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The last days before the Great Hunt.Book 3 in 18 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.“Can the scorpion ever stop being a scorpion? “"Do we get our legally permitted weaponry back?" The bishop still held my hand."Sure. If it makes you feel better.""I would like to meet your people then," he gave my paw one last shake then released me. "Shall we go?""I will have someone take you to your car. I want to briefly meet with the President, of Havenstone, then I'll join you in the garage. We'll drive over to JIKIT and I'll make the introductions. Good enough?""That is acceptable," he nodded."What about you two?" I regarded the nun and the Swiss Super-soldier. The nun remained vigilant, and silent. The Swiss' eyes flickered to his boss before settling back on me."It is what I volunteered for," he stated firmly."Okay. Please never say I didn't give you a chance to take the sane way out. Also, Bishop Nicolö, circumstances have conspired to up my prospective wedding date to January 1st.""That will be more difficult. Why the change?" he remained grim."We are having twins. By March, this will be very visible.""That is, unfortunate," he shook his head."You have no idea," and then a brainstorm. "And I am curious about resurrecting the Order of the Dragon, the Societas Draconistarum." Technically that meant 'Society of the Dragonists' which was more appropriate than the literal Ordo Draconis."Precisely how do you plan to recreate a crusading Christian Order which was the purview of the Hungarian monarchs?" he didn't sound the least skeptical, just curious."I have billions of euros to fund such a thing," I winked. "Of far greater critical importance, I know where I can find the supernatural guidance and spiritual imperative for such an organization.""You are going to produce a dragon?" his eyes grew larger even as he fought down his fear. Good man. He was adaptive. He'd need to be."I never said such a thing. That would make me sound crazy," I smiled broadly. "Besides, when I say 'dragon', you think 'devil' and that's way too pedestrian for where we are going.""I am not a moral relativist.""Neither am I. I'm out to save lives and nurture the drive in the human spirit to reach for freedom, love and liberty. As you might imagine, I'm pretty freaking outnumbered.""I think you are crazy," he re-evaluated things."I just might be. In all honesty, you should back out now. Take your two compadres back to 25 East 39th Street (the Holy See's Permanent Observer Offices to the UN in NYC) and report 'Mission Failure'. You'll most likely live longer," I reasoned."I am not afraid to die," Sister Rafaela Sophia finally voiced an opinion."That's idiotic," I scoffed before the bishop could reprimand her for opening her mouth. "You should be.""My soul is in God's hands," she set her jaw."Does he talk to you?" I countered."His message is clear.""Not what I asked. I asked if he specifically directed you to toss your life fruitlessly away as an object lesson for the reckless, or careless?""This is uncalled for," Nicolö intervened."Nope. I bet you a phone call to my Brother to physically restore your bishopric that there are four people in this room who have murdered in cold blood," I kept eye contact with the nun, "and she's the odd one out. Right Juanita?""Yes, Ishara," Juanita slipped up. Her spycraft, like mine, needed work."You were in the military?" the bishop asked my bodyguard."Was? I am. Right now," she related. "I will be until I die."That earned me looks from the three Catholics."She is loyal," Nicolö nodded slightly toward her, referring to Juanita's declaration."Huh? To me? Nope. She's loyal to my office, which we shan't get into right now. Back to you, Sister Rafaela Sophia. Are you out to be a martyr, or has some saint, or angel, given you a directive the other two seem to be unaware of which causes you to devalue your life?""I am devoted to the One True God, Christ, our Savior," and Juanita snorted, "and the Virgin Mary," the nun stated firmly. "I don't hear voices in my head.""Juanita, that was rude. Apologize to our guest," I kept looking forward."No." Well, fuck you too."Gun," I commanded. I held out my left hand."What? No. I will not give you one of my guns," she resisted."Juanita, give me your primary weapon, or I will ask Pamela to beat you up the moment I depart for the Great Hunt. After yesterday's stunt, you know she will," I threatened. Fair, I was not. She drew a Glock-20 and handed it to me. I went through the routine, dropped the magazine then ejected the round before opening the door.Oh look, there were four SD chicks outside, ready to escort my visitors downstairs. I didn't even need to waste a phone call. It wasn't like the conference room wasn't being monitored."Excuse me," I took a half step out the door then hurled all three items down the hall. Looking back at Juanita. "Go fetch.""Fuck you," she snapped."And insulting her faith was as degrading to both her faith and her as me doing this to you is degrading to you right now," I lectured her. "It is important to her, therefore it is important to me because she is my guest in the same way it is important to me that I let my bodyguard do her job without being a total asshole all the time. Now go get your God-damn weapon," I barked. Off she went. I left the door open."Now Sister Rafaela Sophia, the point of all this is: I don't give a crap if you are willing to die for God. In fact, that makes you less than worthless to me and the team. I want to know if you are willing to put other motherfuckers in the ground so that Bishop Nicolá, or Mathias, might get to keep doing their jobs.""Murder is a sin," she declared."Go home," I sighed while shaking my head."She answers to me, the Church and God, not you, Mr. Nyilas," the bishop stepped forward."Then you can go home too," I shrugged. "I'm not asking for remorseless killers. I'm asking for people willing to kill to get the hard work done and best of all, for people who know the difference.""Everyone on JIKIT is a professional soldier, or killer?" he asked."No, but the ones who aren't don't carry guns and know to get down when things get funky," I bantered."I vouch for her," he insisted. Juanita came running back into the room."Cool beans. I don't know you either.""You apparently know my service history," he volleyed."Yeah. Ten years a foreigner in the service of France, then you went straight into a university which turns out Jesuits," I riposted."What turned your life around?" he evaded. That was okay. I'd gotten what I wanted. I was willing to bet he had read every bit of public information about me and it was rumored the heavy Catholic membership in the FBI had its benefits to the Church as well. Not so much as to give them insight into JIKIT, but,"Someone risked their life for me. It's been pretty much downhill from there," I confessed. It was the truth. After Katrina gave me the life line on Day Two, it had all spiraled to the revelation of my heritage, Dad's death, Summer Camp, the Hamptons, Romania and Aya's kidnapping."A person, a soldier, died saving my life," the bishop empathized. "Her story is similar. She seeks redemption. She is not suicidal. I am staking both our lives on it."Did he mean him and Mathias, or him and me? I wasn't certain. Still, it was good enough for now. I'd gotten a look at their emotional make up, even the relatively quiet Swiss."Very well," I agreed. "I have to go see the President about my new job description. I'll catch up with you at your car." To the SD team leader, "Take them to the garage. I will join the group of you very soon.""Yes Ishara," she nodded. I exited the room, Juanita in tow. Two SD entered. I was gone before the Papal team left. Upstairs we went, with one last chore to discharge. I had to check on Ms. French to be absolutely freaking sure it was Shawnee, because anyone else would spell disaster.{8:30 am, Monday, September 8th. Last day}A Room full of asistants:Well, there it was, the office of the Executive Director to the President, and not 'Executive Assistant', because this was Katrina's final 'fuck you, no, just her final 'fuck you' before the Great Hunt got underway. I shouldn't assume things, dang it!Anyway, according to the gray-haired matron running gatekeeper to the Office of the President, this was where I was supposed to show up. I shot Juanita a worried look. She glanced my way and shrugged, momentarily willing to not give me shit about the past 24 hours because where I was situated would determine how easily she could do her job.In we went. In the suite were three desks, the 'big' desk situated at the far end of the office space and two far more modest ones on either side of the entryway. The room expanded beyond the chokepoint formed by the two closest desks into a cluttered area. The walls were cluttered with inset bookshelves and portraits of women. Facing one another were a loveseat on my left with bookend plush chairs in an 'L' facing and a full sofa on the right. There were end tables at the ends of the sofa and the corners between the loveseat and each chair.As the door opened, I hadn't knock as this was my office, or so it seemed, the occupants, who had all been sitting in quiet conversation in the central section, began reacting. Oh look ~ Constanza! I nearly had a heart attack before I realized there were three other Amazons also in the room. Sadly, none were behind the 'big desk', so I couldn't tell who was in charge. Two of the other three choices weren't too much better. First off,"Ishara," Marilynn Saint John stood to greet me. I'd last seen her when I'd dedicated her grandmother's (Hayden's) spirit to the halls of my ancestors, not hers, after forcing the political crisis leading to Hayden's suicide ~ her taking herself to the cliffs and in doing so, destroying the Amazon Cult of Blood Purity. Marilynne was clearly still bitter with me. Umm, I could still incite passion in women I hadn't slept with, yet, woot?"Cáel," the senior-most and only friendly face in the room spoke next. Thank goodness it was Beyoncé Vincennes, Head of House Hanwasuit and House Ishara ally."Cáel Ishara," the third individual was deferential which I wasn't sure how to take as the last time I'd encountered her, yeah, things hadn't gone well either."Beyoncé," I started off with a smile. From there, I had to figure out, ah, Beyoncé's eyes flickered to Constanza then Sabia. I knew Marilynn, with her young age, had the least seniority, "Constanza, Sabia, Marilynn. How's tricks?"Glum faces by everyone except Beyoncé. I didn't ask about Sabia's particular well-being. It had been months since I'd beaten her into the mats of the Full-blooded gym. She'd attacked Yasmin, the Brazilian Hottie and my Brazilian Jujutsu sparring buddy, and I'd retaliated by ambushed her when she turned her back on us. Besides, she'd been giving me shit before I even could see straight.Constanza was minus her left eye because of her dire insult to me. If she wasn't capable of working, she wouldn't be here. If she appreciated my 'mercy' in sparing her life ~ her insult was worthy of her death ~ Constanza hid it well. I hadn't spared her expecting a change of heart. I hadn't felt words alone warranted anyone's death. I was a big boy and could take a few insults. House Ishara, as represented by me, could care less. These days, my sisters would be less understanding despite them knowing my heart."Constanza Landau of House Jaya and Marilynn Saint John of House Anahit are Assistants to President Shawnee French," Beyoncé eased things along, "so will be working closely with us, at least for the short term. Sabia Noel of House Guabancex, who I now think you know as well, has joined you as the other 'Assistant' to the 'Executive Director to the President', (that would make me an 'adept', but adept at what?), and since two of the three Regents are unfamiliar with the workings of Havenstone proper, Shawnee has asked me to perform in that role."Beyoncé was, or had been, Havenstone HQ's CFO (Chief Financial Officer). From what I was quickly piecing together, she would essentially be making all the day-to-day decisions concerning the running of Havenstone (how the Host made the majority of its money) until the Regents got up to speed.Only Buffy had actual experience with the New York office and, from what she had told me, solely within Executive Services. While ES knew 'who' did what inside Havenstone, they weren't aware precisely how those Amazons got their jobs done. That would have been an impossible task. Katrina could do it, but she knew it was beyond the ability of most of us 'mere mortals'. Since we were currently at war, the Host needed Katrina completely focused on her duties as Chief Spy-mistress, not baby-sitting the adults.Shawnee indeed had much gravitas among the other House Heads. Not only had she risen up to lead a First House, she had performed heroically during the final days of the last Secret War. Afterwards she had moved into the realm of Amazon jurisprudence and mediation. Until yesterday, she had lived in a House Arinniti freehold in Minnesota's Great Lakes region thus her desire for the 'Training Wheels' period.The Regency would not rule through telecommunication (the upper echelons feared being eavesdropped upon beyond the standard Amazon (read: paranoid) levels) and Havenstone: New York was the center best situated for the current war-fighting operations, so here she lived. I was sure a team from Executive Services was buying, outfitting/spy-proofing and fortifying a dwelling suitable for the President of a Fortune 500 company. Hayden's home would remain the domicile of Sydney thus Marilynn.The same rigmarole would be done for Rhada and Buffy (though I imaged Buffy would bitch endlessly). Publically, they were VP's of a company worth hundreds of billions of dollars and they had to present the public trappings of such leaders.Why did the Amazons do this ~ unmask their leadership to public exposure? Legal-simple: they could request and expect all levels of public and private security for their executives who happened to also be important officials of the Host. Certainly not all executives at Havenstone were officeholders, House Heads, or House Apprentices, but the high level of competence which permitted one often led to the other.Beyonce:As an example: Beyoncé wasn't the most 'bad-ass' lethal chick in House Hanwasuit. As she was preparing to be casted, her intelligence, creativity and diligence at her future craft, finances, was noted by the Host and the members of her House. In due time her name was circulated as Apprentice and the elders approved. When her elder cousin, the prior House Head, took herself to the cliffs, Beyoncé assumed the top spot. Beyoncé wasn't even one of that woman's three daughters.Mirroring her advancement in her House was her advancement in Havenstone's Accounting, Acquisitions and Banking Divisions until she was appointed CFO Havenstone HQ ~ the supreme financial authority inside Havenstone, though the individual regional branches had a greater degree of autonomy than you might normally expect from a 21st century conglomerate, or a Bronze Age autocracy.I had to constantly remind myself, despite the near-constant feuding, Amazons exhibited a phenomenally higher level of trust than I'd ever found in any other society I'd ever witnessed, or read about, before. Though technically Beyoncé could have gone to President Hayden to enforce her decisions ~ or now the Regency ~ she was far more diplomatic in her approach in dealing with the other 'continental' CEO's and CFO's.That meant she had to wrangle the aspirations and resources from:North America (including Latin America, the 'Canadian Arctic' and the North Pacific Ocean),South America (includes both the South Atlantic and South Pacific as far as Samoa),Europe (mostly Central Europe these days plus Antarctica, the 'Russian' Arctic and the North Atlantic),Africa (mostly West-central Africa),India (the subcontinent plus the vast expanse of the Indian Ocean) and,Southeast Asia (which includes Australia)All of which suggested Havenstone hadn't redrawn the Amazons' geographic demarcations since the late 19th century. As an example, an East African venture, say in Tanzania, was as likely to be under the purview of Havenstone: India (due to its control over the Indian Ocean) as Havenstone: Africa (which traditionally had no East Coast holdings due to their constant struggles versus the Arabic slave trade).Returning to Beyoncé: initially she had held the proper 'conservative' (aka man-hating) mindset. My behavior during that first Board Meeting began to change her opinion of me and the New Directive. After the Archery Range incident, Beyoncé became a vocal proponent of the New Directive and faced challenges within her ranks. House Heads do not have to accept challenges and Beyoncé didn't, reasoning with her detractors they had no alternatives save the 'Old Ways' which spelled doom for the Amazon Race.Bing-bang-boom ~ I became the Head of a resurrected House Ishara by the Will of the Ancestors and Beyoncé was vindicated. Not necessarily in the New Directive, but in her support of me thus the rebirth of a sister First House. The purge following High Priestess' Hayden's death was her ultimate absolution. The Ancestors and Destiny had spoken and shown Beyoncé had been piloting House Hanwasuit along the proper course all along.Back to my current circumstances:Oh, why was I Assistant to the Executive Director to the President? It gave me direct access to the finances of Havenstone which was a critical leg of the war-fighting stool ~ people, morale, money and equipment. As Chief Diplomat, I helped with all four of those in varying degrees, allied troops, allied victories, allied bank accounts and allied armaments.The Great Khan, my spiritual 'Blood-Brother', was ramping up his logistic support for my Amazons in Africa, Asia and the Americas. We were 'Allies in the Struggle' and he wasn't going to wait for the Condottieri to begin coordinating with the Seven Pillars to declare them to be his enemies. They were already fighting the Amazons and 9 Clans, his allies, so their fates were sealed.In Japan, my Amazons provided small yet highly effective strike groups which the Ninja families furnished all the support services for. Everything from food to bullets to medical attention as needed. Without reservation, we shared their death-grapple with the Seven Pillars.From the dispatches I was getting back from my family members and envoys in Japan, we were making serious diplomatic inroads with the Ninja. Once again, it was the Amazons shocking capacity for violence as well as their fanaticism, professionalism and proficiency which all impressed our hosts and terrified our enemies, and this from people of a philosophical mindset which had them historically battling samurai.The Black Lotus were running around like rhesus monkeys on crack cocaine unleashed in a China Shop and given RPG's. While the Amazons couldn't help them in China, Indochina & Thailand ~ the Khanate could and was. The Amazons were of more help in the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia, where the Black Lotus and Amazons were going everywhere on the offensive against the Seven Pillars while the normal tight cohesion and iron-clad confidence, traits which made the 7P's so dangerous ~ were shaken by their horrendous losses in the 'Homeland' aka Mainland China.Less we forget, the 'military intelligence' wing of their organization had been decimated by the Khanate's Anthrax attack due to members of the Earth & Sky sacrificing themselves by being injected with the toxin then allowing themselves to be captured, which always ended in torture and death.Furthermore, the People's Republic of China, while having a scary 18% of the population either captured, imprisoned, dead, or displaced due to the Khanate invasion, that had come with the loss of 63% of their landmass (they had lost all of Nei Mongol, Ningxia & Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Regions, Qinghai and Gansu as well as 90% of Yunnan, 80% of Sichuan and 20% of Shaanxi provinces) to the Khanate and the 'abomination' that was a free Tibet.Then came the Russian 'stab in the back' which entailed the loss of another 10% of their people falling under foreign dominion as well as losing 8% of their most industrialized territory, Manchuria (Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning provinces ~ the Nei Mongol portion of 'Manchuria' was in the Khanate's greedy clutches, from the viewpoint of a Seven P's warrior).Don't get me wrong, they weren't about to throw in the towel. If anything, they were becoming more dedicated to trying harder, digging deep into their knowledge of every atrocity, inhumanity and perversion now deemed necessary to re-chart history back onto its 'correct' path. It was this willingness to act in an even greater sociopathic manner which was being used against them. After all, the 7P's had plenty of proxy allies, who were starting to get really nervous about what their paymasters were now asking them to do,We Amazons were getting some extra special help too. The Booth-gan (Do not call them Thuggee ~ the confederate 9 Clan member based out of India though long since ensconced within various Hindi enclaves across the Globe) had created an all-female group of ultra-fanatical Kali-devotees ~ a gift for the upcoming battle fomented by the Will of the Goddess herself.While Aya was our Queen and the Regency would rule until she wished to assume command of the Amazon People, the nuts-and-bolts of the Host's activities were handled by Saint Marie as Golden Mare (our Minister of War) (technically she held the top spot due to our State of War, though no Golden Mare had ever exercised such authority over a Queen (and she definitely believed Aya was our Queen)), Katrina (as Minister of Intelligence and Security), Beyoncé (as Havenstone (the multinational corporation) ~ our Treasurer/Economic Tsarina) and me (our Foreign Minister).Saint Marie had decided to forgo a public face in order to better facilitate her moving around to various battle fronts and holding clandestine meetings with her junior regional commanders. Her Havenstone corporate title was 'Chief of Security Training and Certification'. As an extra level of deception, the head of Security Services wasn't even a Director-level position, instead being folded into the duties of the Office of the President.To my current circumstances ~ I had been given Constanza's house name which could only mean she wasn't currently assigned to the Security Detail; a fact that couldn't have made her bad attitude any better. Marilynn had completely lost her way as an Amazon when I first met her, burying her pain and confusion in endless partying and intoxicants. I believed only her grandmother's status as High Priestess kept her from the severest of reprimands, or death. I didn't even know what Marilynn's caste was. Sabia,"While I'm sure you are both far more qualified than I, precisely how did you two get these jobs?" I had to ask my two non-coworkers. Constanza glowered. Marilynn flinched."I have an in depth knowledge of Havenstone security procedures and resources," Constanza replied."Shawnee requested me," was Marilynn's comeback. "I also have intimate knowledge of the City of New York and its environs.""Actually, Buffy Ishara recommended you both to Shawnee," Beyoncé corrected their misconceptions. I knew the score. I'd be working intimately with the tight community around the President (Shawnee) and Vice Presidents (Buffy & Rhada). Buffy wanted me to be surrounded by women who hated my guts, so I wouldn't end up boinking them. It rarely worked that way. All too often ladies who hated my still-beating heart ended up punishing me with sex. I wasn't sure why that happened, but it did."Beyoncé, didn't the Chief Diplomat of the Host have her own office? I'm pretty sure Troika had one before her unfortunate collision with Saint Marie," I felt entitled to inquire."Do you feel you've earned that office space?" she riposted."Oh, fuck no!" I waved my hands one over the other to accentuate my denial. "I was just wondering where I could stick Juanita while I'm hanging around, here.""She has the desk right outside the door, Cáel," Beyoncé smiled knowingly. "So there is no way you can sneak past her.""Oh," I grunted. "Buffy again?""No. Pamela Pile put in that particular request.""Oh, Sweet Mother of God, now she is conspiring against me too?""Yes. Some of us realize the greatest hazard to your health is yourself, Ishara," Beyoncé chided me. "We'd like to keep you around, so we listen to those charged with that nigh impossible task.""Is she going to be hanging around the office often?" Constanza asked, either myself, Juanita, or Beyoncé; I wasn't sure. She = Pamela."Please, Constanza," I attempted to intervene, "don't make Pamela kill you. It will upset Mona." Constanza's scowl was accentuated by the eyepatch covering her ruined left socket, the one Pamela had carved out when Constanza had insulted me and House Ishara on our first day of rebirth. I didn't tell Juanita this, because Juanita might just shoot Constanza over the insult before Pamela got a chance to finish the job.The tension was palatable."Mona and I have talked, about Romania, and other things," Constanza grudgingly allowed. It took me a second to realize there was a hidden meaning to what she said. Mona was part of my personal Security Detail bodyguard unit. If she felt Constanza, the woman who had raised her after her birth-mother had died, was a threat to me, she'd feel duty-bound to snuff Constanza first. Amazons were hard-ass bitches alright and I think Mona had made that clear."I hope things can improve between us," I offered to Constanza. "Beyoncé, I just stopped in to say 'hey'. I'm off to JIKIT and I've got three of the Pope's people waiting on me in the garage so,""Vice President Varma requested a moment of your time," Beyoncé smirked. "She is in 2604.""Who?""Vice President Rhada Varma, a moment of your time, alone?" she clarified."Sure thing," I backed out of the office. Once I had some space, I turned to Juanita. "Give me three minutes then bust in and say, I don't know, a tsunami is about to overwhelm the city, or something. Otherwise, I won't get out for at least an hour and I think I've put the Bishop and his people through enough delays as it is.""Are you actually asking me to stop you from having an in-office liaison?" she studied me intently as we walked in the direction of Rhada's office."Yes. It's not likely to happen often, believe me.""Oh, I do, in that you won't ask me to do it often," she grumbled. I'd deal with Juanita's morale problem later. Right now, I had to gird my loins so they wouldn't do anything else with Rhada. I had work to do, damn it!Rhada was sitting at her desk, working on something, stylus raised up so she could chew on the end. Her hair was pulled back in a half-ponytail, the type that captured the rear half of the hair in a ponytail while leaving the front and bangs free to flow down. Rhada's blouse was white & billowy and, as I was soon to discover, her pants were ultra-tight and contour hugging."Mr. Nyilas," she greeted me. "I would like a moment of your time," she relayed what I already knew. She was more than a tad nervous to boot."Vice President Varma," I started off."When in private you may call me Rhada," she interrupted."Rhada, you look more ravishing than ever."That got up her and coming around her desk, which revealed her ultra-tight pants with no sign of her wearing underwear. Yikes! My cock was preparing to do what a cock was meant to do and I just didn't have the time, Really!"Do you have any time?" she let her bosom heave."Not today, ugh," I groaned. See, Rhada took the stylus and dragged it down her chin, throat and in between her bountiful mounds.All of which exposed the top of her black bra."Are you sure, Master?" she enticed me by turning around and then leaning over her desk, point that ass in my direction. My mouth began salivating and my groin ached. I found myself quick-stepping to her and giving those buttocks two firm slaps, one on each cheek."No, damn it, though I'm going to make you pay for this when I get back," I rumbled."Master will make me wait?" she taunted me."That will cost you even more," I growled. "I have business which simply won't wait and here is my captive teasing me with the treasures of her flesh. Bad, war captive," I spanked her yet again, hard. "Bad!" and I spanked her a fourth time. With each beating, Rhada gasped in pain and then exhaled in pleasure."If I've been bad, Master must be extra harsh with me when he returns in triumph from the Great Hunt," she gloated. Rhada had gotten what she wanted, which was another affirmation of my lust for her and our 'game'. I could provide her the release she so desperately craved while allowing her the safety of remaining in the Amazon fold. It was a perfect pairing, for her.I had other problems, such as all the other baby mamas in my life plus the extra-marital affairs I was contemplating. I still took the moments we had to snuggle with Rhada, her grinding that tush into my rod while I held both her arms tightly to her side while raining kisses down onto her neck and head."Sir! A giant tsunami is approaching the city!" Juanita exploded through the door."What?" I coughed. I had a face full of hair."Huh?" Rhada pushed up and away from me. I let her go."Right now," Juanita insisted. She really needed to stop taking me so seriously when I gave her such advice."Really?" from Rhada. She shot me a curious look so I shrugged. What else was I supposed to do with such a flimsy lie forcing our separation? At least I got out of there on time?{9:50 am, Monday, September 8th ~ Last day}(JKIT HQ)"Is this a common occurrence?" Sister Rafaela Sophia whispered to the closest woman, who happened to be Wiesława, the Polish Amazon. Since she hadn't arrived with us from Havenstone, the nun might have assumed she was with the 'Americans', or British."What?" Wiesława responded evenly."Weapons combat, they look real," the nun clarified."They are real. We always practice with real weapons.""Really?""Of course," Wiesława smiled at her. "We believe a few cuts and scrapes now will save lives when the true tests come.""Oh, you are with, Havenstone?" Rafaela clued in."Yes. I am Wiesława of House Živa. I am currently assigned to Unit L, Cáel's unit within JIKIT," she offered her hand to shake. Despite being a full-blooded Amazon from a freehold, her 'human' skills were progressing nicely. The nun shook it."I am Sister Rafaela Sophia of the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, that is a Roman Catholic Religious Order." Pause. "Do you hate Catholics too?""Yes. We have lived beside your people for many centuries and found your clergy to be much more dangerous than your pagan predecessors. Still, Cáel thinks you can be relied on and he's proven we can trust outsider women, which I was raised to believe was unlikely, and outsider men, which was basically anathema, so I'm willing to set aside my prejudices and judge you as an individual," the Pole imparted."Outsider men?" Rafaela mumbled."Well, yes," Wiesława smirked. "You are a nun, right?""Yes.""So you set aside the World of Men to live mostly among women, right?""Not entirely," the nun chose her words carefully. "We still rely on priests for religious rights and of course obey the life teachings of Christ and follow the leadership of his Holiness, the Pope, a man.""No one is perfect," the Amazon bantered back."Do you know the teachings of our Lord, Jesus Christ?" Rafaela ventured into dangerous waters."Yes. He was the semi-historical Son of your supposed One True God. We are not monotheists. We are Polytheists. Živa is my House's matron Goddess. It is also the name of the first woman to lead the House, her birth name surrendered to Destiny so all the daughters who came afterwards would be equals.""Oh, is Mr. Nyilas also pagan?" she inquired."I am unsure. From what I have been told, he has commended the spirit of his fallen father to your Jesus in a sacred ceremony then, in the presence of your Trinity and the Goddess Ishara, brought in new members to his House. I suspect he may be both," Wiesława reasoned. "Why don't you ask him?""Because he's fighting for his life?" Rafaela looked my way.See, the entire time their discussion had been going on, I had been sparring in a spare room at JIKIT HQ with Estere Abed, the Hashashin assassin (rather redundant ~ like saying the Sahara Desert). I had two tomahawks while she had a scimitar and curved dagger. While we sparred using the furniture as obstacles, Agent-86 was briefing me on various World events to get my input.Addison Stuart (CIA) and Lady Fathom Worthington-Burke (MI-6) were having a chat with Bishop Nicolé de Santis, verifying for themselves he was worth adding to the team. Juanita was having a similar discussion with Rikki Martin (US State Department) concerning my earlier encounter with the Papal team. Nicolé's buddy, Wachtmeister Mathias Bosshart of the Swiss Guard, was getting acquainted with the other security personnel.In comparison, those two had it easy. Both men were in their elements. Nicolé was a spook who pretended to be a diplomat for the Pope and was well acquainted with terms like 'deniable assets', 'plausible deniability' and your direct superior referring to requests concerning your identity/diplomatic status by saying 'I never heard of him and if I had, I have no idea what he was doing when you caught him doing what I don't know what he was doing', or something like that.Mathias was in the company of military-security specialists, brother professionals who were introducing him to his 'sister' professionals. Our Homeland Security gang were almost entirely former military by now. They got along with our JSOC folks and both had gained a limited acceptance with the Amazon security contingent.They bonded over the fact they were forced to work with really shady characters ~ the 9 Clans menagerie ~ who didn't always appreciate JIKIT operational security. Without going into particulars, the Wachtmeister was given the impression the abnormal was the norm and if you didn't think there was a 'down-side' to being able to carry your personally favorite bang-bang (the SG 552-2P Commando in his case) with some serious attachments (read: grenade launcher) around in downtown Manhattan, you probably didn't belong on this team.Back in the room,"He's not fighting for his life," Estere laughed. "He is fighting for mine.""Right," I responded sarcastically. We went through a flurry of exchanges, ending up with me kicking a chair at her. Estere stepped over it, colliding with me.I blocked her dagger, disarmed her scimitar and,"You are dead," she panted down at me, smiling. I was on my back, her straddling me. She had a belt-knife to my throat. I hadn't see her draw it. The scimitar 'disarm' had been a distraction."Woot!" I exhaled."But you're dead," Sister Rafaela misunderstood my good humor."He survived a minute and thirty-four seconds more today than his previous record," Estere responded. She slithered off of me, doing my arousal no good whatsoever, then offered me a hand up."And that's better?""He's a rank amateur with a few months on the job. I've been training to kill people for nearly two decades," Estere smiled. "Care to have a go?""With him, or you?""Either," Estere offered."I don't have a knife, or any hand weapons," she stated."We'll need to remedy that," Wiesława stated. "You should at least carry a knife.""Really? Why?""It is a nearly universal tool," I verbally stepped up. "Even if you are disarmed, you should be able to find one relatively easily, people are less likely to miss a stolen knife than a purloined gun, and a concealed blade could come in handy.""Do you train in knife-work?" Rafaela eye-balled me."Absolutely. It is part of my culture," I grinned."Okay. Can we spar, hand-to-hand?""Sure," I nodded. I put my tomahawks in their harnesses then put my harnesses aside. Estere gave me a wink before giving us the fighting space."So," Rafaela began to circle, "are you Christian?""By your definition, or mine?""By the definition of the Catholic Church."Oh cool, she went for a Savate stance. This was going to get ugly.My "no," was followed by her kick and my block, lunge and grapple. She wasn't nearly as good as Felix. I had her down and in a choke hold within fifteen seconds.Perhaps she thought I'd take it easy on her. She tapped out. I released her, retreated and flowed back to my boxing stance. It took her a moment to realize this was 'practice', not 'an interview'. She hadn't failed in anyone's eyes. We were both doing this to get better."See, I really, truly believe I have talked to supernatural entities ~ some who are considered divinities," I continued. This time she was more careful, trading jabs and blocks with me. "They don't claim to be the One True God. I believe in such a thing, but I also believe having been given the Message, Humanity has been left to muddle things out for ourselves."Whoops, she popped me one."The Woman-Thing this morning?""Yep," I evaded another flurry. She got cocky and I landed three blows, dropping her to the ground. I didn't help her up. Instead, I withdrew and let her get back up on her own before deciding if she wanted to continue. She did."I believe I've seen dragons and ghosts. I have felt legions of my ancestors give me quiet encouragement when I needed it. I know the dead have been brought back to life," I came at her. This time we both went for body blows, knees, elbows and fists. She was not SD-caliber and she needed to be. I grappled and she was forced to tap out again. After she regained her feet, she held up a hand for a pause."Do you believe any of that?" she addressed Estere."I am an adherent of Ismaili Islam yet nothing Cáel has encountered is contrary to my belief system. The Universe is a complex place and the Divine Light is often seen through a fractured lenses," she counseled the nun."Among the escapees were lawyer Francisco Luemba, Catholic Priest Raul Tati, economist Belchior Lanso Tati and former policeman Benjamin Fuca who are serving jail sentences of between three and six years each for supposed links to the rebel group FLEC (Frente para a Libertaé'o do Enclave de Cabinda), which carried out the attack on the Togolese football team at the start of the Africa Cup of Nations in January, 2010," Agent-86 read off yet another bit of global minutia."We need to get to them," I half turned. Sister Rafaela punched me in the gut and I folded up."Oh!" she gasped. "I'm sorry.""Okay," I mumbled. I had to keep with the plan. "Those men. We need to contact our Coils people in Kinshasa and the Warden of the Mountain Ways ('she' was the Amazon Host's leader of Africa ~ in the ancient times, the mountain ways had been the routes of southern vulnerability for the Amazon tribe thus the name).""Okay," both Agent-86 and Estere answered."Why?" 86 added."The Coils and the Host have had a serious problem with no nation in Africa giving them even back room recognition so we are going to take over our own country, Cabinda. It's been struggling to be free of Angola since 1975 and, by latest estimates, we've got strike elements of over 2,000 Amazons ready and waiting next door in Cameroon, Gabon and the Republic of Congo.""So you are going to go to war with Angola?" Estere frowned. "Don't we have enough enemies?""Au contraire," I grinned wickedly. "The resistance movement is genuine," I ticked off my points, "they have tons of offshore oil, and after we set off some spectacular explosions in the two main Angolan ports which are just down the coast, we allow global panic to bully the UN into intervening before the Angolan military launch an effective counter-offensive ~ considering the Angolan Armed Forces (I'd been reading up on a ton of CIA & MI-6 briefings) will most likely involve attrition warfare since they can't beat us in a stand-up fight.""They, the Angolans, have no overland access, they are separated by 60 kilometers of territory belonging to the Democratic Republic of Congo over some sad ass roads Plus the Congo River itself which is freaking huge by the time it gets that close to the Atlantic, Cabinda rests on the Atlantic Ocean by the way. No bridges. The Angolan Navy is anemic. Let me think."I began pacing."Hmm, they have no paratroopers though they have some Special Forces, we will need to hit as many of them in the barracks as we can. Their last invasion was from the north, overland, from the Republic of the Congo, in 1975, not likely to happen this time, though I may have my 'Brother' weasel up a battalion of Indian paratroopers to act as convincing peacekeepers after the initial take over.""Perhaps we can recruit some Vietnamese. I'm sure they'll love fighting in someone else's jungle for a change. We'll need some of 'our' guys to seize the port of Soyo, it is on the wrong side of the river, but has the major refinery the Cabindans will need. Since the entire surrounding province are the same ethnic make-up as the Cabindans, we'll have to take that too.""Man-o-man, I bet by the time this is over they'll really wish they'd given little Cabinda independence back in 1975. As for their other refinery, it is in their capital, Luanda, a few big explosions there too will get the markets jittery. Check that ~ the complete and utter destruction of their major petroleum facility will create a stampede for Peace," I continued. I walked over as our resident computer intelligence genius worked his magic."Blowing things up, you mean killing people," the nun blanched."Yes. This is what I do," I spared her a sympathetic glance. "I've got a madman roaming around in my head who provides me truly epic military advice which normally, but not always, means blowing shit up and killing folks. Welcome to the team," then as the data appeared, "Holy Shit! Did they build their oil refinery in the midst of their ghetto?" I was staggered. The refinery in Soyo was isolated from the town so it could be easily (and safely) seized. It was the one in Luanda which was the 'Holy Shit' site."It looks that way," Agent-86 agreed nonplussed. "Hmm, yeah, here is the port facility then your neighborhood of shoddily constructed one- and two-story dwellings between the refinery and the inland storage tanks, the perimeter barrier appears to be a chain link fence. I'd hate to be their Chief of Security.""Oh yeah," I choked. Estere slipped around to get a look."Whoops," she snorted."What are these people thinking?" I continued. "The whole shebang is exposed to the northern quarter of the city. The storage tanks have residential dwellings on all four sides with numerous side streets. Two teams with RPGs and four rounds apiece, Holy Crap. Sorry Sister.""But I want to save lives," she sputtered."Limiting the collateral damage could be pretty tough," Estere frowned. She toggled throw a series of maps to multiple pictures."Oh, look (dripping sarcasm); they light up the refinery at night. You can sit off the coast in a speed boat under cover of darkness and attack from there," she noted."Damn. Those are a lot of lights," Agent-86 agreed."24-7 operation," I suspected."We will need some experts," the government agent nodded."Or we are going to kill a fuck-load of innocent people. Not just the workers, but can you imagine a fire spreading to those neighborhoods? Shit," I muttered."You can't seriously be contemplating doing something like this," the nun sputtered. "It is inhumane. Think of the families, the children.""Lady, yes I am. Do you have any idea what the Human Rights record of the Angolan Army in Cabinda is? It is truly horrific and in case you missed it, one of the guys in dire need of rescuing by me, due to him being a huge rebel leader who has managed to escape, is also a Catholic priest. He's going to be part of the new government we are going to install once we kill a few hundred Angolans ~ mostly soldiers (more like well over a thousand).""We are going to kill a few hundred so a few hundred thousand can live free, democratic lives without worrying about the local police and political establishment torturing and murdering them. It is all part of the plan.""I think I need to talk with the Bishop.""Hang on. Let me finish," I forestalled her. "He'll get briefed along with everyone else. After all, it is a majority Roman Catholic country as is Angola, so I'm sure your guy can be of immense help.""The people you are putting at risk don't deserve this," she protested."They never do," I nodded in agreement with her. "It rarely stops terrible crap from happening to them though."I felt sorry for the Sister. She thought the Bishop was going to put a stop to this. Poor girl; he was going to do the exact opposite. See, the two competing forces at play here were a communistic kleptocracy (currently ruling Angola) and Catholic liberation theology united with a Cabindan national identity dating back to 1885. At stake was 900,000 barrels a day of petroleum. That was a bunch of funding for somebody. Last I checked, the state run energy conglomerate had misplaced $32 billion, in just three years.Mind you, the Coils of the Serpent and the Amazon Host didn't want to help the People of Cabinda out of the goodness of their hearts either. They wanted cover for the importation of weapons and other war-fighting material so they could kill the Condottieri in Africa. If the rebel leaders-turned-legitimate government didn't play ball well, the Coils were in the 'assassinating people' business and somewhere along the line the survivors would figure out keeping 'us' happy kept them alive. Problem solved.It was Bishop Nicolé de Santis' job to facilitate that understanding. If certain people with Vatican credentials explained the 'facts of life' to the new regime a lot more lives could be saved, Catholic lives. In turn, he could work to make sure the new group in power wasn't nearly as corrupt as the gang we were tossing out. Better education and quality of life, improved infrastructure & security and a nice shiny cathedral, or two.We, as in JIKIT and our component members, didn't want to rule the country and dominate the people's lives. We needed the ports and the airfields with a blind eye turned to our skullduggery. Sure, there would be future considerations. Amazons and Coil members would be fighting and dying for these people's freedom ~ public recognition definitely not required. No; the Amazons wanted to be left alone in their deep jungle homes which was an isolation they basically already had. This was a future chit which said 'don't come looking'.The Coils? Let's just say in the future Cabinda would have embassies around the globe and if occasionally they wanted someone to slip through under diplomatic cover ~ they were good for it. And if the Cabindans ever needed help in the future they knew they had friends in dark places who were now invested in Cabinda's survival. It was a win-win-win, unless you were an Angolan big-wig, or one of their foot-soldier currently serving in Cabinda. Amazons weren't big on taking prisoners, or even giving the opposition the option of giving up.For me, it wasn't lunch yet and here I was plotting to overthrow yet another government in yet another country ~ though in only two, small provinces this time. Thank the Goddess I had the rest of the week

A Walk In the Park  & Aya's Finest Hour.Book 3 in 18 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.Professional, conscript, or volunteer, they all have run away from battle.A Note on terminology and the metaphor of Cael's WorldThe terms Weave of Fate and 'Weave ' are interchangeable. Weave expresses the intersection ~ the sieve that all the possible futures entered to create what we perceive as this 'now'. Fate is the keeper of the sieve. The Present is what is happening right now. It is that infinitesimal which we interpret as Reality.The Legend is what happens when the present is pulled back through the weave and becomes the past. It is called the Legend because, as the former presents fade into the past, they blur; each becomes less precise and more open to interpretations. (It is as if you were looking at one thing through a prism; as you shift your stance, what you see appears to change.) Within the Legend exist mystic creatures, divinities, demons, spirits, all the Paradises and Hells.The Endless Black Sands is the final resting place for all failed legends. It is the place where all is forgotten until even former realities break down into the Black Sands. That Alal found a way to cheat this doom and retrieved Shammuramat, was truly remarkable; even though Fate 'balanced accounts' with him by sending Ajax and his war band along that path as well.If you wonder how that was a balancing, consider this:The only people Alal cares for (in his own brutal fashion) are Shammy, now Sakura, and his only true offspring in 5,000 years, Cáel.Fate sent Ajax.With Ajax available to test Cáel, how could Alal resist the temptation to place one of the planet's greatest killer on a collision course with both of his loves in order to test Cáel?The Veil is a function of the Weave that protects sentient perception from perceiving the Weave and disguises the otherness of creatures of legend, unless they willingly allow themselves to be seen, which they usually do only so they can 'physically' interact with the Present. Some sentient minds, through horrific trauma such as the Augurs' self- poisonings, through the quirks of Fate via Holy Men, Mad Prophets and Doomsayers such as Temujin, or through the touch of legends such as Ishara, can sense the fluctuations in the Veil and the things behind it. Cáel, in truth, has been shaped by all three vehicles (Ishara, the Augurs and Temujin's legend.)Oblivion is what awaits Reality if the Weave ever fails beyond its ability to heal itself. This threat is what keeps the creatures of legend from constantly traversing the Weave. They have to weaken the Weave to do so or to use powers in Reality, the greater the distortion they create, the greater the weakening that occurs.End Note(Two days ago, with thirty days left)"That was fantastic, Lady Yum-Yum," I sighed."What did you just call me?" she panted softly. We were naked in one of our Task Force bedrooms that was actually used for sleeping, and now sex. I was still pressed against her reposed body, despite our recent exertions. She was on her stomach, arms stretched down her sides.She was sweaty and short of breath. She still had her wits about her and an awareness of our situation: victory sex, me still aroused and her fingernails scratching my thighs and buttocks. My equally sticky body was pressing down on her, even though I supported my weight with outstretched hands placed on either side of her shoulders."Lady Yum-Yum," I mumbled as I kissed the back of her head. "That was the first thing that sprang to mind when you introduced yourself." I could see her working that through her highly complex mind."When writing your memoirs, please remember to me refer to me that way," she began to flex her thighs and abdominal muscles, so that her ass was pumping against my hips."Only if this helps persuade you to give me a repeat performance.""I'll consider,," she purred, then paused to catch her breathe. "You are in phenomenal shape, young man. Do any of your other lady-loves have pet names?""Nope," I grunted as I withdrew.She had teased me with anal sex hints repeatedly, yet never delivered. She liked the game and the power she wielded. My body being on top of hers was only an illusion of a tactical advantage. She knew me pretty well already. I wasn't the kind of guy who would use physical strength to overwhelm her vulnerable position. This being so, a cerebral skirmish only excited her more.We waged a war that was based on intakes of breath, the shimmying of muscles and the trembling of fatigued flesh. The prize for me was the winning. Lady Fathom Worthington-Burke played tricky-clever, but I was better. And at times like this, she admitted it. She gave me what I wanted. I rolled her.Straight, face-to-face fucking. The Lady's pulsar gaze trapped my vision. She smiled, grudgingly at first, then more and more sensually as my glans returned to her g-spot that it had scouted out earlier. This was 'surrender by the Fathom method'. She gave me what I wanted, so I took what I wanted, and pleasured her at the same time."Mmm, you are a bad, bad boy," she lapsed into her trashy West-End Londoner accent. It was perfect and an erotic whiplash when added to her native, refined manner of speech. This wasn't a trick this time, it was a treat. It was a gift, reciprocated. The tactile sensation of her cervix becoming a soft, spongey chalice for my final penetrations was icing on an all-so-luscious cake.I tendered her a tribute worthy of my first love, Dr. Kimberly Geisler. It was strange to find a woman like her. Outside of Kimberly, I had found only one other woman who graciously offered her ultimate pleasure paean to the hundreds of lovers who had become before. That other woman, it still floored me, was Buffy Du, no, Buffy Ishara, First of my House."Oh!" and several heartbeats later, "Cáel!" several hissed series of breathes and then, "Goddess! You are better than good!"Two thoughts collided within me:A) I had never seen a more controlled orgasmic explosion in my life. I was going to have to tell Buffy about this, once we were safely in bed. If it was office talk, she'd punch me through a window and that would make Aya cry. I couldn't have that.B) Goddess? I thought she was Anglican. This needed further study. This treatment was really nice. I leaned in, kissed her. Lady Yum-Yum smiled. "Take me to the shower. Play time is over, Cáel," and she was back to all business."You are treating me like a fleshy vibrator," I pointed out."But you are a very finely-trained, fleshy vibrator, you wonderful boy," she stroked my cheek. "Shower! Now!" So, like a Good Boy, International Merchant of Death and Chosen Son of a Divine Amazon Goddess, I slid off her, then cradled her in my arms as I rose from our totally trashed mattress.I didn't smile when it was confirmed that I wasn't carrying her out of any romantic after-coitus gesture. She couldn't walk. Woot! It took a bit of effort to get us into the walk-in shower and to get the water just perfect, all while keeping her cradled. She helped out by keeping her arms tightly around my neck."Cheeky bastard," she whispered in my ear. "You are gloating." Then she nibbled on my earlobe for good measure."Damn right," I did gloat as I let her slide down to her feet. "You are pretty sweet for an Old Chick." She wasn't angry, oh no."If you were trying to get me to say, 'I'll get you next time," she licked, nipped and sucked on my nipple as if I was the one with the mammaries in this relationship, "it worked." Double-Woot! I was going to get that damn four-way! I did coax a vigorous shower-quickie out of my Lady. Afterward, she shifted herself so she could get under one of the steaming showerheads."Cáel, why didn't you use a condom," she mused. Gak!"You aren't on Birth Control?" I panicked. She laughed at me."No. I've never been a fan of hormones replacement. I like the way I am. Do you expect the women to do all the anti-pregnancy measures?""No," I gulped."Don't' be so worried," she laughed. "We had unprotected sex one time. The odds are astronomical that an 'oops' happened, right?" Yes, it was a single sexual encounter, but included three firings of the one-eyed hydra, sigh."You are asking a man who has five children on the way, Fathom," I cautioned her."Oh, I'll update my files and make an appointment to seen a local, reliable O B G Y N," she slipped back into her unflappable British resolve. "Get along. I need to get cleaned up," she cupped my scrotum, ", again. So scoot." I scooted.I had updated my condom supply despite the forbiddance Dot Ishara, my Matron Goddess, beamed to me from the Other Side. She could only complain so much. I'd upped my selection of fortune cookies and added a fresh raisin chocolate brownie for my next visit with her. I had to get over to the other side of the floor to get a fresh shirt, and boxers.Yum-Yum had ripped off my shirt (a little kinky) and boxers (a little painful). I wasn't going commando, so I decided to quick step it before something important happened that required me to yank yet another solution out of my sexually-fueled creative imagination.How Lady Yum-Yum and I ended up in bedThe Secret Societies' long awaited war had begun in Africa and in India. The Amazons couldn't effectively reinforce these two homeland regions. No, my people's edge came from my stupid stunts (e.g., the fight outside that club in Chicago), the judicious application of a few kind words and a whole lot of targeted killing on my part along with that of my Amazons.Those actions convinced the Booth-gan (aka the Thuggee, but we no longer say that because it irritates them) and the Coils of the Serpent to toss in their lot with their local Amazons. They did the whole 'hostage exchange' thing as well. Two children from each side. That was a no-brainer on my part. All three concerned parties were willing to let their adults die if necessary. Their children were another matter.In Asia, the Seven Pillars had made only minimal progress. We now suspected the 7P had planned to roll over the three of the 9 Clans that were in their Sphere of Influence, the now 6 Ninja Families, the Black Lotus and the Booth-gan in rapid succession. A preemptive strike against both the Khanate and the Ninja were supposed to cripple those two factions.Against the Khanate, that had been a dismal failure. In Nippon, the Ninja were in dire straits and would be decades recovering from the original 7P blitz. But the combination of US black ops help and the infusion of Amazons and Okinawans had staved off extinction for the moment. Strategically, these failed actions were tying down 7P resources that the largest Secret Society had planned to move elsewhere.In China, the Black Lotus exhibited the same resilience and deceptiveness they'd shown in combating the Seven Pillars by themselves for the past 65 years. The chaos gripping the PRC was a blessing from the Ancestors, the four sacred spirits (lung/dragons, phoenix, unicorn and tortoise), and the nine entities (I now really had to know this stuff.) Word that a 'dragon' had appeared in the West had only heightened their desire to aid in our new alliance.Those factors meant a reprieve for India. As the 7 Pillars began ramping up their operations; increasing racial tensions, minor terrorist action and military and industrial sabotage; the Booth-gan and Amazon united resources and purpose. The Booth-gan would assassinate 7P operatives and pawns while the Amazons would hit 7P front companies and businesses based out of the People's Republic of China. (This activity also helped ratchet up India-PRC tensions and anti-PRC public sentiment in India.)In Africa, the Condotteiri had squandered precious hours reallocating resources before launching their assaults. Like everyone but the 7P, they had been caught flat-footed by the renewal of the Secret War. The Coils of the Serpent had never been overly antagonistic toward the Condos, since their interests rarely collided. The same went for the Coils and the Amazons.Two factors inspired a deep Amazon-Coil bond. They were both groups with deep African roots and a shared Central-Western African spirituality. Added to that was the growing power of the Coils of the Serpent in the past fifty years. Their main opponents had been the Illuminati who had a Eurocentric view. Pan-Africanism was in the Coil's best interest, but ran contrary to European economic interests.Long term, allying with the African Amazons was a good investment for the Coils. The 9 Clans relationships had already proved to be advantageous on multiple occasions in the past. The leaders of the Coils knew their power was rising with the fortunes of Sub-Saharan Africa. To them, the rise of the PRC and the Seven Pillars was a looming threat in the East.They had been handed a golden opportunity to deal with this enemy before the enemy was ready to deal with them. They had been 'gifted' with over 2000 highly-skilled, fanatical Amazon warriors as stealthy muscle to add to their own, more subtle arsenal. For the Amazons, it was access to continent wide clandestine intelligence network that could unmask their enemies' hiding places.The Condotteiri wiped out an Amazon freehold in Cameroon and a few Coils safe houses in Lagos, Nigeria. In the Republic of Mali, over 250 Condo mercenaries were slaughtered at a 'secret' installation and their armory was looted. Ebola kept breaking out in the West. The dominant regional powers, the Republic of the Congo and Nigeria, were tottering as a result of decades of economic mismanagement, civic, ethnic, tribal and religious strife, corruption and unreliable militaries.The scene was ripe for a secret conflict as well as public carnage. For the Joint International Khanate Interim Taskforce (JIKIT), this presented a dilemma. They were involved with a growing global struggle that went far beyond the Khanate and Central Asia. Their secret society allies strenuously objected to bringing any more 'outsider' people into the group.Handing over covert intelligence to other governmental agencies in the US and UK, then telling them they wouldn't divulge their sources went over like scuba diving with cement goulashes. Explaining to upper level bigwigs that they had a 'trust-based' team went nowhere. Those officials didn't care about a bunch of domestic/international criminals' sensibilities.They wanted names and faces. They wanted addresses, phone taps and bank account numbers. It would all be 'Secret', 'Top Secret', or 'Eyes Only'. It would all be vulnerable to all kinds of governmental subpoenas too. No threats were made from 'my' side. They'd killed more people than the Black Death and the lives of a few thousand bureaucrats (and their families) in London and Washington D.C. didn't mean shit to them.Selena did offer to kidnap some family members to get the message across. Javiera put her hands over her ears and began singing 'la-la-la' as she stormed out of the room. Lady Fathom suggested that we arrange a private meeting with the UK Prime Minister and the US President. It took a few seconds for Mehmet and Javiera to realize she wasn't kidding.That was a nearly impossible task, which on this taskforce meant we had to give it a shot. Let's just say that the US Attorney General, Eric Holder and Chairman John Jay of the British Joint Intelligence Committee thought their respective representative had lost her God-damn mind. I went to the Khanate for help.Twenty-four hours later Azerbaijan, Turkey, Tajikistan, Armenia and Georgia (yes, two tiny Christian nations) joined the Khanate. The integration of the first two nations had been in the works since the formation of the Turkic Council in 2009. For me, Temujin upped the time table strictly for our benefit. Turkey and Azerbaijan became the two newest states within the Khanate.The third, Tajikistan was different and the shakiest addition. The unoccupied title of 'Khwarazm Shah' was created, suggesting the Iranian Tajiks had a special status inside the Khanate. 'Khwarazm' referenced the Khwarazmian dynasty that ruled the last of the great, Persian-led, Iranian Super-States and dated back to the 13th century AD. 'Shah' was Persian for King.The announced status of Armenia and Georgia was quite a bit different. They become 'Protectorates', i.e., semi-autonomous states within the Khanate who were 'vassal' states, responsible only to the Great Khan and his personal representative in the region (ah, that would be me.)So, the first three entries made sense, strong geographic, ethnic and/or religious ties, plus this was part of the Khanate's agenda anyway. But Armenia and Georgia? That was the doing of the other regional secret society, the Hashashin.The Caucasus Mountains were the backyard of the Hashashin. They knew who to blackmail, pinch and kill to make the 'take-over' possible. The main stumbling block was the long Khanate-Hashashin history: the Mongols had destroyed the historical stronghold of the Hashashin, Alamut, in 1256 CE. In a way, that disaster had transformed the sect, making it move away from their strict Nizārī Ismaili roots and into a more ethnically and religiously diverse group that was centered in the Caucasus region.Temujin made it clear to this group that he was making a deal under my auspices. Both Armenia and, Georgia (as well as the future Kurdistan, his plans for the creation of that last state were told to me under condition of secrecy) would be part of my palatinate principality (along with Hungary, if we ever got there). Riki Martin defined the terms for me: I was the voice of those three regions in the Khan's court.They wouldn't have to deal with Muslim Khanate officials. They would deal with me and 'my officials'. If the Khanate had a problem with my principality, they came to me to resolve the issue. That translated to me giving a nod to the existing regimes ruling in Armenia and Georgia (along with the infusion of a few Hashashin supporters.)Publically the future of those three political and ethnic entities would be confirmed later. The existing governments knew three things.1) I was that madman who had led the charge in Romania, clearly a man of bravery and humility. The odds were good that I was going to be a man they could rely on to adequately represent their interests with the government that currently mattered the most (aka The Khanate.)2) The Great Khan thought the world of me and in this nascent New World Order that meant way more than membership in NATO, or begging the United Nations to apply sanctions of dubious value.3) There would be a change of leadership by about 2040. Children of excellent ethnic parentage would succeed me in this ceremonial role in the region. These new princes and princesses would be the scions of the line of Nyilas and representatives of the various states (translation: I was going to be sexing it up with Georgian, Armenian and Kurdish members of the Hashashin).That would establish the three 'cadet' branches of House Ishara (Nyilas) (which I've listed because all three alphabets are so freaking beautiful) that could weave the Amazons, 9 Clans and the varying ethnic identities into a quilt that could stand together as a force in the Great Khan's inner circle. This new spate of aristocratic, 'Archer'-themed lineages would be:1.       Moisari, in Georgia.2.       Aġeġnajig, in Armenia.3.       Ram- alsham, in Kurdistan.This fiction made the key named entities happy. The combination of all these events applied another jolt to the heart of the global power structure (after all, Turkey was in NATO) and made the US and UK governments back off.By tidying up the world map, we'd brought our governmental chiefs to the chilling revelation that their sole conduit for insider information regarding the ongoing global calamity had reacted to their intransience by simply letting them be blind-sided by events. After the fact, Javiera and Lady Fathom relayed that message very clearly.

Main Point. God protects his church through qualified deacons. Driving Question. Who must deacons be? 1. The Deacon's Faithfulness (8–12) Personal character. Dignified (8). Not double-tongued (8). Proper steward. Not addicted to much wine (8). Not greedy for dishonest gain (8). Persistent faith. They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience (9). Publically tested. Tested first (10). Pious wife (or women). Faithful in all things (11). Private household management. Husband of one wife (12). Manage his own household well (12). Driving Question. What are the results of faithful deaconing? 2. The Deacon's Favor (13) Two simple rewards: Good standing for themselves (13). Great confidence in Christ (13). Responses. Remember that though deacons “do” faithful work, The Chief Deacon's work is “done.” Reflect the attributes of the deacon. Respond to the physical needs of the church.

Good and bad unintended consequences.By FinalStand. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels.The highest cost of losing a war is the rage of your children."Maybe the Canadian is not so much an 'ex' girlfriend?" Orsi leered. It was the old 'if he is so good that she still wants him back after a colossal screw up, I wanted a taste' expression."Do you think she will help you?" Katalin inquired."She'll help," Pamela huffed playfully. "My grandson has plenty of ex-girlfriends. Most of them want him back, despite his colorful lifestyle. It is one of his more amusing qualities.""Let's get something to eat," I tried to turn the conversation away from my past sexcapades."You are engaged?" Jolan didn't miss a beat."It is complicated," I sighed. "Let's just say I really like her, but she's seven years older, divorced with one young daughter and has a father who hates that I live and breathe.""Do you have any male friends?" Monika joined the Cáel Quiz Bowl."Yes," I replied with confidence. "My roommate Timothy and I are great friends.""He's gay," Pamela pierced their disbelief. "He and Cáel are true brothers-in-arms, I'll give Cáel that much.""Do you have any straight male friends?" Orsi was enjoying taunting me."Do Chaz or Vincent count?" I looked to Pamela."They are straight males, but they don't really know you yet," Pamela failed to be of much help. "I think Vincent insinuated he'd shoot you if you dated any of his three daughters. It was friendly of him to warn you. I supposed that could be construed as liking you.""Are all your acquaintances violent?" Anya seemed worried."Vincent isn't violent. He's with the US FBI," I retorted. Pause. "Okay, he carries a gun and shoots it, he's a law officer. They can do that.""You seem to be stressed," Orsi put an arm around my waist. "Let us ease your worries." Hallelujah!Note: One of History's LessonsIn the last 75 years of military history, airpower had been a decisive factor in every major conflict, save one. Most Americans would think the one exception was US involvement in Vietnam and they'd be wrong: right country, wrong time. Indochina's War of Independence against France was the exception. There, the French Air Force was simply inadequate to the task.Yes, the United States and its allies eventually lost the struggle in Vietnam. But it was their airpower that kept the conflict running as long as it did. For the most part, the Allied and Communist military hardware on the ground were equivalent. While the Allies had superior quantities of supplies, the Communists countered that with numbers, and therein lies the rub.Airpower allowed the Allies to smash large North Vietnamese formations south of the Demilitarized Zone and thus prevented the numerical advantage from coming into play. The North Vietnamese and Viet Cong made one serious stab at a conventional militarily challenge to the Allies, the Tet Offensive, and after initial successes, they were crushed.With the NVA unable to flex their superior numbers, the Allies were able to innovate helicopter-borne counter-insurgency operations. The North Vietnam's Army (NVA) was forced to operate in smaller units, so the Allies were able to engage them in troop numbers that helicopters could support. The air forces didn't deliver ultimate victory, but air power alone had never been able to do so on land. It was only when the US lost faith in achieving any positive outcome in Viet Nam and pulled out, that the North was finally able to overrun the South 20 months later. But every major power today understands the lesson.End of Note(Big Trouble in Little China)The military importance of airpower was now haunting the leadership of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). Their problem wasn't aircraft. Most of their air fleet consisted of the most advanced models produced during the last two decades. The problem was that 80% of their pilots were dead, or dying. Their ground crews were in the same peril. Even shanghaiing commercial pilots couldn't meet the projected pilot shortfall.Classic PLA defense doctrine was to soak up an enemy (Russian) attack and bog down the aggressor with semi-guerilla warfare (classic small unit tactics backed up with larger, light infantry formations). Then, when the invaders were over-extended and exhausted, the armored / mechanized / motorized forces would counter-attack and destroy their foes. This last bit required air superiority through attrition.The twin enemies of this strategy were the price of technology and the Chinese economic priorities. With the rising cost of the high-tech equipment and a central government focus on developing the overall economy, the Chinese went for an ever smaller counter attack striking force, thus skewing the burden of depth of support far in favor of their relatively static militia/police units.So now, while the PLA / PLAAF's main divisions, brigades and Air Wings were some of the best equipped on the planet, the economic necessities had also meant the militia was financially neglected, remaining little more than early Cold War Era non-mechanized infantry formations. To compensate, the Chinese had placed greater and greater emphasis on the deployment capabilities of their scarcer, technologically advanced formations.When the Anthrax outbreak started, the strike force personnel were the first personnel 'vaccinated'. Now those men and women were coughing out the last days and hours of their lives. Unfortunately, you couldn't simply put a few commercial truck drivers in a T-99 Main Battle Tank and expect them to be anything more than a rolling coffin. The same went for a commercial airline pilot and a Chengdu J-10 multi-role fighter. The best you could hope for was for him/her to make successful takeoffs and landings.A further critical factor was that the Khanate's first strike had also targeted key defense industries. The damage hadn't been irreparable. Most military production would be only a month to six weeks behind schedule. But there would be a gap.It was just becoming clear that roughly 80% of their highly-trained, frontline combatants were going to die anyway. Their Reserves were looking at 30~40% attrition due to the illness as well. In the short term (three months), they would be fighting with whatever they started with. Within the very short term (one week), they were going to have a bunch of high-priced equipment and no one trained to use it. With chilling practicality, the Chinese leaders decided to throw their dying troopers into one immediate, massive counter-offensive against the Khanate.Just as Temujin predicted they would. Things were playing out according to plan.Note: World Events SummaryRound #1 had seen the Khanate unite several countries under one, their, banner. Earth  and  Sky soldiers had rolled across the Chinese border as their Air Force and Missile Regiments had used precision strikes to hammer Chinese bases, sever their transportation network and crippled their civilian infrastructure.Next, the frontier offensive units had been obliterated, the cities bypassed and the Khanate Tumens had sped forward to the geographic junctures between what the Khanate wanted and from whence the PLA had to come. In the last phase of Round #1, the Khanate prepped for the inevitable PLA / PLAAF counter-strike.Round #2 had now begun:Step One: Declare to the World that the Khanate was a nuclear power. As history would later reveal, this was a lie, but no one had any way of initially knowing that. Hell, the Khanate hadn't even existed 72 hours ago. Satellite imagery did show the Khanate had medium-range strategic missiles capable of hitting any location in the People's Republic. In Beijing, a nuclear response was taken off the table.Step Two: Initiate the largest air-battle in the history of Asia. Not just planes either. Both sides flew fleets of UCAV's at one another. It wasn't really even a battle between China and just the Khanate. Virtually all of the UAV technology the Khanate was using was Japanese, South Korean and Taiwanese in origin, plus some US-Russian-shared technology thrown into the mix.When the South Korean design team saw the footage of their bleeding-edge dogfighting UCAVs shooting down their PRC opponents, they were thrilled (their design rocked!), shocked (what was their 'baby' doing dominating Chinese airspace?) and anxious (members of South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration, DAPA, were rushing over to chat with them).Similar things were happening in Japan, Taiwan, Russia and the United States. The Communist Party leadership in Beijing were beginning to seriously consider the possibility that everyone was out to get them. Of course, all the Ambassadors in Beijing were bobbing their heads with the utmost respect while swearing on the lives of their first born sons that their nations had nothing to do with any of this.These foreign diplomats promised to look into these egregious breaches of their scientific integrity and were saying how sorry they were that the PLA and PLAAF were getting ass-raped for the World's viewing pleasure. No, they couldn't stop the Khanate posting such things to the internet, something to do with freedom. Paranoia had been creeping into the Potentates' thoughts since the Pakistan/Aksai Chan incident.As they watched their very expensive jets and UCAV's being obliterated, distrust of the global community became the 800 pound gorilla in the room. To add habaneros to the open wounds, the United States and the United Kingdom began dropping hints that they had some sort of highly personal communication conduit with the Khanate's secretive and unresponsive leadership. Yes Virginia Wolfe, the Western World was out to get the People's Republic.'Great Mao's Ghost', all that claptrap their grandfathers had babbled on about (1) the Korea War, (2) the Sino-Soviet grudge match, (3) the Sino-Vietnamese conflict and (4) the persistent support for the renegade province of Formosa all being a continuous effort by the liberal democracies and post-colonial imperialist to contain Chinese communism, didn't sound so crazy anymore.Step Three: Plaster all those PLA ground units that had started moving toward them when the air war began and the Chinese envisioned they would control the skies. The T-99 was a great tank. It also blew up rather spectacularly when it was stuck on a rail car (you don't drive your tanks halfway across China, it kills the treads).As Craig Kilborn put into his late night repertoire:"What do you call a Khanate UCAV driver who isn't an ace yet? Late for work.""What's the difference between me coming off a weekend long Las Vegas bender and a Khanate pilot? Not a damn thing. We've both been up for three days straight, yet everyone expects us to work tonight."Some PLA generals decided to make an all-out charge at the Tumens. Genghis's boys and girls were having none of that. They weren't using their Russian-built Khanate tanks to kill Chinese-built PLA tanks. No, their tanks were sneaking around and picking off the Chinese anti-air vehicles.The Chinese tanks and APCs engaged the dismounted Khanate infantry who, as Aksai Chin had shown, possessed some of the latest anti-tank weaponry. In the few cases where the PLA threw caution to the wind, they did some damage to the Khanate by sheer weight of numbers. For the rest, it was death by airpower.With their anti-air shield gone, the battle became little more than a grisly, real-life FPS game. It wasn't 'THE END'. China still had over 2,000,000 troops to call upon versus the roughly 200,000 the Khanate could currently muster. The PLA's new dilemma was how to transport these mostly truck-bound troops anywhere near the front lines without seeing them also exterminated from the air.After the Tumens gobbled up the majority of the PLA's available mobile forces, they resumed their advance toward the provincial boundaries of Xinjiang and Nin Mongol. There was little left to slow them down. The Chinese still held most of the urban centers in Xinjiang and Nei Mongol, yet they were isolated. And Khanate follow-up forces (the national armies they'd 'inherited') were putting the disease-riddled major municipalities under siege.All over the 24/7 World Wide News cycle, talking heads and military gurus were of two minds about the Khanate's offensive. Most harped on the fact that while the Khanate was making great territorial gains, it was barely making a dent in the Chinese population and economy. Uniformly, those people insisted that before the end of November, the Khanate would be crushed and a reordering of Asia was going to be the next great Mandate for the United Nations.A few of the braver unconventional pundits pointed out the same thing, but with the opposite conclusion, arguing:1.There were virtually no military forces in the conquered areas to contend with the Khanate's hold on the regions.2.Their popularity in the rural towns and countryside seriously undercut any hope for a pro-PRC insurgency.3.Driving the Khanate's forces back to their starting points would be a long and difficult endeavor that the World Economy might not be able to endure.When the PLAAF was effectively castrated after thirty-six hours of continuous aerial combat, a lot of experts were left with egg on their faces. One lone commentator asked the most fearful question of all. Where was the Khanate getting the financing, technical know-how and expertise to pull all of this off? There was a reason to be afraid of that answer.And while I was entertaining my six sailor-saviors, there were two other things of a diplomatic nature only just revealing themselves. Publically, Vladimir Putin had graciously offered to mediate the crisis while 'stealthily' increasing the readiness of his Eastern Military District. If there was any confusion, that meant activating a shitload of troops on the Manchurian border, not along the frontiers of the former nations of Mongolia and Kazakhstan.After all, Mongolia was terribly poor. Manchuria/Northeastern China? Manchuria was rich, rich, rich! From the Kremlin, Putin spoke of 'projecting a presence' into the 'lost territory' of Manchuria, citing Russia's long involvement in the region. By his interpretation of history, the Russians (aka the Soviet Union) had rescued Manchukuo (the theoretically INDEPENDENT Imperial Japanese puppet state of Manchuria) from the Japanese in 1945. They'd even given it back to the PRC for safekeeping after World War II was concluded.Putin promised Russia was ready and willing to help out the PRC once again, suggesting that maybe a preemptive intervention would forestall the inevitable Khanate attack, thus saving the wealthy, industrialized province from the ravages of war. Surely Putin's Russians could be relied on to withdraw once the Khanate struggle was resolved? Surprisingly, despite being recent beneficiaries of President Putin's promises, the Ukraine remained remiss in their accolades regarding his rectitude.In the other bit of breaking news; an intermediary convinced the Khanate to extend an invitation to the Red Cross, Red Crescent and the WHO to investigate the recently conquered regions in preparations for a humanitarian mission.That intermediary was Hana Sulkanen; for reasons no one could fathom, she alone had the clout to get the otherwise unresponsive new regime to open up and she was using that influence to bring about a desperately needed relief effort to aid the civilians caught up in that dynastic struggle. A Princess indeed. No one was surprised that the PRC protested, claiming that since the territory wasn't conquered, any intervention was a gross violation of Chinese sovereignty.End of Note(To Live and Die in Hun-Gray)Orsi may have been the troupe leader, but Anya needed me more, so she came first."I need a shower before we catch some dinner," I announced as we meandered the streets of Mindszent. My lady friends were all processing that as I wound an arm around Anya's waist and pulled her close. "Shower?" I smiled down at her, she was about 5 foot 7. It took her a few seconds to click on my invitation."Yeah, sure, that would be nice," she reciprocated my casual waist hold. Several of her friends giggled over her delay. We were heading back to the Seven Fishermen's Guest House."Do you do this, picking up strange girls you've barely met for, you know?" she said in Bulgarian, as she looked at me expectantly."Yes and no," I began, in Russian. "I often find myself encountering very intriguing women, for which I know I am a fortunate man. I embrace sensuality. That means I know what I'm doing, but I'm not the 'bring him home to meet the parents' kind of guy.""What of your fiancée? Do you feel bad about cheating on her?" Anya pursued me."Hana is wonderful. I've met her father and it went badly both times," I confessed."How?" Anya looked concerned for me."Would you two speak a language the rest of us can understand?" Monika teased us."Very well," I nodded to Monika, and turned back to Anya, "The first time, his son raped a girl and I threatened the young man's life," I revealed. "Jormo, Hana's father, wasn't happy when I did so. The second time, he hit me twice, once in the gut and once in the head," I continued."Why did he hit you?" Orsi butted in."I'd rather not say. You may think less of me," I confessed. Pamela gave me a wink for playing my audience so well. I'm glad she's family (kinda/sorta)."The boy, he is dead?" Magdalena guessed. "Hana's brother?""I really shouldn't talk about that," I evaded. "It is a family matter." That's right. The family that my grandmother had brought me into as her intern / slayer-in-training. There is no reason to create a new lie when you can embellish a previous one."Do you ever feel bad about what you do?" Katalin asked Pamela. We love movies."As I see it, if I show up looking for you, you've done something to deserve it," Pamela gave her sage philosophy behind being an assassin."Are you, bi-sexual?" Jolan murmured. Pamela smacked me in the chest as I laughed. "Did I say something wrong?" Jolan worried. Pamela was a killer."No, you are fine," Pamela patted Jolan's shoulder. "I'm straight and happily so. It just so happens that most of my co-workers are women. Day in, day out, nothing but sweaty female bodies working out, sparring and grappling together, and afterwards, the massages."That was my Grandma, poking all the lesbian buttons of the women around me. Best of all, she did it with the detached air of a sexually indifferent matron. She was stirring up the lassies while keeping them focused on me. We walked into the courtyard of our guest house."Don't take too long, you two," Orsi teased us."Ha!" Pamela chuckled. "That's like asking the Sun to hurry up and rise, the Moon to set too soon, or the sea to stay at low tide forever.""Anya," I whispered into her ear. "How many orgasms do you want?" Anya's eyes expanded. Her eyes flickered toward her friends, then back to me. She held up one finger, I grinned speculatively. Anya held up two fingers. I kissed her fingers.

Getting to our classes.Based on a post by FinalStand, in 13 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels. Getting to our classes was eased by us being late. My teacher declared me 'tardy' despite my protestations that my brother had just been taken to the hospital. A few of my Black classmates snickered over that. 'Alexander' was given a 'pass' by his far more understanding teacher. That teacher was one of the 'haters', but Mikhail figured that hospitalizing one of us had gone way overboard in that man's eyes.That wasn't the only sign that things had changed. Darius and his crowd were prepping for the next attack. The rest of the school; they sensed something terrible was on the horizon. Our lack of response was a warning sign all its own. We weren't cringing, blustering, or glowering. Vicky said we were the 'eye of the storm' and wanted in on whatever vengeance we had planned.We told her we didn't have one. At lunch, Taliyah was torn up at first because she thought that Darius and Rashaan had Alexander beaten up over her. They'd even taunted her about it between classes, warning that worse was in store for her and Brandy at lunch. Those two women had gotten a measure of revenge by changing the location of the Cheer Squads 'lunch meeting'/gangbang, then forgotten to inform the football team of the change of venue.Darius came looking shortly after the fact. The other eight members of the Cheer Squad looked perplexed. Had Brandy not humiliated him (by dissing his BBC), he might have not decided to assume the whole group was in on this policy of denial.‘Brandy, get your ass over here,' Darius seethed.‘Taliyah, you had best correct yourself,' Rashaan added. A few other players who pretended they were BF/GF with a cheerleader added to the commotion.‘No,' I stood up and confronted him. He was looking for something more. 'Alexander' took up a position on the far side of the cheerleaders. People were clearing out the space between the football team and us.‘Brandy,' Darius stressed his authority. She was wavering. Fortunately for us, Taliyah was not.‘Back off you Mother-fucker,' she screamed.‘Taliyah?' Rashaan mumbled.‘You really want to be on their side?' Darius' eyes narrowed.‘I want to kick you and your fellow cowards' asses,' she seethed. Darius shot Rashaan a mocking glance, shaming him. His 'woman' was getting mouthy.‘Taliyah,' Rashaan asserted himself. ‘You are asking for a world of trouble.'‘What?' she spat back. ‘How many bruthas are you going to bring when you try to shut me up; cause I know you aren't man enough to do it yourself.'‘Bitch,' he stepped forward. I tried to move to her, Darius interposed himself. Mikhail had three guys on his flank so any move he made would put him in a nest of trouble.Rashaan grabbed her arm. My past twenty-four hours around that girl taught me that was a mistake. I didn't know if Rashaan was slower than Mikhail, or just caught off guard. Her slap resonated across the cafeteria. Before he could respond, she put a knee into his crotch, doubling him over. Multiply guys winced at the power of that nutting. Rashaan hissed like a punctured balloon and slowly slumped to the ground.Darius decided that was the indicator for the final showdown and settling of accounts. Kaelyne kicking a chair into his path was unexpected by both of us. Darius was far quicker on his feet than Rashaan. He was able to jump back before he could get clipped. The mob was so dependent on Darius for leadership that they froze up when his charge was truncated. Kaelyne had saved a whole lot of people a whole lot of pain.‘I'm done with you,' Taliyah sneered. ‘If you had wanted to be a real man, you would have fought Mikhail one on one, not like a pack of chicken shit jocks.' There was another hush and a 'no she didn't'.‘Brandy, get the fuck over here,' Darius glowered.‘I'm; I'm with Taliyah,' her voice wavered. ‘What you did was wrong. I thought you would be more of a man about this.'‘You'll pay for that,' he promised.‘Shut up. You are done. Brandy is with me now,' I challenged him. ‘I once offered you the opportunity to settle this like a man. You declined and now the whole school sees you for what you really are, a big, Black narcissist who doesn't care about anyone, but yourself.'There was a third pause in the murmuring.‘I don't think the football team knows what a narcissist is?' Kaelyne said in a low voice. Brandy let out a hysterical giggle.‘Samsonov!' the coach bellowed from across the room.‘Which one of us?' 'Alexander' shot back.‘Both of you,' he growled.‘No,' we said in unison.‘What?' he blustered. We were screwed no matter what we did.‘I need them to move some things in my class,' Ms. Blanchard spoke up from behind him. Alexander, the real Alexander, would have been so proud.‘Get some other boys,' Coach spun on her. She began to wilt.‘Coach Thomas,' a voice behind Ms. Blanchard emoted softly, ‘you are getting on my last damn nerve.'‘This ain't your school, Fonteneau,' he turned on Mom.‘My boy says you were one of the people that beat him up. I'm here to let the Principal know. On a personal level, I'm suing you and the school for what happened.'‘I didn't do nothing,' he groused.‘Funny, the only one who claims to have witnessed my son's beating is my son,' she purred like a Mamma Tiger stalking her prey. ‘I may be a Samsonov now, but I still have all that Fonteneau fortune to fight that court battle with. One more mishap for my other two boys, I'm going to have the best law firm in Little Rock crawl so far up your rectum that they know what you are going to eat before you bite into it.'‘I'm not afraid of you,' he puffed himself up.‘Really? None of these cases will take place in Davis County, Tobias (the coach). The previous school principal assaulted me, I have three sworn complaints against the Kingston PD filed with the Arkansas State Police, and a lawsuit pending against this school and the school board. A change of jurisdiction is a given. I'll be dragging you down to Little Rock to settle this mess.'‘You are lying,' he gulped.‘Test me,' Mom sizzled. I still couldn't see her over the crowd, but I knew those steely eyes were boring thru his soul. He might not have been guilty of beating up Alexander yet he was guilty of so much more that he was already rotten to the core. Everyone knew he had given his tacit approval for the beating of a student theoretically under his care.As an educator, he was sworn to better the lives of his charges, not use them for his own aggrandizement. No matter how entitled he felt he was, he knew the outside world wouldn't see it that way. Worse, he knew, deep down, he could have done so much better for his students. Sportsmanship, grades and fraternity were all his to dispense. Instead;‘Darius,' Coach Thomas called out. ‘You and I need to have a chat.'Darius turned his back on me and walked over to the Coach. Undoubtedly they were going to have a planning session. Alexander's fall had turned out to be a mixed blessing. Now the Sheriff's department had their eye on the place. Big Bob himself was chatting with the Principal and was inviting the man over for dinner. Big Bob was getting involved. It would take a few weeks before it became 'race-based harassment.‘Vlad,' Brandy hugged my left arm tightly. ‘Prince, how bad is this going to be?'That was unlooked for by multiple people. Two linemen retrieved Rashaan before the team made their departure.‘Brandy, take care of the Cheer Squad. If the team gets their hands on them, there is going to be some serious suffering. I'll be okay,' I smiled down at her.Taliyah gave me a thumbs-up before joining with Brandy. Mikhail told me later that she gave him a wink. After all, she knew that it was Alexander in the hospital, not her 'man' yet she had played her outrage so well. I'd almost been convinced. I was sure she'd made an impression on Rashaan; and Darius. They rounded up the Cheer Squad and the arguments and accusations began. The majority of their squad-mates didn't mind being BBC cum-sluts. That Taliyah and Brandy had broken the spell was seemingly impossible for them to grasp.As it turned out, with Taliyah giving Brandy some spine, Brandy was able to work her charismatic magic on the others to make them agree to a new program. Lunch 'workouts' were a thing of the past, as were after-scrimmage play times. From this point forward, the girls would be driving themselves to and from away-games, no more communal bus rides. To stress their point, Taliyah only had to point at Mikhail/Alexander's beating to show them how out of hand things had gotten.Darius' opening offensive had backfired in more than one way. I was sure he only saw this rebellion as a temporary thing he could soon correct. After all, he had blackmail material, his dominant mystique and his super-impressive BBC that would bring any woman to heel. His only concern was how much hell to put Brandy through before he disposed of her in one colossal gang-bang then dumping her mind-broken slut body on Big Bob's stoop. It was the 'asshole' thing to do.The rest of the day was still torturous. I developed several bruises and scrapes. Darius was still going with his full-court press to wear us down to the point we lashed out; suddenly there would be dozens of witnesses to our infraction. To add to our problems, Kaelyne also became a target of their aggression. I was as surprised as anyone when I learned she had been sent to the Vice Principal's office.Some muttonhead had grabbed her tit in the hallway between classes. She stabbed him in the face with a metal mechanical pencil while screaming 'rape' at the top of her lungs. This was not the 'Bad Ole Days'. Big Bob was keeping his eyes on the place and Principal Jean-Georges wasn't that 'Fat Old Bastard'. The 'assailant' had six inches and a hundred pounds on Kaelyne so the idea that she randomly attacked him was ludicrous.From what I heard, Big Bob was in a downright arctic mood too. Only later did Mom tell me she'd shown him the video of that first night at the lake; bukkake Brandy, Clarence getting some, and the general degradation handed out. Big Bob turned out to be Nothing like my Dad. Mom had to hold him back from going all 'redneck' on Darius and his crew. What did she offer?Revenge; at the hands of the Samsonov's. Dad could never find out. Big Bob was okay with that, bending the law to the point of breaking, covering up a crime and inventing evidence as needed to make sure that the crime would go unsolved, all those evils were absolved by the wickedness visited upon his daughter. Even then Mom had to promise an epic ass-whooping to keep him in line. 'How soon?' he had asked. Mom asked him if 'Alexander', Taliyah, Brandy and I could spend the night at his place Friday night after the game.‘No problem,' he grinned savagely.That afternoon we had to set some of Ms. Blanchard's students straight about how the wrong Samsonov had been beaten up and how Ms. Blanchard had a permanent escort to and from school for the foreseeable future. I had to admit, beating the crap out of the five of them felt good. Mikhail was positively euphoric. Big Bob had a reliable deputy hanging around the football team after school so that the Cheer Squad could go and come unmolested.Friday was more of the same, running the gauntlet between classes, dealing with collateral damage, Kaelyne was beaten up by some Black girls in the restroom, Vicky got more of the same when she tried to rescue her, and general crap at lunch. After lunch we were expecting a last, major push, some effort to remove us from the picture before the football game, leaving Brandy and Taliyah vulnerable far from home.It didn't work out that way. As lunch ended, the Brothers Samsonov, Kaelyne, (Vicky simply cut class) and the cheerleaders were all requested in the Principal's office. From there we were handed off to my Mom's tender loving care. See, she'd rented two luxurious vans for the team to be taken to the game, but we had to leave early to pick them up. Darius had fucked with the wrong Samsonov alright. Mom was a freaking psychic, or a satanic prophet.The game was the standard beat down. We won 30-14. Dad, currently off-duty, helped Mom shepherd the now horny cheerleaders off the field after the final play. I caught Darius glaring hate my way. He was counting on our inevitable defeat. What happened instead was indeed inevitable. Rattlesnakes that bit Mom, died. Killer whales turned away out of common courtesy shown to apex predators. Ten minutes alone in a room with my Mom had hardcore 'Lifers' calling their Mommas begging forgiveness; and I was assured that Theo was even scarier.After the game, we drove all the cheerleaders home, deposited the vans at our house, then Brandy, Taliyah, Mikhail and us went over to Big Bob's house. The girls grew sleepy, so Taliyah called her mother and told her she was spending the night at Brandy's. She didn't mention us being there. It was okay. The girls and Big Bob nodded off soon enough. Ground up sleeping pills in their drinks will do that.At nine o'clock, I woke up Big Bob from his recliner and suggested he go to bed. After he left, I erased the pre-recorded TiVo he'd unwittingly been watching, changed the clocks back to the real time, midnight, and then joined Mikhail on floor of Brandy's bedroom.‘Did you cut Big Bob's phone back on?' he asked. With the scope of the disaster we had enacted, he was bound to be called in.‘Yeah. Alibi established,' I yawned.My post-combat adrenaline rush was still keeping me awake. Twenty-three minutes later, Big Bob knocked on the door before coming in.‘Daddy?' Brandy rose up on her elbow and rubbed her eyes.‘Just checking up on you,' he scanned the room. ‘Taliyah, boys; ‘‘Is there a problem?' Brandy pouted.‘It seems there was a big fight at school and some boys got really hurt,' he shot Mikhail and me a curious look.‘Sorry we missed it,' Mikhail snorted.‘Vladimir, step outside and talk to me a second,' Big Bob motioned. I complied. It seemed prudent at the time. Once in the hall, he shut the door.‘This didn't have anything to do with you, or your brother, did it?'‘What happened when?' I tilted my head. Big Bob chuckled.‘Roughly nine o'clock tonight,' he grinned.‘As I recall, I went downstairs for a soda around nine, saw you asleep in your chair and suggested you go to bed,' I kept a straight face.‘I would have helped,' he whispered.‘With what, Sir?' I wondered. He looked at me steadily. Dad would have known something was up, seeking the truth was in his genetics. Big Bob; was as a diligent public servant who wove the delicate balance between law and order versus what was best for the public welfare. He just nodded, gave another chuckle then left.Over breakfast the next morning, Big Bob gave us the 411 on what had happened. Between nine o'clock and nine-ten last night, Darius and six other football players had been drinking in the parking lot after the bus ride back to school when two (maybe three) armed and armored assailants ambushed them. The attackers had been wielding big sticks/staves and proceeded to beat the seven students into unconsciousness.Darius had gotten the worst of it. Both of his knees were shattered. He was already being transferred from Davis Memorial Hospital to the one attached to the University of Arkansas Sports Medicine program. Even with that, the doctor at the hospital worried that the young athlete would ever walk again, much less run. Any hope of a career in football was gone. Even if he made a full recovery, it would take years. By that time; a college scholarship followed by some time in the NFL was a distant, impossible dream.My brother and I were immediate suspects except we had three witnesses to say we were otherwise occupied. The key one was Sheriff Big Bob Carson's himself. He recalled the time as well as what was on TV when I woke him up.Who else could it have been? Darius and the rest of Davis High's football team had spent all last season and the start of this season building up a huge roster of teams who hated their guts. Enough to hurt them? Darius' buddies had sidelined a fair number of student-athletes in their time. It could be drug related too. Darius' big brother was a known local drug figure.A peculiar aspect of the crime was that the security cameras around the crime scene had been knocked out with an air rifle while we were all at the game out of town, I had no idea that Kaelyne was that good a shot. There was no video evidence of the crime and, unless you believed in a massive conspiracy, it pretty much cleared the Samsonov's (Dad had been with us at the game and 'Mikhail' had been in the hospital; where people unknown/Darius had put him).Mom's alibi didn't start until she was seen by my Dad around 9:45 that night. She'd gone to visit 'Mikhail' at the hospital (he would be coming home this morning) then gone for a walk on the property. The Kingston PD had launched a raid on the house despite the crime not happening in their jurisdiction. They did illegally cross into county land, yet didn't find any incriminating evidence. Phineas Cobb the third had taken care of that for her.A five person (me, Mikhail, Mom, Kaelyne and Mr. Cobb) conspiracy had given Darius far more retribution than he could have possibly considered. Mom had insisted that we destroy his legs, thus ending his most potent weapon in the BBC arsenal, his status as a sports star. His dominant shadow would no longer cast itself on the halls of our school.Had he not put Alexander in the hospital;But he did. Threatening my brother's life had cost him his future. The most insidious part of Mom's plan was that whatever the Black community of Kingston thought, they would never be sure it was the Samsonov's behind it. We had never verbally threatened anybody over what happened to 'Mikhail/Alexander'.To believe we did it was to accept we had some sort of serious grievance. We did. Everyone knew we did yet they had denied the crime when it happened and were now trapped in that denial. In the investigation of the beating, the name 'Darius' had never come up. In fact, 'Mikhail/Alexander' hadn't named anyone, not even the coach. Mom had bluffed about that.Publically, if we had any issues to work out, it would have been with the coach and he was just fine, not a scratch on him.None of that stopped the Kingston PD from stepping up the pressure on the Samsonovs. It didn't stop the Mayor from calling in the State Police to take over the investigation. We weren't sure on what grounds it was being requested. After all, her talk with me about Darius had happened under circumstances she definitely didn't want to make public. Dad wasn't part of either investigation. Big Bob being our alibi didn't automatically exclude him.The outside investigators came by Bob's on Sunday to talk with him about it and he'd agreed on a concurrent investigation. The biggest question for the men (women actually) from Little Rock was why did anyone think it was 'Alexander' and I. What was our motive? Brandy had dumped Darius to be with me, so why would I want to punish him over that fact? Brandy hadn't been publically, or privately, threatened by him.'Alexander' and I? We Samsonov boys were good kids, making good grades with no recorded history of violence of any kind, neither in Arkansas, or Alaska. I hadn't liked Darius, but that hardly made me, or 'Alexander', unique. Most of the White student body hated his guts, after the fact. The showdown last Thursday? The only one who committed violence was the mayor's daughter on her former boyfriend; who wasn't among those hospitalized.Rashaan had been saved punishment because his teammates so shamed on the bus ride back to Davis High. he'd left early. Had he been wise, he would have thanked Taliyah for that accident of fate. On the plus side for that cocksucker, he was now the head of the football team as well as its star player.The two showdowns in Ms. Blanchard's class? Those students would have to explain why it had happened, thus what they had been up to over the past few years. That was sexual assault, rape and blackmail and taking that wrap to avenge Darius wasn't in them. The beating up of the kids around Shaquille? Precisely what had those seven been up to jumping our basketball teammate anyway?The carnage on the basketball court? That would imply one of the player confessing to stomping on Kaja. Both the team and the Assistant Coach were opposed to that exposure. No, it was the very erosion of trust that infected the BBC culture. Darius had gone from the Crown Prince to a 'what might have been' overnight. His former cronies felt zero loyalty to him anymore. Darius Pope had lost his luster. He was yesterday's news in the high school halls.At this point in the inquiry had the Kingston elders admitted to the outsiders Darius was a scumbag, abusing women and men for his own selfish ends, a blackmailer and bully, the investigation might have gained traction. But they didn't. He was their flawless native son, utterly without fault. That led the investigation away from us. It turned out that other teams Did have a motive for hurting the football team in general, not just Darius. The coach had to admit to that, there was video evidence of his team's barbaric behavior.The whole team were bastards on the field, half a dozen opposing coaches claimed as much and were vocally happy that such misfortune had befallen the evildoers of Davis High, karmic payback for their unsportsmanlike behavior. Did they know who the two (or three) 'agents of karma' had been? No idea. By that time, we had other worries. When the weekend was over it would be time to return to school, for all five of us.{Not like any other Monday}Monday, school life was adrift in the chaos left by Darius' abrupt departure. There was no clear successor, yet there were several contenders eager for the spot. None of them were White, but considering the school's racial makeup, it wasn't too surprising. There was also a sullen resentment against us, tempered by fear. It didn't take a first place winner at a school science fair for the students to figure out what had really happened.Darius had put Alexander/Mikhail in the hospital and now he and six of his closest confederates were in various states of serious disrepair. Everyone knew that Darius wasn't going to be carrying any footballs this season, or maybe ever again. He had crossed the unspoken line between harassment and serious damage. Sure, the Black student body had participated in those punches, pokes and slurs.Punishing 'Mikhail' had initially appeared to be justified; I had purloined Brandy and had gotten what I deserved for daring to dare. It had never occurred to anyone the meaner dogs in the fight weren't Darius Pope and his boys. Clearly, Darius had raised the level of 'acceptable' violence and they had blindly accepted his choice.Monday morning, Darius was no longer among them and the whole school society was experiencing 'continental drift'. Even teachers were uncertain what to make of us. Only Ms. Blanchard looked openly relieved that today was no longer more of the same. We found that out right before we had another school communion under the tutelage of Principal Dr. Pierre O'Rourke Jean-Georges.It was another exposition of what was wrong with this world and how he could fix it. The African-American Male Stereotype (aka the Football Team) had begotten violence from the entrenched White Establishment (even though there were no suspects, white or black, charged in the incident) in a never-ending cycle of brutality and suffering. The world would soon see the advent of the Brown Man ending the tyranny of White European cultural imperialism; not thru conflict, but thru the colored people's inherent spiritual superiority. Huh?‘I think we po' White folk done been insulted,' Vicky whispered to our small group. She had spunk. She was also Kaelyne's best friend, which would be of more importance later today.‘Why doesn't he rail against patriarchal tyranny?' Kaelyne added.‘Because he's a man?' I offered.‘Exactly,' she hissed.‘If there is so much White tyranny going on,' Alexander coughed, ‘why am I in so much pain?'‘Because you don't know how to dodge, you knucklehead,' Mikhail smirked. Dr. Pierre let his imperious gaze fall upon us, so we quieted. The rest was more of the same. We were idiots for solving problems with our fists and cocks; blah, blah, blah. What were we supposed to be? Men with pussies? The Student Body was left largely in the dark about our fates, though it did take him an hour to lead us there.Shaquille was at our lunch table once more, as was his girlfriend, Monique, and our teammate Kaja. That was comforting in more ways than one. Whatever had happened, they weren't ashamed, or afraid, to be seen with us. They didn't ask, so we didn't have to lie. We talked about upcoming tests, basketball practice and perhaps doing something this weekend. It was almost as if we were living in the 'new' normal.A few cheerleaders slipped away from Brandy and Taliyah that day. It wasn't like the BBC had lost its magic. Addicts remained addicts, that cock was too good to pass up and once a girl had the taste; they couldn't turn it down when offered. Mom's answer was a fuck-fest; which was an idea we three boys balked at. That was when Mom had her first glimpse that Mikhail had a problem of the heart.Only after she had pulled me aside for a chat/interrogation did she realize her own stupid mistake. Yes, Mom confessed to making an error in judgement. She'd realized that Taliyah was wild-spirited while not taking into consideration was exactly the type of woman my brother needed. That is what she said, 'needed'. That was so scary that I contemplated going behind Mom's back to warn Mikhail, almost.I had been a good boy Friday night and criminal goings on had kept us apart Saturday and Sunday, so by Monday, Brandy was about to bust a gut. Taliyah had her own bonfire burning behind her eyes, even while she exhibited more self-control. Kaelyne and Vicky staying after school, trying to weasel in a ride, was a bit unlooked for.‘I thought we could hang out together,' Kaelyne beamed. Vicky was not-so secretly amused. I repeat; she and Kaelyne were best friends.‘No!' snapped Brandy. Everyone was looking at her. ‘I mean, we really need to do some studying. Really bad; ‘‘I can help,' Kaelyne refused to be dissuaded.‘Not with this, you can't,' I muttered to myself. But I couldn't come up with a viable excuse to deny her, considering her rallying to our cause last week. ‘Sure,' I said in a louder voice. Brandy shot me a desperate visual appeal.‘Taliyah, are you and Brandy still planning to spend the night to help us with that project?' Mikhail intervened.‘Well; maybe,' Taliyah smirked. ‘Brandy?'‘Hell yes,' she glared at Kaelyne.‘Then we are all agreed,' Kaelyne grinned. Off we went, packed in like sardines. Alexander had gone home with Ms. Blanchard. That still left us with Brandy, Taliyah, Kaja, Mikhail, Kaelyne, Vicky and me in a four person Shelby Mustang.I dropped Kaja off first, as always. The trip home was more suspenseful than eventful. Victoria was unashamedly upbeat while Kaelyne was terribly high-strung. How she could miss the romantic situation between Brandy and I was a mystery. Only after homework, when we were getting ready for our workout and Mom got home, did any of it make sense. Instead of appearing as the majesty she normally projected to outsiders, she sneaked up on us all. She really was the Wicked Witch of the Ozarks! She must have been standing there for five minutes before she made her presence known by noisily clearing her throat.‘Brandy,' Mom stated with authority.‘Yes Ma'am,' she meekly responded.‘It is good to see you today. You too, Ms. Malik. Kaelyne and Victoria, it is nice to see you coming over as well. I hope my sons are making you feel welcome.'‘Hello,' Victoria and Kaelyne chorused. Taliyah settled for a wave.‘Kaelyne,' Mom nodded, ‘why don't you come with me and get some drink for the company?'‘Me?'‘Unless you know of another girl in the county named Kaelyne?' Mom mused.Brandy was relieved she wasn't the one being led away. She was still jittery.‘She doesn't look all that scary,' Vicky said in a low voice.‘Wait until she threatens you with physical violence,' Taliyah snorted.‘My Mom says she's psychotic. She cracked up years ago, along with her twin brother, Thomas, and they had to leave town,' Victoria informed us.‘It is Theo,' Alexander corrected her. ‘Her brother is called Theo, and from what I've been told, it was Kingston that drove her out.'‘What happened?' she pressed.‘Their Uncle Theo put my Uncle Leon into a coma he hasn't woken up from,' Taliyah grumbled. ‘This whole family is nuts.'‘You will pay for that,' Mikhail leered.‘Hardly,' she leered right back.‘Am I missing something?' Vicky looked to Alexander.‘He's always picks on her and she always slaps him,' Alexander shrugged. ‘Make of that what you will.'‘Don't you have some place you need to be, geek?' Taliyah menaced Victoria.‘No. Homework is done and I don't normally eat dinner until eight,' she answered blithely.‘Alexander, why don't you drive Vicky and Kaelyne home?' Brandy asked.‘Because he's convalescing,' Mikhail chortled.{Meanwhile, in the kitchen}‘So,' Mom said, ‘how long have you known you are a lesbian?'‘Wha, what?' Kaelyne stammered. ‘I'm not; ‘‘Me and my family don't mind, Kaelyne,' Mom smiled. ‘We aren't going to 'out' you, or going to stop liking you. I asked a simple question and expect an honest answer. Homosexuality is fine; lying is a deadly sin.'‘Umm; ah; a while.'‘See, that wasn't so hard. You like Taliyah, don't you?'‘I; uh; what makes; I; ‘‘Kaelyne, I trust you implicitly and would never steer you wrong. If you want to get close to Taliyah, all you need to do is ask Vlad. He likes you and considers you a friend,' Mom explained. ‘He's not going to hold asking him against you.'‘What about Mikhail? Aren't they; ‘‘Since you don't seem to have figured it out yet, let me tell you, Mikhail is difficult and not terribly helpful in matters of the heart,' Gayle chucked. ‘Vlad is the reasonable one, Taliyah likes him and he can use Brandy as a buffer.'‘What about what Taliyah wants?' Kaelyne protested.‘Do you care?'‘Yes; yes, I want her to be happy.'‘Good for you. I'm glad you've befriended my boys. That's a very brave thing to do and I appreciate it.'‘You are welcome.'‘So, ask him,' Mom finished getting out enough bottled water for the group of us.‘I don't want to put Vlad in a bind,' Kaelyne protested.‘Listen Kaelyne, losers moan about what they should have done. Winners risk and, win or lose, don't regret trying,' Mom lectured. ‘Do you want to graduate and leave this burgh wondering what might have been?'‘I; what happens if; it could be a disaster,' Kaelyne mumbled.‘You may not have a better chance than right now. Pull Vlad aside and open up to him. I guarantee things won't be any worse.'‘Okay. I'll think about it,' Kaelyne moped.‘Fair enough,' Mom shrugged. ‘With all this estrogen in the air, I feel like getting naked.'‘What?' Kaelyne gasped. Yep, Dad was in for a busy night. They came back in silence.{Outside once more}The rest of the workout went as planned. We finished with a wrestling bout between Mikhail and me. Taliyah and Brandy cheered me on so Vicky decided to speak up for my younger brother. I won two out of three falls after some serious effort only to have Alexander critique our efforts after the fact. Mom had come and gone. Kaelyne was pensive.‘Shower time,' Mikhail groaned.‘Finally,' Brandy sounded exasperated.‘Vlad, can I talk to you for a moment?' Kaelyne mumbled. Brandy stomped her foot in frustration when I complied.‘Yes?' I said after I'd pulled her aside.‘You and Brandy are; ‘‘What? Having sex?' I suggested.‘In love,' she looked down at her feet.‘Why would you want to know?'‘No reason,' she lied.‘We are into one another, not making wedding plans,' I patted Kaelyne on the shoulder. ‘It is sex. I'd like to think it is good sex. Is there a problem? Is his about us, you and me?' She shook her head. ‘I really like you,' I continued, ‘I don't want to think I've been leading you along.'‘That's not it,' she whispered.‘What is it then?'‘I like Taliyah,' she blurted out. The fear of humiliation in her eyes was palatable to me.‘Like as in you would like to spend time with her, like?' I asked. She remained staring at me, terribly hopeless. ‘Oh; you really like her. Oh, okay. Do you want to me to ask her how she feels about you?'‘I; I don't know,' she wailed. ‘The school isn't exactly 'gay-friendly'.'‘Do you believe that I'm your friend?'‘Yes.'‘Then don't worry. I've got this covered,' I assured her. Kaelyne took a deep breath, slowly let it out then hugged me. I could feel Brandy's lust-fueled anger being sent Kaelyne's way. I gave my buddy a comforting pat on the back.‘Brandy, can I talk to you a moment?' I said as I walked over to her. She was very uncertain and confused, so I kissed her. She burned me up with her full-body press in response.‘What is it?' she worried.‘You make me so happy. I don't think I tell you that enough.'I could feel Brandy's body relaxing against min

Greg Brady spoke with Kevin Vuong, Independent M-P for Spadina - Fort York about some encampments in Toronto parks being unsafe and his thoughts on the Prime Minister's caucus meeting. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Greg Brady spoke with Kevin Vuong, Independent M-P for Spadina - Fort York about some encampments in Toronto parks being unsafe and his thoughts on the Prime Minister's caucus meeting. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"I left the party crying over what was said to me....." On this episode we hear from Tallaght mum-to-be Avril who was publically shamed by family members at a birthday party over her alcohol consumption.. The topic then took an unexpected turn with Anne came on with her admission that left our jaws on the floor..

Todays episode is proudly Brought to you by Womb Nutrition and The Beauty Company. This is Tom's first time chatting publicly about parenting as he is mostly is interviewed about mental health and his infamous decision to walk away from AFL and “give up” $2million to end his contract at The Bulldogs. Tom has a (nearly) 2 year old daughter named Armani, and a wife named Anna. Although Demi couldn't help but quiz Tom on his incredibly interesting and unique AFL career, we get to learn about Tom's life before football, a bit about his own parents “parenting styles” and how that shaped him, as well as his insightful goals and thoughts about his own parenting style and the importance of a solid relationship. Tom mentioned he is generally misunderstood as arrogant and felt that being an overachiever as a child can at times be detrimental and shameful. Tom is an incredibly intelligent, logical and down to earth guy who is able to articulate and explain things so clearly! We learnt so much from him! Post football, Tom has released a book 'Nowhere to Hide', works in the mental health space with Work Safe and has a full-time job in football analytics! We hope you love this chat as much as we did!! 

DO YOU THINK IT IS ACCEPTABLE FOR CHURCHES TO CELEBRATE AND HONOR SIN? --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/patriotstrong/support

LNNR Entry 12: "All States Are Border States"? Will Americans Tolerate State Border Checkpoints? Liberty Needs No Rulers Yellow Vest Radio Entry 12 Happy Yellow Vest Saturday from the Great Western American Landscape... Every child born is a blank slate.  And our rulers count on this.  Are young Americans even aware of some of our founding ideals? AMERICANS DO NOT SHOW PAPERS TO TRAVEL.  No matter how much they say terrorists are about. Used to get on planes with just a ticket. Now it's all about the Coachella chipped wristband.

Welcome back It's our favorite day of the week; it's HUMP DAY Q&A! Today's question: What do I do when my spouse continues to publically disrespect me?  --- For all links mentioned in the episode & more XO content, visit: https://linktr.ee/nakedmarriage Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For 18 years, she dedicated her life to the plight of the endangered gorilla. But just after Christmas of 1985, Dian Fossey lost her life — slain by a machete at her research camp in Rwanda. Publically, Fossey was known as a gentle conservationist. But those who knew her personally experienced her darker side. A ruthlessness that could have led to her death. But at whose hands? If you'd like to take action on the climate or learn more about the topics covered in “Dark Green: Earth Crimes and Conspiracies,” visit www.spotify.com/darkgreenresources. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Guest apostle openly rebukes drummer Josiah in front of the church --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/scorpioqueen/message

I had fun chatting with Aarthi and Sriram.We discuss what it takes to be successful in technology, what Sriram would say if Elon tapped him to be the next CEO of Twitter, why more married couples don't start businesses together, and how Aarthi hires and finds 10x engineers.Aarthi Ramamurthy and Sriram Krishnan are the hosts of The Good Times Show. They have had leading roles in several technology companies from Meta to Twitter to Netflix and have been founders and investors. Sriram is currently a general partner at a16z crypto and Aarthi is an angel investor.Watch on YouTube. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast platform. Timestamps(00:00:00) - Intro(00:01:19) - Married Couples Co-founding Businesses(00:09:53) - 10x Engineers(00:16:00) - 15 Minute Meetings(00:22:57) - a16z's Edge?(00:26:42) - Future of Twitter(00:30:58) - Is Big Tech Overstaffed?(00:38:37) - Next CEO of Twitter?(00:43:13) - Why Don't More Venture Capitalists Become Founders?(00:47:32) - Role of Boards(00:52:03) - Failing Upwards(00:56:00) - Underrated CEOs(01:02:18) - Founder Education(01:06:27) - What TV Show Would Sriram Make?(01:10:14) - Undervalued Founder ArchetypesTranscriptThis transcript was autogenerated and thus may contain errors.[00:00:00] Aarthi: it's refreshing to have Elon come in and say, we are gonna work really hard. We are gonna be really hardcore about how we build things.[00:00:05] Dwarkesh: Let's say Elon and says Tomorrow, Sriram, would you be down to be the [00:00:08] Sriram: CEO of Twitter Absolutely not. Absolutely not. But I am married to someone. We [00:00:12] Aarthi: used to do overnights at Microsoft. Like we'd just sleep under our desk,, until the janitor would just , poke us out of there , I really need to vacuum your cubicle. Like, get out of here. There's such joy in , Finding those moments where you work hard and you're feeling really good about it. [00:00:25] Sriram: You'd be amazed at how many times Aarthi and I would have a conversation where be, oh, this algorithm thing.I remember designing it, and now we are on the other side We want to invest in something , where we think the team and the company is going to win and if they do win, there's huge value to be unlocked. [00:00:40] Dwarkesh: Okay. Today I have the, uh, good pleasure to have Arty and Sriram on the podcast and I'm really excited about this.So you guys have your own show, the Arty Andre Good Time show. Um, you guys have had some of the top people in tech and entertainment on Elon Musk, mark Zuckerberg, Andrew Yang, and you guys are both former founders. Advisors, investors, uh, general partner at Anderson Horowitz, and you're an angel investor and an advisor now.Um, so yeah, there's so much to talk about. Um, obviously there's also the, uh, recent news about your, uh, your involvement on, uh, twitter.com. Yeah, yeah. Let's get started. [00:01:19] Married Couples Starting Businesses[00:01:19] Dwarkesh: My first question, you guys are married, of course. People talk about getting a co-founder as finding a spouse, and I'm curious why it's not the case that given this relationship why more married people don't form tech startups.Is, does that already happen, [00:01:35] Aarthi: or, um, I actually am now starting to see a fair bit of it. Uhhuh, . Um, I, I do agree that wasn't a norm before. Um, I think, uh, I, I think I remember asking, uh, pg p the same thing when I went through yc, and I think he kind of pointed to him and Jessica like, you know, YC was their startup , and so, you know, there were even pride.There are a lot of husband and wife, uh, companies. Over the last like decade or so. So I'm definitely seeing that more mainstream. But yeah, you're right, it hasn't been the norm before. Yeah, the, the good time show is our project. It's [00:02:09] Sriram: our startup. Very, I mean, there are some good historical examples. Cisco, for example, uh, came from, uh, uh, husband, wife as a few other examples.I think, you know, on, on the, in, on the pro side, uh, you know, being co-founders, uh, you need trust. You need to really know each other. Uh, you, you go through a lot of like heavy emotional burdens together. And there's probably, and if you, you're for the spouse, hopefully you probably have a lot of chemistry and understanding, and that should help.On the con side, I think one is you, you're prob you know, you, you're gonna show up at work, you know, and startups are really hard, really intense. And you come home and both of you are gonna the exact same wavelength, the exact same time, going through the exact same highs and lows as opposed to two people, two different jobs have maybe differing highs and lows.So that's really hard. Uh, the second part of it is, uh, in a lot of. Work situations, it may just be more challenging where people are like, well, like, you know, person X said this person Y said this, what do I do? Uh, and if you need to fire somebody or you know, something weird happens corporate in a corporate manner, that may also be really hard.Uh, but having said that, you know, uh, [00:03:13] Aarthi: you know, yeah, no, I think both of those are like kind of overblown , like, you know, I think the reason why, um, you know, you're generally, they say you need to have you, it's good to have co-founders is so that you can kind of like write the emotional wave in a complimentary fashion.Uh, and you know, if one person's like really depressed about something, the other person can like pull them out of it and have a more rational viewpoint. I feel like in marriages it works even better. So I feel like to your first point, They know each other really well. You're, you're, you are going to bring your work to home.There is no separation between work and home as far as a startup is concerned. So why not do it together? Oh, [00:03:51] Sriram: well, I think there's one problem, uh, which is, uh, we are kind of unique because we've been together for over 21 years now, and we start for, we've been before, uh, let's not. Wow. There's gonna be some fact checking 19 on this video.99. Close enough. Close enough, right? Like close enough. He wishes he was 21. Oh, right, right, right. Gosh, feels like 21. We have do some, um, [00:04:15] Aarthi: editing on this video. No, no, no. I think 20 years of virtually knowing, 19 years of in-person. [00:04:20] Sriram: There we go. Right. Uh, fact check accurate. Um, ex experts agree. But, um, you know, but when you first met, we, we originally, even before we dating, we were like, Hey, we wanna do a company together.And we bonded over technology, like our first conversation on Yahoo Messenger talking about all these founders and how we wanted to be like them. And we actually then worked together pretty briefly when you were in Microsoft. Uh, before we actually started dating. We were on these sort of talent teams and we kind of met each of the word context.I think a lot of. You know, one is they have never worked together. Um, and so being in work situations, everything from how you run a meeting to how you disagree, uh, you know, uh, is just going to be different. And I think that's gonna be a learning curve for a lot of couples who be like, Hey, it's one thing to have a strong, stable relationship at home.It'll be a different thing to, you know, be in a meeting and you're disagreeing art's meetings very differently from I do. She obsesses over metrics. I'm like, ah, it's close enough. It's fine. , uh, it's close enough. It's fine. as e uh, here already. But, uh, so I do think there's a learning curve, a couples who is like, oh, working together is different than, you know, raising your family and being together.I mean, obviously gives you a strong foundation, but it's not the same thing. Have you guys [00:05:25] Dwarkesh: considered starting a company or a venture together at some point? [00:05:28] Aarthi: Yeah. Um, we've, uh, we've always wanted to do a project together. I don't know if it's a, a startup or a company or a venture. You have done a project together,Yeah, exactly. I think, uh, almost to today. Two years ago we started the Good Time Show, um, and we started at, uh, live Audio on Clubhouse. And, you know, we recently moved it onto video on YouTube. And, um, it's, it's been really fun because now I get to see like, it, it's neither of our full-time jobs, uh, but we spend enough, um, just cycles thinking through what we wanna do with it and what, uh, how to have good conversations and how to make it useful for our audience.So that's our [00:06:06] Sriram: project together. Yep. And we treat it like a, with the intellectual heft of a startup, which is, uh, we look at the metrics, uh, and we are like, oh, this is a good week. The metrics are up into the right and, you know, how do we, you know, what is working for our audience? You know, what do we do to get great guests?What do we do to [00:06:21] Aarthi: get, yeah, we just did our first, uh, in-person meetup, uh, for listeners of the podcast in Chennai. It was great. We had like over a hundred people who showed up. And it was also like, you know, typical startup style, like meet your customers and we could like go talk to these people in person and figure out like what do they like about it?Which episodes do they really enjoy? And it's one thing to see YouTube comments, it's another to like actually in person engage with people. So I think, you know, we started it purely accidentally. We didn't really expect it to be like the show that we are, we are in right now, but we really happy. It's, it's kind of turned out the way it has.[00:06:59] Sriram: Absolutely. And, and it also kind of helps me scratch an edge, which is, uh, you know, building something, you know, keeps you close to the ground. So being able to actually do the thing yourself as opposed to maybe tell someone else, telling you how to do the, so for example, it, it being video editing or audio or how thumbnails, thumbnails or, uh, just the mechanics of, you know, uh, how to build anything.So, uh, I, I dot think it's important. Roll up your sleeves metaphorically and get your hands dirty and know things. And this really helped us understand the world of creators and content. Uh, and it's fun and [00:07:31] Aarthi: go talk to other creators. Uh, like I think when we started out this thing on YouTube, I think I remember Shram just reached out to like so many creators being like, I wanna understand how it works for you.Like, what do you do? And these are people who like, who are so accomplished, who are so successful, and they do this for a living. And we clearly don. And so, uh, just to go learn from these experts. It's, it's kind of nice, like to be a student again and to just learn, uh, a new industry all over again and figure out how to actually be a creator on this platform.Well, you know [00:08:01] Dwarkesh: what's really interesting is both of you have been, uh, executives and led product in social media companies. Yeah. And so you are, you designed the products, these creators, their music, and now on the other end, you guys are building [00:08:12] Sriram: the, oh, I have a great phrase for it, right? Like, somebody, every once in a while somebody would be like, Hey, you know what, uh, you folks are on the leadership team of some of these companies.Why don't you have hundreds of millions of followers? Right? And I would go, Hey, look, it's not like every economist is a billionaire, , uh, uh, you know, it doesn't work that way. Uh, but during that is a parallel, which, which is, uh, you'd be amazed at how many times Aarthi and I would have a conversation where be, oh, this algorithm thing.I remember designing it, or I was in the meeting when this thing happened, and now we are on the other side, which is like, Hey, you might be the economist who told somebody to implement a fiscal policy. And now we are like, oh, okay, how do I actually go do this and create values and how? Anyway, how do we do exactly.Create an audience and go build something interesting. So there is definitely some irony to it, uh, where, uh, but I think hopefully it does give us some level of insight where, uh, we have seen, you know, enough of like what actually works on social media, which is how do you build a connection with your audience?Uh, how do you build, uh, content? How do you actually do it on a regular, uh, teams? I think [00:09:07] Aarthi: the biggest difference is we don't see the algorithm as a bra, as a black box. I think we kind of see it as like when the, with the metrics, we are able to, one, have empathy for the teams building this. And two, I think, uh, we kind of know there's no big magic bullet.Like I think a lot of this is about showing up, being really consistent, um, you know, being able to like put out some really interesting content that people actually want to, and you know, I think a lot of people forget about that part of it and kind of focus. If you did this one thing, your distribution goes up a lot and here's this like, other like secret hack and you know Sure.Like those are like really short term stuff, but really in the long term, the magic is to just like keep at it. Yeah. And, uh, put out really, really good content. [00:09:48] Sriram: Yeah. Yeah. And yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Um, that's good to hear. . [00:09:53] 10x Engineers[00:09:53] Dwarkesh: Um, so you've both, um, led teams that have, you know, dozens or even hundreds of people.Um, how easy is it for you to tell who the 10 X engineers are? Is it something that you as managers and executives can tell easily or [00:10:06] Sriram: no? Uh, absolutely. I think you can tell this very easily or repeat of time and it doesn't, I think a couple of ways. One is, uh, Uh, before, let's say before you work with someone, um, 10 x people just don't suddenly start becoming 10 x.They usually have a history of becoming 10 x, uh, of, you know, being really good at what they do. And you can, you know, the cliche line is you can sort of connect the dots. Uh, you start seeing achievements pile up and achievements could be anything. It could be a bunch of projects. It could be a bunch of GitHub code commits.It could be some amazing writing on ck, but whatever it is, like somebody just doesn't show up and become a 10 x person, they probably have a track record of already doing it. The second part of it is, I've seen this is multiple people, uh, who are not named so that they don't get hired from the companies actually want them to be in, or I can then hire them in the future is, uh, you know, they will make incredibly rapid progress very quickly.So, uh, I have a couple of examples and almost independently, I know it's independently, so I have a couple of. Um, and I actually, and name both, right? Like, so one is, uh, this guy named, uh, Vijay Raji, uh, who, uh, was probably one of Facebook's best engineers. He's now the CEO of a company called Stats. And, um, he was probably my first exposure to the real TenX engineer.And I remembered this because, uh, you know, at the time I was. Kind of in my twenties, I had just joined Facebook. I was working on ads, and he basically built a large part of Facebook's ad system over the weekend. And what he would do is he would just go, and then he con he [00:11:24] Aarthi: continued to do that with Facebook marketplace.Yeah. Like he's done this like over and over and over [00:11:28] Sriram: again. . Yeah. And, and it's not that, you know, there's one burst of genius. It's just this consistent stream of every day that's a code checkin stuff is working. New demo somebody, he sent out a new bill or something working. And so before like a week or two, you just like a, you know, you running against Usain Bolt and he's kind of running laps around you.He's so far ahead of everyone else and you're like, oh, this guy is definitely ahead. Uh, the second story I have is, uh, of, uh, John Carmack, uh, you know, who's legend and I never worked with him in, uh, directly with, you know, hopefully someday I can fix. But, uh, somebody told me a story about him. Which is, uh, that the person told me story was like, I never thought a individual could replace the output of a hundred percent team until I saw John.And there's a great story where, um, you know, and so John was the most senior level at Facebook and from a hr, you know, employment insecurity perspective for an individual contributor, and it at, at that level, at Facebook, uh, for folks who kind of work in these big tech companies, it is the most, the highest tier of accomplishment in getting a year in a performance review is something called xcs Expectations, or, sorry, redefines, right?Which basically means like, you have redefined what it means for somebody to perform in this level, right? Like, it's like somebody, you know, like somebody on a four minute mile, I'll be running a two minute mile or whatever, right? You're like, oh, and, and it is incredibly hard sometimes. You doing, and this guy John gets it three years in a row, right?And so there's this leadership team of all the, you know, the really most important people on Facebook. And they're like, well, we should really promote John, right? Like, because he's done this three years in a row, he's changing the industry. Three years in a row and then they realized, oh wait, there is no level to promote him to Nick be CEOWell, maybe I don't think he wanted to. And so, uh, the story I heard, and I dunno, it's true, but I like to believe it's true, is they invented a level which still now only John Carmack has gotten. Right. And, um, and I think, you know, it's his level of productivity, uh, his, uh, intellect, uh, and the consistency over time and mu and you know, if you talk to anybody, Facebook work with him, he's like, oh, he replaced hundred people, teams all by themselves and maybe was better than a hundred percent team just because he had a consistency of vision, clarity, and activity.So those are [00:13:32] Aarthi: the two stories I've also noticed. I think, uh, actually sheam, I think our first kind of exposure to 10 x engineer was actually Barry born, uh, from Microsoft. So Barry, um, uh, basically wrote pretty much all the emulation engines and emulation systems that we all use, uh, and uh, just prolific, uh, and I think in addition to what Fred had said with like qualities and tenets, Um, the, I've generally seen these folks to also be like low ego and kind of almost have this like responsibility to, um, mentor coach other people.Uh, and Barry kind of like took us under his wing and he would do these like Tuesday lunches with us, where we would just ask like, you know, we were like fresh out of college and we just ask these like really dumb questions on, you know, um, scaling things and how do you build stuff. And I was working on, uh, run times and loaders and compilers and stuff.And so he would just take the time to just answer our questions and just be there and be really like, nice about it. I remember when you moved to Redmond, he would just like spend a weekend just like, oh yeah. Driving you about and just doing things like that, but very low ego and within their teams and their art, they're just considered to be legends.Yes. Like, you know, everybody would be like, oh, Barry Bond. Yeah, of course. [00:14:47] Sriram: Yeah. It, I can't emphasize enough the consistency part of it. Um, you know, with Barry. Or I gotta briefly work with Dave Cutler, who's kind of the father of modern operating systems, uh, is every day you're on this email li list at the time, which would show you check-ins as they happen.They would have something every single day, um, every day, and it'll be tangible and meaty and you know, and you just get a sense that this person is not the same as everybody else. Um, by the, this couple of people I can actually point to who haven't worked with, uh, but I follow on YouTube or streaming. Uh, one is, uh, Andrea Ling who builds Serenity Os we had a great episode with him.Oh, the other is George Hart's, uh, geo Hart. And I urge people, if you haven't, I haven't worked with either of them, uh, but if I urge which to kinda watch their streams, right? Because, uh, you go like, well, how does the anti killing build a web browser on an operating system? Which he builds by himself in such a sharp period of time and he watches stream and he's not doing some magical new, you know, bit flipping sorting algorithm anybody has, nobody has seen before.He's just doing everything you would do, but. Five bits of speed. I, yep, exactly. [00:15:48] Dwarkesh: I I'm a big fan of the George Hot Streams and Yeah, that's exactly what, you know, it's like yeah, you, he's also curling requests and he is also, you know, you know, spinning up an experiment in a Jupyter Notebook, but yeah, just doing it [00:15:58] Aarthi: away way faster, way efficiently.Yeah. [00:16:00] 15 Minute Meetings[00:16:00] Dwarkesh: Yeah. That's really interesting. Um, so ar Arthur, I'm, you've gone through Y Combinator and famously they have that 15 minute interview Yes. Where they try to grok what your business is and what your potential is. Yeah, yeah. But just generally, it seems like in Silicon Valley you guys have, make a lot of decisions in terms of investing or other kinds of things.You, in very short calls, you know. Yeah. . Yeah. And how much can you really, what is it that you're learning in these 15 minute calls when you're deciding, should I invest in this person? What is their potential? What is happening in that 15 minutes? [00:16:31] Aarthi: Um, I can speak about YC from the other side, from like, uh, being a founder pitching, right.I think, yes, there is a 15 minute interview, but before that, there is a whole YC application process. And, uh, I think even for the, for YC as, uh, this bunch of the set of investors, I'm sure they're looking for specific signals, but for me as a founder, the application process was so useful, um, because it really makes you think about what you're building.Why are you building this? Are you the right person to be building this? Who are the other people you should be hiring? And so, I mean, there are like few questions or like, one of my favorite questions is, um, how have you hacked a non-computer system to your advantage? Yeah. . And it kind of really makes you think about, huh, and you kind of noticed that many good founders have that pattern of like hacking other systems to their advantage.Um, and so to me, I think more than the interview itself, the process of like filling out the application form, doing that little video, all of that gives you better, um, it gives you the, the entire scope of your company in your head because it's really hard when you have this idea and you're kind of like noodling about with it and talking to a few people.You don't really know if this is a thing. To just like crystallize the whole vision in your head. I think, uh, that's on point. Yes. Um, the 15 minute interview for me, honestly, it was like kind of controversial because, uh, I went in that morning, I did the whole, you know, I, I had basically stayed at the previous night, uh, building out this website and, uh, that morning I showed up and I had my laptop open.I'm like really eager to like tell them what you're building and I keep getting cut off and I realize much later that that's kind of my design. Yeah. And you just like cut off all the time. Be like, why would anybody use this? And you start to answer and be like, oh, but I, I don't agree with that. And there's just like, and it, it's like part of it is like, makes you upset, but part of it is also like, it makes you think how to compress all that information in a really short amount of time and tell them.Um, and so that interview happens, I feel really bummed out because I kind of had this website I wanted to show them. So while walking out the door, I remember just showing Gary, Dan, um, the website and he like kind of like. Scrolls it a little bit, and he is like, this is really beautifully done. And I was like, thank you.I've been wanting to show you this for 15 minutes. Um, and I, I mentioned it to Gary recently and he laughed about it. And then, uh, I didn't get selected in that timeframe. They gave me a call and they said, come back again in the evening and we are going to do round two because we are not sure. Yeah. And so the second interview there was PG and Jessica and they both were sitting there and they were just grueling me.It was a slightly longer interview and PG was like, I don't think this is gonna work. And I'm like, how can you say that? I think this market's really big. And I'm just like getting really upset because I've been waiting this whole day to like get to this point. And he's just being like cynical and negative.And then at some point he starts smiling at Jessica and I'm like, oh, okay. They're just like baiting me to figure it out. And so that was my process. And I, by the evening, I remember Shera was working at. I remember driving down from Mountain View to Facebook and Sheam took me to the Sweet Stop. Oh yeah.Which is like their, you know, Facebook has this like, fancy, uh, sweet store, like the ice cream store. I [00:19:37] Sriram: think they had a lot more perks over the years, but that was very fancy back then. [00:19:40] Aarthi: So I had like two scoops of ice cream in each hand in, and, uh, the phone rang and I was like, oh, hold onto this. And I grabbed it and I, and you know, I think it was Michael Sibu or I don't know who, but somebody called me and said, you're through.So that was kind of my process. So even though there was only 15 minutes, mine was actually much longer after. But even before the, the application process was like much more detailed. So it sounds [00:20:01] Dwarkesh: like the 15 minutes it's really there. Like, can they rattle you? Can they, can they [00:20:06] Aarthi: you and how do you react?Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, I also think they look for how sex you can be in explaining what the problem is. They do talk to hundreds of companies. It is a lot. And so I think, can you compress a lot of it and convince, if you can convince these folks here in three months or four months time, how are you going to do demo day and convince a whole room full of investors?[00:20:27] Sriram: Yeah. Yeah. For, I think it's a bit different for us, uh, on the VC side, uh, because two things. One, number one is, uh, the day, you know, so much of it is having a prepared mind before you go into the meeting. And, for example, if you're meeting a. very early. Are we investing before having met every single other person who's working in this space, who has ideas in the space.So you generally know what's going on, you know, what the kind of technologies are or go to market approaches are. You've probably done a bunch of homework already. It's usually, uh, it does happen where you meet somebody totally cold and uh, you really want to invest, but most often you've probably done some homework at least in this space, if not the actual company.Um, and so when you're in the meeting, I think you're trying to judge a couple of things. And these are obviously kind of stolen from Christ Dixon and others. Um, one is their ability to kind of go walk you through their idea, ma. And so very simply, um, you know, the idea MAs is, uh, and I think say the biology of Christen came with this, the idea that, hey, um, uh, How you got to the idea for your company really matters because you went and explored all the data ends, all the possibilities.You're managing around for years and years, and you've kind of come to the actual solution. And the way you can tell whether somebody's gone through the idea Mac, is when you ask 'em questions and they tell you about like five different things they've tried, did not work. And it, it's really hard to fake it.I mean, we, you maybe fake it for like one or two questions, but if you talk about like how we tried X, Y, and Z and they have like an opinion what of the opinions, if they've thought about it, you're like, okay, this person really studied the idea, ma. And that's very powerful. Uh, the second part of it is, uh, you know, Alex sample.Uh, uh, one of my partner says this, Yes, some this thing called the Manifestation Framework, which sounds like a self-help book on Amazon, but it's not, uh, uh uh, you know, but what if is, is like, you know, so many, so much of early stage startup founders is about the ability to manifest things. Uh, manifest capital, manifest the first hire, uh, manifest, uh, the first BD partnership.And, um, usually, you know, if you can't, if you don't have a Cigna sign of doing that, it's really hard to then after raising money, go and close this amazing hotshot engineer or salesperson or close this big partnership. And so in the meeting, right? If you can't convince us, right? And these are people, our day job is to give you money, right?Like, if I spent a year without giving anybody money, I'll probably get fired. If you can't, uh, if you can't convince us to give you money, right? If you wanna find probably a hard time to close this amazing engineer and get that person to come over from Facebook or close this amazing partnership against a competitor.And so that's kind of a judge of that. So it is never about the actual 60 Minutes where you're like, we, we are making up of a large part of makeup of mind is. That one or two conversations, but there's so much which goes in before and after that. Yeah, yeah. Speaking of [00:22:57] What is a16z's edge?[00:22:57] Dwarkesh: venture capital, um, I, I'm curious, so interest and Horowitz, and I guess why Combinator too?Um, but I mean, any other person who's investing in startups, they were started at a time when there were much less capital in the space, and today of course, there's been so much more capital pour into space. So how do these firms, like how does A 16 C continue to have edge? What is this edge? How can I sustain it [00:23:20] Sriram: given the fact that so much more capital is entered into the space?We show up on podcasts like the Lunar Society, , and so if you are watching this and you have a startup idea, Uh, come to us, right? Uh, no. Come, come to the Lunar society. . Well, yes. I mean, maybe so Trust me, you go in pat, you're gonna have a find, uh, a Thk pat right there. Uh, actually I, you think I joked, but there's a bit of truth.But no, I've had [00:23:40] Dwarkesh: like lu this [00:23:40] Aarthi: suddenly became very different [00:23:43] Sriram: conversation. I have had people, this is a totally ludicrous [00:23:46] Dwarkesh: idea, but I've had people like, give me that idea. And it's like, it sounds crazy to me because like, I don't know what, it's, what a company's gonna be successful, right? So, but I hasn't [00:23:55] Aarthi: become an investor.[00:23:57] Sriram: I honestly don't know. But it is something like what you're talking about Lu Society Fund one coming up, right? You heard it here first? Uh, uh, well, I think first of all, you know, I think there's something about the firm, uh, um, in terms of how it's set up philosophically and how it's set up, uh, kind of organizationally, uh, and our approach philosoph.The firm is an optimist, uh, uh, more than anything else. At the core of it, we are optimist. We are optimist about the future. We are optimist about the impact of founders on their, on the liberty to kind of impact that future. Uh, we are optimist at heart, right? Like I, I tell people like, you can't work at a six and z if you're not an optimist.That's at the heart of everything that we do. Um, and very tied to that is the idea that, you know, um, software is eating the world. It is, it's true. 10 years ago when Mark wrote that, peace is as true now, and we just see more and more of it, right? Like every week, you know, look at the week we are recording this.You know, everyone's been talking about chat, G p T, and like all the industries that can get shaped by chat, G P T. So our, our feature, our, our idea is that software is gonna go more and more. So, one way to look at this is, yes, a lot more capitalists enter the world, but there should be a lot more, right?Like, because these companies are gonna go bigger. They're gonna have bigger impacts on, uh, human lives and, and the world at large. So that's, uh, you know, uh, one school of thought, the other school of thought, uh, which I think you were asking about, say valuations, uh, et cetera. Is, uh, you know, um, again, one of my other partners, Jeff Jordan, uh, uh, always likes to tell people like, we don't go discount shopping, right?Our, the way we think about it is we want to, when we're investing in a market, We want to really map out the market, right? Uh, so for example, I work on crypto, uh, and, uh, you know, we, you know, if, if you are building something interesting in crypto and we haven't seen you, we haven't talked to you, that's a fail, that's a mess, right?We ideally want to see every single interesting founder company idea. And a category can be very loose. Crypto is really big. We usually segmented something else. Or if you look at enterprise infrastructure, you can take them into like, you know, AI or different layers and so on. But once you map out a category, you want to know everything.You wanna know every interesting person, every interesting founder you wanna be abreast of every technology change, every go to market hack, every single thing. You wanna know everything, right? And then, uh, the idea is that, uh, we would love to invest in, you know, the what is hopefully becomes the market.Set category, uh, or you know, somebody who's maybe close to the, the market leader. And our belief is that these categories will grow and, you know, they will capture huge value. Um, and as a whole, software is still can used to be undervalued by, uh, a, you know, the world. So, um, we, so, which is why, again, going back to what Jeff would say, he's like, we are not in the business of oh, we are getting a great deal, right?We, we are like, we want to invest in something which, where we think the team and the company and their approach is going to win in this space, and we want to help them win. And we think if they do win, there's a huge value to be unlocked. Yeah, I see. I see. Um, [00:26:42] Future of Twitter[00:26:42] Dwarkesh: let's talk about Twitter. [00:26:44] Sriram: Uh, . I need a drink. I need a drink.[00:26:48] Dwarkesh: um, Tell me, what is the future of Twitter? What is the app gonna look like in five years? You've, um, I mean obviously you've been involved with the Musk Venture recently, but, um, you've, you've had a senior position there. You were an executive there before a few years ago, and you've also been an executive at, uh, you've both been at Meta.So what [00:27:06] Sriram: is the future of Twitter? It's gonna be entertaining. Uh, uh, what is it El say the most entertaining outcome is the most, [00:27:12] Aarthi: uh, uh, like, best outcome is the most, uh, most likely outcome is the most entertaining outcome. [00:27:16] Sriram: Exactly right. So I think it's gonna be the most entertaining outcome. Um, I, I mean, I, I, I think a few things, uh, first of all, uh, ideally care about Twitter.Yeah. Uh, and all of my involvement, uh, you know, over the years, uh, uh, professionally, you know, uh, has, it's kind of. A lagging indicator to the value I got from the service person. I have met hundreds of people, uh, through Twitter. Uh, hundreds of people have reached out to me. Thousands. Exactly. Uh, and you know, I met Mark Andresen through Twitter.Uh, I met like, you know, uh, people are not very good friends of mine. We met through Twitter. We met at Twitter, right. There we go. Right. Uh, just [00:27:50] Aarthi: like incredible outsized impact. Yeah. Um, and I think it's really hard to understate that because, uh, right now it's kind of easy to get lost in the whole, you know, Elon, the previous management bio, like all of that.Outside of all of that, I think the thing I like to care about is, uh, focus on is the product and the product experience. And I think even with the product experience that we have today, which hasn't like, dramatically changed from for years now, um, it's still offering such outsized value for. If you can actually innovate and build really good product on top, I think it can, it can just be really, really good for humanity overall.And I don't even mean this in like a cheesy way. I really think Twitter as a tool could be just really, really effective and enormously good for everyone. Oh yeah. [00:28:35] Sriram: Twitter is I think, sort of methodically upstream of everything that happens in culture in uh, so many different ways. Like, um, you know, there was this, okay, I kinda eli some of the details, uh, but like a few years ago I remember there was this, uh, sort of this somewhat salacious, controversial story which happened in entertainment and uh, and I wasn't paying attention to, except that something caught my eye, which was that, uh, every story had the same two tweets.And these are not tweets from any famous person. It was just some, like, some, um, you know, somebody had some followers, but not a lot of, a lot of followers. And I. Why is this being quoted in every single story? Because it's not from the, you know, the person who was actually in the story or themselves. And it turned out that, uh, what had happened was, uh, you know, somebody wrote in the street, it had gone viral, um, it started trending on Twitter, um, and a bunch of people saw it.They started writing news stories about it. And by that afternoon it was now, you know, gone from a meme to now reality. And like in a lot of people entertainment say, kind of go respond to that. And I've seen this again and again, again, right? Uh, sports, politics, culture, et cetera. So Twitter is memetically upstream of so much of life.Uh, you know, one of my friends had said like, Twitter is more important than the real world. Uh, which I don't, I don't know about that, but, uh, you know, I do think it's, um, it has huge sort of, uh, culture shaping value. Yeah. I thing I think about Twitter is so much of. The network is very Lindy. So one of the things I'm sure from now is like five years from now, you know, what does that mean?Well that, uh, is that something which has kind of stood the test of time to some extent? And, um, and, uh, well the Lindy effect generally means, I don't think it's using this context with ideas like things which, with withstood the test of time tend to also with some test of time in the future, right? Like, like if we talked to Naim is like, well, people have lifting heavy weights and doing red wine for 2000 years, so let's continue doing that.It's probably a good thing. Um, but, but, but that's Twitter today. What is the future of Twitter? Well, uh, well, I think so one is, I think that's gonna continue to be true, right? 10 years from now, five years from now, it's still gonna be the metic battleground. It's still gonna be the place where ideas are shared, et cetera.Um, you know, I'm very. Unabashedly a a big fan of what Elon, uh, as a person, as a founder and what he's doing at Twitter. And my hope is that, you know, he can kind of canoe that and, you know, he's, you know, and I can't actually predict what he's gonna go Bill, he's kind of talked about it. Maybe that means bringing in other product ideas.Uh, I think he's talked about payments. He's talked about like having like longer form video. Uh, who knows, right? But I do know, like five years from now, it is still gonna be the place of like active conversation where people fight, yell, discuss, and maybe sometimes altogether. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, the Twitter, [00:30:58] Is Big Tech Overstaffed?[00:30:58] Dwarkesh: um, conversation has raised a lot of, a lot of questions about how over or understaffed, uh, these big tech companies are, and in particular, um, how many people you can get rid of and the thing basically functions or how fragile are these code bases?And having worked at many of these big tech companies, how, how big is the bus factor, would you guess? Like what, what percentage of people could I fire at the random big tech [00:31:22] Sriram: company? Why? I think, uh, [00:31:23] Aarthi: yeah, I think. That's one way to look at it. I think the way I see it is there are a few factors that go into this, right?Like pre covid, post covid, like through covid everybody became remote, remote teams. As you scaled, it was kind of also hard to figure out what was really going on in different parts of the organization. And I think a lot of inefficiencies were overcome by just hiring more people. It's like, oh, you know what, like that team, yeah, that project's like lagging, let's just like add 10 more people.And that's kind of like it became the norm. Yeah. And I think a lot of these teams just got bigger and bigger and bigger. I think the other part of it was also, um, you lot of how performance ratings and culture of like, moving ahead in your career path. And a lot of these companies were dependent on how big your team was and uh, and so every six months or year long cycle or whatever is your performance review cycle, people would be like, this person instead of looking at what has this person shipped or what has like the impact that this person's got had, uh, the team's done.It became more of like, well this person's got a hundred percent arc or 200% arc and next year they're gonna have a 10% increase and that's gonna be like this much. And you know, that was the conversation. And so a lot of the success and promo cycles and all of those conversations were tied around like number of headcount that this person would get under them as such, which I think is like a terrible way to think about how you're moving up the ladder.Um, you should really, like, even at a big company, you should really be thinking about the impact that you've had and customers you've reached and all of that stuff. And I think at some point people kind of like lost that, uh, and pick the more simpler metric, which just headcount and it's easy. Yeah. And to just scale that kind of thing.So I think now with Elon doing this where he is like cutting costs, and I think Elon's doing this for different set of reasons. You know, Twitter's been losing money and I think it's like driving efficiency. Like this is like no different. Anybody else who like comes in, takes over a business and looks at it and says, wait, we are losing money every day.We have to do something about this. Like, it's not about like, you know, cutting fat for the sake of it or anything. It's like this, this business is not gonna be viable if we keep it going the way it is. Yeah. And just pure economics. And so when he came in and did that, I'm now seeing this, and I'm sure Sheam is too at like at eight 16 Z and like his companies, uh, but even outside, and I see this with like my angel investment portfolio of companies, um, and just founders I talk to where people are like, wait, Elon can do that with Twitter.I really need to do that with my company. And it's given them the permission to be more aggressive and to kind of get back into the basics of why are we building what we are building? These are our customers, this is our revenue. Why do we have these many employees? What do they all do? And not from a place of like being cynical, but from a place of.I want people to be efficient in doing what they do and how do we [00:34:06] Sriram: make that happen? Yeah. I, I stole this, I think somebody said this on Twitter and I officially, he said, Elon has shifted the overturn window of, uh, the playbook for running a company. Um, which is, I think if you look at Twitter, uh, you know, and by the way, I would say, you know, you know the sort of, the warning that shows up, which is don't try this at home before, which is like, so don't try some of these unless you're er and maybe try your own version of these.But, you know, number one is the idea that you, you can become better not through growth, but by cutting things. You can become better, by demanding more out of yourself and the people who work for you. Uh, you, you can become better by hiring a, you know, a higher bar, sitting a higher bar for the talent that you bring into the company and, uh, that you reach into the company.I think at the heart of it, by the way, uh, you know, it's one of the things I've kinda observed from Elon. His relentless focus on substance, which is every condition is gonna be like, you know, the, the meme about what have you gotten done this week is, it kinda makes sense to everything else, which is like, okay, what are we building?What is the thing? Who's the actual person doing the work? As opposed to the some manager two levels a about aggregating, you know, the reports and then telling you what's being done. There is a relentless focus on substance. And my theory is, by the way, I think maybe some of it comes from Iran's background in, uh, space and Tesla, where at the end of the day, you are bound by the physics of the real world, right?If you get something wrong, right, you can, the rockets won't take off or won't land. That'd be a kalo, right? Like what, what's a, the phrase that they use, uh, rapid unplanned disassembly is the word. Right? Which is like better than saying it went kaboom. Uh, but, you know, so the constraints are if, if, you know, if you get something wrong at a social media company, people can tell if you get something really wrong at space with the Tesla.People can tap, right? Like very dramatically so and so, and I think, so there was a relentless focus on substance, right? Uh, being correct, um, you know, what is actually being done. And I think that's external Twitter too. And I think a lot of other founders I've talked to, uh, uh, in, sometimes in private, I look at this and go, oh, there is no different playbook that they have always I instituted or they were used to when they were growing up.We saw this when we were growing up. They're definitely seen some other cultures around the world where we can now actually do this because we've seen somebody else do this. And they don't have to do the exact same thing, you know, Elon is doing. Uh, they don't have to, uh, but they can do their variations of demanding more of themselves, demanding more of the people that work for them.Um, focusing on substance, focusing on speed. Uh, I think our all core element. [00:36:24] Aarthi: I also think over the last few years, uh, this may be controversial, I don't know why it is, but it somehow is that you can no longer talk about hard work as like a recipe for success. And you know, like growing up for us. When people say that, or like our parents say that, we just like kind of roll our eyes and be like, yeah, sure.Like, we work hard, like we get it. Yeah. But I think over the last couple of years, it just became not cool to say that if you work hard, then you can, there is a shot at like finding success. And I think it's kind of refreshing almost, uh, to have Elon come in and say, we are gonna work really hard. We are gonna be really hardcore about how we build things.And it's, it's very simple. Like you have to put in the hours. There is no kind of shortcut to it. And I think it's, it's nice to bring it all tight, all back to the basics. And, uh, I like that, like, I like the fact that we are now talking about it again and it's, it's sad that now talking about working really hard or having beds in your office, we used to do that at MicrosoftYeah. Uh, is now like suddenly really controversial. And so, um, I'm, I'm all for this. Like, you know, it's not for everyone, but if you are that type of person who really enjoys working hard, really enjoys shipping things and building really good things, Then I think you might find a fit in this culture. And I think that's a good thing.Yeah. I, [00:37:39] Sriram: I think there's nothing remarkable that has been built without people just working really hard. It doesn't happen for years and years, but I think for strong, some short-term burst of some really passionate, motivated, smart people working some really, you know, and hard doesn't mean time. It can mean so many different dimensions, but I don't think anything great gets built without that.So, uh, yeah, it's interesting. We [00:37:59] Aarthi: used to like do overnights at Microsoft. Like we'd just like sleep under our desk, um, until the janitor would just like, poke us out of there like, I really need to vacuum your cubicle. Like, get out of here. And so we would just like find another bed or something and just like, go crash on some couch.But it was, those were like some of our fun days, like, and we look back at it and you're like, we sh we built a lot. I think at some point sh I think when I walked over to his cubicle, he was like looking at Windows Source code and we're like, we are looking at Windows source code. This is the best thing ever.I think, I think there's such joy in like, Finding those moments where you like work hard and you're feeling really good about it. [00:38:36] Sriram: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, so you [00:38:37] Next CEO of Twitter?[00:38:37] Dwarkesh: get working hard and bringing talent into the company, uh, let's say Elon and says Tomorrow, you know what, uh, Riam, I'm, uh, I've got these other three companies that I've gotta run and I need some help running this company.And he says, Sriram would you be down to be the next, [00:38:51] Sriram: uh, next CEO of Twitter Absolutely not. Absolutely not. But I am married to someone. No, uh uh, no, uh uh, you know, you know when, uh, I don't think I was, the answer is absolutely not. And you know this exactly. Fun story. Um, uh, I don't think it says in public before. So when you, when I was in the process, you know, talking to and nor words and, you know, it's, it's not like a, uh, it's not like a very linear process.It's kind of a relationship that kind of develops over time. And I met Mark Andreen, uh, multiple times over the years. They've been having this discussion of like, Hey, do you want to come do venture or do you want to, if you wanna do venture, do you wanna come do with us? And um, and, and one of the things Mark would always tell me is, uh, something like, we would love to have you, but you have to scratch the edge of being an operator first.Um, because there are a lot of, there are a lot of ways VCs fail, uh, operator at VCs fail. Um, and I can get, get into some of them if you're interested, but one of the common ways that they fail is they're like, oh, I really want to go back to, um, building companies. And, uh, and now thing is like antis more than most interest, like really respects entrepreneurship, fraud's the hard of what we do.But he will, like, you have to get that out of a system. You have to be like, okay, I'm done with that word. I want to now do this. Uh, before you know, uh, you want to come over, right? And if you say so, let's have this conversation, but if not, we will wait for you. Right. And a woman telling me this all the time, and at some point of time I decided, uh, that, uh, you know, I just love this modoc.Um, you know, there are many things kind of different about being an operator versus a BC uh, and you kind of actually kind of really train myself in what is actually a new profession. But one of the things is like, you know, you kind of have to be more of a coach and more open to like, working with very different kinds of people without having direct agency.And it's always a very different mode of operation, right? And you have to be like, well, I'm not the person doing the thing. I'm not the person getting the glory. I'm here to fund, obviously, but really help support coach be, uh, a lending hand, be a supporting shoulder, whatever the, uh, the metaphor is, or for somebody else doing the thing.And so you kind of have to have the shift in your brain. And I think sometimes when VCs don't work out, the few operator on VCs don't work out. There are few reasons. Uh, number one reason I would say is when an operator, and I, I hate the word operator by the way, right? It just means you have a regular job.Uh, you know, uh, and, uh, but the number one reason is like when you have a regular job, you know, you're an engineer, you're, you're a product manager, you're a marketer, whatever. , you get feedback every single day about how you're doing. If you're an engineer, you're checking in code or you know your manager, you hire a great person, whatever it is.When you're at Visa, you're not getting direct feedback, right? You know, maybe today what I'm doing now, recording this with you is the best thing ever because some amazing fund is gonna meet it and they're gonna come talk to me, or maybe it's a total waste of time and I should be talking some else. You do have no way of knowing.So you really have to think very differently about how you think about patients, how we think about spending your time, and you don't get the dopamine of like, oh, I'm getting this great reinforcement loop. Um, the second part of it is because of that lack of feedback loop, you often don't know how well you're doing.Also, you don't have that fantastic product demo or you're like, you know, if an engineer like, oh, I got this thing working, the builder is working, it's 10 x faster, or this thing actually works, whatever the thing is, you don't get that feedback loop, uh, because that next great company that, you know, the next Larry and Sergey or Brian Armstrong might walk in through your door or Zoom meeting tomorrow or maybe two years from now.So you don't really have a way to know. Um, so you kind of have to be, you have a focus on different ways to do, uh, get. Kind of figured out how well you're doing. The third part of it is, uh, you know, the, uh, the feedback loops are so long where, uh, you know, you, you can't test it. When I was a product manager, you would ship things, something you, if you don't like it, you kill it, you ship something else.At, at our firm in, you invest in somebody, you're working with them for a decade, if not longer, really for life in some ways. So you are making much more intense, but much less frequent decisions as opposed to when you're in a regular job, you're making very frequent, very common decisions, uh, every single day.So, uh, I get a lot of differences and I think, you know, sometimes, uh, you know, folks who, who are like a former CEO or former like VP product, uh, uh, I talk a lot of them sometimes who went from, came to BC and then went back and they either couldn't adapt or didn't like it, or didn't like the emotions of it.And I had to really convince myself that okay. Hopefully wouldn't fate those problems. I probably, maybe some other problems. And, uh, uh, so yes, the long way of saying no, , [00:43:13] Why Don't More Venture Capitalists Become Founders?[00:43:13] Dwarkesh: um, the desk partly answer another question I had, which was, you know, there is obviously this pipeline of people who are founders who become venture capitalists.And it's interesting to me. I would think that the other end or the converse of that would be just as common because if you're, if you're an angel investor or venture capitalist, you've seen all these companies, you've seen dozens of companies go through all these challenges and then you'd be like, oh, I, I understand.[00:43:36] Sriram: Wait, why do you think more VCs driven apart? You have some strong opinions of this . [00:43:40] Dwarkesh: Should more venture capitalists and investors become founders? I think [00:43:43] Aarthi: they should. I don't think they will. Ouch. I dunno, why not? Um, I think, uh, look, I think the world is better with more founders. More people should start companies, more people should be building things.I fundamentally think that's what needs to happen. Like our single biggest need is like, we just don't have enough founders. And we should just all be trying new things, building new projects, all of that. Um, I think for venture capital is, I think what happens, and this is just my take, I don't know if Farram agrees with it, but, um, I think they see so much from different companies.And if you're like really successful with what you do as a vc, you are probably seeing hundreds of companies operate. You're seeing how the sausage is being made in each one of them. Like an operating job. You kind of sort of like have this linear learning experience. You go from one job to the other.Here you kind of sort of see in parallel, like you're probably on like 50, 60 boards. Uh, and oftentimes when it comes to the investor as like an issue, it is usually a bad problem. Um, and you kind of see like you, you know, you kind of see how every company, what the challenges are, and every company probably has like, you know, the best companies we know, I've all had this like near death experience and they've come out of that.That's how the best founders are made. Um, you see all of that and I think at some point you kind of have this fear of like, I don't know. I just don't think I wanna like, bet everything into this one startup. One thing, I think it's very hard to have focus if you've honed your skillset to be much more breath first and go look at like a portfolio of companies being helpful to every one of them.And I see Sure. And do this every day where I, I have no idea how he does it, but key context, which is every 30 minutes. Yeah. And it's crazy. Like I would go completely and say, where if you told me board meeting this founder pitch, oh, sell this operating role for this portfolio company. Second board meeting, third, board meeting founder, pitch founder pitch founder pitch.And that's like, you know, all day, every day nonstop. Um, that's just like, you, you, I don't think you can like, kind of turn your mindset into being like, I'm gonna clear up my calendar and I'm just gonna like work on this one thing. Yeah. And it may be successful, it may not be, but I'm gonna give it my best shot.It's a very, very different psychology. I don't know. What do you [00:45:57] Sriram: think? Well, Well, one of my partners Triess to say like, I don't know what VCs do all day. The job is so easy, uh, uh, you know, they should start complaining. I mean, being a founder is really hard. Um, and I think, you know, there's a part of it where the VCs are like, oh, wait, I see how hard it is.And I'm like, I'm happy to support, but I don't know whether I can go through with it. So, because it's just really hard and which is kind of like why we have like, so much, uh, sort of respect and empathy, uh, for the whole thing, which is, I, [00:46:20] Aarthi: I do like a lot of VCs, the best VCs I know are people who've been operators in the past because they have a lot of empathy for what it takes to go operate.Um, and I've generally connected better with them because you're like, oh, okay, you're a builder. You've built these things, so, you know, kind of thing. Yeah. Um, but I do think a lot more VCs should become [00:46:38] Sriram: founders than, yeah. I, I think it's some of the couple of other things which happened, which is, uh, uh, like Arthur said, like sometimes, uh, you know, when we see you kind of, you see, you kind of start to pattern match, like on.And you sometimes you analyze and, and you kind of, your brain kind of becomes so focused on context switching. And I think when need a founder, you need to kind of just dedicate, you know, everything to just one idea. And it, it's not just bbc sometimes with academics also, where sometimes you are like a person who's supporting multiple different kinds of disciplines and context switching between like various speech students you support.Uh, but it's very different from being in the lab and working on one problem for like long, long years. Right. So, um, and I think it's kind of hard to then context switch back into just doing the exact, you know, just focus on one problem, one mission, day in and day out. So I think that's hard, uh, and uh, but you should be a founder.Yeah, I think, yeah, I think more people should try. [00:47:32] Role of Boards[00:47:32] Dwarkesh: . Speaking of being on boards, uh, what the FTX Saga has raised some questions about what is like the role of a board, even in a startup, uh, stage company, and you guys are on multiple boards, so I'm curious how you think about, there's a range of between micromanaging everything the CEO does to just rubber stamping everything the CEO does.Where, what is the responsibility of a board and a startup? [00:47:54] Aarthi: What, what, what are the, this is something I'm really curious about too. I'm [00:47:57] Sriram: just, well, I just wanna know on the FDX soccer, whether we are gonna beat the FTX episode in interviews in terms of view your podcast, right? Like, so if you folks are listening, right?Like let's get us to number one. So what you YouTube like can subscriber, they're already listening. [00:48:10] Aarthi: What do you mean? Get us [00:48:10] Sriram: to number one? Okay, then, then spread the word, right? Like, uh, don't [00:48:13] Aarthi: watch other episodes. It's kinda what you [00:48:15] Sriram: should, I mean, if there's [00:48:16] Dwarkesh: like some sort of scandal with a 16 Z, we could definitely be to fdx.[00:48:21] Sriram: Uh, uh, yeah, I think it's gonna, well, it's gonna be really hard to read that one. Uh, , uh, uh, for for sure. Uh, uh, oh my goodness. Um, uh, but no, [00:48:29] Aarthi: I'm, I'm genuinely curious about [00:48:31] Sriram: these two. Well, uh, it's a few things, you know, so the multiple schools of thought, I would say, you know, there's one school of thought, which is the, uh, uh, you know, which I don't think I totally subscribe to, but I think some of the other later stages, especially public market folks that I work with sometimes subscribe to, which is the only job of a, uh, board is to hire and fire the ceo.I don't think I really subscribe to that. I think because we deal with more, uh, early stage venture, um, and our job is like, uh, you know, like lot of the companies I work with are in a cdc c, b, you know, they have something working, but they have a lot long way to go. Um, and hopefully this journey, which goes on for many, many years, and I think the best way I thought about it is to, people would say like, you want to be.Wave form dampener, which is, uh, you know, for example, if the company's kind of like soaring, you want to kind of be like kind the check and balance of what? Like, hey, okay, what do we do to, uh, you know, um, uh, to make sure we are covering our bases or dotting the is dotting the, crossing The ts be very kind of like careful about it because the natural gravitational pool of the company is gonna take it like one direct.On the other hand, uh, if the company's not doing very well and everybody's beating us, beating up about it, you're, you know, your cust you're not able to close deals. The press is beating you up. You want to be the person who is supportive to the ceo, who's rallying, everybody helping, you know, convince management to stay, helping convince, close host, hire.So, um, there are a lot of things, other things that go into being a board member. Obviously there's a fiscal responsibility part of things, and, um, you know, um, because you kind of represent so many stakeholders. But I think at the heart of it, I kind of think about, uh, you know, how do I sort of help the founder, uh, the founder and kind of dampen the waveform.Um, the other Pinteresting part was actually the board meetings. Uh, Themselves do. Uh, and I do think like, you know, about once a year or, uh, so like that there's every kind of, there's, there's almost always a point every 18 months or so in a company's lifetime where you have like some very decisive, interesting moment, right?It could be good, it could be bad. And I think those moments can be, uh, really, really pivotal. So I think there's, there's huge value in showing up to board meetings, being really prepared, uh, uh, where you've done your homework, you, you know, you've kind of had all the conversations maybe beforehand. Um, and you're coming into add real value, like nothing kind of annoying me if somebody's just kind of showing up and, you know, they're kind of maybe cheering on the founder once or twice and they kind of go away.So I don't think you can make big difference, but, uh, you know, I think about, okay, how are we sort of like the waveform, the, you know, make sure the company, [00:50:58] Aarthi: but I guess the question then is like, should startups have better corporate governance compared to where we are today? Would that have avoided, like, say the FTX [00:51:08] Sriram: saga?No, I mean, it's, I mean, we, I guess there'll be a legal process and you'll find out right when the FTX case, nobody really knows, you know, like, I mean, like what level of, uh, who knew what, when, and what level of deceptions, you know, deception, uh, uh, you know, unfolded, right? So, uh, it, yeah. Maybe, but you know, it could have been, uh, it could have been very possible that, you know, uh, somebody, somebody just fakes or lies stuff, uh, lies to you in multiple ways.[00:51:36] Aarthi: To,

#Xbox Infinite #Podcast SUBSCRIBE, TAP THE BELL, HIT THE LIKE & LEAVE A COMMENT DOWN BELOW!! You can find me here on; Twitch: Riskit4theBiskit1 Twitter: @Riskit4TB Xbox Live Tag: Riskit4TB Playstation Tag: Riskit4TB ----------------------------------------- Find JediKnightPete Here on; Twitter: @JediKnightPete Xbox Live Tag: JediKnightPete Playstation Tag: JediKnightPete ------------------------------------------- Find Infinite Umbra Here on; Twitter: @InfiniteUmbra Xbox Live Tag: Superhavoc PlayStation Tag: Superhavoc ------------------------------------------ Find DoomCutie Here on; Twitter: @Doomcut1e Instagram: Doomcutie Twitch: twitch.tv/Doomcutie Xbox Live Tag: Doomcut1e PlayStation Tag: Doomcutie Riskit4thebikist's Channel Covers Topics Such As; Microsoft Sony Xbox One Xbox One X Xbox Series X Xbox Next Generation Consoles Playstation PS4 PS5 Playstation 5 Exclusive Games Console Exclusives xCloud Project xCloud Xbox Game Pass Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Xbox games Playstation Games Xbox Xbox Consoles Game Streaming Cloud Streaming PC Gaming GPU SSD Next-Gen Consoles Xbox One S Xbox Live Xbox Live Gold Xbox Rewards Microsoft Rewards E3 E3 2019 E3 2020 X019 Xbox Leaks Rumor News Gears Halo Fable IV Forza Horizon Motorsports Halo Infinite Playstation Now PSNow Phil Spencer Xbox Game Studios Exclusives PS Now PSNow Xbox Series X Xbox Series S Playstation 5 PS5 Console Gaming Call of Duty Battlefield E3 GamesCom

Relationship Reddit Stories, OP comes from a family of mechanics and recently needed their oil change and with no time themselves took their car to a garage to get it sorted. OP then finds that the garage is intending to scam them.

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This week, Shamelessly Unapologetic welcomes Franky "Tank" Rhodes from HRsAgentsofChaos on TikTok! In this episode, Tank and Ilana have a deep conversation regarding being professional in the workplace, especially when you have a big personality. We also discussed the true meaning of professionalism, how it's changed so much over time, and how minority groups are being targeted as "unprofessional." Here are some of the main takeaways from this episode: -Learning to cope with the struggles of being authentically you at work -How the term "professionalism" became more harmful to employees and the pressures it puts on minority groups -DEI issues, racism, and performative inclusion in the HR realm -Publically holding LinkedIn career coaches & influencers accountable for bad job advice with no shame Follow Tank on Social Media: TikTok: @hrsagentsofchaos Twitter: @tankkapotamus LinkedIn: Francis Rhodes - --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/shamelesslyunapologetic/support

Why does the Krishna book publically present confidential tenth canto pastimes_ by Exploring mindfulness, yoga and spirituality

Local parents attend an SW Ohio July school board meeting, and three of them lose their minds over insisting everyone mask-up and jab-up in the future, including all minors and preschool students!  I'm now fully convinced that Munchausen Syndrome is far more rampant than we could have ever imagined.

“The Big Lie” has long been a key weapon in the Socialist's arsenal. Publically, they repeatedly profess their support for American values like human rights, freedom of speech, and responsible use of natural resources. At the same time, they promote policies that endanger people, cancel those whose opinions they oppose, and erode our energy infrastructure. This episode of the Return to Order Moment will examine these leftist lies, and the hypocritical words behind them. To read the articles, please refer to https://www.returntoorder.org/2021/06/democrats-dont-say-we-want-socialism-or-to-defund-the-policeeven-when-we-do/, https://www.returntoorder.org/2021/06/an-identity-crisis-at-the-aclu-leads-it-to-discard-the-first-amendment/, and https://www.returntoorder.org/2021/06/how-the-greens-are-taking-down-big-energy-from-within/.

The ANC has given its suspended secretary general, Ace Magashule, 48 hours to publically apologize for the suspension letter he sent to ANC president, Cyril Ramaphosa, last week. Deputy secretary general, Jessie Duarte says there's no legal basis for that, but the party hopes to hear from Magashule this week. She was briefing the media at the party headquarters at Luthuli House in Johannesburg YESTERDAY, following an NEC meeting over the weekend.

On this special episode of the podcast, Mike sits down with his younger brother Chris Quintas who is an incredible athlete, coach, and teacher to talk about all things coaching and the best practices for working with Gen Z athletes. Coach Chris Quintas is the head baseball of the Sun Valley Vangaurds and defensive assistant football coach at Sun Valley high school, as well as a high school math teacher. “Students don't care what you know until they know that you care” Coach Chris focuses first and foremost on creating a community environment based on showing his players that he cares about them, not just on the field, but in life. Leadership and Personality Coach Chris has all his players and students take Myers-Briggs personality tests so they can better understand themselves and their teammates. There are benefits to being able to put students in groups with others with different personality types. He also puts a strong emphasis on building leadership skills in every aspect of life through leadership meetings with his athletes. Goes through each of the chapters in The Team Captain's Leadership Manual: The Complete Guide by Jeff Jansen. There are about 50 evaluation points that cover both vocal and exemplary leadership. “You are a leader somewhere in your life” You may not be the leader on the field, but you can learn to be a better leader in the classroom, in your home, or in your community. The skills are about so much more than the four years of playing high school sports, they will carry on into all aspects of your life. Both Mike and Chris put a strong emphasis on leading by example and believe in “never tell someone to do something I wouldn't or am not doing” Millennials Coaching Gen Z Seeking instant gratification is often seen as a flaw of Gen Z, but if coaches and teachers can better understand how to work with Gen Z students in a way that feels right to them, you'll team will be better for it. The number one mistake coaches make with Gen Z is publically embarrassing the athletes and failing to make amends. Publically humiliating a student or yelling at the athlete in front of the whole team is not going to be an effective way to coach, it will only lead to the athlete disconnecting and losing respect for the coach. The best approach is focusing on what the team is doing well and highlighting athletes that are setting an example for the rest of the team. Be their biggest fans and biggest source of encouragement. “Teachers are coaches, coaches are teachers” Gen Z athletes have a deep fear of failure, so normalizing failure and encouraging them through the tough moments is absolutely necessary. Millennial coaches need to remember that the end goal is developing the athletes as people and creating a stronger community. It's not all about wins and loses. Building a Great Coaching Staff Find people with skills different from your own and find people who are really going to care. The most important traits to look for are that they are hardworking, forward-thinking and community-oriented. In order to find the best additions, networking with other coaches will be essential. Best Books For Coaches mentioned in this Episode: The Team Captain's Leadership Manual: The Complete Guide by Jeff Jansen Sport Psychology for Coaches Contact Instagram @CoachQuintans Twitter @CoachQuintans CoachQuintans@gmail.com

Today's program: ITW Season 5 Ep# 275: 1 Samuel 10:17-11:10 - Saul Is Publically Anointed As The King Of Israel. Join us today at www.IntoTheWord2020.com or via your favorite podcast platform.

White politicians in our system play games with human life. Publically proclaiming themselves allies in the struggle for justice, they carefully advance a racist carceral corporatocracy. We begin by discussing the case of Myron Burrell, sentenced as a teenager to life imprisonment, senator and former presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar used Myron Burrell as a pawn to bolster her career as a law and order candidate. Now, after growing criticism for prosecuting a flawed case, she is trying to take credit for his release.

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Tonight we're talking about an update on the case of a Michigan home that was seized over an $8.41 tax bill, Bush's 'torture lawyer' advises Trump, an update on the teen girl jailed for not doing her schoolwork at home, the Garrett Foster shooting, Seattle's police chief going CJW, try to understand why the Space Force has horses, court rules the 8th Amendment protects people from "excessive" tickets, and whatever else we stumble into! *******RULES FOR THE PATCH GIVEAWAY******* 1. Go like Poppins Patches on FB. 2. Go like Inked Anarchists Hootenanny Roundup on FB 2. Share the FB post PUBLICALLY (so we can verify you shared it) 4. Comment on the post that you want that patch. Check out Road To Anarchy https://roadtoanarchy.com/ Dyreka's book - https://www.amazon.com/Think-Yourself-Critical-Thinking-Beginners/dp/1791936172/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1 Andrew's YT - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYuYw7aFnaJBc8F6NCn-CKg/videos Andrew's new FB page - https://www.facebook.com/Inked-Anarchists-Hootenanny-Roundup-104174064550366/ "InkedAnarchist15" for 15% off at https://www.thebeardstruggle.com/ Anarchy Among Friends FB - https://www.facebook.com/AAFRTD Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0pqbeHBmWPN1sG0e6L28Uv Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/anarchy-among-friends/id1459037636?ign-mpt=uo%3D4 Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/anchor-podcasts/anarchy-among-friends GooglePodcasts - https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9hNGZmNzQwL3BvZGNhc3QvcnNz Breaker - https://www.breaker.audio/anarchy-among-friends Overcast - https://overcast.fm/itunes1459037636/anarchy-among-friends PocketCasts - https://pca.st/CDH3 RadioPublic - https://radiopublic.com/anarchy-among-friends-Wkzzjl Brandenburg v. Ohio, 395 U.S. 444 (1969), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case, interpreting the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Court held that government cannot punish inflammatory speech unless that speech is "directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandenburg_v._Ohio THIS PODCAST IS COVERED BY A BipCot NoGov LICENSE. USE AND RE-USE BY ANYONE EXCEPT GOVERNMENTS OR THEIR AGENTS IS OK. MORE INFO: https://bipcot.org/ Links.... MI Tax Seizure - https://reason.com/2020/07/17/michigan-supreme-court-rebukes-county-that-seized-home-over-8-41-tax-debt/ Torture Lawyer - https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-consults-bush-torture-lawyer-171229047.html Jailed for School Work - https://www.yahoo.com/news/judge-denies-release-teen-girl-203522350.html Garrett Foster - https://www.statesman.com/news/20200725/austin-protest-shooting-victim-remembered-for-devotion-to-fianceacute-racial-justice Seattle Police Cheif - https://dailycaller.com/2020/07/25/seattle-police-carmen-best-businesses-on-your-own-riots/ Space Force Horse - https://reason.com/2020/07/25/the-space-force-has-a-horse-of-course/ 8th Amendment Tickets - https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicksibilla/2020/07/23/parking-tickets-covered-by-eighth-amendments-ban-on-excessive-fines-federal-court-rules/

As the United States begins to re-open there is still so much uncertainty, especially as it relates to our financial future. One question that has come up is whether values-based investing change in the wake of this pandemic, and will corporations in turn shift their culture to become more employee-focused and less reliant on traditional office work systems.

Read Good News For FREE: amzn.to/3bWmcV1Enter the giveaway! everythingchurchpro.ck.page/giveawayCheck out the book "Good News"! amzn.to/2UuPXW3Download a Free How to Study the Bible E-Book: bit.ly/3aiupCIGospel Video: youtu.be/h0vS5N203VoBecome a Patron: bit.ly/36KWpNTEverything Church Pro Store: store.everythingchurchpro.comConnection Card: bit.ly/2qVXceJDisclaimer: Some of the links in this description are affiliate links, that means you help support everything church pro when you make a purchase using one of them.About Everything Church Pro:Pastor Addison Smith started Everything Church Pro because he believes everyone should know how to study the bible, enjoy church and serve powerfully. So we provide easy to follow videos you can use to take the intimidation out of growing as a Christian or as a church leader. We cover both tech for church media as well as biblical and practical topics (Like the fear of the Lord.) Hope you enjoy Everything Church ProSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/addisonsmitheverythingchurchpro)

From The Algebra of Happiness - entrepreneurs, and successful people, are NOT afraid of failing publically. Because when they fail, they learn. When they get up again - they are one step closer to success because, they learned ;) --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/janice-li/message

Apostle Taveau share 3 separate times when she was alone ..abiding in calm quiet peaceful James 3:17 professional ministry demeanor and was rudely Publically jumped by area WELP..but lived to tell about it and teach!

HQ Never  Understands Japan   One of the dubious delights of running an international business in Japan is dealing with the Mother Ship or it's Regional Hub spin off.  Trying to explain Japan to those who don't know Japan, has always proven tremendously character building for me.  Having left the corporate treadmill to work for myself, I mistakenly thought I had kissed goodbye to all that pathetic nonsense.  Alas, the long arm of Japan ignorance continues to reach out and challenge me.  Today, I live the frustration vicariously through my clients here in Japan, who have to deal with their own version of hell - HQ or Regional Hub know nothings located outside Japan.   Joint ventures and partnerships are a fun feast.  Japan is low on the detailed contractual side of the equation.  The basic idea in Japan is we don't need reams of lawyer speak, because the venture will be a success or won't be a success, based on how well we can trust each other and work collaboratively.  If it doesn't work out then we should walk away and not bother with courts, litigation, claims and compensation.  We need to focus on the bigger picture of success and how to achieve that and so a handshake is all we need.   I was reminded of this recently when I was contemplating buying a marketing service from a US based company.  They kindly sent over the agreement.  Pages of lawyereese, barely penetrable, thick and dense to the point of physical pain wading through it.  In Japan, we have very few written agreements with our clients.  We agree on the training, deliver as agreed and we receive payment in a timely fashion – all off a handshake.  We haven't encountered any issues after 52 years operating here, but if we do, I am sure we will discuss and agree on a mutually suitable solution.   So a typical day in the life of the Japan rep is explaining to HQ why the Japan business is not tracking as expected when the agreement was concluded.  In one client's case, the original expectations proved to be a misalignment of skill sets and targets.  The Japanese side had the sales force to cover the market but, it proved, not the expertise to cover it appropriately.  Sales were uninspiring, compared to the original business plan expectations.   What was the Mother Ship solution?  Fly in the Americans from HQ to berate the Japanese side at the board meetings about Japan's poor sales performance.  Shame them into action to sell something.  The local representative was encouraged to keep the pressure on by using these same name and shame tactics in the interim between board meetings.  The “verbal beatings will continue until morale improves” type of approach.  The American HQ led strategy was going down a treat with the local Japanese partners, of course, as the trust and collaboration rapidly disintegrated.   Training delivered locally to those selected from within the existing sales force, was the better solution.   This sounds like a logical step, but convincing HQ to do so was painstaking.  The HQ view was to send in trainers from the Regional Hub to do the training.  Regional Hubs in APAC usually mean Singapore or Hong Kong.  Who do they choose to send to Japan?  The HR team is the preferred option, which excitingly, usually means a rapid fire, fast talking Chinese team member to come to Japan and conduct the training in English.    “Its okay, the team can speak English”, is how HQ types see it whenever the language and cultural issues are flagged locally.  That English capability assumption would be extremely optimistic, in my experience.  Just as a snarky side note, the people recommending these courses of action are often monolinguals, sometimes not even possessing a passport.  Machine gun English combined with an unfamiliar Chinese accent and no cultural sensitivity, is just one of those genius solutions HQ unleashes on the innocent and blameless.   Even when native speakers of English are sent in from overseas, they tend to speak too quickly, use too many idioms, confuse with incomprehensible jokes and word play, apply content recalling acronyms that can't actually be recalled and have zero idea what is really going in the class dynamic.    Doing role plays in English for teams whose clients are Japanese is one of the most brazen breakthrough HQ inspired ideas in a generation.  The language of persuasion is brimming with semantic options, which unsurprisingly need to be in the buyer's language.  How we say it is much more important than what we say. Sales people practicing sentence construction in English, so that the instructor can understand, is dumb and pointless.   I was teaching a Relationship Selling class recently in English, with one very international Japanese salesman in the class.  He correctly told me that there was no point in him doing the sentence formulation exercise in English because his clients are all Japanese firms.  We switched over to Japanese and worked on helping improve his Unique Selling Proposition for his client base.  If we are dealing with a mixed audience of English and Japanese speakers, then bilingual trainers are a must.  The alternative is to waste the time of the Japanese staff, just to serve the English speakers.  Sounds very 19th century Colonial in approach to me!   English comprehension between 50%-60% is the maximum we can probably expect up until about lunchtime, after which rates rapidly spiral down.  This is not a very effective way of training local staff in Japan.  Delivering the training in the mother tongue, with the required cultural understanding is at least the base line.  On top of that, having trainers who are highly skilled is where the leverage can really be applied.   Headquarter's whacky ideas are often amusing, at least for the first 15 seconds of hearing them, but the “global” training approach has proven fraught with failure.  “The training was completed, checkmark the box”, is not an outcome.  Taking the training and applying it to deliver higher productivity is the only acceptable outcome.  A bit difficult though when you couldn't understand most of it in the first place.  Globally delivered training in English rarely produces any residual value for companies and you have to wonder why HQ keeps repeating the same mistake?  It doesn't have to be like this.  Time for the organisation to wise up and listen to their local rep's advice on what works best in Japan.     Action Steps   Understand it is difficult to apply a heavily legalistic approach in Japan – it doesn't work the same way here.   Publically berating the Japanese side over their performance is not going to improve anything   Deliver training in the local language whenever possible   Semantics matter in sales training so English won't work for teams who sell in Japanese   Use highly talented trainers if you want to achieve leverage   HQ – listen to what your local rep is saying and follow their advice about Japan  

Did Hannah B shade ex Jed Wyatt on the CMAs red carpet? We talk about it today, on Bachelor News Daily with Jeff Graham (@jeffreycranegraham)! ***NEW EPISODE EVERY DAY FOR THE LATEST BACHELOR NEWS*** #CMAs #HannahB #Bachelor --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Sugar baby for life! Juliana reveals her history of dating older men, and the shocking reason her modeling career is on hold. Plus, Jesse’s latest antics include issuing a dangerous challenge to a huge star… Straight ahead, on 90 Day Fiancè News Daily with Christy Olson (@CHRISTYreports)! ***NEW EPISODE EVERY DAY FOR THE LATEST 90 DAY FIANCE NEWS*** #90DayFiance #90Day #TLC

Special me being in NYC one year episode! Part 2! I bitch about NYC , defend Shane Gillis and stand-up comedy, talk about the band Korn, and more! Topics:My sincere apology,Me pretty much just bitching about nyc for 10 minutes, Shane Gillis being cast on snl,I don't get the mentality of taking comedians seriously,I was envious of Shane,Shane's from Mechanicsburg pa,Kids driving tractors to school in Mechanicsburg,I don't like roasts,Everyone loved Shane in Philly (and then betrayed him),Everyone does roast shows, and is racist on them,Update on guy in his room cult,Chapelle's special was amazing,There doesn't need to be an alt comedy vs normal standup feud,Getting a ridiculous amount of sick time at work,Ridiculous amount of good looking people in nyc,Hard to find cheap options on dates,NYC big, Philly too small,White people have no camaraderie,No more effects on podcast,Me sort of defending the band Korn,How do band's gimmicks start?Squeaky Pete's introduction,What do real racists do now,Suspicious guys knowing about the dark webBill burr predicted the digging into the past and public shamingReggie disclaimer guy

Charlie talks about what writers do or don't know about their work as it enters the world and how to set good goals with all the uncertainty. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/projectshadow/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/projectshadow/support

Welcome to Episode 16 of Nooks and Crannies! Reflexive Wellness and Embodied Empathy w/Headhunters This episode is all about Reflexivity and Wellness, how we can draw on our own experiences to forge relationships based on mutual understanding and by sharing experiences. Fear Not! We will unpack all this in the following ways: (6:55) Reflexivity is an anthropological methodology and perspective popularized by Renato Rosaldo in the early 90’s. His wife Michelle and he, went off to the Philipines in the 1970’s to conduct fieldwork with a group of Illongot headhunters. Tragedy befell Renato out there and it was this personal experience that inspired the amazing Culture and Truth: the remaking of social analysis. Evan and Matt read passages from this text as a way of unpacking the nuances, Matt of course almost cries, Evan is as smooth as silk as always. Next episode we will include a discussion on how I applied this concept to my research on post-concussion syndrome in athletes, but for now, consider this a primer and introduction to ol Matty’s favorite anthropologist. Stay tuned to the end of this episode where I share the story of meeting Renato in Chicago at the AAA (American Anthropological Association), no spoilers, but of course Matty started slobber crying (1:00:15). Next (29:02) we hear from Brian King (MSW), Matty’s personal chronic illness muse we had a rangey conversation that centered on; ADHD, Mindset, how and why Brian shares his illness Publically, the dimensions of parenting with ADHD, why he is such a nice guy and the reasons he formed his own community of the empathetic on the evil platform known as The Facebook! I included an extra bit of audio leading into this chat (27:50), it’s of him and I checking in on each other. I thought it was interesting to witness reflexive empathy, the vehicle through which individuals with chronic ailments tend to connect: call this, Pragmatic Reflexivity, cuz im a dork **Side note: Brian needed to have a desk fan on during the conversation and he had some birdies in the background which was a pleasant addition. Plus side: Matty learned how to scrub audio through Audacity thanks to the helpful help of John Bukenas Podcasting Editor EXTRAORDINAIRE! He is a saint, took the time out to answer my super simple question in a very clear and helpful way. I think it sounds decent but as they say in indie podcasting: the sound might not be perfect but the content is gold! (52:50) Following Brian, we hear from Paul, really needs a better nickname than Movie Person, Combs and we talking Wellness: why and how he got back into running, how he uses technology to help track his results and keep himself motivated and I even demanded that he submit a playlist I titled: Run Paul Run: 4mi, its roughly 50mins long which based on his posts is approximately his 4mile run time. See what we did there? No word on why he is so darn photogenic though… Let’s wrap this up, hey anyone want to hear about one of the more tragic stories from anthropology that doesn’t involve the perpetuation of colonialism?? Well (1:00:15) hit that timestamp and hear the conclusion of the reflexivity chat in which Renato Rosaldo learned of the Rage that individuals feel through Loss. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: N&C Links Archive of Episodes Topics and Lighthearted Complaints Watch Matty Fight on Social Ponder Evan’s Blurry Pictures Find Nooks and Crannies on Spotify Graphics by Donna Hume ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Proud of you Lindsay  

In this episode of "Crystal's Nightcap", Justin Bieber publicly hates on a 15-year-old, New Year's Resolutions for single people, and I had to lie to my Tinder hookup to get him to leave me alone.

Public speaking isn't just those times when you're communicating in front of a large group of people. In fact, public speaking is anything other than the times you're whispering to yourself or talking in your own head. If someone else hears you communicating, it is public speaking. Publically communicating ideas and information is essential in business, especially sales. Yet many times we have a hard time articulating the right message to our clients and coworkers. This challenge to effectively communicate is only compounded when we're asked to give a presentation or pitch a larger audience.  Public speaking may not come naturally to you, that doesn't mean you should avoid it or let it hinder your success. Amy Port, the Co-Founder and President of Heroic Public Speaking shares insight and specific strategies that are sure to help you improve your public speaking while achieving greater results with anyone that you interact with. Listen to this episode and discover: > The biggest misconception business people have when it comes to public speaking. > Why you should know the "spine" of your whole presentation before you begin. > How to bring contrast to your audience. > And so much more…

In the real estate industry, networking is the lifeblood for your business. If you are not a natural networker, this just might be the episode that you need to hear! If networking comes easy to you, this episode will also set you up for success! I have learned that networking is not just about the people you meet, but also about how much value you can bring to a conversation. I previously hated networking For a long time, I hated networking. I always thought real estate networking was just about how many people you can meet. I didn’t always want to talk to people, the ones I did talk to did not always turn into business, one and on...I read a quote on LinkedIn from Oleg Vishnepolsky that said “networking is not just how many people we meet, its how many people we help, recommend, and introduce to others.” I love this perspective, andI think this is a much better approach to networking for business. Use a scheduler link Networking does not have to be a game of back and forth, coordinating schedules and indecisiveness about what coffee shop to meet in. If you are trying to network more, I highly recommend using a scheduler app like youcanbook.me or calendly (there are others, just google scheduler apps). These apps make it easy to set your appointment schedule, gather name and contact information, and choose a meeting place. I use youcanbook.me to get those ever-important face to face conversations. Once a person selects an available time, it automatically gets added to my calendar, and sets a notification! Become a walking rolodex I know a rolodex is a little outdated, but It still denotes having all of your contacts in one spot, so i’ll reference it! I think Oleg Vishnepolsky is right when he said “networking is not just how many people we meet, its how many people we help, recommend, and introduce to others.” With that in mind, how can you leverage your list of brokers, roofers, plumbers, contractors, cleaners, and painters to help you network better? Share them. In my newsletter and on my LinkedIn, I advertise that I have an amazing list of referral partners. Anytime someone on my list refers me, I ask them if I can publically thank them on LinkedIn. I take a selfie, write a thank you note, and mention them in the description or comments. This actually drives more referrals, because the people on my list know that they are appreciated! Create your top 25 list Here’s what I would recommend...go through your list and create a “top 25” list. Once you have that established, reach out to them once a month (I am starting to do this on LinkedIn) to share knowledge and pass referrals. If you are an influencer in your community, your referrals are powerful! Outline of this great episode [0:30] “Networking is not just how many people we meet, its how many people we help, recommend, and introduce to others.” [2:00] Previously, I hated networking [4:00] Use a scheduler link [8:00] Become a walking rolodex [9:30] Advertise that you have an amazing list! [10:45] Publically thank those that refer you [12:30] Create your Top 25 list [22:30] We will be starting the next bootcamp soon! Our sponsors: www.EasyAgentPro.com/OJ- please use this link as it solidifies the relationship we have them (both my site and my company’s website are EAP sites… check them out below). Resources and Links mentioned in this episode Youcanbook.me Calendly To get my 11-question listing presentation tips, text “listing” to 44222 To contact me about coaching, go to https://m.me/neilmathwegcoaching?ref=w3414415and click Send Message. Join the FACEBOOK Group: Onion Juice - Ideas for Real Estate Agents If you want to see my website as a REALTOR in Madison Wi go to www.neilmathweg.com Connect with me! You can find my personal real estate coaching websitehere And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social! Snapchat Instagram Facebook Twitter And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Onion Juice podcast on Apple Podcasts(formerly iTunes)

EPISODE #105-- Today we talk about woodchucks eating Paul Ryan's (mom's) car, a man with no arms stabbing somebody (allegedly), and another story on the misguided youth of Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh. All this and a real long yarn about a cocaine dealer/reptile guy. All this and more. Support our show at Patreon.com/quality. Follow James on twitter @kislingtwits and Alex @giraffetermath. Follow us on tumblr at https://worldsamess.tumblr.com/. Thanks to Sef Joosten for our show art (http://spexdoodles.tumblr.com). Our theme music is "The World's a Mess" by X. Thanks to our sources at the AP, Miami Herald, Yale Daily News, and NPR. #Lizards #WarOnDrugs #MovingWeight #Reptiles #Woodchucks #Justice #SupremeCourt #Emeralds #BelieveWomen #CreepyEastCoastPrepSchoolPr*cks #BelieveWomen #KavaNah

Links & Show Notes (please note, some language bleeped using a horse sound) Out of our heads and into the classroom: Feedback hacks from Ben & Becky (2:01) Errors & Misconception videos (3:15) Adaptive assessments with google forms (5:20) (Written Steps | Video) Real-time feedback during performances (6:50) Free up your time for face-to-face student conferences (8:55) Video yourself (9:50) Kim on the book, Radical Candor - how to be a good human being, parent, manager, leader (11:44) What is Radical Candor? (13:18) Mostly about collaboration Care Personally & Challenge Directly Ruinous Empathy (15:05) - ‘Bob’ Story (15:45) Manipulative Insincerity (17:35) - “the desire to be liked is the path to hell for a leader.” Radical Candor in student-teacher relationships (19:53) “It’s not mean, it’s clear” story (21:45) Order of Operations in Radical Candor Be willing to solicit feedback first (23:50) Focus on the good stuff. Give praise first - focus on success (25:00) Offer criticism (28:20) Feedback is a gift - Be Humble (you may not be right) (29:23) That’s why it’s called ‘candor’ and not ‘truth’. You may be wrong. Be helpful (31:00) Do it immediately (32:53) Do it in person (33:10) 80% of communication is nonverbal Respond to their reaction What does this look like when it’s done successfully? (35:15) Situation - Behavior - Impact (not about personality traits) How do we get better at receiving and learning from the feedback we receive First practice asking for feedback. “What could I do or stop doing that would make it easier to work with me?” - What’s your go-to question? (40:00) Embrace the discomfort. Don’t get defensive. “Listen with the intent to understand, not to respond.” (41:49) Reward the candor. Publically. (45:25) Coaching in Kim Scott’s life (47:15) Rapid Fire (48:50) Billboard: Radical Candor framework in congress New belief, behavior, or habit: Getting good sleep Kim thanks teachers (51:15) Kim’s novel, The Measurement Problem To learn more: Kim’s Podcast Radicalcandor.com @kimballscott | @candor Takeaways: (52:48) Don’t take it personally - Kim Scott video demonstrating this with her sister “It’s not mean, it’s clear” Science of Success podcast, episode with Adam Grant Rate us on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you listen) Give us feedback!

Tonight, the Brightest Panel in Hamilton features two radio broadcast students from Mohawk College, for their perspective on the Ontario college faculty strike and other news stories from this week. Panel: Ben Straughan, technical producer with 900 CHML Raasty Belbaas, radio broadcast student

1 + 1 = 2   Math.  You need to know it.  It is impossible to survive in your business if you can’t generate more revenue than expenses.  Your number one priority in business is to create a profitable company.  Without your business being profitable, you can’t do anything else.  You can’t continue serving your clients.  You can’t continue to expand.  You can’t give to others.  You can’t employ others and create financial success for them.  So learn your numbers.  Get familiar with Profit & Loss statements, financial forecasting, budgeting and Sales.   RESPECT YOUR TEACHER   There are some teachers you seek out and others who come into your life unexpectedly.  They all have something to teach you.  Take in the lessons and implement them in your business.  There’s no need to be the class rebel who gives your teachers a hard time.  It doesn’t benefit anyone.  Learn what you need to and move onto the next lesson.   TAKE NAPS   If you looked at the popular rhetoric of what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur, lack of sleep would seem like one of the most prevalent necessities.  This is total bullshit.  While I have known entrepreneurs who have “hustled” their way to success, sacrificing sleep, time with family, health and much more, I know just as many who have become successful and maintained a healthy lifestyle.  While you may have moments of little sleep, by no means does this need to be the norm in order to grow the business of your dreams!  Sleep!  Your body, your energy and your business will thank you. PLAY!   Not only did Kindergarten teach us that playing often is vital for our creativity and our social skills, it taught us that it was important enough to have a spot on our daily schedule!  Incorporating play time into your life - whether it’s business related or not - is vital to your business success (and overall happiness!).  Maybe that looks like drinks with a girlfriend once a week.  Maybe that looks like doodling in your journal every day.  Or playing catch with your daughter.  If you love your business like I do, it can be a challenge to “turn it off,” but doing so and dedicating time to play will continue to feed your creativity and your zest for your business! LEARN YOUR ABC’S   I hate to break it to you, but you don’t know it all.  Even if you’ve built a 6 figure, 7 figure or 8 figure business...there is always more to learn!  Invest your time, money and energy into your continued education (like the kind that happens in the Biz Women Rock Academy!).  Not only will it keep you quick on your toes in your industry, but it ensures you never get bored in your business.   BE YOU   Remember how you could name off every person in your Kindergarten class and easily describe their personalities?  That’s Doug...he’s quiet, super smart and always wears grey.  Everyone who shows up in in business is their own, unique individual.  Don’t be them.  Be YOU.  You have no competition in this game.  You just have you.  Stop thinking you need to do something “like she’s doing it,” or that your success isn’t “as good as hers.”  Be unapologetically you and the game gets so much easier! MAKE GREAT FRIENDS   Owning your own business can be lonely.  Maybe you’re working from your home and your spouse or pet is the only other living being you see all day.  Maybe you go to your office and interact with your team every day, but crave deeper relationships with fellow biz women.  There are others just like you who are craving the same!  Make the effort to build great friendships!  You can do this by joining free communities (like the Biz Women Rock community!), joining local networking groups, taking the time to have weekly or monthly coffee dates with cohorts, joining paid masterminds, group coaching programs or attending business retreats.  Great friendships take time and energy to cultivate and it’s well worth your investment! ACCIDENTS HAPPEN   I distinctly remember the day I pooped my pants in Kindergarten.  Yup.  Me.  Already potty trained.  In front of everyone.  Horribly embarrassing.  I can 100% promise you that “poopie” will happen in your business.  Accidents.  Mess ups.  The unexpected.  No matter how well trained you are.  Publically.  Privately.  Big.  Small.  It’s normal and it happens to everyone.  Pick yourself back up.  It’s all going to be okay.  Don’t beat yourself up.  Don’t blame others.  Just learn from it and move on (and perhaps come prepared with some pull up diapers for a few days after until you feel confident again).  ;) SHARE   This world is abundant and there is plenty to go around.  Help others who need help.  Share your knowledge, your expertise, your wisdom, your money, your ideas, your time, your talents, your resources.  Don’t wait until you’ve “made it” to give to others.  Do it now.  As I’ve been telling my toddler a lot lately, “it’s a lot more fun with you share with others!” SHOW UP   More than once, I got on the bus to Kindergarten with tears in my eyes.  I didn’t want to go.  It could’ve been because Curt was picking on me yesterday and I didn’t want to face him again.  It could’ve been because my teacher asked me to answer a question and I couldn’t answer it and it was incredibly embarrassing.  It could’ve been because the boy I liked chased Mary around the playground and not me.  It could’ve been because I didn’t do my homework and I knew I was going to be unprepared for the lesson that day.  But no matter what, my mom always made me go.  And 100% of the time, something great would happen at school.  Curt shared a toy with me or my teacher (gratefully) didn’t call on me during the lesson or I ended up playing with someone new and made a new friend!  There are going to be plenty of times you do not want to show up for your business.  Show up anyway.  I guarantee you something good will come out of it.

About Yvette: Yvette Pegues, M.ED, is a Professional Speaker, Educator, Author, Advocate, Ms. Wheelchair International and the Founder and Chief Transformation Officer of Your Invisible Disability Group. Yvette works as a Corporate Disability & Diversity Consultant and she is the host of disAbilityLifeTV. She is the author of the workbook, The "Art of Adaptability" which is designed to help Newly Disabled & Diagnosed individuals like herself and she is the Co-author of, "My Mommy had Brain Surgery & I'm Okay!" with her young sons, Isaiah and Elijah. Topics Discussed: - Yvette shares her story about being diagnosed as an adult with a congenital disease that created a disability - She also suffers from an invisible cognitive disability - Diversity of thought is just as important as diversity in the workplace - Our customers also suffer with disabilities - Leaders should understand people’s abilities, not just hiring for disabilities - Publically declare that you’re looking for a diverse workforce - Build relationships with the organizations in your geographic location that help train and retrain people with disabilities - 4 out of every 6 people will have a disability at some point in their life - 75-80% of people with disabilities have invisible disabilities, like depression or cancer or chronic pain - Apparent disabilities only account for about 15% of those with disabilities - Recommendation on when to reveal your invisible disability, does it impact your work - Discuss with you physician, occupational therapist or physical therapist about your limitations - Fear of job loss and discrimination - Federal funds are available to those who hire those with disabilities - Architectural and attitudinal barriers for people with disabilities in the workplace - We might not understand what’s on the other side of the rules and laws - It’s about an inclusive tomorrow, not making special exceptions - It’s important to understand the requirements of the ADA law - In order to keep from being insensitive to a person with disability, it’s OK to say, “Please tell me what your accommodations are,” and “How can I make this office situation work for you so you can be most successful?” - It’s no different than asking the same type of question of a new intern/employee - The question that managers ask behind closed door or are afraid to ask is, “How do we fire someone with a disability?” - You protocol should apply to everyone, not just for someone with a disability - Yvette helps companies look through their current HR policies and processes to confirm that your policies are in good shape before bringing on people with disabilities - Advice for people with disabilities and speaking up in the workplace, have someone on their behalf to support them, an advocate outside the workplace - The advocate can listen objectively to see if issues are related to disabilities or just a human grievance unrelated to the disability - Advocates understand the law and your particular disability and work situation - Advocates are available in all US states and in many countries outside the US - Federal, state and local services are available to help people with disabilities to get into or stay in the workforce. It benefits the country to get people in the workforce. - The US is the model for setting the stage for inclusion for people with disabilities - What does it look like to make your organization more accessible? - People with disabilities can be very loyal when they find a great place to work - For people with disabilities, it may be “safer” at home, but it’s important to get out and get in the way; getting in the way is a good thing to help make the world more accessible Questions Answered: How can I to hire people with disabilities? Why should I hire people with disabilities? As a person with disabilities, how and when should I speak up at work? What are invisible disabilities?

Phil Cannella is the founder and creator of The Crash Proof Retirement System. The Crash Proof System was born in the ashes of the financial collapse of 2000 and developed to bring consumers a strategy that guarantees preservation of principle while still achieving adequate growth. Phil has been in the insurance industry for a whopping 41 years and got his start and success through endless hard work and hustle, which included nearly a decade of door-to-door sales. Over the course of his career, he has interviewed some of the top financial and political insiders in the world and seen just about everything on Wall Street. We sit down for a rare and extended interview with Phil to get his take on the world markets, investing, work ethic, and of course retirement planning.   Links: Website Facebook @PhillipCannella Phil's bio video Educational Event Teaser WPHT Philadelphia WFTL South Florida -Crash proof retire events   Discussed: Video Testimonials Video of SEC Interview - Playlist Audio file of Jim Cramer Stan’s Brutally Honest Factual Expertise About Annuities - ILAB 4   Time Stamps: 06:23 - World financial crisis 22:10 - $2.8 billion debt crash 30:10 - Insurance industry 33:40 - Fixed annuities 36:20 - ADHD & dyslexia 41:01 - Publically humiliated 45:04 - Pharmaceutical drugs 48:55 - Recession proof investment 54:10 - Annuity growth 1:00:38 - Insurance companies vs. banks 1:15:20 - Life insurance firewalls 1:18:20 - B++ bonds 1:22:10 - Safety nets 1:25:10 - Guaranteed renewable contract 1:37:10 - How to find success 1:40:30 - Crashproof educational process 1:48:48 - Tax-free legacy 1:54:53 - Demographics for fixed index annuities 2:05:30 - Investing in life insurance 2:10:17 - Are fixed rate annuities right for you? 2:12:00 - Greece’s debt 2:12:50 - Education, research, and network 2:14:00 - Interest rates and fees   If you enjoyed this episode, do us a favor and share it! Also if you haven’t’ already, please take a minute to leave us a 5-star review on iTunes and claim your bonus here!   Copyright 2017. All rights reserved. Read our disclaimer here.

“If your life is full of people taking advantage of you, at some point it becomes your own fault.” - Tai Lopez (click to tweet) In our society, being humble and quiet is something we’re often told be should do. We’re brought up this way as children, and it carries into our lives as adults. Today’s episode is all about when that advice is wrong, and how it might be holding you back. Just remember, pacifism doesn’t always work, and has historically been the wrong approach at times. Often, the correct response is to stand up for yourself and fight back. You don’t want to start fights, but sometimes you need to finish them, and that’s what this episode is all about. “Happiness is primarily an outgrowth of having the right social circle.” - Tai Lopez (click to tweet) Points to Keep In Mind People tend to think you need to be humble and quiet, but sometimes that will lead to you being taken advantage of Pacifism does not always work, and history shows it Happiness is primarily an outgrowth of having the right social circle You don’t want to start fights, but you might have to finish them Find mentors and role models to give you a map for what you should be doing “You don’t want to start fights, but you might have to finish them.” - Tai Lopez (click to tweet)Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In terms of personality and style, it would be difficult to find two more different men than General MacArthur and General Eisenhower. Praised by newspapers as “Destiny’s Child,” and “Mars,” General MacArthur was larger than life - dramatic, proud, and aristocratic. In contrast, General Eisenhower was often described by his contemporaries as personable, steady, and far more practical than MacArthur. Ten years MacArthur’s junior, Eisenhower would spend a great portion of his career working as MacArthur’s military aide. Predictably, their relationship was at times tense. Privately Eisenhower would write that MacArthur was a “genius” one day, and a “baby” the next. In a similar fashion, MacArthur would write that Eisenhower’s value to the Army was “Superior,” but would later make it clear in his autobiography that he thought himself far superior to Eisenhower. Publically however, both men always presented a united front – refusing to ever criticize each other in the press. This podcast will explore the MacArthur-Eisenhower relationship – their similarities, differences, and the tensions.

Unilife is expanding its large dose delivery platform in a bid to meet a “growing industry need” for at-home drug administration in bigger scale.

Unilife is expanding its large dose delivery platform in a bid to meet a “growing industry need” for at-home drug administration in bigger scale.