back is likely accessible here.”“Agreed,” Brad chimed. “I’m going to search for fresh water resources and examine these flowers. I want to see if the other plants demonstrate any more signs of sentience.”“I’m going to start looking for edible plants and signs of animal life,” Mindy said. “There could be berries, fruits, roots. We’re going to need as much nutrition as possible if we’re out here a while.” I nodded.“I’m going to see if those grasses can be harvested and woven.” I said, eyeing the long gold strands. “Clothing and blankets for exposure and warmth, baskets, hammocks maybe, hats, water skins- I might be able to make anything we need to survive.”Then, I did something corny, harkening back to our undergrad college biology club days. Our competitive chant seemed the thing to do. All of us nodded, pumped our hands together and raised them with a shout of “For Science!” all together.After we split apart to our chosen tasks, I headed right for the golden grasses. They were silky but strong, like the husk on fresh corn, without the little fibers on the inside. As I ran my fingers up the stalks, moving forward, I felt and saw them bend to accommodate my body. They allowed me to pass without me having to bend or cut them. Well, there was at least some evidence of the world’s sentience. Perhaps cognizance had evolved in the plants of this world, and not the animal life. As I wandered through the stalks, they caressed my body like tiny hands, and I began to notice how direct the touches were. I stopped walking. Immediately the grasses all around me wrapped my body all over and began stroking every one of my curves. I moaned aloud as the tendrils rubbed my incredibly sensitive nipples and wrapped my breasts. They began to squeeze the heft of each tit and tug on my nipples, almost like they were milking me. I felt stalks wind up my legs and find my labia’s cleft. I was already gushing juice from my slit, and they dove into it- four, five, six stalks writhing inside me all at once, squirming and pleasuring my g-spot and my tender cervix. My nipples started gushing clear, sweet-smelling liquid like rain all over the stalks. I cried out in delight as I was rubbed on my clit too, the grasses keeping me pleasured so that I kept producing nectar for them to soak up. As they did, they ripened before my eyes, turning from bright gold to bronze, and they shook off the outer coat, leaving behind a silky strip I could harvest for raw materials. The plants milked me and fucked me to multiple orgasms, shedding piles of their golden husks and turning rich bronze, getting taller and thicker. Soon a whole little patch of bronze was all around me, and I was both thirsty and exhausted, my arms full of weaving material.Not too far off, Mindy was wandering in a brushier part of the landscape, searching for root plants and berries, or fruit-bearing trees. She was getting hungry and thirsty, her belly becoming more of a burden. Sally had to be right. They were pregnant with something. Mindy’s nose detected a sweet aroma and she followed it. A cluster of trees, small, lemon-yellow in bark and emerald green in foliage, were growing just upwind. Their branches were low enough to reach, and she saw a number of fist-sized fruits growing there. Only one way to know if they were edible. She examined the colors of the fruits, and looked for evidence of fallen ones. It seemed as though they started green, like the leaves, and soon turned an orange yellow to indicate ripeness. For starters, Mindy picked up a recently fallen ripened fruit and sniffed it, touched it. It emanated a tangy-sweet aroma and was about the feel and size of a peach. Her Mouth watering, she bit into the fruit.An explosion of delectable flavors coated her tongue. Tangy, tart and sweet, with firm, smooth flesh and thick juice, the fruit was absolutely delicious, and calmed her belly immediately. She felt refreshed and strengthened by it as well, and devoured the whole piece down to the stone inside. Mindy began loading her arms full and took the fruit with her back to the central area. Along the way she felt her cunt getting warm. Just like when the plant had ensnared and injected her before, she was becoming incredibly horny. Mindy found me as I stumbled out of the grasses, arms full of plant material and panting hard.Give her fruit, a voice whispered. Then go into the grasses. The voice startled Mindy but she knew there was nothing to fear, somehow.“Eat this, Sally,” she said, bending to offer me one of the fruits. Parched, I grabbed it and took a bite. It immediately refreshed me, and I moaned at the flavor. It was incredible. “It wants me to go in there. What’ll happen?”“Well for me, like ten orgasms. I helped ripen it somehow, and it shed these stalks.” I pointed. “Our breast juice helps it.” Mindy shrugged, and stepped into the grasses. They took my friend down the road to pleasure, and as soon as I began feeling the effects of the fruit, I understood why. The grasses reached out and dragged me back in. Our screams of pleasure began rising in harmony.Oblivious to the women, Brad was bent over several flowers in the field, absorbed by the wondrous nature of them, their colors, complex perfumes and variegated shapes. He was looking for a fresh water resource, like a stream or a pond, but what he was discovering was even more astounding. Some of the flowers held a reserve of water or nectar inside bulbous lower chambers. But how could he access it without damaging the plant? Carefully, he probed the opening with his fingers. It was large enough to slip something like a straw in there, if he could make one. But as he examined, he brushed the flower’s stamen, releasing some pollen, which he breathed in. The flower then gave up the entire cup-like lower petal, thick as a cabbage leaf and full of liquid, right into his hand. The pollen had a curious effect on him. Immediately his cock thickened and surged rigidly erect.Go to the grasses and pollinate your female again, a voice out of his mind told him. The environment here will see to all your needs. Go. Compelled and horny, Brad took the petal-cup with him and sprinted back to where the girls were being pleasured and harvested by the golden grasses.Marty’s quest through the tall trees and forest-like area had proven rich with sticks and limbs, foliage, mud, and other such raw building materials. He was busily gathering them into a pile when he came upon a tangle of small green plants growing at the base of one of the cinnamon red giant trees. They resembled basil and gave off an herbal scent. Curious, Marty leaned down and plucked a leaf. He brought it to his nose, and it smelled pleasant, minty and fragrant. Deciding it was better to try and document any possible edible greenery, he popped the leaf in his mouth and chewed. It was like spiced mint, enjoyable and unusual. Chewing, Marty went to return to his work, but was quickly blindsided by a ferocious erection.Go to the grasses, the voice told him too. Go pollinate your female.Confused, all four of us were soon converged. The men found us bound by bronze and gold grasses, our tits being milked and our cunts kept in a state of perpetual orgasm. We’d each eaten three of the stone fruits Mindy had found, and our bodies were producing insane amounts of nectar from our breasts. The planet’s voice became audible to all of us in that moment.“Drink of their nectar and seed them,” the voice said, directing the men. The grasses began looping their engorged and enormous cocks. The men were pulled forward, compelled by sexual desire so fierce it could not be denied, like we were. Brad’s lips fell to one of my breasts first, and he began suckling. My cunt and Mindy’s were held open by the grasses. Marty descended on Mindy. I would have thought the grasses filling me and wrapping Brad’s cock would recede when we joined, but they didn’t. Instead I was filled with the mass of flesh and plant, my cunt so full I couldn’t move. I stretched easily to accommodate the girth of everything inside me, and it felt so good I couldn’t do much more than yelp as I received it. The grasses bound Brad at the base of his cock and squeezed, trapping blood in his erection, making him fiercely hard, prolonging his orgasm. They also wrapped his balls and added stimulation there. Finally we both felt the tendrils fill our asses.“Oh fuck!” he cried, jolting inside me.“Ah!” I screamed. Brad started thrusting, but it was half him and half the plants, spurring him deep. Mindy and Marty were right next to us, undergoing the same. She and I grasped each other's fingers together as we each got fucked and filled.Once the orgasms started, they never stopped. My body kept cumming, over and over again on Brad’s dick as he grunted and desperately sought orgasm in my overheated cunt. Adding more aphrodisiac juices to each of us as our bodies were used, the plants finally allowed the men to come, and Brad filled me with I think, a literal gallon of cum. As he did, both my tits and belly swelled even larger, and now we were very obviously pregnant. I ached, and my belly was full and round in my arms. The sight of us like that, Did something to the guys. Without speaking, both of them broke away, as if possessed, and ran off. The grasses moved Mindy and me toward each other, and though they had released the men, we were still trapped, and still being pleasured. We squealed in one another’s arms. We even pressed our lips together as we were both used, our tits and bellies rubbing on each other, and we made out fiercely. Mindy and I were lost in a haze of pure lust.Brad and Marty, meanwhile, had run on instinct back to the flower patch and taken more of the pollen that triggered the voice for Brad. They each took pollen on their tongues and felt their pricks swell again. The flowers gave up their nectar cups and they drank. It refreshed both their parched throats and readied them to return.When they did, they found us tangling our tongues and stroking each other’s tits, our legs still splayed open for them. The boys each grabbed another fruit and came toward us. Marty took me this time, and Brad took Mindy. They plunged their cocks inside without asking, without a word, and began fucking us hard. Pulling our mouths apart, Mindy and I moaned. Each man bent down to make us eat the fruit they bore, even as they rode us so hard I was afraid they’d hurt our babies. But it felt so good I forgot to worry. It was just an oblivion of pleasure and I fell into it.I lost count of how many times the men fucked us, switching between pussies and impregnating us bigger and bigger with every load of cum.“You’re going to give birth soon,” Brad said, as he helplessly fucked the absolutely hell out of my cunt. “We’re going to be giving you sperm until you both give birth!”“The voice keeps telling us, to pollinate,” Marty choked. Every load had made my tits and belly bigger. I felt the child in my womb now, and I heard it. It was made of my and Brad’s human genetics, and enhanced by the sentience of the plants. It would be a new evolution of humanity.“Not long now!” I panted. “Not long,” Brad fucked another load of molten cum into my cunt, and I shrieked as another orgasm tore through me. As it did, my womb opened up, Brad’s cock slipped out of me, and my child fell into my birth canal. The birth itself wasn’t horribly painful, as the whole escapade had prepared my cunt to stretch much wider than before, but it did feel weird. My baby’s head, followed by the rest of her, slid into my vaginal canal, and the remnants of my orgasmic contractions pushed her out of my hole. “Oh fuck!” I cried. Mindy next to me screamed as she too felt life coming out of her body. Brad was right between my legs to catch our daughter as she was born.“Oh my God!” he cried. Our child was attached to me inside, not by an umbilical cord, but a vine, and though human in shape and features, her hair was leafy and her skin had the sheen of silvery bark. “It’s a girl,” he said, wiping startled tears off his face.“We have a boy!” shouted Marty.“Oh my God,” I said, gasping, “we’ve given birth to a new race.”“Thank you,” said the voice. “We’ve been waiting for a species like yours to help us evolve. Now we can begin the Dryad race. Your sacrifices will not be unrewarded.” My body was sweaty, and I was exhausted, but I raised my beautiful new daughter to my swollen tits and she latched on to drink. The world compelled Brad and Marty to run off again for more of its special sustenance. We were left to expel the afterbirths of our children alone, at least until the voice spoke to us alone. “You will be used to birth our children many times, but your bodies will experience pleasure unlike any you could ever dream, and you will never want for anything. We thank you for your service.” Our babes suckled, cooing and growing at an alarming rate, and when our mates returned with more fruit and nectar we were soon seeded by them again. Brad and Marty’s enhanced cocks proved insatiable, and our cunts proved endlessly fertile. Mindy and I have already gestated and given birth at least once a day, and our eldest children already are like seven years old instead of seven days. They’ve already started making the world their own while we are giving them siblings. I don’t know how long we’ll be here, fucking and being pregnant with our dryad children, but it feels so incredible we may never want to leave.Brad’s cock was inside me even as I wrote this, cumming huge amounts and making my belly swell. I’ll be giving birth again soon, to my eighth child. While we’re busy making more, the plants around us show the kids their world and take care of them in the way I guess only sentient plant parents can. We, the humans, can’t stop fucking! The youngest babies drink my nectar while more babies are gestating in me, every day. I never ended up making any clothes. We’ve been too busy having sex since, we got here.Post script:The foliage of this place seems to retain dominion over our team, unlike Adam & Eve's dominion over that first ‘Garden of Eden'. Life in this world seems preoccupied with procreation and pleasure; less so on curiosity and learning. The vines did not tolerate non-compliance in this domain.Has mankind been here before? Is the transporting vine actually a ‘Tree of Life'?  Were we the first human-like race? Will the Dryads ever be transported back to our world? Will Dryads and humans live in harmony?Based on a post by PhilippaMaQuente for Literotica

Annoy me with all your heart.A Spring Break 14-part Novel.By FinalStand. Listen to the complete episode at Steamy Stories.“Come here, Mercy,” Rio coaxed, “On your back, my little slut, and spread those legs.” I wished I could see what she was up to because soon Mercy was moaning and gurgling all over the place.“Please, Rio,” Mercy pleaded, “please, ”“Do you like that?” Rio teased. “Wiggle that ass for me, then, Baby.”“Ah, oh, Rio, I love you,” Mercy moaned. SMACK!“None of that, you skank,” Rio snapped. “You are my toy, nothing more.”“Yes,” sobbed Mercy.“Good girl,” Rio responded. Mercy gave off a hiccup, then a gasp of pleasure. “You know you are my tight-ass whore; right?” Her victim lurched and moaned several more times.“Yes, yes, I understand,” Mercy gasped. “I'm yours, whenever, you want.” SMACK!“Good girl. Now shake that ass, Bitch,” Rio continued. Mercy began making choking, sobbing sounds. “Don't you dare cum until you get me off. Work that tongue like you mean it.” I could now visualize Rio and Mercy in a sixty-nine, Rio on top, with a dildo up Mercy's butt.While figuring that out, I almost missed Iona starting to spasm on my face. I could feel her vagina contracting on my tongue. One hand was yanking and releasing my hair while the fingernails on the other dug into my shoulder. I moved my tongue and latched onto her clit with my lips and sucked on it for all I was worth.“Ah, oh, oh, oh, ZANE!!!!!” Iona screamed. Her fluids dripped over my nose, into my mouth, and down my chin, but that wasn't my problem. My problem was that Iona's body was convulsing, bending her backward toward the head of the bed and me forward into Barbie Lynn. Of course, if I couldn't stop Iona's progress, she'd topple onto Barbie Lynn too.“Oh, Godfuckdamn!” Barbie exploded as I rammed my full length into her inadvertently. “Jesus, love, ” which was cut off by her orgasm taking over. Her anal muscles constricted and that was it for me. Hot semen shot down Barbie's gut, causing her to scream even louder. My whole body was trembling from my ejaculation, plus the strain the two women were putting on me.Somehow I hung on long enough for Iona to reach behind her, catching the headboard, while Barbie Lynn extended her arms up to brace Iona from tumbling over.“Fuck, yeah, that's what I'm talking about,” Rio laughed. “Mercy, you can come now.”“Uh, uh, thank, oh, God,” Mercy gasped out. “Rio, Um, ugh,” she choked out before she buried her face into Rio's pussy and muffled further expressions of ecstasy.“Gurr,” Rio growled, before burying her face into the top of Mercy's thigh. I figured by Mercy's thrashing that Rio took a bit of a nip out of her playmate's flesh. In a shuddering heap of sweaty flesh, Iona, Barbie Lynn, and I flopped onto the bed without anyone being crushed. They lay there while I remained on my knees.“Damn,” Valerie chuckled, “I feel like a virgin all over again.”“Hell, I need to take a shower and I just sat here,” Gorman agreed. I moved between Barbie Lynn and Iona. “Fuck, he's still hard.”“Zane's like that,” Barbie Lynn laughed between gasps of breath. “He's always hard after the first round, God bless his soul.”Iona snuggled into me, kissing my chest between gulps of air.“It's only been thirty minutes,” Iona sighed. “We'll let him recharge a little bit before going at him again.”“Yes, my butt hurts,” Barbie Lynn added. “I won't be ready for, say an hour.”Rio dismounted Mercy and rolled next to Barbie Lynn.“Mercy, get up here and kiss me, damn it,” Rio breathed huskily. Mercy staggered around on all fours and crawled up Rio's body until she straddled her. A dreamy smile on her face, Mercy went to kiss Rio on the lips but Rio stopped her.“No, you don't, you cunt,” Rio chastised her. “Here,” she indicated her chin. Mercy kissed it. Rio then led Mercy on a slow quest over her nose, cheeks, earlobe, and finally the lips. Rio grabbed Mercy's hips and pulled the older girl down on top of her.“Okay, I have to ask; how did Rio end up in bed with Mercy? Mercy is one of my better martial artists and Rio is, well, Rio, kind of an annoying little twerp,” Gorman wondered.“I won her playing bingo,” was Rio's smarmy comeback.“They developed a relationship when you put her in our path,” I was a bit more honest. “Mercy discovered something about herself and someone in Rio who could satisfy her needs.” To emphasize the point, Rio spanked Mercy's ass hard and the girl humped Rio in response.“So, besides Cappadocia, are there any of my other girls you, have a relationship with?” Dana inquired. She even leaned forward on the chair she was sitting on.“What makes you think Cappy and I have a thing?” I asked.“On Monday,” Dana rolled her eyes at my naiveté, “she hated you and on Wednesday, she couldn't keep her eyes off of you and couldn't drive the other teammates out of the gym for your, private lesson. Just because I'm over thirty doesn't mean I'm soft in the head.”“That's not fair, Coach,” Rio smiled past Mercy. “We never thought you were bright.”Before I could say or do anything, Barbie Lynn elbowed her.“Ow!” Rio snickered. “Why are you hitting me?”“I owe you. You said a bad thing, and Zane says never fight yesterday's battles. Now that the Coach is no longer the bad girl, we don't pick on her,” Barbie Lynn explained.“But I'm always annoying,” Rio countered. “Why is this time special?”“Rio, don't you think Zane deserves a break? He's always throwing himself onto the train tracks for you and you give him shit for it,” Barbie Lynn sounded a bit cross. “After all, you wouldn't have Mercy if you'd had your way. Zane was right about you being good for the rest of us to know, and he was right about saving Mercy. I trust him about Coach because I trust you too.”“Trust, smust, I'll keep my spank-o-matic,” Rio grimaced. She clearly got Barbie Lynn's point but admitting it at the moment wasn't in her. “So, does anyone want to give Mercy a hard spanking? If not, I'm going to get my big strap-on and ream her ass until she is so hoarse, she can't scream anymore.”“Don't you think you two need to grow together before using the ‘OMG' model?” I warned her. That thing would tear Mercy's unprepared butt to shreds. I reached over Barbie Lynn and spanked Mercy four times, two to each ass cheek. She yelped and jolted with each contact, and while tears welled in her eyes, she couldn't have been happier.“I'm getting my favorite strap-on, then,” Rio wiggled from under Mercy.“Hold her back,” Valerie joked. “She's lost her mind.” Mercy buried her face in the bed, shook her head, and raised her butt up in the air. “Fine, if it's the Spas-monkey you want, so be it.”“Have some of this,” Barbie Lynn fished out the lubricant and handed it to Mercy. “I don't know how patient Rio is going to be when she gets back.”Rio, who was only a few feet away getting out and attaching her strap-on, stuck out her tongue at Valerie and Barbie. “Spaz-monkey? I prefer Vibrator-Bunny, or didn't you two get my tweet?”“How about Vibrating Spaz?” Iona suggested. Rio howled and charged the bed.“That's it,” she giggled, “that tight little virgin butt-hole is mine!” Iona squawked and buried herself under my side.“That's my virgin butt to nurture and enjoy, bro, not yours,” I taunted Rio as I reached around and put a comforting arm around Iona. I wasn't sure how Iona would take that. Her kisses to my ribs ended those worries.“I'll nipple twist you for her,” Rio grinned. Belying her threat, she was lining up behind Mercy while Mercy was rubbing lube all along her ass cleft and anus.“I never considered the benefits of anal sex in a school full of virgin school girls,” Valerie mused. “Oral sex, I expected, but not anal.”“Somehow, when the Founders created the Purity Pledge, I suspect they were forbidding all kinds of intercourse, but they never counted on Zane,” Dana stated.“Rio, I'm not going to take you on in a contest you love and I hate,” I smiled. “How about a shoot-off? I'll spot you two orgasms.”“Four,” Rio hissed. She'd spread the oil over her dildo and was slowly pushing it into the ass of Mercy. Mercy had her face still buried in the sheets, her fists balled up and her hips pushing back.“Uh, uh, uh,” Mercy groaned, as Rio penetrated with short jabs. She rested her hands on Mercy's shoulder and neck.“Okay, now I'm grateful I sleep on my back,” Valerie commented. “I promised Zane I wouldn't break her, but if I felt that poking my hiney, I'd stick it somewhere she'd not soon forget.”“Do the world a favor and stick it in her mouth,” Dana smirked.“Hardy, har-har,” Rio chuckled. She reached down beside Mercy, retrieved her vibrator, and began rubbing it along that girl's pussy slit and clit. Barbie Lynn reached for my cock and began stroking it, rubbing it along her ass and between her cheeks.“I need another beer,” Dana sighed. “All this is doing is reminding me that plastic doesn't really get the job done.”“Get me a Coke and I'll get the popcorn,” Valerie said. “After all, I have an open invitation to join whenever I want.” I had to wonder when that had happened, then I remembered Rio and her big mouth.Iona had settled in on her side, head propped up on her elbow, as she watched me push into Barbie Lynn once more. I had my hands on her hip and thigh, pushing in with more force this time around.“Feels, so, good,” Barbie Lynn sighed, as my cock filled up her rectum. “Make me feel good, Daddy.”I lifted up her left leg, then gingerly took her wounded leg and raised it to my shoulder as well. As I felt the deep reaches of her bowels envelop me, Barbie Lynn arched her back and let out a sob of joy.“Oh, that's what I need,” she moaned, “That's what I've missed.”Unlike our first round, this time we were raw with our hunger for one another. I kneaded her breasts, teasing and pulling the nipples from time to time. Her body was folded up so that our faces were close enough for me to lock onto those gorgeous bedroom blue eyes. Barbie licked her lips and blew kisses at me.I was so into Barbie sensually that I almost missed Mercy going off next to us.“Oh God, oh fuck, oh God!” she verbally exploded. “Please!!!” Rio kept up the slap, slap, slap of her thighs against Mercy's butt.“Don't you give up on me, Bitch,” Rio taunted her. She grabbed a handful of Mercy's hair and pulled her shoulder up off the bed until she was balancing on her hands and knees.Rio shot a look my way and mouthed ‘I love you' as she kept working Mercy over into one cascading orgasm after another. I was pounding deep into Barbie Lynn's tight orifice, Rio was happy, and Iona was giving me a dreamy, contented look. Life could hardly be better.“Zane, we need to, Oh, My God!” Virginia Goodswell cried out in a shocked voice.Faculty Spectators in Zane's Bedroom“Here, have my seat, Virginia,” Gorman grinned. “You look like you are about to fall over.” I hadn't even heard Dana or Valerie return.“Zane, what are you doing?” Virginia questioned.“I'm a little busy,” I ground out. Fucking was hard, attention intensive, and pleasurable work.“Virginia, he's having anal intercourse with Barbie Lynn Masters,” Dana chuckled. “I thought that would have been obvious. Rio Talon is using a strap-on and a dildo on Mercy Chaplain, and Iona, having been touched and licked to two orgasms, is sitting this round out.”“I can see that and, Dana, what are you doing here?” Virginia, my Spiritual Advisor, asked.“I'm unemployed so they aren't my students anymore,” Dana snorted. “Also, Zane's got one of the few illegal internet hook-up plus satellite TV. My apartment is a tomb, comparatively.”“This was the farthest thing from my mind when I learned my Dad was sending me to an All-Girl Christian University,” Valerie added.“It is the skirts,” Rio giggled. “Zane can't keep his hands off the skirts.”“In my experience, Zane has the pathological desire to worship the female form,” Iona joined in.“Listen, I knew Zane was having, relationships, but coming in and finding him in bed with four women, girls, students is a bit much to wrap my mind around,” Virginia related. “My sex life has been a bit vanilla.”“I prefer to think of mine as disappointing,” Dana confessed.“All my boyfriends have lived under threat of dismemberment, so I've had it pretty safe too,” Valerie stated.“Threat of dismemberment?” Virginia stammered.“She's a member of a major criminal biker organization in the Rockies,” Dana informed her.“We are a motorcycle club,” Valerie defended her family.“I'm having sex here,” I growled. “If you don't mind, ”“We are good, Zane,” Valerie replied. “Don't worry about us, and Barbie needs you.”“Gee, thanks,” I grumbled, but she was right; Barbie Lynn needed my attention.“Ms. Palmer, every one of your known associates, except your baby sister, has a criminal record,” Dana said.“I've never been convicted of anything,” Val countered, “and Mom got off on a bad search.”Mercy cried out as Rio shifted to sharp powerful jabs with her artificial cock.“I've got a record,” Rio crowed proudly.“That only means you were sloppy enough to get caught,” Valerie pointed out.“It wasn't my fault; I ran out of road while driving a stolen Porsche,” Rio told us.“You stole a Porsche?” Valerie asked.“How do you run out of road in an expensive, high-performance sports car?” Virginia wondered.“Yes, take that, Mercy, you bitch,” slap, slap, “I stole a Porsche and I ran out of road when I cruised into another car showroom on the far side of town. Who knew that those dumb sons-of-bitches didn't put a back way out that place?”“Rio, why did you steal something that didn't belong to you in the first place?” Iona begged to know.“Blame drugs, teenage hormones, or the fact that it was a school night, I hadn't studied for a test the next day, and this sounded like the best way of not having to take it,” Rio suggested.I would have told them that was Rio-speak for ‘I have no idea' except I'd finally stretched Barbie Lynn's hamstrings to the point we had our tongues entwined, mouths pressed, and teeth nibbling on each other's lips like famished lovers. I could feel her anal spasm vibrating up through her body and her lungs fighting for air. She was getting close and I thought it was going to be a big one.“That would be an exhibition of low impulse control,” Dana chided Rio.“I think it shows poor life choices,” Virginia stated.“I think it shows she's fucking nuts,” Valerie declared.“Fine, whatever, but I'm one of the two people fucking a sweet piece of ass while you dykes are sitting on the sidelines,” Rio taunted them.“You are my students,” Virginia began, “I don't, ” She was interrupted by Barbie Lynn.“Ugh, Oh, Lord Jesus, Zane,” she gasped then, “Aye!” she screamed so loud I was afraid my brain would explode. She kept trying to buck me off and thrash about so violently that I was afraid she'd hurt herself, or me.I rode that wave for almost a minute before Barbie Lynn made one final strenuous effort, then went limp in my arms. I gently shifted her legs down my sides to rest on the bed. I remained propped over her until her eyes focused on me and an ephemeral smile graced her lips.“Um, sleepy,” she purred.“Okay, Babe,” I said, then kissed her nose. Her eyes closed and her breathing became low and regular. “Okay,” I whispered once again. I slowly withdrew from her and slid down the bed.“What was that?” Virginia asked softly.“I'm pretty sure that was an orgasm,” Dana responded.“No, I think that was fucking a girl into unconsciousness,” Valerie countered.“Ugh, ugh, uh, Rio, oh, yeah, it hurts,” Mercy moaned.“And here goes the other one,” Dana chuckled.“I know it hurts, Mercy-slut, now cum for your Momma,” Rio groaned to Mercy as he pressed her body onto Mercy's back.“Ugh, I, I'm, trying,” Mercy gasped out, then she screamed as Rio rammed the vibrator onto Mercy's clit and flicked it onto the high setting. “Oh, Fuck Me!!” she screamed. Mercy's body fell forward prostrate on the bed, her lungs fighting for air and her thighs and ass shaking uncontrollably.“Zane, does this kind of thing hap-, oh, my God, Zane, you are still hard,” Virginia exclaimed.“Honestly,” I sighed, “if I had fewer beautiful women in my life, I'd have more blood to the brain to think straight with.” I finished up by opening my wardrobe and taking out a robe.“Now I'm going to take a shower, get re-hydrated, then come back here and see if I can convince Iona to give me a little more of her time,” I continued.“I'll join you,” Rio grinned, as she slipped off the strap-on.“I'll come along as well,” Iona said as she popped off the bed, only to end up on wobbly legs.“No,” Virginia commanded, “Zane showers alone. You two aren't even dressed so there is no way you are going out there among all those other girls sticky with sex.”Rio traipsed over to my dresser and pulled out two of my dress shirts. She tossed one to Iona and put on the other.“See, I'm dressed,” Rio declared.“No, you are not; that shirt isn't even buttoned,” Virginia responded. At this point, I walked out of the room and toward the shower near the hot tub (as opposed to the one by the sauna).PAIGE REVISITEDWith the looks I was getting, I almost wished I could back up. Some of the fifty or so girls at my place wondered what the hell all that screaming was about, a few knew what it was but couldn't believe the volume of the noise, and a few came up and kissed me.“Hey, Slugger,” Opal teased me after a deep tongue tackle. “Who in the hell where you giving it to?”Brandi came up and wrapped an arm around Opal's arm.“It was Barbie Lynn,” Paige snuck up on me and volunteered. “I recognize her inflections.” Her ghosting up on me yet again wasn't the most disturbing part of the young albino maiden; it was the burning hunger in her eyes.“You took Barbie Lynn's virginity?” Millicent Pierce questioned me somewhat fearfully.“That's not the hole Zane goes up,” Opal grinned wickedly. Millicent instinctively covered her backside.“Can you imagine how good that had to feel to make Barbie Lynn scream that loud?” Paige purred. Uh, oh, that was some serious trouble being aimed my way.“Does that hurt?” Millicent murmured.“Yeah, it hurts so much that Barbie Lynn hunts Zane down every other night and has sex with him until she can no longer move,” Opal exaggerated. “Speaking of which, where is our real Dorm Mother?”“She's asleep in bed,” I admitted, somewhat shame-facedly. Millicent looked blown away.“Can I go see her?” Millicent asked.“She's my lover, not an exhibit,” I informed her. “Let her sleep in peace.” I moved through the little crowd and entered the shower.The hot water cascaded over my body, erasing the fatigue from my tired muscles and cleaning my sweaty body and the sex off my cock. Getting out proved that not only did sexually repressed young ladies like to ogle my naked form, but they also paid no attention to my desires. I caught Paige and Millicent sneaking back out of my room with Rio and Iona in tow.“She looks so, peaceful,” Millicent muttered.“What part of leave her alone did you not understand?” I growled angrily.“Spank the naughty bitches,” Rio egged me on.“They didn't do anything to wake Barbie Lynn up,” Iona defended them.“I'm sorry,” Millicent apologized. Paige looked anything but contrite, challenging my gaze instead.“Fine, spank Snowflake here,” Rio persisted.“What? No Edgar Winters reference?” Paige shot back while keeping her eyes on me.“Paige,” I said in a deadly even tone, “apologize or leave.”“Or what?” she taunted. I nodded and took a deep breath.“Oh, you are going to get it now, you skank,” Rio chuckled. Instead, I walked past them all and went to my room.“That was a bit disappointing,” Paige sneered. No one else said anything for a second, then Iona clued in.“Whoops, Paige, Zane will be right back,” Iona commented.“I can hardly wait,” she said sarcastically.In the room, Virginia and Dana had moved to the small sofa on the far side of the room, deep in quiet conversation. Mercy had curled up next to a sleeping Barbie Lynn, and Barbie Lynn looked like some angel, confident, sleeping, and almost otherworldly in her beauty. Before I could hope to enjoy it, I had to get dressed and resolve an issue.I raced through dressing back into my school uniform and walked outside.“Now you are going to get it,” Rio whispered to Paige. Paige snorted.“Paige, you brought me word about Heaven and I owe you for that, so if we can agree that you are going to respect me and my personal space, I'm going to forget about you going to my bedroom uninvited,” I laid it out for her.“And if I don't?” she confronted me.“I pick you up, throw you over my shoulder, and toss you out of the dorm, and you won't be invited back until you grow a personality that isn't all conceited douche,” I answered.“You can't and you won't,” Paige shook her head.“Reality check, Paige,” I grinned. “I'll ask Cordelia to keep you away, and while she likes you, she needs me more, and you don't have the stones to go against Cordelia, do you?”“Is that the best you have, Zane?” Paige sniffed derisively.“Paige, you are a really smart girl, but Cordelia has several really smart girls,” I pointed out. “What matters is how many friends you have compared to how many friends I have. How does that math work out for you?”“That doesn't mean anything,” Paige responded defensively.“Good enough. I don't really feel like arguing,” I shrugged. I swept up on Paige, who had some good reaction time but no skill. I had her up and over my shoulder in three seconds flat.“Put me down!” she squawked. I headed down the stairs, her fists beating my back and her legs kicking.“Bye-bye, ya whore,” Rio chuckled. It didn't take much imagination to know that Iona was glaring at Rio for that comment.“Stop, put me down,” Paige struggled. After we made the elevator, “You can put me down now.” I didn't respond because I wasn't hearing what I needed to hear and I didn't feel like engaging her in conversation.“Please, don't,” she tried, once we landed on the first floor, but to no effect. I took her to the dorm door, kicked it open, and stepped out.“Here you go,” I said as I deposited her. I had no idea how far past tears she'd gotten.“I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry,” she snarled. “Okay? Happy? You win and I lose. You are the popular kid and I'm not.”“No, I'm not happy,” I answered calmly. “This never had anything to do with me beating you up; it had to deal with you constantly slapping me around and I got sick of it. Paige, you got so sick of being bullied, you became a bully.” She clearly didn't believe me. “You are pretty and smart, and you use these qualities as a scalpel to cut people up.”“What would you know about it?” she snapped. “You've always been Mr. Popular.”“Take into account I was in a normal private school for my first ten years. Yes, I was one of the popular kids; good looking, the right parents, and pretty smart. I also knew the social hierarchy and I was certainly unkind to my fair share other students.”“Before you go beating me over the head with you being albino, please understand: I don't care. My parents are gone, dead. I'm never getting them back. You are a slender, smart girl with gorgeous hair who has two parents who probably love you very much,” I smiled. “I only wish you would lead off with those traits instead of constantly reminding everyone how fucking condescending you can be.”Paige looked at me for half a minute, studying me, perhaps looking for some understanding of me. Good luck with that; I barely understand me and I'm inside my head.“Does this mean I can go back inside?” she finally inquired.“Yes. All I wanted was a simple apology, and technically, you are still on the dorm sidewalk so I haven't finished throwing you out yet,” I replied.“Just like that?” she snorted. “You are such an idiot.”“What did I warn you about leading with the grey matter?” I scowled. She seemed to weigh her next words.“You said I was 'very pretty',” she mused, changing the direction of the conversation suddenly.“Well, yes, you have a flawless complexion girls would kill for and, as I said earlier, I really like you hair,” I stated. “It is gorgeous.” I put my arm around her shoulder, spun us around, and went back inside. As we boarded the elevator for the return trip, Paige tapped my hand.“What's with all this?” she indicated my casual embrace.“When you aren't trying to piss me off, I honestly like you, Paige,” I confided in her.“You seem to live your life by making some rather irrational decisions,” she noted.“Paige, you see life as chess while I see it as Scrabble,” I grinned. “For you, it is move and countermove. I tend to see life being something that gives you a constantly changing group of options that you make the most of.”“Oh,” she seemed to digest that, then she said, “I apologize for calling you an idiot. You are a moron; I should have seen the difference.” I laughed from deep within.“I'm a moron,” I teased her. “I bet you've never been held by a boy like this before because if you had, you would know this gives the guy a perfect vantage point to look down your shirt.”Paige clutched her shirt tightly in a fist, blocking my view. She looked bitter and offended.“30-B, a translucent white with lace trim bra,” I told her. “Good choice, but I get the impression you don't wear it as a normal part of your school attire. Wearing it for me?”“What makes you think, ” she started, then “Yes.”“What was the plan?” I inquired.“I was going to spill water all over my chest by accident, ask for one of your shirts to replace it, and for you to show me where it was,” she smiled slyly. “With my bra and your libido, plus a little playful contact, I'd get you into bed.” She was highly confident.“Nice,” I admitted, “but it wouldn't have worked.”“Why not?” she seemed slightly offended. My money was, her insecurities about her body not measuring up to Barbie Lynn's curves were behind that.“I would have given you a robe and sent Iona down to her room to get you a spare,” I informed her. “Your only flaw in the plan is that I find you inherently untrustworthy.”“Why do you say that?” she was now really offended.“Paige, you use people. It is your default relationship approach,” I explained. “It is not so much a bad thing as it is predictable. Someone as smart as you can do better.”“You don't seem to mind it when Cordelia treats you that way,” she countered. We were at the door to my place.“If you will recall, Cordelia told me to kiss her as part of my Handmaiden's Duty,” I reminded Paige. “Now, if you want to be a Cordelia substitute, go ahead, I'll still spend time with you if you like. I only think you need a friend who should point out that people are people from time to time.”“Now you want to be my friend, Zane?” she mocked me.“I'll be your friend, but you have to wear this sexy blood red stocking, garter, bossier, bra and choker combination. It will make your flesh glow like it is on fire,” I grinned lasciviously.“I thought you wanted to see my flawless skin devoid of obstructions,” Paige said.“I'll dress you up in it, and if you don't like it, I'll remove it too,” I smile mischievously. She looked at me, her mighty mental calculator going over where the conversation was going.“Why do you see me differently than everyone else?” she asked.“Give me some leeway,” I requested, then bent down slightly, slipped a hand under her skirt, making her jump minutely, and ran my middle finger under her underwear band into her pussy.She bit her lip but kept staring intently at me as I moved that finger up and down, back and forth, until it was covered in her fluids. I sunk my forefinger in and did the same. I removed my hand and brought the forefinger to my lips. As I sucked the liquid off and savored the taste, I caught Paige licking her lips in sympathetic hunger.I pointed my middle finger at her mouth and pushed it forward, daring her to take it in her mouth. She barely resisted and was soon running her tongue along my finger inside her mouth, cleaning it off. I pulled it out and she grinned at me seductively.“You stick your middle finger into my mouth with my vaginal secretions on it, that is a not so subtle 'I'm going to fuck you'; right?” she teased.“I could say 'I'll tell you when I figure out if I'm a moron or an idiot,' but I'd rather tell the truth. You piss me off,” I confessed, “and I want to hammer you through my bed and into the floor. I want to make you scream, cry, and look down on you with your face glowing from the exertion and your hair damp with your sweat.”Paige's eyes grew wide and her breaths deepened as I told her what I wanted and expected.“Don't worry, though,” I said as I leaned in. She expected a kiss on the lips but I went for the forehead instead, “because it will never happen. Bye now.”“What!” she squalled, grabbing my arm as I tried to move past her. “Why not?”I looked back at her and grinned evilly.“Gotcha!” I smirked. “That's what it feels like when someone yanks your chain. If you still want to go up with me, know I won't screw with you again unless you screw with me.” She didn't react for the longest time so I finally turned back up the stairs.“The point of all this was making you want to screw me,” Paige laughed as she ran to my side.I've said it before and I'll say it again, women are fucking nuts, and I'll grow crazy or end up dead trying to understand them. I could try to run away from the jumble of contradictions and obfuscations that was Paige Zeller but where is the fun in that?“I'm not kicking anyone out of the bedroom,” I cautioned her.“That's fine,” she announced happily, “you do your best work when you have an audience.”“We really need to work on your romantic technique,” I lectured her.“Zane, I want you for your physical prowess,” Paige countered. “If I want mental stimulation, I have this e-pal in Taipei who I regularly communicate with.”“I repeat, you need to work on how you romance your partner,” I grumbled. We opened the door when we reached the top of the stairs and got a few stares as they tried to figure out what was going on. I debated what to do (I was sort of hungry) when Paige dragged me toward the bedroom.“Oh! Pay up, pay up,” Opal called out.“Damn,” bitched Rio. “I keep hoping my boy Zane will develop some standards, but oh, well.”“They were betting on you bringing me back for sex?” Paige whispered, but her desire was glowing bright. I shook my head and chuckled.“Don't worry about it; I still see you as a whirling vortex of passionate lust,” I assured her.We passed around the Chinese screens that separated my area from the rest of the floor and I was relieved to see everyone but Barbie Lynn had left, and Barbie had curled up on the near side of the bed and was still asleep. As we moved around the bed, Paige's resolve began to falter.“Sit down, let's talk,” I said softly. Paige was clearly confused.“The most powerful tool in sex is the brain,” I continued. “I want to know you a little better first.”“I should be great at this,” she replied.“How many boys have you kissed?” I asked as we sat down. She looked surprised by the question.“Two,” was her curt response. “Zane, I want you to take my virginity.” Now it was my turn to be surprised, but I was only put off for a moment.“Tell me about those two times,” I persisted. Paige had started tugging her shirt out from her skirt and was clearly not pleased with my request.“Zane, didn't you hear me? I want you to pop my cherry, break me in, fuck my vagina, whatever you want to call it,” she told me.“Yes,” I nodded, “and I'm looking forward to that, but answer the question please.”“I, I've been kissed by two boys, one kiss per boy,” she replied, but I could tell there was more to it.“Do I have to play twenty questions with you?” I gave an exasperated sigh. Paige flushed with anger.“Fine, damn it,” she growled. “The first boy, I paid to kiss me on the lips. He did so, and he looked at me like he wanted to throw up.” That looked like it hurt her to admit.“The second time, it was a joke, a dare. I closed my eyes, he kissed me on the lips, and then I heard the applause. They congratulated him for kissing the freak,” she recited with anguish. “They laughed at me while I ran away.” She looked furious and miserable at the same time.I tilted her head up toward me. I let my first kiss barely brush her lips. I let her study my reaction, and then I kissed her again.The third kiss pressed our lips together, and on the fourth, our tongues touched. The fifth saw her wrap her arms around me and hold me tight for nearly a minute. She was panting for breath when we came up for air. I used that moment to pick her up and place us both farther into the bed.“Eep!” she exclaimed, then she started to giggle. I straddled her and dove in to nibble her neck. Paige beat at my chest with her fists but couldn't stop laughing. “That tickles!” We fell back into kissing for a while; Paige didn't need to rush into sex despite her declared desires. “Shouldn't we take our clothes off?”I responded to that by sitting up, grabbing her shirt in both hands over the breasts, and ripping it open. Buttons went flying everywhere and Paige's eyes expressed her shock. I reached for her bra but Paige's hands flew to mine.“Wait,” she gasped. “It unsnaps from the front.” I even let her open the bra for me, exposing her ghostly breasts and pale pink areolas and nipples.I shifted down Paige's body and latched my lips to her left breast, causing her to cry out in pleasure.“Oh, damn,” she purred, “this is so much better in real life.” I wasn't sure I knew what that meant, or that I even wanted to know.I feasted on each nipple and breast in turn until they were fully engorged and bright, rosy pink from my attention. She'd spread her legs wide open and was humping her hips up against me. I pulled away long enough to get my shirt off before descending on her for kisses once more. In the midst of that, we rolled over where she grabbed me by the side of the head and covered my face with butterfly kisses.“I've always wanted to do that,” she beamed pure joy at me. I moved my hands down her ribs, waist, and hips until I was able to pull up her skirt and grab her ass. Paige aggressively humped me in response, smiling at me and breathing heavy. Without any urging, Paige pushed up my body until she dangled her breast against my lips.I greedily sucked one in, teasing her nipple with my teeth. Paige yelped but followed me down without comment, cradling my head into her chest and rocking me back and forth.“Careful, Honey, he's addictive,” Barbie Lynn sleepily intervened.“He's going to take my virginity,” Paige exulted.“Is he now?” she grinned at me.“She's asked; I'm considering it, but I want to know she's really ready for it first,” I mumbled back between mouthfuls of tit.“Wait,” she panted, “you promised me.”“Paige, Rule 7 for guys: when sex is involved, we lie,” I informed her.“Oh, what lie did you tell Barbie Lynn?” Paige inquired.“He forces me to orgasm so he can bask in my post-orgasmic bliss,” Barbie Lynn sighed dreamily.“Besides,” I said, as I ran my hands through her fine white hair and tucked a few locks behind her ears, “I am not saying we won't do it, but you are an incredibly tough read and we aren't going to do something I don't think you need.”“How come you get to decide?” Paige sounded annoyed.“I'm the only guy you've approached who you didn't find on an escort service website; we are in my bed; and, oh, yeah, I've had sex hundreds of times and you are in all ways a virgin,” I listed off the reasons. “Paige, you only get to do this 'first time' once, and I would like it to be something you love and want to do again and again.”“Well, I know what I want. I am in your bed and you're half-naked already,” she emphasized by grinding her pelvis into me. “I'm also on top and I don't think you can get rid of me that easily.”“This one is a little firecracker,” Barbie Lynn chuckled.“She's that,” I commented, “but you should always be leery of someone who thinks they are always right.” My words didn't stop me from pressing my cock up against Paige's twat. “We could always have a little butt-sex instead,” I teased.“No!” Paige squeaked. “You are huge and my butthole is tiny.”“Oh, God,” I laughed. “You actually looked at your butt in a mirror.” Paige blushed furiously. “Listen, Paige, trust me on this. You can go into town and find some college guy who will jump at the chance to screw you. What you have to wonder is how much he'll care about you and your needs as well as how good he is at sex. Let's get naked.”“Finally,” Paige mocked. She rolled off and shed her clothes so fast they left angry red tracks down her legs. I took my time but Paige didn't seem to mind. She reached out and ran a hand over my bicep and shoulder.“He's real enough,” Barbie Lynn assured her quietly.“How did you know what I was thinking?” Paige mused. At least she only implied Barbie Lynn was stupid.“Paige, sweetie, how many of us FFU girls expect to be able to choose our man, much less one worth having? And don't you be disparaging of Zane, now, either. I can smell your arousal from here,” Barbie Lynn said with a sexy curve to her lips.Paige was thinking of her retort when she gasped as I caught her distracted and slipped two fingers along the folds of her cunt. When her razor sharp focus latched onto me once more, I pushed her onto her back and mounted her. Her legs splayed out to either side and the location of her hips against my stomach reminded me of how narrow her hips were, narrower than even Iona's.She still did her best to wrap her legs around me as she placed her hands on my shoulders.“Are you going to make me scream?” she asked nervously.“Every girl is different so don't worry about it,” I grinned. “Besides, I can tell you'll be really good at this.”“How can you know I'll be any good at sex?” Paige snapped. Yes, that was the sore point I was looking for.“Your eyes sparkle when you touch me, you react instinctively to my touch, you are in good physical shape, and you're very sensitive all over your body,” I explained. “What you saw as fooling around was me mapping out how your body works and where your erogenous zones were. No two women are the same and I love exploring. Now I'm getting back to it.”I began placing kisses along her sternum, down toward her navel. Her stomach pulsed when I kissed the belly button.“Oh, aha,” Paige moaned. I licked and stroked the area around her navel, causing her torso to gyrate from the sexual stimulation. “Um, that feels nice.”Unlike previous encounters with other women where I avoided the pussy while I worked around it, I instead placed one hand immediately to the area, squeezing two fingers into her cunt and wiggling them around. I left the clit alone for now because I was encouraging a slow boil, not a flash burn. I wanted Paige in an erotically charged high before I challenged her vaginal virginity.Paige's skin had this false translucent quality to it that was exciting to watch. You could track the arousal of a touch by the blood rushing to the skin around the excited area. Physically, she could conceal nothing, and she was far from sexually experienced enough to stifle her vocalizations of pleasure.“I just want to be fucked,” she moaned,“ I just want to be fucked, aha, oh.” Her words said one thing but her body expressed its desire for more excitement. “No, ” she groaned as she ground her hips against my lips. When I stabbed my tongue to her clit, she acted like a jolt of electricity arched through her body.Now, when I've performed cunnilingus on a girl, I expect a bit of movement; I'm doing something wrong if she lays there. Paige was all over the place, pulling away then thrusting back as well as rolling her hips rapidly side to side. At the moment her thrashing turned into trembles, I withdrew my lips and fingers, causing Paige to whimper and look down at me.“Huh?” she pleaded. I gave her a mischievous grin, then blew on her clit. Paige hiccupped, then threw her head down on the bed violently. I began sucking on the inside of her thighs for about one minute, letting her settle down, then leapt on her clit with my tongue once more.“Oh, God!” Paige squealed.I moved my tongue off, trading off with two fingers parting her labia and flicking her clit with my thumb. I alternated back and forth over five minutes until I noticed Paige was sobbing and tearing up the sheets with her fists.“Have mercy, Zane,” Barbie Lynn whispered.I gave a quick nod before placing my lips around Paige's clit and sucking on it with growing intensity plus twirling the tip of my tongue along its tip. I also made tiny fucking motions with two fingers into her cunt. She didn't last thirty seconds.“Oh, my, God, Zane!” she growled.She wasn't loud but she rumbled her orgasm from deep in her chest. It was kind of surprising, coming from such a lithe, ephemeral being. Paige was sucking down further sounds internally so that they were merely sobs. I crawled up to her side, rested sidewise, propped up by an elbow, and placed a hand on her stomach as I watched over her. When she started gasping for air, her eyes locked with mine once more.Paige feebly pushed on my chest so I let her push me on my back. She struggled to rise over me, then collapsed on my chest.“I, that was, you still didn't fuck me,” she wheezed. I sighed in frustration, pulled Paige on top of me, chest to chest, and then began playing slap-happy with her ass.“Ow,ow, ow, ow, ow,” she squalled. “Stop that; I bruise easily,” she added, with tears in her eyes.“Damn it, woman, is it going to kill you to accept that I know what I'm doing?” I responded angrily. “Since you are clearly clueless, what we just did was foreplay. I wanted to relax your body before we moved to the next step.”Paige had enough common sense to look embarrassed but not enough to keep quiet.“Well my ass still hurts,” she pouted.“What?” I questioned. “Did you say you wanted me to hurt your ass?” I grabbed each ass cheek and pulled them apart.“No!” she squeaked, “You are too big.” She grabbed my hands in her smaller grip and tried to pry them off. We rocked back and forth until we rolled over. She struggled but I soon ended on top of her, Paige on her stomach, and my legs prying hers open. “No, no,” she pleaded as she felt my cock resting on her ass cleft.“Relax,” I whispered into Paige's ear, “have you ever heard of doggy style?”“You aren't, going to have anal sex with me?” she gulped. I pushed my body up and after a moment, Paige followed, pressing her back against my torso once more.“I'd never do anything to you that you didn't want me to,” I assured her, “though I am going to have you begging me to bugger you before this semester is over.”“Uh-uh,” Paige assured me, “not going to happen,” but she did wiggle her butt against me playfully, testing my resolve. I balanced on one hand so I could use the other to pull her hair away from one side to the other. Her neck, ear, and the side of her face were now revealed. I sucked on her shoulder while I repositioned my cock so that it slid down her ass, past her anus and pussy, so that it pressed along her pubic mound from below.Paige began humming pleasurably and gyrating her hips against me. I put my free hand on her breast and massaged it as well.“Promise me you won't keep me waiting this time,” she murmured. “Promise you'll take me.”“Of course I will, Paige. You have to relax and enjoy yourself and not get worked up about us having sex,” I comforted her. She rocked against me and I pushed back. “Nice and slow,” I cautioned her. “I'm not going anywhere.” With a little effort, she did as I requested.I kept running my hand down from her breast to her stomach, each time going a little farther down. She'd tilted her shoulders and neck so that we could kiss but she also found my lips on her neck to be tantalizing. I was tricky enough that I had my cockhead parting her puffy lips before she realized it. In fact, I had three separate penetrations that elicited moans, then she looked up at me.“Don't be afraid,” I told her sympathetically. “Remember the faces of all the girls you've seen me with while we are having sex and know that it is going to be just as good for you.” Paige looked down at the mattress and nodded her head. She pushed back but it wasn't easy. Her entrance felt like a vice restricting my entrance.Even totally wet, her vaginal muscles were blocking my progress initially. I patiently kept at it, incrementally advancing with each coaxing touch. When I brushed against her hymen, Paige didn't even recognize the moment had come. I subtly brought my arm down to her stomach and wrapped her up in my arm while teasing her ear with my teeth.“Yip!” Paige exclaimed as I pierced her virginity. “Oh, God, it burns,” she sobbed. I gave her a few seconds to adjust before penetrating even deeper.“No,” she moaned, and tried to pull away, but I didn't let her. “Zane,” she pleaded for me to let her go. “It hurts.” I kept at it. “I never thought it would hurt this bad, please.”She gave one final gasp as I pressed the final inch into her, then we remained there, locked in sexual congress while she wept and trembled underneath me. I considered it a minor miracle Paige had remained on her hands and knees as we reached this point. Now I had to get her past the stage where pain dominated pleasure.“We'll move when you feel you are ready,” I instructed her. Paige nodded, then nothing else for some time. She caught me off guard when she flexed her grasp on my cock.“Um,” she purred. “Did you feel that?” My groan was my reply. Paige pulled away a tiny bit until the pain kicked in and she stopped.Seconds later she repeated the process, withdrawing several inches, then reversing the procedure and allowing me deeper in once more.“It hurts less,” she admitted. A moment later as she shifted to a faster rhythm, “it is really quite nice.”“You might want to ask Zane how he is doing,” Barbie Lynn chided Paige.“But I honestly don't care,” Paige noted.“If you want to do this again, you might want to start caring,” Barbie informed her. I winked at the blonde sex angel.“Zane, do you like having sex with me?” Paige asked in a much kinder tone than normal. She must have been truly appreciating the lovemaking she was receiving.“It feels like you are trying to rip my dick off,” I ground out. “You are damn tight, then you are adding those contractions on top of that. I may not be able to have sex for a week.”“Paige, I like you, but if Zane is telling the truth, I going to seriously rearrange your anatomy,” Barbie Lynn promised with dangerous intent.“I apologize,” Paige pouted. To prove how sorry she wasn't, Paige rotated her hips down then back up several times rapidly. So that's how she wanted to play it.I placed both hands on her shoulders and let her make a few more tentative moves before slamming my member all the way in.“Oh, fuck,” she gasped. I slowly drew back my full length, then rocketed back in time and time again. Paige was sweating and panting from earlier exertions but now she was barely hanging on.Slap, slap, slap, my hips mashed against her ass. Paige gave a breathless grunt each time I drilled her, and that was followed by a relieved sigh as I pulled back. By the desperation in her voice, I knew she wouldn't last much longer.“Oh! My! Fucking! God!” she growled loudly.I now knew what it felt like to have put my dick in a fire hose and had some asshat turn the water on. Paige's pussy juice had been plentiful the first time she had an orgasm. This time they were copious and forceful, and my penis was simply in the way; what got past stung the hell out of my ball sack.Normally I have really good control over my sexual climax but I was being sorely tested. Worse, I couldn't simply pop out of Paige because that would cause her pain. The odds of her using birth control were next to nil and none, so it fell to me to find something to center my mind and not ejaculate.“Zane, are you okay?” Barbie Lynn said in a hushed, worried tone. I could only nod. Paige was erratically pushing up and down on my dick, to the point where I grabbed her hips in order to not have a nasty accident when her muscles relaxed and my overstimulation ended.“Don't, move,” I panted painfully to Paige.Paige didn't quite comply but I didn't blame her because her arms gave out and she slumped forward. I held up her rear by my hold on her hips. I carefully let her slide off my cock and finish splaying out on the bed. I sat back on my heels, breathing deeply and fighting for control.“Come here, Baby,” Barbie Lynn ordered, picking up on my distress.I moved over Paige's leg toward Barbie and she joined me by turning around, meeting me half way.“I've got this,” she purred, as she wrapped my penis in one hand and placed her lips over the head. Despite Paige's vaginal fluids and some blood, Barbie loved it. She bobbed up and down twice before my resolve finally crumbled.“Cumming,” I gasped. Barbie Lynn shot me a quick grin, then pumped and sucked with renewed vigor. When I started ejaculating, Barbie Lynn made some half-hearted swallowing efforts but I knew she was holding something back. I smiled at her as I ran my hand through her honeyed locks.When I finished unloaded into Barbie Lynn's mouth, I pulled her up, she leaned into my body, and we kissed. I tasted my semen on my tongue as we swapped fluids. Barbie Lynn licked her lips in a highly sensual manner as we broke our kiss. She gave me a little wink, acknowledging how much I'd changed her in our short time together: kinky, sexy, and beautiful.“Whoa,” whimpered Paige as she opened her eyes and looked in our direction. “That was intense.” She sighed and took a deep breath. “I should have mentioned this earlier, you didn't need to pull out. I had, issues when I was little and my ovaries were removed. I'm never going to have children.”I switched back to Paige and kissed her on the forehead. This was probably time for some sympathy, if Paige had been anything approaching a normal girl.“You fucking wait to tell me this now?” I chided her. “Do you have any idea the panic attack you put me through? I was stuck inside you and you were so damn hot I nearly lost it. I was trying to figure out what I was going to tell your father, damn it!”“Father?” she seemed confused for a second, then, “Oh. Why would I ever marry you?”“I'm a billionaire philanthropist genius playboy,” I joked.“You are Iron Man?” she mocked me.“Or Batman, your choice,” I volleyed back.“If you hadn't made me feel so fantastic right now, I'd recode your computer to operate in Mandarin,” she snickered. “Iron Man is one of my heroes and I will not have him mocked by the likes of you.”“Clearly, the first round of spanking didn't work, but I'm nothing if not persistent,” I glowered.Paige's hands flew to her vulnerable and still rather red backside.“Don't you dare,” she threatened. I pivoted, she flinched, then I leaned down and kissed her butt cheek. “What?” she murmured then I kissed her again and again. I slowly pried her hands away and soon had planted little signs of affection all over her tender, sore flesh.“Kiss ass,” Paige teased. I had to wonder if she was taking social lessons from Rio.“Tell me something: how did you get to be so quiet? I'm normally pretty good at not letting anyone sneak up on me but you have done it to me twice already,” I asked.“That's not a totally stupid question,” Paige answered.“I have been basically friendless most of my life, if you don't count the internet. I was small, different, and was picked on. I learned to be quiet and go unnoticed,” she explained. “I admit to having a harder time with you than with most people.”“Because I lived out in the jungle and became more observant?” I queried.“No,” she sighed in exasperation. “Because I've wanted to grab you and drag you back to my room since I first laid eyes on you, Zane. Mentally, you are unremarkable, but physically, you scream out 'Sex, sex, sex!'” That observation made Barbie Lynn laugh out loud. My pained and confused expression only caused them to laugh louder.Someday I'm going to come out on top of one of these exchanges. Then I'm going to run away from school because I want to leave on a high note and I'm not likely to ever win a second time.The Chancellor's Last Move*The pursuit of power is pointless unless you know how to use it*A LONG STORY AND I DON'T KNOW THE ENDING“Zane? God Damn it, Zane!” Raven screeched at me as she barged into my room. What could I say? Barbie Lynn was halfway under the sheets but her tumultuous breasts were clearly exposed. Paige was totally naked, face down on the other side of me but had clearly been fucked thoroughly and her tight pale ass spanked hard. Oh, yeah, and I was kneeling between the two, totally naked as well.I vaulted over Barbie Lynn (who was closer to the entrance and Raven) because I didn't want to hurt her injured knee, snatched up my robe, and put it on.“Very complicated, long story, we can laugh about it later,” I dazzled Raven. I took her by the elbow and headed her out of my bedroom. “Why don't we study on the far side of the main Solarium?”The look of betrayal in Raven's eyes destroyed any doubt that she was crushing on me in a big way. For the love of God, I really needed to find some lesbians to hang out with because these straight chicks were driving me crazy. Before we could leave, Iona nearly piled into us.“I'm sorry, Zane. She slipped past me,” Iona apologized.“I only wanted to talk with him and, and he was in bed with yet another girl,” Raven bitched.“I'm still ready to study with you,” I offered.“How can we study if you are always having sex with other women?” she stomped her foot in frustration. Iona shot me a worried look.I put a hand on Raven's shoulder and made eye contact.“Raven, I promise you we will get this project done, you'll get your good grade, and I'll carry my part of the project. I'm here for you,” I assured Raven.“You, you aren't giving any thought about us, our project together,” was her accusation.“What do you want me to do?” I asked evenly.“I, I think I should go to Ms. Goodswell and request another partner,” Raven sighed. I looked to Iona who looked to the living area past the Jacuzzi.“Ms. Goodswell is right over there,” Iona indicated our teacher who was sitting with Dana and five other teachers who had come in while I was, busy.“Your place has controlled access,” Iona answered my unasked question as to why I had so many other educators in my place. “Bass's people can 'accidentally' step in.”Raven was not deterred by the other teachers hanging around Virginia as she made a beeline across the room. At least she was polite enough to wait while Virginia disengaged from the others so she could talk to us.“Raven, Zane, how can I help you?” Ms. Goodswell inquired, yet I had a sneaking suspicion that she was way ahead of the situation.

Preacher William, Valerie, & the seeds of discord.A Spring Break 14-part Novel.By FinalStand. Listen to the complete episode at Steamy Stories.Christina's late night visit.Anyway, we were uncoiling from the sofa and Rio was giving me this mysterious look when there was a knock at the door.“Dude, it is 11 o'clock,” Rio muttered. “Only bad news arrives this late.”“I'll go check it out,” I shrugged. There wasn't much else I could do. I opened the door and there stood Christina, looking pretty depressed.“Do you want to come in?” I asked.“I know you have company,” she replied. “Can we talk outside?” It wasn't too chilly but I wasn't wearing too much either.“Of course,” I walked onto the porch, leaving the door mostly closed behind me. “What's wrong?”“I've worked things out with Faith and the other girls,” Christina paced nervously. “We are all going to keep quiet about what you learned and see how we can turn this to our advantage.” I didn't say anything because she hadn't come to tell me the news of what had been the obvious move on her part so I was left wondering what was going on, then I saw it.I opened my arms to the side, palms forward, and waited. She saw the move and looked me over with obvious reluctance for what would come next. Finally, she stepped up to me and rested her forehead on my shoulder and let me encase her in my arms. It sucks to be alone, but it truly sucks being alone and being the one in charge even more.“God, Zane, I fucked up. I could have ruined Heaven's life,” she sighed. “The others trusted me and I let them down.”“You are not doing Heaven any favors by being paralyzed with doubt,” I told her. “You had no idea who you were up against and even if you had, you would still have weighed what was best for Heaven against the risks and pretty much acted in the same manner.”“You don't understand Heaven,” Christina said. “You don't understand her home life.”“Her home life is not my concern, Christina,” I pointed out. “The Heaven here and now is my concern, though, and it is the concern of several more friends she's made since coming to this school, friends she wouldn't have if she stayed in a hole.”“What if I fuck up again?” she worried. “So many girls are depending on me to keep the Chancellor at bay.”“I fuck up all the time and I'm still here,” I countered. “I know what you mean, though. Sometimes when these girls look at me like they expect me to have all the answers and I've got nothing, I want to run and hide.”“We don't have that luxury. We chose to stand up and now we must carry on in our struggle. I don't know about you, but I wasn't raised to quit,” I related to her.“I made a mistake, Zane. I don't make mistakes,” she declared.“I'm confused; have we lost?” I questioned her.“No,” she grumbled, “and that is not what I meant. I brought Faith in, I misread her, and we all suffered because of it. I was deceived.”“Well, someone should remind Christina Buchanan from time to time that she's human, and a pretty smart woman at that,” I replied. “You don't have to win every battle, only the last one.”“That is what my grandfather said,” she mumbled into my shoulder.“He sounds like a clever guy,” I said softly. “He should go far someday.” Since he was one of the richest men in America, I was probably right.“You can be a real jerk at times,” she muttered, but I noted she wasn't moving.“I have to agree with you,” I said, as I got up on my tiptoes and kissed her on the top of the head. I leaned back and tilted her head to me with a finger under her chin. “Christina Buchanan, would you marry me?” No one said anything for a minute.“Can I think about it?” she finally whispered.“Of course,” I assured her. “How could I be in love with you if I couldn't wait for you?”“How can you love me when you don't even know me?” she asked.“That's why it is love and not like,” I answered. “There are times you really piss me off but there is never a moment I don't want to be with you.”“You don't like me?” Christina studied me.“Right now I like you just fine, but you can be a real pain at times. See, I know what's right and you refuse to know your place,” I responded.“And what place is that?” she smiled.“Above me, smiling down,” I leaned in for a kiss.“No,” she shook her head.“No?” I pleaded.“We have a long way to go before I let you treat me like another one of your girls,” Christina informed me.“Okay,” I agreed.“No hard sell in my emotionally vulnerable state?” she mused.“You are safe with me, Christina,” I assured her.“That's good to know, Zane. Now go inside before Rio blows a gasket,” she smiled, slipped out of my arms, and walked toward her car. I still soaked up the marvel of her receding silhouette.Rio was leaning against the wall just inside the hallway when I got back in.“I don't get the two of you,” she grinned.“I love her,” was my only response.“That's good, because she's fucking nuts about you,” Rio laughed. I couldn't decide whether she was kidding or not.Later, we lay together in bed, Rio partially over me where she alternated between listening to my heartbeat and kissing my shoulder. She also had a hand between her legs and was doing some serious vaginal stimulation.“Zane.”“Yes?” I replied.“I had an abortion,” she confided in me.“Oh, okay,” was all I could manage to come back with.“‘Oh.' Is that it?” she sounded a bit hurt.“I figure there is more to the story than you had an abortion. So are you going to tell me what it is?” I inquired. She mulled that over for a few seconds.“I did some really stupid shit, like getting shit-faced drunk at some parties with people I barely knew, and pretty much got used like a whore. I didn't really care, and eventually I got knocked up,” she told me.“My parents, the big Pro-Lifers that they were, smuggled me out of state to a private clinic and aborted the kid. They never asked my opinion on the matter but I imagine that having a pregnant daughter who couldn't even name the father wasn't on their agenda,” she recited bitterly. I wrapped an arm around her, rolled over on her, and kissed her gently on the lips.“I don't know what to say,” I began. “I can't imagine what it was like to go through that.”“Huh,” Rio snorted. “My parents slapped me with anti-depressants and an implant, my ‘friends' told me it was for the best, not being teen Mom material and all, and I treated myself like a whore.”“Hell, I sucked and fucked the entire lawn crew once; I fucked my little brother's friends; and I became known as the girl who would ride bareback at my school. It is a miracle I didn't contract herpes or AIDS,” she recited sadly. “I think I hated just about everybody.”“You know that none of that matters to me; right?” I asked. “You are still that woman I woke up next to on day one.”“To the bitter end,” she recited.“To the bitter end,” I affirmed, my promise to stand by her no matter what.“Why couldn't you be in love with me?” she sighed.“You are asking an eighteen-year-old how this love thing works?” I teased her. “I've been lucky enough to meet five women in the past two weeks I'd like to spend forever with, and I love the one I'm least likely to end up with. I'm clueless.”“Me, Iona, Barbie Lynn, Christina and Heaven?” Rio guessed. I nodded, which made her snicker. “You really want to spend forever with Heaven? You are a glutton for punishment.”“Heaven can be really nice,” I defended my girlfriend.“She's got a permanent case of PMS. Hell knows what would happen if she actually had PMS,” Rio teased me back.“So you don't want to spend any more time with her?” I inquired.“Fuck that,” Rio giggled, “I like them brave, bold, and saucy in the saddle. I'd love breaking her down, or having her break me trying.”“Fine,” I announced after a moment's contemplation.“Fine?” she asked.“I'm not going to break my word to Jill but I can't wait to fuck you until we get back to campus, so how would you like to screw on Pastor Bill's desk before Sunday school?” I suggested.“I'd love to leave a little something extra on that gold-plated conman's desk,” Rio purred.“Now, Zane, do you think you could bend the rules ever so slightly and finger-fuck me? I'm ever so horny,” Rio pleaded. I figured it couldn't hurt too much; right? I rubbed and rubbed one hand down to her crotch where Rio had already pulled her soaked panties down to mid-thigh. With my other hand, I pushed up her top, exposing her ripe nipples, chain and all.I plucked a nipple into my mouth, letting my tongue play along the stud before sucking in more of the breast, increasing the pressure on the nipple itself. Rio was well worked up already and now began to writhe beneath me. My free hand passed below her carefully groomed chevron-shaped pubic mound and along her clit.Her folds welcomed me like molten gold, so hot yet silky smooth to the touch. As she started to moan, Rio stuck the meat of her palm into her mouth and bit down in order to keep quiet. I spent a minute playing with her two studs in her labia before working two fingers deep inside her, twisting them, and seeking out her G-spot.“Gak!” Rio convulsed as I stroked it. Oh, yeah, I thought, as I began to seriously work it over. Rio's fluids were sloshing around my fingers, her other hand began pressing my whole mouth over her breast, and she kept bucking up against me. I now began to alternate between rhythmically tapping her special place and brutally finger fucking her, driving two fingers in and slapping her clit with my palm.“Uh, uh, uh, ugh, ugh, um,” Rio began panting, then her body arched and she screamed into her clenched fist. “Oh, fuck, that's good,” she finally managed to get out. Before I could respond, she grabbed my head and drew me up for a fierce kiss. She tore at my lips and tried to steal my breath away.“Tell me you want me,” she pleaded with a desperate hunger tinged with fear.“I want you, Rio, always,” I responded with my own heat and need. Slowly the passion ebbed from Rio's eyes and a playful demeanor replaced it.“You are such a dumb blonde, Glenda,” she sighed happily. Glenda had been the name that had allowed me admission to school in the first place, Glenn Zane Braxton, Glenda.I answered by pulling my fingers out of her cunt, taking a lick, then pushing them through her lips. Rio daintily sucked on them, pulling them in and cleaning them off before biting down like the little bitch she is and making tears come to my eyes.“What the fuck!” I hissed.“That's for not giving me your dick, Asshole,” she snickered. When I looked ready to explode, she pouted her lips, rolled onto her stomach and stuck her bare ass up in the air for a spanking. I grunted and rolled over onto my side, away from her.“Good night, you witch,” I sulked.There was some rustling behind me a minute later, then Rio snaked an arm around me and pressed her body to my back.“I'm sorry,” she whispered. “I act crazy at times.” I rolled over to face her.“I know what I'm getting into, Rio,” I comforted her. “That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt at times.” I displayed my wounded fingers. She kissed my fingers, I kissed her lips, and we both finally went to sleep.Preacher William, Valerie, and the seeds of discord.*You can live without freedom the same way you can live without light, happiness, or music*Jill didn't know what to make of our prompt appearance Sunday morning for breakfast already dressed for church. I'd convinced Rio to not try a hard sell with my aunt, instead playing it calm, cool, and collected. The real reason we wanted to get to church early was because I'd come up with the idea of screwing Rio on Pastor Bill's massive mahogany desk before class and she'd become infatuated with the scheme.GAINING DEFINITIONWe had to remember our Bibles before eagerly heading out the door. Mine went back to my missionary days while Rio's was brand new, a gift from Jill. She'd lost her old one on the trip from Arizona to Virginia, or so she'd told Jill. In reality, she had torn hers apart page by page and stuffed it down the airplane toilet during the flight, her way of spreading the gospel.Once at the church, we split up, Rio and I getting together a few minutes later. I was unsure about the security cameras in the hallway but Rio shrugged it off. She followed the wires to the closet the system was kept in, picked the lock, and deleted the last two hours of footage before deactivating the whole system.I was clever enough to wipe off all our fingerprints before we made for the pastor's office. This time, Rio's improvised, lock picks weren't necessary as the secretary kept the door unlocked. We slipped past her station to the larger office beyond and I chased Rio around to the ‘big chair'.“So, Bad Boy, are you going to make me a Bad Girl?” Rio taunted me.I stepped up between her thighs and got ready to feast on her succulent cunt lips when she held me up.“I don't think we have time for that,” Rio grinned. She slipped out of her panties, which I quickly pocketed (having learned from the first Barbie Lynn incident), and hopped up on the desk facing me.I unbuckled my belt, fixed the button, and unzipped my pants. My penis came smoothly out of my boxers and I lined up with Rio's slit. Her juices were already flowing by the time my cockhead graced her full lips.“Oh, that's what I've been looking for,” Rio moaned, as I pushed forward inch after glorious inch inside her.She wrapped her arms around my neck and came close to doing the same with her legs around my waist by the time I was fully into her. I got a few half-thrusts into Rio, our faces only inches apart, when I began to push her back down on the desk.“No, I want to look into your eyes,” she told me. I nodded and started driving my cock in a strong steady rhythm.“Rio,” I said softly.“Yes,” she breathed heavily.“I like saying your name,” I explained. “I like the sound of it and the way it makes me feel.”“I, ” I was sure she was fighting for a snarky reply but then she smiled and said, “Okay.”“Oh. God, Oh, Fuck,” Rio gasped, as we began, getting her close to climax. I stopped when I first heard the voices. “What?” Rio panted. I pulled her off the desk and looked for a place to hide. There were three other doors out of the room. I took the closest, yanked up my pants, and dragged Rio to it.It turned out to be a large closet with vestments, coats, and a few changes of clothing inside. Before I could finish shutting the door, Rio put her hand in the way. Before I could inquire why, the main office door opened and in came Pastor Bill and Lance Wellington. They were yammering on about something or other; I really wasn't paying attention.All that changed after Pastor Bill took his seat behind the desk and swiveled it to the side. Lance came around the desk and knelt before our spiritual leader. His body blocked my visual but I heard a zipper being undone and some clothes being pushed aside. What Lance proceeded to do was clear enough, though.Rio was between me and the door; she looked over her shoulder and grinned evilly. Before long, she had my cock in her hand and was maneuvering it back to her pussy from behind. I moved my hips down, she arched up, and I slipped back into the hole I'd been in not a minute before. I stayed still while Rio began to ride my cock up and down.There we were, two very different couples separated by less than a dozen feet, both fucking in different ways. Lance was giving Pastor Bill oral attention in a manner that dictated long familiarity to not only cock-sucking, but blowing Pastor Bill in particular. Rio had one hand placed against the door sill in order to stop us from spilling out of the closet while the other was tucked against her stomach.The four of us were pushing toward climax but Pastor Bill was the first one to the trigger. I was still feeling the oily smoothness of my cock inside Rio's vagina while rubbing both breasts through her shirt and bra when Lance began chocking and sputtering. The bastard hadn't even warned Lance that he was cumming.Good ole Pastor Bill reached across the desk to grab two Kleenex. As he did so, his other hand came down to rest on a slick spot Rio and I had left on his desk. He looked at his hand with disgust and wiped it off his hand before handing a tissue to Lance.“Get going to class,” Pastor Bill told his cock-sucking companion.“Of course, Pastor William,” Lance responded as he cleaned his face. As he headed to the door, he turned to the preacher.“Do I have to do another marriage counseling session with Felicity? She is so damn annoying,” he whined.“Lance, you are going to have to keep up appearances and that means spending the occasional night with her,” Pastor Bill lectured him. “As distasteful as she is, she is the socially acceptable choice for your spouse if you plan to have a political career.”“I wish this whole marriage thing was over with already,” Lance sighed. “Then I could stick her in the house and get her out of my life.”“Remember, a woman is a duty, but you know how to get your pleasure. Take your pill when you have to lay with her, and if nothing else, use her back door,” he chuckled.“I suppose so,” Lance conceded, “but I'll have to shut her up. She blathers on and on incessantly and her voice is so grating.”“Well,” Pastor Bill laughed, “you can always use her mouth too.” Lance snorted and left the room; Bill followed a minute later.For our part, the whole exchange between Pastor Bill and Lance got Rio hotter and hotter. She was rocketing back against me until I was afraid the slapping of our flesh would alert our host to our presence.Once he was gone, Rio went off.“Fuck me, damn it,” Rio exulted. “I'm going to rape their asses.” I wasn't sure how that would work. It wasn't like Rio's or my word would go all that far. I decided to spin her back around and kick her leg up over my arm so I could fuck her while gazing into her eyes.The first thing I noticed was the sheer joy etched all over her face. The second thing I noted was her phone in hand, set on record. There was going to be some severe damage over this and I had to do damage control, but first I had to screw Rio to orgasm.“Ah, ah, ah,” Rio moaned. “You are churning me up inside, you fucking brute. This is so fucking good.”“And the video?” I inquired.“Fucking brilliant,” she panted, “My best idea yet.” I drilled Rio several more strong strokes and she gripped me tightly and sexually exploded on me. She kept squeezing my cock with her vaginal muscles as I came in her as she was still cresting her wave.“Oh, Zane,” she wept tears of joy on my shoulder, “You make all this other shit bearable.”“No problem, bro,” I sighed happily, “but we need to talk about the video.”“Yeah,” she snorted, “you have a plan. I'm going to bypass me having a temper-tantrum and get straight to you making me happy with how clever you are.”“We find more ways to bring Felicity over to our side, then hit her with this when she's wavering,” I detailed. “We still need credibility and that's going to take Barbie Lynn on our side. Once we get Felicity, we can get Mrs. Wellington too. That gives us access to everyone in the church.”I set Rio onto her feet and handed her panties too her. Rio shimmied into them and grinned.“Now I'm all sloshy inside. Is that thing a damn fire hydrant?”“You weren't complaining a minute ago,” I countered.“I'm not complaining, but all those bitches in class are going to know I've been fucked,” she snickered.“Who are you going to blame?” I wondered.“Pastor William, our glorious shepherd; I can describe just what his cock looks like now,” she grinned manically.“I think we are back to that whole 'credibility' issue,” I reminded her.“You aren't going to let me have any fun,” Rio pouted.“Well, work on this; I'm pretty sure Lance isn't the only guy here that the pastor is using. Lance was a tool, nothing more,” I told her. “It could be fun to find out who his other toys are.”“I hate you for having a better idea than me,” Rio giggled, “but I love your deviant mind more.”“I love you too, Baby,” I said as I brushed her cheek. “Let's get to class before they get to ridicule us for arriving late.” Rio grabbed my hand and sprinted with me out of the office. We were late to class but only just. This time I'd studied so Mr. Coleman wasn't able to humiliate me, though some wise-ass taunted me about being on a women's committee.“Yes, I do,” I confirmed, “and what committee are you on?”“Athletics committee,” he sneered. I gave him a shit-eating grin right back that gave him pause.“So I hang out with a bunch of MILF's, which is a pretty red-blooded American male thing to do, while you hang out with a bunch of guys, which is pretty homo-erotic,” I chuckled.There was a deafening silence in the room. We had broken up for church service and a few guys were almost out the door. The target of my aggression was first stunned, then angry.“Mr. Braxton, that is quite enough out of you,” Mr. Coleman snapped.“I'm sorry about that, Mr. Coleman. I thought he was ribbing me about my committee so I teased him back about his; I wasn't serious,” I lied.Andy, the guy who'd given me a hard time, elected that moment to get in my face.“That wasn't funny, Braxton,” he snapped. Mr. Coleman remained conspicuously silent.“Gosh, Andy,” I quipped, “I don't know where to begin. How about, we are in a House of God and shouldn't be raising a fist against one another.”“If that doesn't work, do understand that you get the first punch, then I break you like a twig,” I continued with eagerness written all over my face. “You are an elementary school teacher and I have years of martial arts experience.” Andy suddenly paled.“Mr. Braxton,” Coleman growled again. “How dare you threaten somebody?”“Um, Mr. Coleman, Andy got in my face, so what exactly are you getting on my case about? Wouldn't the situation be better served if you stopped him in the first place?” I said.“Andy should be able to take a joke better,” another guy in my class, Christopher Gilbert, joined in. “Besides, Zane's right; the wives on the committee are attractive and their husbands are lucky men.”That seemed to end the matter because Chris Gilbert was the son of somebody and carried weight in this crowd. We continued to depart but I felt obliged to stop Chris.“Thanks, but I'm not sure why you just backed me up there,” I questioned.“Maybe you're not such a bad guy,” he grinned.I had to think that over. I barely knew Christopher Gilbert. He was 23, son of a big real estate guy, he was a property manager, whatever that was.“I have to appreciate the timing of your epiphany,” I joked.“It came to me late Thursday night when I had a security issue at one of my properties,” he grinned. Oh, crap. His daddy must own the mall where I had that little altercation.“Sorry if I cost you a good night's sleep,” was all I could say.“Let me say that, 'damn, you're fast,' and it would have been mean of me to let Andy get his ass handed to him in front of all his friends,” Chris related. “He's really not a bad guy either.”“I'll keep that in mind,” I nodded.We were making our way to the church hall when Rio, Iona, and Barbie Lynn intercepted us.“Hey, Ms. Masters,” Chris said to Barbie Lynn. He looked at the other two girls.“Christopher Gilbert, this is Rio Talon and Iona Becket, two of my classmates and closest friends,” I introduced my buddies.“So, Chris, how do you know Barbie-licious?” Rio smirked.“Huh?” Chris said.“Rio has an intense sense of humor, Chris,” I intervened. “Pay her no mind.” Before Rio cold make things worse, I placed an arm behind her and pinched her butt. “Behave,” I warned her.“Okay, Zane,” Chris chuckled. “Good luck with that one. To answer your question: I know Ms. Masters from a few years back at a youth retreat. We were both counselors. Take care now.” He turned and walked off to his section of the tabernacle while the girls and I went off to ours.“So, Barbie, were you hot for Chris back at camp?” Rio persisted.“Chris? Nah, he had a girlfriend back then; they both went to the University of Virginia. I think they broke up right before they graduated but I'm not sure,” Barbie Lynn informed us. “Besides, I had a fiancé too.”“Had? Have you tossed him over for Zane?” Rio teased. I sighed and Barbie Lynn blushed.“Nah, Shugah, I tossed him over for you,” Barbie Lynn whispered into Rio's ear.“Just for that tantalizing tease, no Honey Glaze for those hot crossed buns of yours,” Rio bantered right back.“Am I the only one who remembers we are in a church?” lectured Iona.“No, you are not,” Christina surprised us. “Now stop trying to make a scene and sit down with the rest of us.” We dutifully obeyed because three of us respected Christina and I had one of Rio's arms twisted behind her back.At the end of service there was no problem getting the gang to go down to the space between the pews and the podium where the important people gathered. I caught Pastor William shooting me a hooded look but I blew him off. I was here for someone else, as was Barbie Lynn and Rio. Iona was tagging along to make sure we kept out of too much trouble.“Hey, Sahara,” I greeted the pastor's wife, who hovered near but wasn't part of the action.“Why, hello, Zane,” she smiled. “Did you enjoy the service?”“I'm still a little fuzzy on the message of seeking wisdom in God's word instead of Man's technology,” I grinned. “After all, I have an app that gives me helpful Bible verses on demand.”“I think you missed the point, Zane,” she shook her head with mirth. “We need to trust the Word of God over the simple technological solutions that fail to take in the moral implications of the results.”“Wow, when you say it that way, it makes sense,” I applauded. Sahara blushed and gave me another smile.Rio and Barbie Lynn had closed in on Felicity, allowing Iona and I to come up behind Mrs. Wellington. I put my hand on the small of her back and positioned myself at her side.“Hello, Mrs. Wellington,” I greeted her. I knew her first look at me would define a lot about how she felt about last night.“Zane,” she beamed at me. “How are you doing today?”“Better now,” I grinned. “I just wanted to say that I'm downloading those files we discussed when I get to campus this afternoon.”“Oh,” Mrs. Bainbridge sneered, “is Mr. Braxton working on a special project already?”“Zane,” Rochelle Wellington smiled to her rival sweetly, “send Kendra a copy of the notes you showed me. Kendra, Zane has a talent for 3-D imagery that the committee will find quite useful. I thought you might find it nice to have our newest member showing some interest.”“Oh, it is his interest that I'm worried about,” Kendra commented, with a pretty obvious look toward Sahara.Before I could respond to that jab, I felt a hand on my shoulder trying to pull me around.“Pastor William wants a word with you,” Lance informed me.“Okay,” I shrugged, then turned back to Kendra. “Mrs. Bainbridge, I admit that it is my fault that I find Mrs. Penny to be kinder, more compassionate, and more spiritually understanding than you. She is a gentle soul who better relates to what a young man needs.”“Pastor William wants to see you now,” Lance insisted.“That's nice, Lance. I'm talking to your mother,” I said dismissively. “Rochelle, thank you for agreeing to mentor me; I appreciate you helping me understand this Church and this community by taking some of your valuable time to listen to my ideas.”“Ladies, have a nice Sunday. Okay, Lance, let's go see what Pastor Bill wants now,” I told him.“His name is Pastor William,” Lance corrected me somewhat angrily.“No, his name is William Penny and he happens to be a pastor,” I jibed. Lance's response was stymied by our arrival at Pastor Bill's circle of cronies.“Ah, Glenn,” Bill greeted me. “I would like to invite you to dine with my wife and I tomorrow night.” I was smart enough to know that wasn't really an invitation, but still,“I'd like to but this week is our first round of testing for the semester so I'm not sure I can break free,” I answered.“You find time enough for other things, like jail,” he lectured me in a personally degrading matter.“Pastor William, as you will learn about me, people who cross me or threaten the ones I hold dear, I beat bloody and leave broken on the ground,” I smiled evilly right back. The confusion that threat caused was evident because I hadn't been quiet.“Jesus loves the Peacemaker,” Pastor Bill bantered back.“Winners write the history books,” I countered.“That is not very Christian of you,” Mr. Wellington, the Mayor, pointed out.“Jesus Christ ended up nailed to a cross; Emperor Constantine, who converted the whole Roman Empire to Christ's worship, got to build his own city,” I responded.“I won't be as famous but I'll do more and get to bury my enemies before I die,” I added.“Are you sure you were a missionary in Thailand?” another church elder asked.“Oh, I was a missionary all right, but not a very good one. I left the hard work to my Uncle Tim and Aunt Jill,” I informed them.“Did they convert many heathen souls to the World of our Lord?” a third man inquired.“It is not that simple. They taught people to read English and got them in the practice of reading the Bible,” I explained. “They have over a thousand years of culture to work against and many of the tenants of Buddhism are close to our own Christian virtues so it is hard work.”“So that would be a 'No',” Pastor Bill gloated.“Really?” I grinned. “When Uncle Tim went missing, 200 of his flock risked floodwaters in an eventually futile effort to save him. How many of us would risk drowning to save you, Pastor William? I would say that when lives were on the line, his flock did their Christian duty.”I noticed Jill standing on the edge of the group listening, her eyes close to tears. Hey, I hated Tim, but I wasn't going to let these spineless bastards degrade the man in front of his widow, no matter how I felt.“I'm sure we would all rise to the challenge,” Mr. Wellington pontificated.“Then you are as good a man as Uncle Tim,” I trapped him with his own words.“Your Uncle Tim gave everything, including his life,” Pastor Bill said with a smug, superior smile. “His willingness to give should be an example for all.”“I'm already giving. The Festivities Committee's budget seems a bit anemic so I'm going to be funding some of their efforts,” I enlightened him.“That is not how tithes are normally handled,” Pastor Bill corrected me.“I'm not a normal guy,” I grinned. “Pastor, I'll look over my schedule and call your house to let you know if I can swing dinner tomorrow. It has been a wonderful chat but I have to be going now.”I turned and left them there, confident I hadn't made any friends among Bill's inner circle. The price of their friendship was way more than I was willing to pay and it wasn't just monetary. My girls swarmed around me, even Jill.“Thank you, Zane,” Jill said softly. “Tim would have been proud.”“Jill, I said that for you, not him. You stood by him and that shouldn't be trampled on by people who don't know any better,” I comforted her.“I was getting ready to cry out 'Blood and Souls for my Lord Arioch,” Rio grinned.“Why did you antagonize them?” Iona wondered.“They are used to bullying people and getting their way. I let them know I was more than willing to fight,” I told Iona.“He also wanted the women to see what he was doing,” Barbie Lynn said. “I saw a few females, Felicity included, who thought a great deal of how Zane handled the situation.”“Girls love watching men fight over them,” Rio laughed as we exited into the parking lot.“Is everyone coming to our place for lunch?” Jill asked. I took a quick look around the girls who nodded their approval.“Sure thing, Jill; we will be at home in an hour,” I answered.Getting back to campus and into casual clothes wasn't a problem, nor was lunch with Jill. We sat around and shot the shit for an hour afterwards but school work demanded that we head back to school to do some actual classwork. I went by Raven's to pick her up because she'd left me a text (by way of Iona) that she'd made some progress over the weekend.“We really should study in the library,” Raven told me as we headed to my room.“The last time I checked, the library didn't have a snack bar,” I told her. Raven was less than convinced and a bit nervous until we opened the door to the bottom of the steps leading to the Solarium where I lived and the voices of multiple girls welcomed us.“You have company?” she questioned me.“All freshmen are welcome in my room, Raven. You'll see,” I informed her.“Is there going to be anyplace for us to study, ” Raven began to confound me, then we came to the point where you could see past the side of the stairs into the Solarium.“Oh, God,” she muttered at the scope of the room, “you, you have pool tables!” she ended up in a near squeal. “I love pool!” She took a few steps forward into the room before looking back at me. “What is all this? Where did this all come from?”“I was given the entire Solarium as my room, sort of, and I decided to convert most of it to a common area for the freshman class,” I said.“How long has this been going on?” she wondered.“We did it yesterday,” Iona said from the closest sofa. She put down her laptop and walked over to us. “Zane paid for the stuff and we students put it in. Let me show you around.”“You do that, Iona,” I told her, as I gave my diminutive friend a hug, “I'll be in my room.”Iona led Raven deeper into the complex of entertainment while I headed to my room, which seemed to be the quietest place to study today.ValerieI passed around the Chinese silk screens that shielded my private area from the rest of the Solarium and saw my new monster-sized bed. I also saw the tall, honey-blonde Amazon reclining on it, looking my way.“Come here, my Love-Monkey,” she said in a deep, husky voice. I'm sure my mouth gaped open.“Ah, I don't believe we've been introduced,” I managed to finally say. She smiled and patted the bed beside her.“You are seriously hot and I'm positive I'd remember you if we'd met, but I don't and I do need to study so I'm going to ask you to please leave,” I groaned. “Trust me, I really don't want to be asking you that either.”I heard laughter from the far side of the bed and Rio slowly raised her body into sight.“Bro, the look on your face is priceless,” she chuckled.“So this is really your room?” the other girl inquired.“I told you it was,” Rio grinned.“Yes, it is,” I responded as well. “In fact, this entire floor is mine, mainly because the Administration has nowhere else to stick me.”“Rio, what's going on here?” I turned to my other friend.“Honest, Boss,” she beamed, “I found her when I got home. She's my new dorm mate, your replacement.”“You were her first roommate?” the newcomer asked.“For all of one night,” I confessed. “Then everyone realized she had boobies, and I didn't, and I developed this current life of seclusion.”“This is your version of seclusion?” she questioned.“What can I say?” I sighed. “I'm a man of creature comforts. That still doesn't explain you on my bed. Rio?”“She is Valerie Palmer, a new addition to the school,” Rio started, “but that's not the cool part. She's a member of the Stormriders motorcycle gang.” Seeing my lack of name recognition, Rio added, “They are a big deal in the West, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Nevada, and Arizona, of course.”“Nice to meet you, Valerie.” I knelt on the bed and extended my hand. “I'm Glenn Zane Braxton, but everyone calls me Zane. Welcome to FFU, and what brought you to us?”“Dad is a born-again Christian and he wanted me to come here, so here I am,” she shrugged. Now, to me that made no sense, as she should have been eighteen, thus her own person, but who was I to press into her personal matters.“Damn it, Zane, I keep forgetting you were living in a cave for the past two years,” Rio shook her head. “Her grandfather is Daniel 'Damien' Palmer.” Again, I didn't know who that person was.“My grandfather is doing three life sentences,” Valerie said with a degree of weariness.“Fine. I should take it the Stormriders are not a motorcycle club, then,” I grinned at her.Valerie's eyes and mine locked for several seconds.“Are you arrogant, stupid, or really unconcerned?” Valerie asked me.“A little of all three,” Rio chimed in.“You should never ask a man if he's arrogant because if he is, he won't know it,” I responded.“I'm smart enough to get into this university, but them I'm dumb enough to be the only guy at this university,” I continued. “I can honestly tell you I really don't care who you were before you came here. It is none of my damn business. If you want to be friends, I'm game.” Valerie nodded. “Oh, and Rio is a nutjob, but if you hurt her, I'll make you suffer, I swear it.”“Is that supposed to scare me, rich boy?” Valerie said, becoming very serious and sitting up, “because I'm not impressed.”“I didn't say it to impress you, Valerie,” I met her gaze, “I believe in fair warning. I don't care if you are damaged goods or you are one stone-cold, bad-ass bitch; you mess with Rio and I'll take her pain out of your hide.”“Rio, I thought you told me this guy was cool,” Valerie said to Rio while still looking at me.“Best guy in the whole God-damn world,” Rio beamed.“Zane, have you ever stabbed somebody?” Valerie quizzed me.“On purpose or by accident?” I asked.“How do you stab someone by accident?” Valerie wondered.“You toss their ass into a stand of bamboo so hard the stalks break and they get impaled,” I answered. “I take it you've done it on purpose.” She shrugged.“Do you fight much?” she changed tact.“More than I should,” I replied, “but I butt in where I don't belong too much.”“Me too,” Valerie nodded, “on the 'I fight more than I should' thing.”“Well, I would rather talk shit upfront than spill blood later,” I pointed out.“Like warning me about Rio,” she nodded.“Please believe me, she's a nut and will get on your nerves, so please don't toss her out a window or down the stairs because I'm actually attached to her,” I grinned. Rio flopped on the bed.“I should be mouthing empty denials but Zane's pretty much right,” Rio snickered, “and if he hadn't fucked me silly on the preacher's desk this morning, I'd be in his face about this bullshit.”“You had sex on your preacher's desk?” Valerie smiled.“Zane, what are these girls, what the hell?” Raven went off. “What kind of bedroom is this?”“Raven, you know Rio and this is her new roommate Valerie. Valerie, this is Raven,” I groaned.“Hey, Raven,” Valerie greeted her. “So do you normally walk into Zane's bedroom too?”“No,” Raven blushed. “He invited me over to do some work on our English project.” Iona stepped in behind Raven and waved to Rio.“Iona, Valerie; Valerie, Iona,” I sighed.“Wait!” Valerie raised her hand and looked back to me. “Are you gay? Because I see a lot of girls strolling into your room and none of them have been identified as your girlfriend yet.”“Technically, that would be Heaven,” Iona volunteered. “She's a senior.”“Can we get back to everyone being in Zane's room?” Raven grumbled. “And what is he doing with a bed as big as my entire room back home?” Valerie appraised the room.“Got it,” she laughed. “You are sleeping with her (Iona) and her (Rio), but not you (Raven).”“Of course I'm not sleeping with him,” Raven shot back. “I took a Purity Pledge, as should all of you.”“I'm not a virgin,” Valerie responded.“Me, either,” Rio waved.“I am,” Iona raised her hand.“That's nice,” I directed. “Rio, Valerie, and Iona, please leave. I've invited Raven to my room so we can do actual classwork because I occasionally like to pretend I'm in college for an education.”“On it, Zane,” Rio snickered. “Come on, Valerie, let's go check out the hot tub. I wanted to show you to Zane so he could put you on his 'To Do' list.” Iona shook her head and left.“I've got a boyfriend,” Valerie clarified.“Thank God,” I muttered, which drew looks from all three women. After Rio and Val left, Raven kept staring at me.“I, does this happen to you often?” she finally asked.“Yes, but I've learned to adjust,” I pointed out.We sat down on the bed, Raven pulled out four library books on the period we were looking into, and we began going through them and taking notes.“Is Heaven really your girlfriend?” Raven asked after a while.“Yes, but it is more complicated than that. I love another girl but I don't know if she loves me, and I spend time with a dozen other girls here, plus I have friends at a Sorority House off campus,” I explained.“And you sleep with Rio, who isn't a virgin, and Iona, who is,” she stated, and I confirmed with a nod.“I was wrong. If you can keep all that straight in your head, you have a good grasp of details. We are going to do fine on this term paper.”“Thank you, Raven,” I smiled at her, and for a change, she smiled back.GUST FRONTI would have liked to spend the night with Iona and Barbie Lynn but Iona informed me that Coach Dana Gorman had tested her security code earlier in the day and I figured something was up; nothing good for me and my friends. Sure enough, at 12:10 in the morning, my little buzzer by the bed that informed me that a key code was being entered woke me up.I silenced the alarm (no sense in letting them know that I had it) and waited in bed. Shortly thereafter, the Coach and two female security guards came strolling in.“Alone?” Dana quipped.“You asking me out?” I grinned.“Get up; we need to check the bed, if that is what you call this thing,” she motioned to my sleeping platform. I dutifully got out of bed.“What are you doing?” she snapped when she realized I was naked.“Getting out of bed like you asked me to. I sleep in the nude, or didn't you already know that?” I yawned.“Put some clothes on,” she ordered. I picked up my robe and put it on while they stripped back my sheets and looked for bodily fluids under the dark light. I had been at my Aunt's the past two nights, so yes, my bed was still fresh. Unsatisfied, Dana and her two buddies began roughly going over my place.When they finally discovered nothing (my hiding places were specifically designed), the two officers turned and left.“I'll be keeping an eye on you, Zane. You can expect this to be a regular occurrence,” she promised. I simply stared. We remained looking at one another for a minute because she knew I was up to something.“That's right, step out of line and make my job easier,” she noted. Again I kept my silence. It would have been easy to take this personally but I'd told her this was War and I took that seriously. I doubted I was the sole beneficiary of their attention so I had to get ready to respond to their next move.“Nothing to say?” she asked. I kept staring. “Say something, damn it,” she growled.“Good night, Coach,” I obliged. She shook her head, turned, and walked away. When I saw the door close behind her I went back to my room and took out my phone. I made three calls to the concerned parties and a final call to Iona, to have her wipe my call log. I can't say I slept well that night.Showering in the morning was troublesome enough on normal days but this morning, Rio decided to invite Valerie to join us. I did my best to pretend to ignore her, which wasn't easy. Valerie was around six feet with milky skin where the sun didn't reach and tanned where it did. Her hair was golden-blonde and she was trimmed, not shaved. Her eyes were grey with a hint of blue around the edges; he breasts were a solid C without a hint of sag. There sure were a lot of blondes going to this school.I could see the mental calculations going through her head as she walked in and the other girls eyed her. In the hierarchy of this place, I didn't hold a place; proximity to me showed a girl's status among the crowd. Opal was top dog, but Rio and Iona were marked by their close relationship with me as well.Valerie clearly thought about walking away from it all to spare herself the drama and the grief. She countered that with the knowledge that she had to fit in somewhere in this school, and as non-traditional as she was, her best bet was with us. She answered that internal struggle by taking the shower one down from me, next to Opal.Opal expressed her dominance to Valerie by corralling me into a body massage and a show of mutual affection. I thought Valerie was unimpressed with those actions but as we got into it, I sensed she was intrigued by the notion of having sex without actually having sex, and the sexual arousal that came with it.As I settled in front of the sink to brush my hair, shave, and brush my teeth, Valerie took the sink beside me.“You don't seem to mind all these naked bodies around you,” she noted.“Why should I? I enjoy them and they enjoy me. I like making them happy, and my presence certainly makes their lives more difficult so I'm glad to help,” I explained.“So, do things ever go to the next level?” Valerie asked.“Not here, and not with most of these women; they are virgins and happy about that fact. They want to be virgins on their wedding nights and I respect that,” I answered.“Rio makes you out to be some sort of sex-crazed stud monster,” Val informed me.“Rio's not a virgin and her only plans for marriage involve her being a black widow to her old, rich husbands,” I grinned.“Is she, bi-sexual?” Valerie whispered.“Yes, I can verify that she is,” I replied quietly. “Has she hit on you yet? Wait, silly question, have you thrown her out of your bed yet?”“This morning I found her sucking on my nipple through my nightshirt,” she smirked.“Rio needs constant reminding of where the boundaries are,” I informed Val.“You two talking about me?” Rio came bouncing up. “Is there a three-way in our future? Who gets tied up?” Valerie groaned in response.“Rio, there is such a thing as personal space and acceptable roommate behavior,” I told Rio. “Things like spontaneously feeling her up while she sleeps are BAD!”“God, damn it!” Rio squalled, “But did you see the size of those bad boys? They are huge and puffy and I swear, they were calling out to me across the room.”“In my long and illustrious career with the female nipple, they have never talked to me. If you don't behave, I'm going to have to tie you up at the next orgy and make you watch,” I warned. I couldn't threaten to take away something she had, like her piercings; that would make her dig in her heels. Instead, I went after the things she was looking forward to.“Don't forget to secure her hands over her head so she can't diddle herself,” Valerie got into the sport of things.“Good point,” I agreed.“Major buzz-kill, you two. Valerie, you are trying to make your first day here no fun at all,” Rio teased.“Which reminds me; Valerie, has Rio warned you about Handmaiden's Duty?” I inquired. Rio looked offended that I would say such a thing while Val looked confused.“It is a tradition here that requires all freshmen to perform a task of a non-damaging nature for any and all upperclassmen. They cannot grab you in class or a dorm room, but anywhere else is fair game,” I informed her.“My first task was to be a bench for someone to sit on,” Rio grinned.“Mine was to kiss a girl,” I nodded.“Kiss her? Cordelia damn near passed out, you kissed her so long and deep,” Rio teased me.“The first one was very nice and chaste,” Iona stepped up and added. “It was the second one that curled her toes and started the stampeded on Zane.”“What do I do if a girl asks me to kiss her?” Valerie worried.“Tell her you are waiting for your herpes to clear up,” Rio volunteered.“It isn't likely to happen,” Iona came across with sounder advice. “Homosexuality is frowned on at this campus.”“I'd tell you to kiss them and enjoy the moment, but I'm a guy,” I shrugged.“I'm still not sure what is normal for this place,” Valerie related.“Rio and Zane are aberrations,” Iona offered. “Most of the girls here are fundamentalist Christian virgins who are looking to get married once they graduate this place.”“What is your story?” Val asked Iona.“I was pretty much the girl I just described until I met these two,” she smiled. “Now I feel that I have, options.”“Options like prison time,” Rio laughed, “or becoming a sex toy at an S&M club.”“I was thinking more like taking a summer and roaming the country,” Iona glared Rio.“Maybe I could teach you to ride a motorcycle and you can come with me,” Valerie offered.“That would be wonderful!” Iona brightened up. “When could we start?”“This afternoon, if you like,” Val responded. “My ride is in the parking lot.”“You have a motorcycle, here?” Rio exclaimed.“Rio, it is hard to be in a motorcycle gang without a chopper,” Valerie pointed out.“On that note, I have to go,” I sighed. New girls were starting to migrate in, meaning I had to retreat to my room. “Take care, everyone.”The crapstormThe crapstorm fell on us as we left the dorm. All kinds of upperclassmen snatched up freshmen as they appeared and shadowed Pro-Christina students they couldn't grab. Rio and I were able to shove off of Valerie before she was identified as being with one of us, so she made it to the Dining Hall unmolested.I didn't have to do anything too heinous, carry three backpacks while reciting the Gospel of Luke from memory (ugh). They made Rio sing 'Onward Christian Soldier' because it was the only religious song she'd admit to knowing. She did a horrific hack-job of it too. They had Iona going through the descendants of Noah; she knocked them back flawlessly, Brainiac.It got better at the Dining Hall door where Rhaine oversaw the removal of every electronic device from the incoming students, no phones, tablets or laptops, nothing capable of rapid communication. Then came the assigned seating designed to break us all up. Surprisingly, Valerie looped back around and joined us in the line.She leaned into me.“What the fuck is going on?” she whispered.“There is a war going on between the Pro-Christina faction Rio, Iona and I belong to, and the Pro-Rhaine faction, which is supported by the Administration. I didn't want to get you involved,” I explained as I saw Mrs. Marlowe closing in.“Mr. Braxton, be quiet,” she snapped.“Of course, Ms. Marlowe,” I nodded to her; she glared back. We had assigned seating for breakfast, isolating us. Conversations were kept to a minimum by roving teachers and the mood was getting grim, made worse by a slow drizzle that began to fall outside. Still, things weren't hopeless.As I was putting my food tray away, Paige of the Science Club slipped past me.“Copper Seven,” she whispered.Cordelia, head of the Science Club, was definitely the smartest person on campus. She'd created a list of contingency plans for us to use if things went bad. We should have been getting them on our phones but the Chancellor had stymied us there.Instead, things were circulating by word of mouth. In this case, Copper Seven, things were simple. Copper meant theft and Seven was the code for communications. We were stealing the facility's phones, crashing their computers, and doing whatever mischief we could to make communications difficult, if not impossible.I had the pleasure of passing the word on to Rio, who gave me a look that would have made any brigand with a handful of gold proud. I didn't know the specifics of Rio's criminal history but I knew she definitely had one, and I'd have been stunned if pickpocket and shoplifting weren't part of her repertoire. I'd warned Coach Gorman about making shit like this fascist suppression policy up.I barely recalled what I was forced to perform on the way to Assembly because what happened there was so memorable. We got the standard lecture, then the Chancellor laid into Christina for all the disruptions the student body was going through, Christina and a few other malcontents. What made it memorable was, at the end of Dr. Bass's speech, a freshman I barely knew, Millicent Pierce, stood up and raised her fist in defiance.“That's bullshit!” she cried out.“Sit down and be quiet, child!” the Chancellor commanded. “Coach Gorman,” she then directed our head of security toward the young girl. Millicent wasn't done yet.“You are lying to us!” she screamed out again.As Gorman and a second teacher made their way to our young rebel, Rio stood up with a raised fist.“Shame!” Rio called out. A dozen of us followed suit. Teachers flooded off the stage but Cappadocia figured out that if you joined up with other girls and linked arms, they couldn't drag you out.Girls were screaming at girls, shoving began, and soon blows were being exchanged and Assembly degenerated to a nasty furball. We were threatened with demerits, detention, and finally expulsion, but nothing seemed to curtail the conflict. I saw Ms. Goodswell leave the melee and go to the base of the podium and begin to plead with Bass about something.I could see that Goodswell was trying to get the Chancellor to let Christina come onto the stage and quiet her followers but our Glorious Leader wouldn't budge. Christina could see the gestures and I knew she was about to end things anyway. There was something I had to do before things fell apart.I leapt up and began using the backs and arm rests to jump across the crowd. I made it to Millicent right ahead of Gorman. Millicent seemed stunned to see me hovering over her but it was too noisy to communicate. I pulled her up and retreated back the way I'd come, keeping her out of Gorman's clutches for the moment.“Thanks,” she grinned at me.“Who is your Spiritual Advisor?” I responded. “We need to get you to her so you don't face the Chancellor alone.”“Ms. Trenton,” Millicent responded.Ms. Trenton wasn't one of the 'good guys' but she wasn't on our enemies list either. I located Trenton and angled us toward her.“This is crazy,” Millicent gasped. After all, if we tumbled, we might very well break our necks. Ms. Trenton didn't look happy to see either one of us but she immediately clued into why I was dropping her student off on her. She grabbed Millicent by the arm and led her away. This was a good thing because our rebellion was about spent for the moment.A minute later we had quieted down. Dr. Bass threatened us with a whole new series of punishments before exiling us off to our first classes. I had the joy of gettin

Ezra 8:24-34 Thanks to everyone who supports TMBH at patreon.com/thetmbhpodcast You're the reason we can all do this together! Discuss the episode here Music by Jeff Foote

Tuesday January 23, 2024 The power of the Son of God Scripture - the word from the mouth of God.... for full notes: https://www.cgtruth.org/index.php?proc=msg&sf=vw&tid=2939

In today's Gospel Jesus call his first four Apostles, all fishermen. These will be the first bishops and priests of his Church. Why does Jesus choose a seemingly disproportionate number of men with this particular vocation? Precisely because these men understand the basics of evangelization. They know how to put good bait on their hook to draw in the fish. To be fishers of men, they will have to be like Jesus, attracting men to their self. To be good "bait" will be for them to be more and more conformed to Jesus. This is the call of every baptized person and, especially, of every priest.

Support Common Prayer Daily @ PatreonVisit our Website for more www.commonprayerdaily.com_______________EpiphanyAnd nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.Isaiah 60:3 ConfessionOfficiant: Let us humbly confess our sins unto Almighty God.People: Almighty and most merciful Father, we have erred and strayed from your ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against your holy laws.We have left undone those things which we ought to have done, and we have done those things which we ought not to have done; and apart from your grace, there is no health in us. O Lord, have mercy upon us. Spare all those who confess their faults. Restore all those who are penitent, according to your promises declared to all people in Christ Jesus our Lord. And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake, that we may now live a godly, righteous, and sober life, to the glory of your holy Name. Amen.Officiant: Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life. Amen. The Lord's PrayerOur Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen. Invitatory & PsalmsOfficiant: O God, make speed to save us. People: O Lord, make haste to help us. Officiant & People: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. O Gracious Light Phos hilaronO gracious Light, pure brightness of the everliving Father in heaven, O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed!Now as we come to the setting of the sun, and our eyes behold the vesper light, we sing your praises, O God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.You are worthy at all times to be praised by happy voices, O Son of God, O Giver of life,and to be glorified through all the worlds. Psalm 25 Ad te, Domine, levavi1To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul;my God, I put my trust in you; *let me not be humiliated,nor let my enemies triumph over me.2Let none who look to you be put to shame; *let the treacherous be disappointed in their schemes.3Show me your ways, O Lord, *and teach me your paths.4Lead me in your truth and teach me, *for you are the God of my salvation;in you have I trusted all the day long.5Remember, O Lord, your compassion and love, *for they are from everlasting.6Remember not the sins of my youth and my transgressions; *remember me according to your loveand for the sake of your goodness, O Lord.7Gracious and upright is the Lord; *therefore he teaches sinners in his way.8He guides the humble in doing right *and teaches his way to the lowly.9All the paths of the Lord are love and faithfulness *to those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.10For your Name's sake, O Lord, *forgive my sin, for it is great.11Who are they who fear the Lord? *he will teach them the way that they should choose.12They shall dwell in prosperity, *and their offspring shall inherit the land.13The Lord is a friend to those who fear him *and will show them his covenant.14My eyes are ever looking to the Lord, *for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.15Turn to me and have pity on me, *for I am left alone and in misery.16The sorrows of my heart have increased; *bring me out of my troubles.17Look upon my adversity and misery *and forgive me all my sin.18Look upon my enemies, for they are many, *and they bear a violent hatred against me.19Protect my life and deliver me; *let me not be put to shame, for I have trusted in you.20Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, *for my hope has been in you.21Deliver Israel, O God, *out of all his troubles. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. The LessonsEzekiel 13:1-19 English Standard Version13 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, who are prophesying, and say to those who prophesy from their own hearts: ‘Hear the word of the Lord!' 3 Thus says the Lord God, Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! 4 Your prophets have been like jackals among ruins, O Israel. 5 You have not gone up into the breaches, or built up a wall for the house of Israel, that it might stand in battle in the day of the Lord. 6 They have seen false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘Declares the Lord,' when the Lord has not sent them, and yet they expect him to fulfill their word. 7 Have you not seen a false vision and uttered a lying divination, whenever you have said, ‘Declares the Lord,' although I have not spoken?”8 Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Because you have uttered falsehood and seen lying visions, therefore behold, I am against you, declares the Lord God. 9 My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and who give lying divinations. They shall not be in the council of my people, nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord God. 10 Precisely because they have misled my people, saying, ‘Peace,' when there is no peace, and because, when the people build a wall, these prophets smear it with whitewash, 11 say to those who smear it with whitewash that it shall fall! There will be a deluge of rain, and you, O great hailstones, will fall, and a stormy wind break out. 12 And when the wall falls, will it not be said to you, ‘Where is the coating with which you smeared it?' 13 Therefore thus says the Lord God: I will make a stormy wind break out in my wrath, and there shall be a deluge of rain in my anger, and great hailstones in wrath to make a full end. 14 And I will break down the wall that you have smeared with whitewash, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be laid bare. When it falls, you shall perish in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am the Lord. 15 Thus will I spend my wrath upon the wall and upon those who have smeared it with whitewash, and I will say to you, The wall is no more, nor those who smeared it, 16 the prophets of Israel who prophesied concerning Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for her, when there was no peace, declares the Lord God.17 “And you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own hearts. Prophesy against them 18 and say, Thus says the Lord God: Woe to the women who sew magic bands upon all wrists, and make veils for the heads of persons of every stature, in the hunt for souls! Will you hunt down souls belonging to my people and keep your own souls alive? 19 You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, putting to death souls who should not die and keeping alive souls who should not live, by your lying to my people, who listen to lies.Officiant: The Word of the LordPeople: Thanks be to God. The Song of Mary - MagnificatMy soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; * for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant From this day all generations will call me blessed: * the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name. He has mercy on those who fear him * in every generation.He has shown the strength of his arm, * he has scattered the proud in their conceit.He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, * and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, * and the rich he has sent away empty. He has come to the help of his servant Israel, * for he has remembered his promise of mercy, The promise he made to our fathers, * to Abraham and his children for ever.Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *as It was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. John 3:22-36 English Standard Version22 After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. 23 John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized 24 (for John had not yet been put in prison).25 Now a discussion arose between some of John's disciples and a Jew over purification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” 27 John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.' 29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”31 He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. 33 Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. 34 For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. 35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.Officiant: The Word of the LordPeople: Thanks be to God. The Song of Simeon - Nunc dimittisLord, you now have set your servant free * to go in peace as you have promised; For these eyes of mine have seen the Savior, * whom you have prepared for all the world to see: A Light to enlighten the nations, * and the glory of your people Israel.Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: * as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. The CreedI believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. The PrayersOfficiant: The Lord be with you.People: And also with you.Officiant: Let us pray The SuffragesThat this evening may be holy, good, and peaceful, We entreat you, O Lord.That your holy angels may lead us in paths of peace and goodwill, We entreat you, O Lord.That we may be pardoned and forgiven for our sins and offenses, We entreat you, O Lord.That there may be peace to your Church and to the whole world, We entreat you, O Lord.That we may depart this life in your faith and fear, and not be condemned before the great judgment seat of Christ, We entreat you, O Lord.That we may be bound together by your Holy Spirit in the communion of all your saints, entrusting one another and all our life to Christ, We entreat you, O Lord.Take a moment at this time to reflect and pray for the needs of others. Epiphany 2ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, you who rule over all things in heaven and earth: Mercifully hear the prayers of your people, and grant us your peace all the days of our life; through Jesus Christ our LORD. Amen.A Collect for PeaceMost holy God, the source of all good desires, all right judgments, and all just works: Give to us, your servants, that peace which the world cannot give, so that our minds may be fixed on the doing of your will, and that we, being delivered from the fear of all enemies, may live in peace and quietness; through the mercies of Christ Jesus our Savior. Amen.A Collect for Aid against PerilsBe our light in the darkness, O Lord, and in your great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of your only Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.For MissionKeep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love's sake. Amen. ThanksgivingsThe General ThanksgivingAlmighty God, Father of all mercies, we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks for all your goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all whom you have made. We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for your immeasurable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies, that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up our selves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen.A Prayer of St. ChrysostomAlmighty God, you have given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplication to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will be in the midst of them: Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting. Amen. ConclusionMay the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen. - Romans 15:13

Few people in American history have saved more lives than Dr. Sidney Wolfe. Dr. Wolfe and his small staff at the Health Research Group of Public Citizen have taken on Big Pharma and the FDA to pull over two dozen dangerous drugs and countless hazardous medical devices off the market, not to mention putting numerous incompetent doctors out of business. Over the course of his storied career, Sid worked relentlessly for workplace safety and with his best-selling book and subsequent newsletter Worst Pills/Best Pills, provided the American people with the most reliable, up-to-date, evidence-based, easy-to-read guide to pharmaceuticals ever compiled. Today we pay tribute to the man who invented the concept of the “public interest doctor.”Dr. Steffie Woolhandler is a co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program, which is a non-profit research and education organization that advocates for single-payer national health insurance. Dr. Woolhandler is a practicing primary care physician, distinguished professor of public health and health policy in the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Public Health, an adjunct professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and lecturer in medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Woolhandler has authored more than 150 journal articles, reviews, chapters, and books on health policy.Dr. David Himmelstein is a co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program. Dr. Himmelstein is a practicing primary care physician, distinguished professor of public health at the City University of New York, a lecturer at Harvard Medical School, and a His more than 150 peer reviewed studies include widely-cited articles appearing in the New England Journal, Annals of Internal Medicine, JAMA, Health Affairs and the American Journal of Public Health on the excess death rate among the uninsured, medical bankruptcy, health care administrative costs, insurance firms' misbehaviors, and dangerous medications.For over 50 years, Dr. Sidney Wolfe—who directed Public Citizen's Health Research Group—has been what I would call the doctor's doctor. Stressing the prevention of trauma and sickness, stressing accountability for gouging and unsafe practices by the drug companies, and pushing for effective regulation by the Food and Drug Administration and the Occupational Safety and Health Agency.Ralph NaderI think that Dr. Sid Wolfe had that emotional intelligence that went with his cognitive intelligence, which makes all the difference in terms of whether someone just knows something and bewails it, or someone just knows something and connects it to action that saves people's lives and prevents injuries.Ralph NaderDr. Sid Wolfe was insistent that those who sell drugs and profit from drugs have to prove that the drug is actually safe, that the harms do not outweigh the benefits. And for many, many drugs on the market in the United States, Sid and others found out that the harms were much greater than the benefits. In identifying literally dozens of drugs that were unsafe, that should not be used, Sid has saved hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of lives of Americans who were threatened by unsafe drugs.Dr. Steffie WoolhandlerDr. Sid Wolfe was meticulous about the truth. Sid insisted that you couldn't overstate what you didn't know, that the most important responsibility of doctors was to be honest with the patients, with the public, with the government about what we know and what we don't know—and often what we don't know is critically important. He never stretched the truth. That was important, not just because others were watching and trying to find flaws in what he did, but it was inherent in Sid's character that he cared about telling the truth and about doing what was right.Dr. David HimmelsteinRobert Weissman is a staunch public interest advocate and activist, as well as an expert on a wide variety of issues ranging from corporate accountability and government transparency to trade and globalization, to economic and regulatory policy. As the President of Public Citizen, Weissman has spearheaded the effort to loosen the chokehold corporations and the wealthy have over our democracy.Outrage may have been Sid's catchphrase, because he saw so much outrageousness in the health field. Precisely because he knew that things were being put on the market that shouldn't be, or services were being withheld from people that shouldn't be— not because of any lack of information, but because of the improper influence and political power and economic power of Big Pharma and the for-profit health insurance industry. And he was outraged about that. Because he understood it rightfully as a matter of life and death.Robert WeissmanDr. Peter Lurie is President and Executive Director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest—an independent, science-based consumer advocacy organization that advocates for a safer, healthier food system. The CSPI also publishes NutritionAction, a healthy-living guide for consumers. Dr. Lurie previously worked with the Food and Drug Administration and Public Citizen's Health Research Group, where he co-authored their Worst Pills, Best Pills consumer guide to medications.'Dr. Sid Wolfe was the person who really held [the FDA's] feet to the fire and held us— or even me, when I was there—accountable. He was the person who raised the impertinent questions. He was the person who asked why you couldn't do more, or he was the person who asked why you did what you had done. All of those were appropriate to do. And all of those challenged the agency in ways that I think were healthy, even if not always welcomed by the agency.Dr. Peter LurieI didn't think, personally, that you could actually win in this life. What I thought that I would do was tilt at windmills for the rest of my life, fight the good fight, maybe be an honorable person, maybe my kids would appreciate it. That's all I really thought would happen. But what Dr. Sid Wolfe showed me was that if you picked the right project, if you picked the project that was the right size, that involved a question that was actually being posed to a regulatory agency… If you picked that right-sized project and you brought the right data to bear, you actually could win. You could get that warning on the box. And if you won the first time, that told you that you could win a second and a third and a fourth time. And that is what keeps you going.Dr. Peter Lurie Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe

In 869, when the Norse killed Edmund, East Anglia was left prostrate before them. Later legend tells us that they had demanded Edmund yield half of his kingdom to them, a demand the king obviously refused, for which he paid with his life. Precisely what the Norse did in East Anglia after killing Edmund is shrouded in mystery, as it is in all of what would become known as the Danelaw.  Credits –  Music: 'Wælheall' by Hrōðmund Wōdening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfdqIyqJ4g&list=LL&index=5&ab_channel=Hr%C5%8D%C3%B0mundW%C5%8Ddening Social Media -  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anglosaxonengland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anglo-Saxon-England-Podcast-110529958048053 Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnglandAnglo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglosaxonenglandpodcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyGUvYZCstptNQeWTwfQuA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SERIES 2 EPISODE 87: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT: Dictator-On-Day-One Trump continues to measure the windows for the new curtains in his White House, and I don't know if that has been PROCESSED on the fascist side or if we have properly done so on the, you know, Non-Dictatorship Side but it is increasingly obvious that Trump is increasingly confident that he will seize power next year. That is the ONLY possible explanation for what he has now done: leaking, to the gullible and willing stenographers from Axios Mike Allen and Jim Vandehei for publication yesterday, a set of choices for his administration that would make Jair Bolsonaro blush: Vice President Tucker Carlson, Chief of Staff Steve Bannon, CIA Director Kash Patel, Attorney General Stephen Miller, or Attorney General Mike Davis, or Attorney General J.D. Vance, Secretary of Defense Tom Cotton, Secretary of Denial Kari Lake, Secretaries-of-to-be-announced Kristi Noem, Byron Donalds, Johnny McEntee, and of course Secretary of Lecterns Sarah Huckabee.  We will never fully now, not even after the autopsy, what PRECISELY is wrong with Trump's brain but it seems clear that whatever it is one of its symptoms is that he must convince himself that he IS winning, WILL win, will ALWAYS win. Jack Smith is right and he IS a serial election denier but it's deeper than that: at his advanced age and with his advanced diseases, if he ever believed he was defeated, he would die – figuratively or maybe literally. So the greatest relief he could possibly have would be to believe, 334 days before it happens, that he has already won the 2024 election and that is how he is behaving and I'm not sure WHAT to do with that but it HAS to make him sloppy and vulnerable and better minds than ours can problem figure out which soft spot on his head to PUSH. What VALUE is there in saying “here's Tucker Carlson: psychopathic white supremacist whose career stability makes Keith Olbermann's look like that of Bob Cratchit – I'm going to put him in government. Along with Kari Lake, whose highest elected office was weekend weather-girl in Rock Island.” It's the kind of things you do NOT to rally your base and NOT to scare your opponents but because you really can't STOP yourself from doing them, and suddenly you are more convinced than ever than you can get away with them. And if that isn't a motto for the entire Trump Nazi Party I don't know what is. PLUS: Matt Gaetz is about to get Robespierred, J.D. Vance wants to get a head start on prosecutor writers. And competing January 6 Truthers fight it out over whose bullshit is true. (17:35) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: MAGA Congresswoman McClain makes a fool of herself but not as much as would-be MAGA Congressman Philip Sean Grillo does. The NFL coach who really doesn't have to "hand it to" the 9/11 plotters. Poor Nick Fuentes and Vivek Ramaswamy pushing white supremacy without realizing that if the Trumpers run out of brown immigrants, the next people they'll purge will be... Fuentes and Ramaswamy. B-Block (33:31) FRIDAYS WITH THURBER: Mr. Preble Gets Rid Of His Wife C-Block (43:32) FRIDAYS WITH THURBER: A Box To Hide InSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Old Testament: Ezekiel 12–13 Ezekiel 12–13 (Listen) Judah's Captivity Symbolized 12 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see, but see not, who have ears to hear, but hear not, for they are a rebellious house. 3 As for you, son of man, prepare for yourself an exile's baggage, and go into exile by day in their sight. You shall go like an exile from your place to another place in their sight. Perhaps they will understand, though1 they are a rebellious house. 4 You shall bring out your baggage by day in their sight, as baggage for exile, and you shall go out yourself at evening in their sight, as those do who must go into exile. 5 In their sight dig through the wall, and bring your baggage out through it. 6 In their sight you shall lift the baggage upon your shoulder and carry it out at dusk. You shall cover your face that you may not see the land, for I have made you a sign for the house of Israel.” 7 And I did as I was commanded. I brought out my baggage by day, as baggage for exile, and in the evening I dug through the wall with my own hands. I brought out my baggage at dusk, carrying it on my shoulder in their sight. 8 In the morning the word of the LORD came to me: 9 “Son of man, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, ‘What are you doing?' 10 Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: This oracle concerns2 the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel who are in it.'3 11 Say, ‘I am a sign for you: as I have done, so shall it be done to them. They shall go into exile, into captivity.' 12 And the prince who is among them shall lift his baggage upon his shoulder at dusk, and shall go out. They shall dig through the wall to bring him out through it. He shall cover his face, that he may not see the land with his eyes. 13 And I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my snare. And I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, yet he shall not see it, and he shall die there. 14 And I will scatter toward every wind all who are around him, his helpers and all his troops, and I will unsheathe the sword after them. 15 And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them among the countries. 16 But I will let a few of them escape from the sword, from famine and pestilence, that they may declare all their abominations among the nations where they go, and may know that I am the LORD.” 17 And the word of the LORD came to me: 18 “Son of man, eat your bread with quaking, and drink water with trembling and with anxiety. 19 And say to the people of the land, Thus says the Lord GOD concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread with anxiety, and drink water in dismay. In this way her land will be stripped of all it contains, on account of the violence of all those who dwell in it. 20 And the inhabited cities shall be laid waste, and the land shall become a desolation; and you shall know that I am the LORD.” 21 And the word of the LORD came to me: 22 “Son of man, what is this proverb that you4 have about the land of Israel, saying, ‘The days grow long, and every vision comes to nothing'? 23 Tell them therefore, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: I will put an end to this proverb, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel.' But say to them, The days are near, and the fulfillment5 of every vision. 24 For there shall be no more any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel. 25 For I am the LORD; I will speak the word that I will speak, and it will be performed. It will no longer be delayed, but in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it, declares the Lord GOD.” 26 And the word of the LORD came to me: 27 “Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, ‘The vision that he sees is for many days from now, and he prophesies of times far off.' 28 Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: None of my words will be delayed any longer, but the word that I speak will be performed, declares the Lord GOD.” False Prophets Condemned 13 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, who are prophesying, and say to those who prophesy from their own hearts: ‘Hear the word of the LORD!' 3 Thus says the Lord GOD, Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! 4 Your prophets have been like jackals among ruins, O Israel. 5 You have not gone up into the breaches, or built up a wall for the house of Israel, that it might stand in battle in the day of the LORD. 6 They have seen false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘Declares the LORD,' when the LORD has not sent them, and yet they expect him to fulfill their word. 7 Have you not seen a false vision and uttered a lying divination, whenever you have said, ‘Declares the LORD,' although I have not spoken?” 8 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Because you have uttered falsehood and seen lying visions, therefore behold, I am against you, declares the Lord GOD. 9 My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and who give lying divinations. They shall not be in the council of my people, nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord GOD. 10 Precisely because they have misled my people, saying, ‘Peace,' when there is no peace, and because, when the people build a wall, these prophets smear it with whitewash,6 11 say to those who smear it with whitewash that it shall fall! There will be a deluge of rain, and you, O great hailstones, will fall, and a stormy wind break out. 12 And when the wall falls, will it not be said to you, ‘Where is the coating with which you smeared it?' 13 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I will make a stormy wind break out in my wrath, and there shall be a deluge of rain in my anger, and great hailstones in wrath to make a full end. 14 And I will break down the wall that you have smeared with whitewash, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be laid bare. When it falls, you shall perish in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am the LORD. 15 Thus will I spend my wrath upon the wall and upon those who have smeared it with whitewash, and I will say to you, The wall is no more, nor those who smeared it, 16 the prophets of Israel who prophesied concerning Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for her, when there was no peace, declares the Lord GOD. 17 “And you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own hearts. Prophesy against them 18 and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the women who sew magic bands upon all wrists, and make veils for the heads of persons of every stature, in the hunt for souls! Will you hunt down souls belonging to my people and keep your own souls alive? 19 You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, putting to death souls who should not die and keeping alive souls who should not live, by your lying to my people, who listen to lies. 20 “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against your magic bands with which you hunt the souls like birds, and I will tear them from your arms, and I will let the souls whom you hunt go free, the souls like birds. 21 Your veils also I will tear off and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand as prey, and you shall know that I am the LORD. 22 Because you have disheartened the righteous falsely, although I have not grieved him, and you have encouraged the wicked, that he should not turn from his evil way to save his life, 23 therefore you shall no more see false visions nor practice divination. I will deliver my people out of your hand. And you shall know that I am the LORD.” Footnotes [1] 12:3 Or will see that [2] 12:10 Or This burden is [3] 12:10 Hebrew in the midst of them [4] 12:22 The Hebrew for you is plural [5] 12:23 Hebrew word [6] 13:10 Or plaster; also verses 11, 14, 15 (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 119:105–112 Psalm 119:105–112 (Listen) Nun 105   Your word is a lamp to my feet    and a light to my path.106   I have sworn an oath and confirmed it,    to keep your righteous rules.107   I am severely afflicted;    give me life, O LORD, according to your word!108   Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O LORD,    and teach me your rules.109   I hold my life in my hand continually,    but I do not forget your law.110   The wicked have laid a snare for me,    but I do not stray from your precepts.111   Your testimonies are my heritage forever,    for they are the joy of my heart.112   I incline my heart to perform your statutes    forever, to the end.1 Footnotes [1] 119:112 Or statutes; the reward is eternal (ESV) New Testament: Ephesians 4 Ephesians 4 (Listen) Unity in the Body of Christ 4 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. 8 Therefore it says,   “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,    and he gave gifts to men.”1 9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?2 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds3 and teachers,4 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood,5 to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. The New Life 17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!—21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self,6 which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. 25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Footnotes [1] 4:8 The Greek word anthropoi can refer to both men and women [2] 4:9 Or the lower parts of the earth? [3] 4:11 Or pastors [4] 4:11 Or the shepherd-teachers [5] 4:13 Greek to a full-grown man [6] 4:22 Greek man; also verse 24 (ESV)

Morning: Ezekiel 13–15 Ezekiel 13–15 (Listen) False Prophets Condemned 13 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, who are prophesying, and say to those who prophesy from their own hearts: ‘Hear the word of the LORD!' 3 Thus says the Lord GOD, Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! 4 Your prophets have been like jackals among ruins, O Israel. 5 You have not gone up into the breaches, or built up a wall for the house of Israel, that it might stand in battle in the day of the LORD. 6 They have seen false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘Declares the LORD,' when the LORD has not sent them, and yet they expect him to fulfill their word. 7 Have you not seen a false vision and uttered a lying divination, whenever you have said, ‘Declares the LORD,' although I have not spoken?” 8 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Because you have uttered falsehood and seen lying visions, therefore behold, I am against you, declares the Lord GOD. 9 My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and who give lying divinations. They shall not be in the council of my people, nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord GOD. 10 Precisely because they have misled my people, saying, ‘Peace,' when there is no peace, and because, when the people build a wall, these prophets smear it with whitewash,1 11 say to those who smear it with whitewash that it shall fall! There will be a deluge of rain, and you, O great hailstones, will fall, and a stormy wind break out. 12 And when the wall falls, will it not be said to you, ‘Where is the coating with which you smeared it?' 13 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I will make a stormy wind break out in my wrath, and there shall be a deluge of rain in my anger, and great hailstones in wrath to make a full end. 14 And I will break down the wall that you have smeared with whitewash, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be laid bare. When it falls, you shall perish in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am the LORD. 15 Thus will I spend my wrath upon the wall and upon those who have smeared it with whitewash, and I will say to you, The wall is no more, nor those who smeared it, 16 the prophets of Israel who prophesied concerning Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for her, when there was no peace, declares the Lord GOD. 17 “And you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own hearts. Prophesy against them 18 and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the women who sew magic bands upon all wrists, and make veils for the heads of persons of every stature, in the hunt for souls! Will you hunt down souls belonging to my people and keep your own souls alive? 19 You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, putting to death souls who should not die and keeping alive souls who should not live, by your lying to my people, who listen to lies. 20 “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against your magic bands with which you hunt the souls like birds, and I will tear them from your arms, and I will let the souls whom you hunt go free, the souls like birds. 21 Your veils also I will tear off and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand as prey, and you shall know that I am the LORD. 22 Because you have disheartened the righteous falsely, although I have not grieved him, and you have encouraged the wicked, that he should not turn from his evil way to save his life, 23 therefore you shall no more see false visions nor practice divination. I will deliver my people out of your hand. And you shall know that I am the LORD.” Idolatrous Elders Condemned 14 Then certain of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. 2 And the word of the LORD came to me: 3 “Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts, and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I indeed let myself be consulted by them? 4 Therefore speak to them and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Any one of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart and sets the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to the prophet, I the LORD will answer him as he comes with the multitude of his idols, 5 that I may lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel, who are all estranged from me through their idols. 6 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: Repent and turn away from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations. 7 For any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel, who separates himself from me, taking his idols into his heart and putting the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to a prophet to consult me through him, I the LORD will answer him myself. 8 And I will set my face against that man; I will make him a sign and a byword and cut him off from the midst of my people, and you shall know that I am the LORD. 9 And if the prophet is deceived and speaks a word, I, the LORD, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. 10 And they shall bear their punishment2—the punishment of the prophet and the punishment of the inquirer shall be alike—11 that the house of Israel may no more go astray from me, nor defile themselves anymore with all their transgressions, but that they may be my people and I may be their God, declares the Lord GOD.” Jerusalem Will Not Be Spared 12 And the word of the LORD came to me: 13 “Son of man, when a land sins against me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it and break its supply3 of bread and send famine upon it, and cut off from it man and beast, 14 even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Lord GOD. 15 “If I cause wild beasts to pass through the land, and they ravage it, and it be made desolate, so that no one may pass through because of the beasts, 16 even if these three men were in it, as I live, declares the Lord GOD, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the land would be desolate. 17 “Or if I bring a sword upon that land and say, Let a sword pass through the land, and I cut off from it man and beast, 18 though these three men were in it, as I live, declares the Lord GOD, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they alone would be delivered. 19 “Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out my wrath upon it with blood, to cut off from it man and beast, 20 even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, declares the Lord GOD, they would deliver neither son nor daughter. They would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness. 21 “For thus says the Lord GOD: How much more when I send upon Jerusalem my four disastrous acts of judgment, sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast! 22 But behold, some survivors will be left in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out; behold, when they come out to you, and you see their ways and their deeds, you will be consoled for the disaster that I have brought upon Jerusalem, for all that I have brought upon it. 23 They will console you, when you see their ways and their deeds, and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, declares the Lord GOD.” Jerusalem, a Useless Vine 15 And the word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, how does the wood of the vine surpass any wood, the vine branch that is among the trees of the forest? 3 Is wood taken from it to make anything? Do people take a peg from it to hang any vessel on it? 4 Behold, it is given to the fire for fuel. When the fire has consumed both ends of it, and the middle of it is charred, is it useful for anything? 5 Behold, when it was whole, it was used for nothing. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it ever be used for anything! 6 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so have I given up the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 7 And I will set my face against them. Though they escape from the fire, the fire shall yet consume them, and you will know that I am the LORD, when I set my face against them. 8 And I will make the land desolate, because they have acted faithlessly, declares the Lord GOD.” Footnotes [1] 13:10 Or plaster; also verses 11, 14, 15 [2] 14:10 Or iniquity; three times in this verse [3] 14:13 Hebrew staff (ESV) Evening: Hebrews 11:20–40 Hebrews 11:20–40 (Listen) 20 By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. 21 By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones. 23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king's edict. 24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them. 29 By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. 32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two,1 they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. Footnotes [1] 11:37 Some manuscripts add they were tempted (ESV)

Today's guest is Dave Foster.   Dave is a 1031 Exchange Expert, a degreed accountant, and serial real estate investor. He is also a Qualified Intermediary and consultant who shares his tax saving strategies with investors like you who want to maximize their returns.    Show summary:  In this episode of "How to Scale Commercial Real Estate", host Sam interviews Dave Foster, a 1031 exchange expert. Dave shares his personal experience of using 1031 exchanges to fund his lifestyle, including living on a sailboat for ten years. He explains the four D's of 1031 investing and how they can be used to recession-proof a portfolio.   -------------------------------------------------------------- Intro (00:02:41)   Using 1031 Exchange to Fund Lifestyle (00:04:40)   Nuances of Converting 1031 Property into Primary Residence (00:06:31)   The first d: Defer (00:11:26)   The second d: Diversify (00:12:20)   The third d: Die (00:15:16)   The 37 part YouTube series (00:24:09)   Ways to contact and talk to us directly (00:24:09)   Subscribe and leave a review (00:24:23) -------------------------------------------------------------- Connect with Dave:  Twitter: https://twitter.com/DaveFoster1031   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davefoster1031/   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DaveFoster1031   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/the1031investor   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davefoster1031/   YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/The1031Investor   BiggerPockets: https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/davefoster1031   Website: https://www.the1031investor.com/   Book: https://a.co/d/f6rKKzc   Connect with Sam: I love helping others place money outside of traditional investments that both diversify a strategy and provide solid predictable returns.     Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HowtoscaleCRE/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samwilsonhowtoscalecre/ Email me → sam@brickeninvestmentgroup.com   SUBSCRIBE and LEAVE A RATING. Listen to How To Scale Commercial Real Estate Investing with Sam Wilson Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-scale-commercial-real-estate/id1539979234 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4m0NWYzSvznEIjRBFtCgEL?si=e10d8e039b99475f -------------------------------------------------------------- Want to read the full show notes of the episode? Check it out below: Dave Foster (00:00:00) - But what people don't realize is that it is perfectly fine to periodically convert a 1031 property that has a large amount of deferred tax into your primary residence. And prior to 2008, when you did that and you lived in it the requisite amount of time, you were able to take the entire amount of the primary residence exemption tax free.   Sam Wilson (00:00:31) - Welcome to the how to Scale Commercial Real Estate show. Whether you are an active or passive investor, we'll teach you how to scale your real estate investing business into something big. Dave Foster is a 1031 exchange expert. He's also a qualified intermediary and consultant who shares his tax saving strategies with investors like you, who want to be in to maximize their returns. Dave, welcome to the show.   Dave Foster (00:00:57) - Sam, it's great to be here again. It's been a while since we got together, man.   Sam Wilson (00:01:03) - It's been since March 16th, 2021 that you've been here on the show. So it's I'm glad glad to have you back on the show today. But maybe for our listeners who haven't gone back to March 16th two and a half years ago and listen to that first episode, there are three questions I ask every guest who comes on the show, so if you don't mind answering them yet again in 90s or less, tell me, where did you start? Where are you now and how did you get there?   Dave Foster (00:01:28) - I started with a huge tax bill from the IRS because my other name is ready.   Dave Foster (00:01:34) - Fire firing. Dave and I bought a duplex in Denver. Fixed it up, sold it. And didn't realize that the 1031 was even allowed. And so ended up paying a huge tax bill. You want to know how that thing still haunts me to this day? Sure. Is that the tax bill would have been about $30,000.30 years ago if I made 10% on my money. For 30 years. What would that look like in my checking account?   Sam Wilson (00:02:05) - I'm going to say 1.2 million. I have no idea.   Dave Foster (00:02:08) - What is it? I refuse to think about it because I want to. It would have been a lot. So that was where I got started, was I discovered that we were going to be able to get to our family's goals quicker by using the tax deferred power of the 1031 exchange. And so that was how we got there. Ten years into that thing, we were able to buy a 53 foot sailboat and move our children on it and raise four boys on a sailboat with tax free dollars from 1031 exchanges.   Dave Foster (00:02:41) - And where I am then, now, today is continuing to reap that and helping other people learn how to do it as well.   Sam Wilson (00:02:49) - So you lived on a 53 foot sailboat? For how long?   Dave Foster (00:02:55) - Ten years.   Sam Wilson (00:02:56) - Wow.   Dave Foster (00:02:57) - Yeah. We raised our four boys on it.   Sam Wilson (00:02:59) - Did you sail around the world?   Dave Foster (00:03:01) - We did not go around the world. But there is so much to see. 50 yards offshore we went. We can find ourselves to Florida. The keys to the Gulf of Mexico and the bombs. And never got to see even a fraction of them. I'm sure there's so much out there.   Sam Wilson (00:03:19) - I'm absolutely sure that that sounds amazing. So would you say that you're a good sailor?   Dave Foster (00:03:26) - Huh? Okay, there is a truism here. Learning to sail is just like learning to golf. It's easy to learn. It's impossible to master.   Sam Wilson (00:03:39) - And now you know why I don't play golf? That. That's a difficult, difficult game. And I imagine sailing is the same. That's not nothing I've ever tried my hand at, but anytime I see it, even on YouTube videos or otherwise, I go, wow, there, looks like there's a lot to know there.   Dave Foster (00:03:56) - Oh, you know what? You're only seeing the final take, right? Right. You're not seeing the 20 takes before that, because it is so true that any docking you walk away from is a great docking. It's a.   Sam Wilson (00:04:09) - Great docking.   Sam Wilson (00:04:12) - Note to self, if I ever decide to live on a sailboat, I'm. I'm going to come calling to you and say, Dave, show me, show me how to do it. You mentioned that while you lived on that sailboat, you use the 1031 exchange to fund that lifestyle. That doesn't make any sense to me. Tell me why I'm wrong. Because in my mind, you take 1031 money and you just roll it over indefinitely. How were you reaping proceeds from 1031 exchanges tax free?   Dave Foster (00:04:40) - Yeah, a couple different ways. That's a great question, because it's one of the most powerful parts of the tax code that nobody knows. So the first one is you want to think about the 1031 exchange as a way to compound your investment capital, because you're getting to reinvest not just your sales proceeds minus tax.   Dave Foster (00:05:02) - You're also getting to. Reinvest for your benefit. The tax dollars you get to defer. So just like in my example, if instead of paying the government $30,000, I get to reinvest that $30,000 at 10%, it's going to double every seven years. And that money that is used to purchase cash flow real estate. And that's always been where my heart is, is to position myself into assets that throw off cash on a regular basis, because then they're doing the work and I'm not. So we had taken our journey from Colorado to Connecticut to Florida, using the 1031 exchange into a fleet of vacation rental properties. And while we were on the boat, those vacation rental properties generated the income for us. Right. So that's the that's the first and easiest way. The reason why the boat was tax free was because we utilized this crossover between section 1031, which is deferral of the tax on investment property, and section 121, which is the sale of your primary residence. Now, when you sell your primary residence, if you've lived in it for two out of the five years prior to sale, you get to take as a couple the first $500,000 right? Profit tax free.   Dave Foster (00:06:31) - And you can do that once every two years. But what people don't realize is that it is perfectly fine to periodically convert a 1031 property that has a large amount of deferred tax into your primary residence. And prior to 2008, when you did that and you lived in it the requisite amount of time, you were able to take the entire amount of the primary residence exemption tax free. So we did that a couple of times in Colorado before we got to Connecticut. And then in Connecticut, we converted a rental property into our primary residence. We came to Florida, did the same thing, and each time we sold, then it was tax free. And that money went to buy the boat. So that's how we got the boat tax free. And then lived our lifestyle of my private clients and the vacation rentals.   Sam Wilson (00:07:34) - So let me just restate what you've said and see if it makes sense to. It just tell me where I'm where I'm getting this wrong. You're rolling over these 1031 properties. You already own one of them.   Sam Wilson (00:07:48) - Say it's a rental property. And you say, all right, I'm going to move into that now. And that's going to become my primary residence. And then two years after living in that primary residence, you say, Bagot, we're going to sell it and head south. You sell that primary residence, and now let's say you've made the maximum amount good for you. You made $500,000. You put that in your pocket tax free now able to go and spend it. And that's it's almost it's almost a a back door exit of a 1031.   Dave Foster (00:08:21) - That's exactly right. Let me tell you the story of a client of mine down on Saint Pete Beach who used 1031 exchange to buy three identical, mean, almost literally identical beachfront condos on the same floor of the same building. And that he retired. And after a period of time he moved into the first one. Now the rules have changed since 2008. You now only get to prorate the game, but as soon as he had lived in that, so that he did for five years, he had lived in it for three years.   Dave Foster (00:09:00) - And then he'd rented it for two years. So we moved into it and lived here for three more years. And then when he sold it, he got to take 60%, 3/5 of the game tax free. He paid tax on the rest of the game. I said, you okay with that? You said, dude, if I was bagging groceries, I'd be paying tax this way. Just go out to my back deck and drink coffee. But where did he move? Next door.   Sam Wilson (00:09:28) - Next door.   Dave Foster (00:09:31) - And now. So the proration is what's powerful because you have to owned the property for five years, but then it's based on how much you've lived in it. So let's say he rents it for two years and losing it for eight, he would get 8/10 80% of the gain tax rate. And then words, you get a move. Enter the next one. Now, you said the great way to do that.   Sam Wilson (00:09:57) - Great way to do it. I love I love the unique strategy. It takes a little bit.   Sam Wilson (00:10:01) - It takes a lot of patience and some planning, I think, to pull something off like that. But you had mentioned the rules have changed since 2008. What are the nuances since zero eight maybe to that and if you've already set them and I just missed them, forgive me.   Dave Foster (00:10:14) - Yeah. Well you used to be able to get the whole game tax free. Got it. Okay. You have to prorate it. That's really the big difference.   Sam Wilson (00:10:20) - That's that's the that's the key. So of the you have to have owned it for at least five years. And only you can prorate the number of years that you actually physically lived in that space.   Dave Foster (00:10:32) - Precisely. Yep. But still, what a great opportunity as you get towards the end. Right. And you're trying to slow down, go more passive.   Sam Wilson (00:10:41) - That's fantastic I love that. Okay. Hey, you went into some nuance and some detail there. I didn't I didn't actually expect and that's kind of what I was hoping for because I think a lot of our investors and listeners understand high level.   Sam Wilson (00:10:56) - 1031 okay. Like maybe it's maybe it's the maybe, you know, whatever the value has to be less or you're buying a bigger property. You, you know, use an intermediary. There's there's all those basic steps to it, I think that a lot of us get. But when you get into things like what you just mentioned, man, that's really powerful. And I had no idea about stuff like that.   Dave Foster (00:11:14) - Right. Well, you want to take a real quick test. Let's see how you do.   Sam Wilson (00:11:18) - Let's see how I do. More than likely now I suddenly retract everything I said about high level understanding, because I think I'm about to get an F.   Dave Foster (00:11:26) - Oh, no, no, you're gonna do awesome on this test. This is a test on what the four D's of 1031 investing are. Now, I'll give you the first one. The first. Steve. 1031 investing is defer. Right? Because anytime you defer, you're starting to calm down your profits. Well, that by itself is the eighth wonder of the world.   Dave Foster (00:11:49) - But you can 1031 exchange anywhere in the country, from any type of real estate to any type of real estate. So if you're going to sell a piece of real estate, no matter where you want to go or what you want to invest in. You do the 1031 and defer. Sure. What do you think the second deal would be?   Sam Wilson (00:12:09) - Defer.   Dave Foster (00:12:10) - Defer.   Sam Wilson (00:12:11) - Uh. Shoot. Defer.   Dave Foster (00:12:15) - I'll give you a hint. Okay. It's deferred.   Sam Wilson (00:12:17) - Oh, okay.   Dave Foster (00:12:20) - Because the 1031 allows you to capture wherever you're adding a real estate cycle. And we may talk about this a little bit in just a minute, but the idea is that real estate cycles cannot be predicted, but they still always follow the same pattern. Appreciation is high and then appreciation stagnates and some other area starts to come on. Think about all those poor people in San Francisco Bay that sold those massively appreciated properties in Silicon Valley, and when invested in the cheap hill country of Texas around Austin, just because they wanted to hang out with you on, they went from an area of high appreciation to a high cash flow.   Dave Foster (00:13:06) - And now, of course, that appreciation has taken off. So everybody in 1031 world is always looking for where the next place is. That isn't yet. So that's the second deed. All right. What do you think the third D is?   Sam Wilson (00:13:24) - I'm going to say defer.   Dave Foster (00:13:26) - Yes. C you're all over this man. And the reason why is that it doesn't just accommodate your movement within a real estate cycle. It accommodates your movement throughout your life cycle as a real estate investor. You could do what are called diversification exchanges, where you sell one and you buy multiple properties to capture maybe your energy level and wanted to force appreciation to get better cash flow on cheaper properties as you start to mature and get tired. You can sell several and consolidate them when you want to start moving into more passive investments. Larger multifamily, triple net commercial, all those types of things where your effort is less. You could also take the opportunity, like we discussed a minute ago, to convert them periodically to your primary residence so that you're capturing turning some of that tax free.   Dave Foster (00:14:31) - And what about moving your portfolio from Ohio to Sarasota, if that's where you want to retire and you want your rentals in your backyard? So that's the third D is it accommodates your life cycle. Okay. For the win. What's the fourth deed.   Sam Wilson (00:14:50) - Dave.   Sam Wilson (00:14:52) - Dave Foster the 1031.   Dave Foster (00:14:55) - Guy answer but you like it. So I'm an experienced the injury of telling you that it's not defer. And unfortunately it's not Dave either. Have no idea. Which is not my favorite answer. But we're all have that way, right?   Sam Wilson (00:15:13) - None of us get out of here alive, right?   Dave Foster (00:15:16) - But here's what happens to your assets when you pass away. Your heirs inherit them and what is called a stepped up basis. So they inherit them as if they paid market value for them on the day you die. So throughout your life, you defer, you defer, you defer. And there's all this deferred tax. When you die, it disappears. You don't pay it. Your estate doesn't pay it. Your heirs get the property tax free.   Dave Foster (00:15:53) - And then they get to start the process over again. It's the greatest generational wealth building opportunity that's out there. Unfortunately, you and I have to die to give it away.   Sam Wilson (00:16:04) - And die to give.   Sam Wilson (00:16:05) - It away. Yeah. You don't get to take it with you. Uh, I think that's a blessing too, though. But no, you think you're right. That's that is. That's amazing. I didn't realize that. There at the end, the stepped up basis.   Dave Foster (00:16:20) - Yeah, I've literally got one family that are now on their third generation investment from Connecticut. The grandfather started doing exchanges with us, and he passed away a few years into it, and his son inherited all of the properties. Don't tax tax free. But then a couple of years later, guess what he was starting to do is up to 31 exchanges. Because those properties it started to appreciate. And then we passed away a couple of years ago. His properties went to his children. And now throughout this boom, they too have started to appreciate and they are now doing their own two, three, one changes.   Dave Foster (00:17:03) - Can you imagine how much tax that is that is come down to them? It's in their pockets tax free.   Sam Wilson (00:17:11) - That's that's incredibly powerful. So what about properties where people borrow money, say you're doing a fix and flip or say that whatever it is, you borrow money in order to improve the property. Let's call it $1 million, and you put in a quarter million dollars in renovations. Then you sell it for 1.5. Let's I mean, I'm just making up numbers. Whatever they are doesn't matter. But how do you and then you owe that money back, obviously, to the people you borrowed money from when that property closes. You're only paying tax, of course on the gain that 250 gain.   Dave Foster (00:17:45) - Yeah, that's exactly right. So the way the IRS accounts for that is that they tell you that if you want to do for all tax, you need to do two things. You need to purchase at least as much real estate as you sold. So in our example that would be the 1.5, right.   Dave Foster (00:18:02) - Secondly, you need to use all of your proceeds from a sale to do that. So you know let's say you borrowed. 750 to buy it, right? Plus the 250 to renovate it. So there's a million, right. So you sold it for $1.52 million. It gets paid back, and you're left with 500,000 in cash and the need to buy at least 1.5 degrees right now, if you want to grow up in size, that's no problem at all, isn't it? You can find a big asset. What if you want to get more when you take those proceeds and you allocate them into down payments on multiple properties? Okay, $250, a couple of different properties or whatever it is that you want to do, and that's how powerful that can be, because the IRS doesn't care how you allocate, as long as at the end of the day, you've purchased at least as much as you sold, and you've used all the proceeds to do it. Now, here's an incredible hack to recession proof your portfolio using this exact principle.   Dave Foster (00:19:14) - Let's say you've got a property for you're selling for 500,000 and there's 200,000 in debt. You sell the property, you've got $300,000 in cash. You could take 250,000, let's say, and go buy the $250,000 property for cash. Right. Take the other 50,000 and go buy the $250,000 property. Using that as a down payment. So you sold what you bought to. But some magical things happen. First of all, you want an asset that's free and clear so you don't have to worry about just keeping the lights on. It's free of mortgage risk. It's free of being taken from you. If the market downturns or whatever, but also all of that equity is trapped in it. So that like right now when we're in 7% interest rate world, you don't have to worry about paying interest while you wait for your next project. Let's say a couple of years from now, interest rates are back down to 3%. You slap a refinance on that. Pull out the bulk of that two hour 50,000. And then go use that to buy your next acquisition target.   Dave Foster (00:20:36) - But meanwhile, it hasn't been costing you anything, but you were still able to defer all the tax of a gain because you use the other 50,000 and used it as leverage to go buy your second property. That's a pretty neat way.   Sam Wilson (00:20:52) - Yeah. That's awesome. That's one thing I didn't realize as well is that you can split those down payments on several properties. Do those. Is there any regulation around? All of those properties being owned inside the same entity or the same name, or does it not matter?   Dave Foster (00:21:14) - Yeah. Actually does. And that's just one of the basic rules of 1031 is that the taxpayer for the property that's being sold has to be the taxpayer for the properties that are purchased. Now, any taxpayer entity could do it to 31 exchange, but it's whatever tax return reports that. Now a lot of people love to practice liability, you know, reduction of that kind of thing. So they like to own their properties at LLCs and at certain state series LLCs where there's a parent LLC that does all its own tax return, and they had children and child LLCs that don't.   Dave Foster (00:21:55) - Those are very common. As long as those children LLCs don't bother no tax return, they're going to be reported on the tax return of the parent LLC and the IRS world. That's the same taxpayer because it's that tax return. So you could sell the one. Buy a property in Dayton, Ohio, free and clear under water, and Ohio LLC and co buy an Alabama property using. Leverage using an Alabama LLC. Both of which are owned by the parent LLC. So plenty of ways to practice liability deferral as well.   Sam Wilson (00:22:37) - Right.   Sam Wilson (00:22:37) - Yeah. That makes that makes a lot of sense. Very, very cool Dave. It's been a pleasure having you come back on the show today. You always give some insightful nuances to the 1031 exchange. I know that you've recently put out a book. Before we sign off here, can you tell our listeners about that book and the best way to get a copy of it?   Dave Foster (00:22:58) - Yeah, it's right out there on Amazon. It's called Lifetime Tax Free Wealth A Real Estate Investors Guide to the exchange.   Dave Foster (00:23:06) - And I love how you catch this. Early on in the show where you talked about the rules and the do's and don'ts. I thought that's what I was writing. But at the end of when looked at when, you know, this is really more of a roadmap for how to strategically reach your life goals using the government's tax dollars. So it's really more strategy and designed to fit your desires than it is just by the numbers one, two, three kind of thing. That kind of fun. We do a lot of case studies in it. People like I was just talking about my story, several others. Because think out there, there's always a way to do this. There's always a way to do it using the government's dollars. And I guarantee you that'll be faster.   Sam Wilson (00:23:55) - I love.   Sam Wilson (00:23:55) - It. Dave, thank you again for coming on the show today. We know how to get your book. Outside of that, what is the best way for our listeners to get in touch with you or your company and learn more about you?   Dave Foster (00:24:05) - Stop by the 1031 investor.com.   Dave Foster (00:24:09) - I've got a 37 part YouTube series talking about all these kinds of things. We've got calculators. We've got ways to contact and talk to us directly, and we get bored if we don't have people visit.   Sam Wilson (00:24:22) - So that's.   Sam Wilson (00:24:23) - Fantastic. The 1031 investor.com. Dave, thank you again for your time today. Certainly appreciate it. Hey, thanks for listening to the How to Scale Commercial Real Estate podcast. If you can do me a favor and subscribe and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, whatever platform it is you use to listen. If you can do that for us, that would be a fantastic help to the show. It helps us both attract new listeners as well as rank higher on those directories. So appreciate you listening. Thanks so much and hope to catch you on the next episode.    

WAITING FOR CRYPTO: 2/4: The Money Confusion: How Illiteracy About Currencies and Inflation Sets the Stage for the Crypto Revolution by John Tamny  (Author) https://www.amazon.com/Money-Confusion-Illiteracy-Currencies-Revolution/dp/1958682268/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Money, Tamny argues, is a natural market phenomenon and one that asserts itself even in a world of government-issued paper. While economists and pundits hide behind charts, equations and supercilious commentary about the so-called "money supply," Tamny provides familiar examples from the real-world to expose this mysticism as modern-day phrenology. He makes plain throughout a book that rejects nearly all conventional wisdom about money that a focus on "money supply" is the surest sign of a thought process hopelessly off course. In truth, trusted money in circulation is a natural consequence of commerce, not the instigator as economists imagine. That a free market for money has formed in a world of government currencies is what sets the stage for private money as the eventual replacement for government mediums of exchange. Precisely because money facilitates global cooperation on the way to staggering advances in productivity, it's essential that money be trusted as a measure in the same way that the mile, degree and tablespoon are trusted today. Although academia and policymakers misunderstand money and inflation to a frightening degree, the thinkers, innovators, and risk-takers have forged a better way. The future is here for money; and that future, Tamny explains, is blindingly bright 1925 SWEDEN

WAITING FOR CRYPTO: 3/4: The Money Confusion: How Illiteracy About Currencies and Inflation Sets the Stage for the Crypto Revolution by John Tamny  (Author) https://www.amazon.com/Money-Confusion-Illiteracy-Currencies-Revolution/dp/1958682268/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Money, Tamny argues, is a natural market phenomenon and one that asserts itself even in a world of government-issued paper. While economists and pundits hide behind charts, equations and supercilious commentary about the so-called "money supply," Tamny provides familiar examples from the real-world to expose this mysticism as modern-day phrenology. He makes plain throughout a book that rejects nearly all conventional wisdom about money that a focus on "money supply" is the surest sign of a thought process hopelessly off course. In truth, trusted money in circulation is a natural consequence of commerce, not the instigator as economists imagine. That a free market for money has formed in a world of government currencies is what sets the stage for private money as the eventual replacement for government mediums of exchange. Precisely because money facilitates global cooperation on the way to staggering advances in productivity, it's essential that money be trusted as a measure in the same way that the mile, degree and tablespoon are trusted today. Although academia and policymakers misunderstand money and inflation to a frightening degree, the thinkers, innovators, and risk-takers have forged a better way. The future is here for money; and that future, Tamny explains, is blindingly bright. 1937 SWEDEN

WAITING FOR CRYPTO: 1/4: The Money Confusion: How Illiteracy About Currencies and Inflation Sets the Stage for the Crypto Revolution by John Tamny  (Author) https://www.amazon.com/Money-Confusion-Illiteracy-Currencies-Revolution/dp/1958682268/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Money, Tamny argues, is a natural market phenomenon and one that asserts itself even in a world of government-issued paper. While economists and pundits hide behind charts, equations and supercilious commentary about the so-called "money supply," Tamny provides familiar examples from the real-world to expose this mysticism as modern-day phrenology. He makes plain throughout a book that rejects nearly all conventional wisdom about money that a focus on "money supply" is the surest sign of a thought process hopelessly off course. In truth, trusted money in circulation is a natural consequence of commerce, not the instigator as economists imagine. That a free market for money has formed in a world of government currencies is what sets the stage for private money as the eventual replacement for government mediums of exchange. Precisely because money facilitates global cooperation on the way to staggering advances in productivity, it's essential that money be trusted as a measure in the same way that the mile, degree and tablespoon are trusted today. Although academia and policymakers misunderstand money and inflation to a frightening degree, the thinkers, innovators, and risk-takers have forged a better way. The future is here for money; and that future, Tamny explains, is blindingly bright. 1901 SWEDEN

WAITING FOR CRYPTO: 4/4: The Money Confusion: How Illiteracy About Currencies and Inflation Sets the Stage for the Crypto Revolution by John Tamny  (Author) https://www.amazon.com/Money-Confusion-Illiteracy-Currencies-Revolution/dp/1958682268/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Money, Tamny argues, is a natural market phenomenon and one that asserts itself even in a world of government-issued paper. While economists and pundits hide behind charts, equations and supercilious commentary about the so-called "money supply," Tamny provides familiar examples from the real-world to expose this mysticism as modern-day phrenology. He makes plain throughout a book that rejects nearly all conventional wisdom about money that a focus on "money supply" is the surest sign of a thought process hopelessly off course. In truth, trusted money in circulation is a natural consequence of commerce, not the instigator as economists imagine. That a free market for money has formed in a world of government currencies is what sets the stage for private money as the eventual replacement for government mediums of exchange. Precisely because money facilitates global cooperation on the way to staggering advances in productivity, it's essential that money be trusted as a measure in the same way that the mile, degree and tablespoon are trusted today. Although academia and policymakers misunderstand money and inflation to a frightening degree, the thinkers, innovators, and risk-takers have forged a better way. The future is here for money; and that future, Tamny explains, is blindingly bright. 1925 SWEDEN