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India Gears Up for Worst-Case Scenarios As Indo-Pak tensions soar post the deadly April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives, India's Ministry of Home Affairs has ordered nationwide civil defence mock drills on May 7. These include air raid sirens, crash blackouts, evacuation rehearsals, and camouflaging critical infrastructure—measures not seen at this scale since the Kargil conflict. The drills follow India's sweeping diplomatic retaliation: suspension of visas for Pakistani nationals, revocation of the Indus Waters Treaty, sealing the Attari border, and banning Pakistan Airlines. Pakistan hit back by halting all trade and closing its airspace. PM Modi has granted the military full operational freedom to respond. As cross-border ceasefire violations stretch into their 10th day, India is clearly preparing for all possibilities. Cyber Frontline: Hackers Hit Indian Defence SitesA digital war is brewing alongside border tensions. Pakistani hacker groups have claimed to breach key Indian defence-linked websites, including the Military Engineer Services and Manohar Parrikar Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses—claims the institute denies. One group alleged access to 10GB of user data. Meanwhile, defacement attempts were made on websites like Armoured Vehicle Nigam and Army Public Schools. Another group, Internet of Khilafah, targeted welfare platforms for ex-servicemen. While cybersecurity teams have foiled most attacks, these waves of digital aggression are adding another layer to the Indo-Pak crisis. Union Territories Join Centre's Capex Push Starting FY26, India's Union Territories (UTs) will finally be eligible for the Centre's 50-year, interest-free capital expenditure loan scheme—originally introduced post-pandemic for states only. With ₹1.5 trillion allocated for FY26, 60% of funds will go toward infrastructure, while 40% will be linked to reforms. UTs like Puducherry and Delhi can now tap into this pool to fund critical projects. States like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh already top the borrowing list under this scheme. Economists say the move aims to spur public investment and balance development across regions amid slow private capital inflow. Taj Hotels Bets Big on India's Travel Boom Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL), owner of the iconic Taj brand, is doubling down on India's tourism wave with a ₹1,200 crore investment plan for FY26. After a 53% jump in FY25 net profit to ₹2,038 crore, the company plans to open 30 new hotels, most under an asset-light model. TajSATS, its catering arm, added ₹716 crore to revenues. With rising demand from leisure, business, and MICE segments, IHCL is eyeing higher occupancy rates and room prices, forecasted to cross ₹10,000 by 2026. From legacy luxury to next-gen growth, IHCL is charting a bold path forward. Skechers to Go Private in $9.4 Billion Deal Footwear giant Skechers is being acquired by 3G Capital in a $9.4 billion all-cash deal, valuing shares at $63—a 30% premium. Shareholders can also choose $57 cash plus equity in a new private entity. The move comes as global shoemakers brace for US tariffs under President Trump's trade reset. Despite record revenues of $9 billion in 2024 and $640 million in earnings, Skechers hopes that going private will help it weather geopolitical headwinds, especially as China contributes 15% of its revenue. CEO Robert Greenberg and team will stay on, with headquarters remaining in California.
In this chilling episode of Almost Fiction, we begin the disturbing story of Charles William Yukl, a classically trained pianist, teacher, and, ultimately… convicted killer. From his troubled upbringing and intense musical training to his years of hidden darkness, we uncover how a seemingly mild-mannered man led a double life. Based heavily on the book The Piano Teacher by Robert K. Tanenbaum and Robert Greenberg, this episode dives deep into Yukl's past, his manipulations, and the brutal 1966 murder of Suzanne Reynolds. It's a terrifying portrait of depravity hiding under a mask of weakness.Sources: https://www.nytimes.com/1974/08/25/archives/-village-slaying-laid-to-paroled-killer.htmlhttps://case-law.vlex.com/vid/people-v-yukl-893896295https://www.nytimes.com/1974/09/03/archives/sexslaying-case-posing-questions-to-justice-system-sexslaying-case.htmlhttps://mail.murderpedia.org/male.Y/y/yukl-charles.htmhttps://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/spontaneous_exclamationTanenbaum, Robert K., and Peter S. Greenberg. The Piano Teacher: The True Story of a Psychotic Killer. eBook ed., Simon and Schuster, 1987.
We mark the death on August 12, 1612 – 412 years ago today – of the composer Giovanni Gabrieli. Born in Venice circa 1555, he grew up and spent his professional life in that glorious city, and died there as a result of complications from a kidney stone. Gabrieli's magnificent, soul-stirring music went a long way towards helping to define the expressive exuberance of what we now identify as Baroque era music. The impact and influence of his music was ginormous, an impact and influence that culminated a century later in the German High Baroque music of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)! To a degree beyond any other composer before or after him, Gabrieli's music has come to be identified with his hometown of Venice, in particular the acoustically unique Venetian performance venues for which so much of his music was composed. It is necessary, then, for us to spend some time in Venice, if only to get some inkling of what makes this singularly remarkable city so spiritually, artistically, and architecturally unique; and why Gabrieli's music is uniquely Venetian.… Continue Reading, only on Patreon! The post Music History Monday: Giovanni Gabrieli and the Miracle That is Venice! first appeared on Robert Greenberg.
John Jay Wiley is a retired police officer (Baltimore Police Department) who is now the founder and host of Law Enforcement Talk Radio & Podcast…both a radio show and a podcast. I had the honor of being a guest on LET Radio in an episode that was aired on 09 June 2024. You can listen to that episode It was quite the experience, and I appreciate John Jay for allowing me the privilege of being on his show. It was also an honor to do a turn-around invitation for him to be on SASS…and he graciously agreed to be here! In this episode, John Jay showed his strength and fortitude in his willingness to tell a great deal about his own trauma story. That is something that he doesn't often do; he even stated that for him to be open about his trauma, the listener must “earn the right,” because for him to make himself available and vulnerable isn't easy for him. Isn't that the way it is for most of us who suffer the effects of trauma?...don't we all, to some degree, hold something back, as John Jay says, in order to protect ourselves? It's part of that healing journey…we must weigh the costs and benefits of talking about something so personal and painful. But ultimately, it almost always leads us further down the healing path. John Jay recognizes this, and it's why he was willing to be on the show; that, and his desire for us to be mutually helpful to each other as recognition of our shared mission. We both benefitted from being on each other's podcasts. As I reflect on our discussion, I feel that one of the most important aspects of this conversation was John Jay's deep understanding of how impactful his trauma is on who he is today. He emphasized that to heal, whether from being shot, robbed, injured in a car accident, or sexually assaulted, we must reach the point where we realize that we, ourselves, are responsible for what we do moving forward. It's the “aha moment,” as he puts it, when we reach the point where we grasp that if we want something good to come from our trauma, we have to put in the work. When we do, the “good stuff” starts happening in our lives. John Jay is powerful in his delivery of the wisdom that he has acquired through his own healing journey. This is a powerful listen; I hope you put in the time to do so. And then…share this episode with everyone you know. Additionally, subscribe to John Jay's show!…it's the Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show & Podcast…found wherever you listen to podcasts. And while you're at it, hit the subscribe button on this show, too! We both thank you!! Thank you for being a Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast listener, and don't forget to Start by Believing…because we all know someone whose life has been impacted by rape or sexual assault. From the Law Enforcement Talk Radio website (): John J Wiley Radio Show Host and Producer Retired from the Baltimore Police Department at the rank of Sergeant. He was retired early due a permanent line of duty injury that occurred during an act of violence. The injury resulted in 3 surgeries, two steel plates and a fusion of his right wrist and thumb. About 8 years after retiring from police work, he began a career in the audio broadcasting space. Starting with "audio-blogs" in 1999. Which progressed into a brokered once a week radio show and then led to broadcasting school. After graduating he has been a full time FM radio personality and launched the Law Enforcement Today Show as a podcast in March of 2017. This was in a partnership with Law Enforcement Today's Robert Greenberg. The show was quickly recruited by radio and is a nationally syndicated radio show, broadcasting weekly on many US Radio Stations to millions of people. The partnership with them ended in the Summer of 2023 and the show was renamed the Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast. The radio show is syndicated by Talk Media Network. Go to the Radio Page of the site for more information. Here are the links you can use to find John Jay's show, my LET Radio episode, and other links that I hope you'll check out and recognize their importance in helping provide justice to victims and survivors of rape and sexual assault.
John is BACK from his European vacation where he gets revenge on Katie and Emily making fun of him by actually meeting Limp Bizkit's lead singer Fred Durst, and having a lovely time seeing them in Belfast. We go super long on this one as the week has so much to offer, from the end of Adriana Harmeyer's run to a potential new streak as Drew Basile stacks up three wins. One of those wins? It's in a TIEBREAKER, folks. What a week! Plus, John finds some commonality with one of Drew's anecdotes, Emily finds some more J! fans FUMING over the use of new slang, and we go deep on Wagner's Ring Cycle. Please follow the show on Instagram at @whatisajeopardypodcast and on Twitter at @jeopardypodcast. SOURCE: Music History Monday: "The Miracle at Bayreuth" by Robert Greenberg. Special thank you to The Jeopardy! Fan and the J-Archive. This episode is produced by Rob Pera. Music by Nate Heller. Art by Max Wittert.
An episode from 1/1/24: Tonight, a cold has forced me to hand over the episode almost entirely to some of the greatest music ever written. Here are excerpts of my favorite pieces from Ludwig van Beethoven (1750-1827). It's hard to think of music that is more passionate, introspective, uplifting, brooding, mournful, and joyous. The sources for the music I use are: Excerpts from the Ninth Symphony/Op. 125 is conducted by Eugen Duvier. Excerpts from the Piano Sonatas (#1 and #2/Op. 2, #8/Op. 13, #13 and #14/Op. 27 #15/Op. 28, #17/Op. 31, #21/Op. 53, #22/Op. 54, #27/Op. 90), and the Fifth Piano Concerto/Op. 73 come from the complete recordings by Claudio Arrau. The excerpt from the Op. 70 “Ghost” Trio, from the Trio Bell'Arte. Excerpts from String Quartet 13/Op. 130 and String Quartet 15/Op. 132 come from the recordings by the Quartteto Italiano. Excerpts from Missa Solemnis, Op. 123, is conducted by John Eliot Gardiner. The excerpt from Robert Greenberg lecture comes from his Great Courses set on the Piano Sonatas. You can support Human Voices Wake Us here, or by ordering any of my books: Notes from the Grid, To the House of the Sun, The Lonely Young & the Lonely Old, and Bone Antler Stone. Email me at humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/support
We mark the birth on September 4, 1824 – 199 years ago today – of the composer and organist Josef Anton Bruckner, in the Austrian village of Ansfelden, which today is a suburb of the city of Linz. He died in the Austrian capital of Vienna on October 11, 1896, at the age of 72. It was Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) who famously said that Bruckner was: “Half simpleton, half God.” Strangeness I would be so bold as to suggest that there is such a thing as a “strangeness spectrum,” a scale of personality oddness that stretches from the merely quirky to the genuinely weird. If we were to consider such a spectrum as a scale from one to ten, with one being “quirky” (or idiosyncratic); five being “eccentric” (or odd); and ten being really “weird” (or bizarre), then the personality of the composer and organist Anton Bruckner would lie at about an eleven: an off-the-charts “downright whacky” (and even, at times, unnervingly creepy). I know, I know: many of you are probably thinking something on the lines of “so what? He was a professional composer. Show me a major composer besides, perhaps, Joseph Haydn and Antonin Dvořák who wasn't a […] The post Music History Monday: On the Spectrum first appeared on Robert Greenberg.
On May 15, 1501 – 522 years ago today – the first polyphonic (that is, multi-part) music printed using moveable type was released to the public by the Venice-based publisher Ottaviano dei Petrucci. (The publication features a dedication dated May 15, 1501, so we assume that this corresponds with its release date.) The publication was an anthology of works entitled Harmonice musices odhecaton A, meaning “One Hundred Pieces of Harmonic Music, Volume A”. (Volumes “B” and “C” followed in 1502 and 1503, respectively). In fact, “One Hundred Pieces of Harmonic Music, Volume A” consists of 96 (not “100”, as the title claims) instrumental works and French-language songs by some of the most famous composers of the day, as well as some anonymous works as well. Those famous composers represented in the anthology – which include Josquin de Prez, Johannes Ockeghem, Jacob Obrecht, Antoine Brumel, and Alexander Agricole – were all originally from northern France and southern Belgium: the so-called “Franco-Flemish” composers from the “oltre montani” (“the other side of the Alps”) who were so popular in Italy at the time. I am aware that that previous, opening paragraph, filled with relatively obscure Italian and Franco-Flemish names, musicological rubric, and […] The post Music History Monday: All the Music That's Fit to Print first appeared on Robert Greenberg.