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    Ninjas Are Butterflies
    173 - Moon Reactor, Dracula's Missing Boy & the CIA's Control Grid

    Ninjas Are Butterflies

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 19, 2025 104:39


    Is there a new space race to build a nuclear reactor on the Moon? This week on Ninjas Are Butterflies, we dig into reports claiming just that, as well as a disturbing missing child case near Dracula's castle, and claims of a CIA-backed digital network designed to monitor and control more than we're told. Episode 173 connects Cold War energy, modern surveillance, and old-world darkness—because of course it does. We break down why the Moon suddenly needs nuclear power, and who's racing to get there first. The eerie disappearance near Romania's most infamous landmark, and allegations of a hidden digital control grid—and how deep it might go. Like and follow if you want this show to survive the algorithm. Thanks to our sponsor BetterHelp. Visit https://betterhelp.com/NINJAS for 10% off your first month #sponsored Exclusive $35 off Carver Mat with Promo Code NINJAS at https://on.auraframes.com/NINJAS #ad Live Better Longer with BUBS Naturals. For A limited time get 20% Off your entire order with code NINJAS at Bubsnaturals.com #sponsored Get MORE Exclusive Ninjas Are Butterflies Content by joining our Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/NinjasAreButterflies NEW EPISODES EVERY FRIDAY @ 6AM EST! Ninja Merch: https://www.sundaycoolswag.com/ Start Your Custom Apparel Order Here: https://bit.ly/NinjasYT-SundayCool Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    The Mindset and Self-Mastery Show
    Breaking Free Of The Self-Worth Trap Using NLP With Damon Cart

    The Mindset and Self-Mastery Show

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 18, 2025 45:56


    “Your beliefs govern your reality.” In this episode, Nick speaks with Damon Cart, an NLP teacher and coach, about the transformative power of self-concept coaching. Damon shares his personal journey through depression, the importance of understanding one’s values, and the pitfalls of self-worth. What to listen for: Understanding your values changes how you approach achievement Self-worth is a flawed concept; it’s better to focus on values instead Taking action is crucial for gaining clarity on what truly matters Failure can lead to unexpected success “It has everything to do with your beliefs… Most people don’t believe they are the value that they’re seeking.” When you don't see your own value, you'll constantly search for it outside yourself Confidence and self-esteem are built internally, not earned through achievements Changing your beliefs about who you are opens the door to the life you actually want “If you’re adamant about being a happy and fulfilled person and you’re willing to work for it, you will get there.” You're never permanently stuck unless you stop moving toward what you want Working on yourself is an investment that pays off in how you experience life Happiness grows when you treat it like a priority, not a side quest About Damon Cart Damon is a world-leading expert in creating lasting internal transformations using the Self-Concept model™. As a master NLP practitioner and co-founder of The Self-Concept Research Group, he transformed his own life from a struggling insurance agent to a globally recognized authority in personal development. Mentored by NLP pioneer Steve Andreas, he has spent nearly eight years helping thousands achieve identity-level change. Based in Santa Cruz, California, Damon combines deep theory with practical application to make transformation effortless and permanent. https://selfconcept.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/damon-cart-aa79b122/ https://www.instagram.com/damoncart Resources: Interested in starting your own podcast or need help with one you already have? Send Nick an email or schedule a time to discuss your podcast today! https://themindsetandselfmasteryshow.com/podcasting-services/ Thank you for listening! Please subscribe on iTunes and give us a 5-Star review! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mindset-and-self-mastery-show/id1604262089 Listen to other episodes here: https://themindsetandselfmasteryshow.com/ Watch Clips and highlights: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk1tCM7KTe3hrq_-UAa6GHA Guest Inquiries right here: podcasts@themindsetandselfmasteryshow.com Your Friends at “The Mindset & Self-Mastery Show” Click Here To View The Episode Transcript Nick McGowan (00:01.436)Hello and welcome to the Mindset and Self Mastery Show. I’m your host, Nick McGowan. Today on the show we have Damon Cart. Damon, how you doing today? Damon Cart (00:11.266)Good. How are you? Nick McGowan (00:12.828)I’m good, man, I’m excited. As I told you, this is the first episode of Brand New Office. So if people watch the video and I’m looking around, it’s other stuff in the office. I’m excited that you’re here, man. We were just shooting the breeze a bit before we got started and I’m excited to get into things. So why don’t you kick us off? Tell us what you do for a living and what’s one thing most people don’t know about you that’s maybe a little odd or bizarre. Damon Cart (00:23.182)you Damon Cart (00:35.694)Hmm. Well, I teach NLP and I coach it as well. I do one-on-one coaching and not just NLP. I focus on a specific model called the self concept model. And it was a model that was taught to me by my mentor, Steve Andreas. He created it. And it is a model that models our identity, how we create our sense of self and how to transform that. Most people are not living the life that they would want to be living. And that’s rooted in them not being the person they want to be. And we think that we have to go conquer mountains or defeat dragons until we’re worthy of that. And that’s just not true. It has everything to do with your beliefs and how you organize that information into those beliefs and what in fact you believe about yourself. And most people don’t believe they are the value that they’re seeking. And as a result of that, they experience lower self-esteem, lower confidence and overall just lack of fulfillment. And we can transform that and sometimes as simple as one hour session just by transforming beliefs, restructuring that information. So instead of taking years of willpower and discipline and all of those things, it’s really in how you think about it. And there’s an exact organization to that. And once you understand it, then you can change it. And something about me that is, I don’t know if I’m, I don’t know, I feel like I’m a pretty open book about things, about myself. And I don’t know of anything that I would call bizarre. would say something that probably not a lot of people know about me, unless you really know me very well, is that I’m a rather emotional person. And that can be anything. That can be anger. That can be watching a movie and, you know, feeling emotional because of it, because it’s sad or it’s a great love story or something like that. I tend to be very emotional and be The older I’ve gotten, the more comfortable I am with just being emotional and vulnerable in front of people. But I don’t really show that in my videos. In my persona online, it’s just not, I don’t think it’s really relevant. And it’s not that I’m ashamed of it. It’s just, I don’t see the value in doing that. I’m a teacher and it’s for me, it’s about getting the information out there. Nick McGowan (02:51.884)Interesting. I want to go down that path a little bit because I am emotional. If you watched any videos, you can see some of the emotions come out. There are often times I’ll blame, I’m from Philly, so I’ll just blame the Northeast. I’m like, it’s because of Philly. Like, yeah, yeah. And that’s what everybody thinks about Philly people anyway. They’re crazy or they’re loud. It’s like partially, but some of that’s also generational trauma and they don’t really know how to handle it. And Damon Cart (03:03.854)Why not? Nick McGowan (03:16.787)It’s interesting because also as we get older like you can watch a commercial and you get over 40 and you start crying and you’re like I don’t know why like what the fuck was that what a good 12 second clip of something but it’s interesting that you put that to the side when you make your videos and it sounds really conscious like you’re like I’m not gonna allow myself to be not vulnerable but emotional because you don’t want it to block the message is that about right? Damon Cart (03:43.691)You know, got a comment on one of my videos recently and that one of the live streams I did was very academic. And I was like, well, like as opposed to what, how do you, because they’re, and you’ll hear people throw this word around when it comes to NLP teachers. like, this person’s very academic. And to me, that means like more theory-based and not experiential, but NLP is very experiential. So I was just like, well, you know, how do, Nick McGowan (04:03.638)Mm-hmm. Damon Cart (04:09.358)As opposed to what I’m giving you the steps of a process that you have to go and do and experience and he was like no No, not like that. You should put your personality into your videos more and he referenced a podcast and I went and looked at the podcast and it was one of those kind like bro podcasts where It was a young man and he’s you know, kind of putting a little bit of arrogance out there No judgment on him. Like this is what plays this is what sells and So I haven’t responded to the person yet, but on my video, but basically it comes down to this I I don’t see myself as the brand of what I’m doing. The information that I’m getting out there is the star of the show, not me. And there have been times where I put my personal life on there. I’ve done vlogs and things like that. And you will see me get emotional in those. But I’ve never found it to be like why people are coming to my videos. And if my personality overshadows what I’m teaching, which is you see this in like Tony Robbins, you know, and Nick McGowan (04:46.008)Mm. Nick McGowan (05:06.915)Yeah. Damon Cart (05:06.926)Then I feel like I’m not doing my job. I feel like I’ve the message and what I’m teaching is the most important thing, not who I am. I don’t want my, if I get emotional about something, I don’t want that to hijack the video. I want the information I’m teaching to be the thing that people are coming for and that they’re getting it. Nick McGowan (05:20.653)Yeah. Nick McGowan (05:26.553)That makes total sense. And I guess to people that don’t know that, they’re just going to interpret how they’re going to interpret because we are people and we’ll interpret things how we want and make up a story and go, here’s what it is. But that’s a great way to put it. You’re stewarding it. You’re basically just letting it come through you and kind of work through you. Do you feel like some of it is also channeled in that sort of way specifically? Or are you just saying, I’ve learned this information. I want to package it in the right way so you can get the information and Damon Cart (05:38.466)Yeah. Damon Cart (05:41.826)Yes. Nick McGowan (05:56.342)Never mind how I feel about Damon Cart (05:58.735)So definitely yes to the second part, when you say channel, what do mean by channel? Nick McGowan (06:04.412)There are certain people that channel information from a higher level, from God or from the universe or whatever, and they feel that comes through them. It’s almost like how creatives or artists can say, I don’t really know where that came from, but it just came out of me and it was kind of channeled through. And I’ve seen different people and I’ve talked to different people that are like, I don’t let my vessel really, or like the being get in the way because it’s being channeled through. And it sounds like you’re taking more of the conscious approach of like the information is the information. So take the information and me being yelly or emotional about it or whatever is not going to do you a bit of good. Here’s the information. But it also sounds like that person who’s like, I want I want you to be emotional because they probably are, you know. Damon Cart (06:46.668)Yeah, and yeah, so I’ve had those moments on, because I like to do live streams. So yeah, I’ve had those moments where I felt like, yeah, I was just channeling. But majority of it is, I’ve felt this my entire life. If I was struggling to solve a problem and I solve that problem, I know that there are other people who are trying to solve that problem and they’re really frustrated. And I know what that frustration feels like. So I just want to go to them and say, here’s the key or here’s. Here’s the information you need so that you don’t need to struggle with this anymore. And I feel like that’s really my job. My channel started with one of the things I realized very quickly when I was going to like one NLP training after another, especially getting into more and more advanced NLP trainings that I was attending, not teaching, was how many people didn’t actually know basic NLP. And it was like, okay, they’re spending thousands of dollars learning all this. And it is true. Like you just don’t really get a lot of practice in NLP trainings because that would make Nick McGowan (07:34.966)Mm. Damon Cart (07:43.299)the training’s extremely long and that wouldn’t be very competitive in the market. So people aren’t really practicing and then they hand you a certificate and say, now you’re certified. And it’s like that is completely meaningless. You have to go and practice it. And so what I was doing is I was practicing every single day on myself. was practicing, I had a practice group and I would practice with them once a week and had a practice partner who I practiced with once a week. And I was practicing on people and they didn’t even realize it. I was just making the world my NLP classroom. Nick McGowan (07:44.983)Yeah. Damon Cart (08:11.054)So I was understanding NLP rapidly. And a lot of this, was not getting the help of a teacher or a mentor up until I met my mentor, Steve Andreas. And so I started my YouTube channel being that the whole point of it was I’m going to teach people what they should have learned in their NLP training. And actually to this day, when I’m going, when I’m speaking at conferences, actually when I’m shoulder to shoulder speaking with other people who are presenting at these conferences, they will come to me and say, When I was taking my NLP training, I didn’t understand what I was learning and I had to turn to your videos because your videos were the videos that actually taught me what I was supposed to know. And so I get this compliment to this day, which is a huge compliment because that’s exactly what I was set out to do in the beginning. So yeah, I’ve always, the spotlight has always been the information that I’m teaching, not me. Nick McGowan (08:46.155)Nice. Nick McGowan (08:59.383)And it sounds like with everything you’re saying, you’ve just solidified it more and more and more. Like if they were like, you know, it’s a little dry, you would probably open up a little bit in that sort of way. But the fact that you keep getting like, this is what you set out to do and this is what it’s about. That’s awesome, man. And again, I think people are gonna interpret how they want. Like I wanna hear more emotions. Damon Cart (09:17.378)Yeah, and I do share, I’m happy to share like one of the reasons why I’ve had a lot of people come to me for coaching is they would say like, you know, I heard some of what you were saying and it didn’t really speak to me, but when you talked about your depressions or you talked about your divorce and things like that. that is something that I think it helps feed what I’m trying to do here. When I, when I don’t pretend like I’m this perfect person, I think when people are trying to really build a personality brand, that’s what they’re doing. Nick McGowan (09:30.69)yeah. Damon Cart (09:45.133)And there are people who want to follow that. want to believe that there are these sort of like higher than human people that they can follow. I just, that defeats the whole point. So yeah, I want people to know that I’ve worked through problems. I’ve worked through depression. I’ve had a divorce. I’ve had to deal with, you know, trying to maintain relationships with my kids. Nick McGowan (09:45.216)Yeah. Nick McGowan (09:55.851)Yeah. Damon Cart (10:06.222)you know, in these tough times of going through a divorce and moving out of the home, you know. So I do talk about these things because I want people to understand that I’m not just like coming from a place of like, had this all figured out from the beginning. It’s like, what I’m giving you is things that, problems that I’ve solved, things that I had to figure out for myself. that’s how I know that it works. And so now I’m giving it to you. So you don’t have to stay in that frustration. Nick McGowan (10:18.443)haha Nick McGowan (10:31.273)Wait, so there aren’t perfect people on the planet? Like there’s not somebody wandering around? Like all these people on social media? Damon Cart (10:36.426)you would be amazed you would be amazed at how people really buy into that stuff and i just like yeah Nick McGowan (10:41.716)my God, well they want to, you know? Like they really want that. And I can understand like really wanting that, but it’s like self-awareness. Like once you see it, like you can’t not see things. So if you’re like, I want this, why would I want this? Well, you know, and then you kind of work through your stuff. But big thing you’re saying with this is context. Like setting the stage, giving some context to it. Like if you just talked about all these things and you’re like, went through a divorce, but I’m totally good. And like everything’s totally fine. And like everything’s all right. for the people that are out there that would just be like, cool, see, he’s totally good. Like you’re actually hurting those people at that point. And it’s interesting, cause I think there’s a lot of like, there’s a lot of hurt that’s being given out from coaches because they’re not actually working through this stuff that they’re working through. You told me before we even got started, like you were doing the work and kind of almost tripped into this because it made sense to do it when it made sense instead of like where I think 2020 and the whole COVID thing is an easy thing to look back to because a lot of people were like, well, what the fuck do I do now? I guess I become a coach for what? I don’t fucking know. But I guess I’ll do it because I see these other people doing it and like, why the fuck not? And at that point, they’re just like spewing things. I kind of tripped backwards into coaching because I went through a divorce and I had friends that were like, man, you helped me. Can you help a buddy of mine who’s also going through shit? Can you help somebody else? And it’s like Damon Cart (11:46.635)Yeah. Nick McGowan (12:05.334)Yeah, but I need to do so much more work because the more that you learn, the more you understand. Like there’s more to know about it. And likewise, I’m sure with the NLP stuff, like as you started to go into it, I’m sure you got three weeks, three months, three years into it. You’re like, oh my God, there’s so much that I’ve learned from it that you’re then able to turn around. And it sounds like you’ve got a good, I guess mindset, a sense of like, I’m going to help. I want to deliver the information instead of like pushing it upon people. But why don’t we take a little bit of a step back. How the hell did you get here? I know a little bit of the story, but why don’t you share that? Because again, context is important. Damon Cart (12:40.153)Yeah, so I became, well, I had my first depression right after I graduated college and it was, 9-11 happened. It was the first time I was out of school in my entire life. I guess I started going to school like at three and now I’m like 22 and I’m out of school for the first time and just, you know, facing that the rest of your life. Like, what do I do now? Nick McGowan (13:06.409)Yeah. Damon Cart (13:06.734)Yeah, 9-11 happened, which really shook me up because you feel like you’re living, you don’t even question your safety and suddenly something like that happens. And then I got arrested for something really stupid. And it’s really stupid to the point where it’s like, I mean, if you want to get into it, I don’t mind talking about it, but it’s not, I don’t know, I don’t find it that relevant. anyway, those three things happened in one summer. And I just was like, I don’t even feel like walking out my front door. It just feels dangerous. Like, who knows what can happen? Nick McGowan (13:22.1)I’m down. Nick McGowan (13:26.206)Fair enough. Damon Cart (13:35.047)And I gradually just kind of like pulled in more and more and didn’t process the feelings, the negative feelings that I was experiencing. And I just suddenly I realized I’m in a really bad place. And I’ve actually been in this place for months now. And I don’t know how to get myself out of it. And I remembered that I had a professor who taught a class called the philosophy of psychology. And he went through different therapeutic modalities, including hypnosis and gestalt therapy, which NLP is based on. And then at the end, he Nick McGowan (13:57.267)Mm. Damon Cart (14:04.856)pulled out NLP and he said like, this is the mother of them all, because it takes the best of everything that whatever works. And I was just amazed by what this guy could do. And I was, I remember thinking to myself, I got to learn this NLP thing one day. So that was in college and then I was graduated. Now I’m experiencing depression. I don’t have health insurance. I’m a bartender. And so I can’t, I don’t even have the money to hire a therapist. Nick McGowan (14:16.2)Mm. Damon Cart (14:27.502)So I remembered my professor and I called him up and told him what was going on and he said, well, come into my office. He said, I don’t believe in a free service, but I also don’t need your money. So he said, donate your time every time you come to see me to charity or money or whatever. And he’s like, I’m not going to check back with you. I’m just going to trust that you do it. Come back next week and we’ll get to work. I come back next week and in one hour session, months of depression is gone. And I just, my logical mind said, no, no. Nick McGowan (14:45.971)That’s cool. Damon Cart (14:57.056)No, cannot even be possible. But every other part of me was just like, I’m free, like I’m not depressed anymore. And I remember leaving his office and just like I had to stop and sit at a bench on the campus and was just like looking around. like, I walked in there a different person. I walked in there depressed and I’m walking out and there is no depression. just didn’t, it seemed crazy. And so I didn’t get depressed for another 10 years. And when I finally got depressed again, it had nothing to do with what I had gotten depressed with the first time. Nick McGowan (14:58.13)Hehehehe Nick McGowan (15:19.816)Yeah. Damon Cart (15:26.926)But I can say now, knowing NLP, that it was a way that I would think about things. Depression is a process, not like a thing. So, you know, 10 years later, now I’m living in Santa Cruz, California. I have an insurance agency. I’m married and I have two really young kids, like two kids under two years old. And everything is going wrong. And so I slip into a depression again and then even realize it. My wife at the time, ex-wife now, she’s a therapist and she just said, you need help. And I remember Part of me was like well, no, don’t and then I just stopped and I was like, yeah, actually I do I’m not good. And so I found a therapist and this was traditional therapy So I went to traditional psychotherapy and it took me an entire year to come out of depression So we’re talking one session with somebody who knew NLP versus an entire year with someone who’s doing more traditional therapy And when I started to realize even though I was out of that depression I was thinking maybe I can make some progress and some advances here But no, he only knew how to get, this therapist only knew how to get you out of the hole. And then once you were there, then he kind of like kept you there by asking more and more about problems rather than trying to move you to solutions. And I was like, okay, this isn’t working for me anymore. And so I stopped going to see him, but I knew if I didn’t do something different, I was going to end up right back there again. And that’s when I decided it’s time to learn NLP. And there was a training that might still happen here in Santa Cruz where NLP was created up at the university every summer. Nick McGowan (16:31.538)Mm. Damon Cart (16:56.52)And so I went to that training and it just felt like I came home. I was like, this is what I’ve been looking for. And I wasn’t even thinking that I was going to be a teacher or a coach at that point. I was still thinking I’m going to fix my insurance agency and I’m going to fix my marriage and everything’s going to be great. And I just couldn’t stop doing NLP. I would just try to get into a training every chance that I could. Like I mentioned before, I was practicing all the time. And by the time I came back a year later, Nick McGowan (17:00.627)Hmm. Damon Cart (17:22.79)About 75 % of the people who were there the year before returned for the, it was a master practitioner training. And they just kept coming up to me and they were like, why are you so much better than us? And I was like, I don’t know. said, so I started asking them questions and they were like, you we went, we got the same certification you did. So we, you know, we should be at the same level as you. And I was like, did you practice? Have you practiced at all since the last training a year ago? And they were all no. Nick McGowan (17:28.528)Well. Damon Cart (17:51.343)I was like, it’s not a secret. If you don’t practice, you’re not going to get good at it. And that’s why I’m better than you is I’m not, I don’t have any special talents. just practice. And, uh, so, and that’s when people started saying, uh, and then when I go to other NLP trainings, people would be like, well, how long have you been a coach or how long have you been a teacher? And I was like, I’m not, I’m an insurance agent. And they were like, what are you doing here? Cause mostly coaches and you know, teachers go to these trainings. And, uh, so yeah, by that point, after a year had passed, I was like, yes, I’m going to. Nick McGowan (17:53.212)Yeah. Damon Cart (18:20.216)I’m coaching, I’m gonna do teaching. And even still, was more about I wanted to be better at NLP and that was was driving me to wanna do that. So I started just teaching workshops and when that didn’t go very far, that’s when I decided to get on YouTube. A friend of mine actually said, hey, you’ve been to film school, why don’t you try YouTube? And so like, okay, I’ll give that a shot and I did. And yeah, I realized in that whole process that my marriage was not salvageable. was… just, you know, we hit that inroads and it was nothing that was going to make it better. And I also realized that being an insurance agent was making me absolutely miserable and there was no changing that. So it was like, you know, it’s not, I always thought that it was something about me not being good enough. And that’s why I wasn’t succeeding at the insurance business, but it was like, no, it’s just not a good fit. The crazy thing about it, once I realized that, and I realized that it was just going to use the business to keep me afloat until I transferred into this other business. I actually was able to make it successful at that point. was really strange. It’s like when, you know, this thing you’re trying so hard to do and then you finally say, fuck it, I don’t care anymore. Then it, you know, then it was easy. And then it was like, I want to say it easy, but it was, it was working a lot better. And so I was just basically, I moved my office in with another agent. said, can you babysit this while I transition out of this? And he said, yeah, absolutely. And so I was, you know, it took me a few years to kind of figure out this new business. But once I did, I was, I jumped and haven’t looked back since. Nick McGowan (19:20.817)the Yeah. Nick McGowan (19:46.162)I love all that and especially the I mean the real side of it like I joked like yeah You were overnight success took nine years like the amount of stuff that people see that they think like this is Whatever they make it up to be in their own heads and the fact that you were doing the work I mean there are little principles that are through all of this stuff where it’s like You did it in the sense that you just wanted to learn it and you were you even said to me that it was your calling When we feel that and we go in that direction, things will start to get easier, even if it’s the other stuff of like, I need to get this away. And I don’t know the answer to this question, but is it safe to assume that you’re living a better life and more happy life than you did when you had the agency, when you were married, at least to her and like where things are now, is it better? Damon Cart (20:33.742)100 times over. Especially thinking back during the times that I was depressed and I was just like, I guess this is just kind of how life is going to be for the rest of it. And that was depressing to even think about. And that’s what I like to tell people because when I come across someone who’s either depressed or kind of close to that. I want to be respectful. You don’t want to just say, your life is so much better than you. That will make it worse. what I do want to communicate to them is it will get better. It can get better. If you’re adamant about being a happy and fulfilled person and you’re willing to work for it, you will get there. You’re not stuck. This is not how the rest of your life has to be. Nick McGowan (21:02.095)Yeah. Damon Cart (21:25.708)Because yeah, like at this point, it’s like it has exceeded the fulfillment I experienced now has exceeded what I thought was even possible. And still it’s getting more and more fulfilling. So my take on it now is just like, well, how, how good can this get? How deep can I take this? And it’s not like a, it’s not like a greedy thing. It’s more of like a potential thing. What potential do I have to be even more fulfilled and Nick McGowan (21:43.877)Yeah. Damon Cart (21:52.844)more engaged in life and I’m curious to see how far I can take that. Nick McGowan (21:58.124)What a cool aspect of it. Like, well, fuck, let’s see what happens. And like, cool, let’s see how far we can go. And I think to call something out here too, for the people that are listening, isn’t, Damon’s not saying like, well, I was in a shitty spot. I learned this thing and everything worked better. Like that’s just not how life works. Like the amount of work that you had to put in that wasn’t just like curriculum work, but also work on your own. if you… Damon Cart (22:01.698)Yeah. Nick McGowan (22:26.232)If you actually sat back and thought about the amount of hours that you spent just even pondering on it, thinking about it, looking at other people, how they relate to life and what they do. Like you literally enveloped yourself in it instead of saying, well, I really want that. And the reason why I say that is there are people that I hear from the times that are like, man, I’ve tried therapy. I’ve tried this. I’ve tried that. It’s like, great. So what’s next? I’m like, if that didn’t work or if that was a piece of it, like talk therapy, everybody will go into talk therapy and they’re like, This was great and it led me in some direction or it was bullshit and I just yammered to somebody about my problems and they were, they would ask me, how does that make you feel or whatever? It’s like, that’s a part of all of this, but not just the end thing. I think a lot of people do want, they just want that like, what’s the pill that I can swallow and like push all this stuff away instead of trying to break down one barrier to break down another, to break down another, like they’re. There are visuals in my head at times where I’ll climb a mountain only to get to the top of it and go, what the fuck is that? Jeez, it’s another, all right, cool. And you get to a point where you just, you keep trucking along with it. So let’s talk about some of the really tough times where obviously going through a divorce can be a tough time. And for somebody who’s a divorced, it’s one of those things like congratulations or I’m sorry, or a mixture of both, you know? But that can be one of those things that really shapes you in a beautiful way. Like I used to tell people, Damon Cart (23:44.2)All right. Nick McGowan (23:51.65)I didn’t get a divorce to die. I got a divorce so I could live and actually change things. like, I look at life now and think, my God, how did I have that same sort of question that you did of like, well, is this it? I guess this is it. So I guess this is just what life is gonna be like. And it doesn’t have to be that way, but there were still dark times he went through. So were there any that come to mind that you were like, man, that was one of those like super pivotal moments? Like I went through that within my NLP journey and that changed how things shifted. Damon Cart (24:23.212)Yeah, there were a few. When I got a divorce, I was dating for the first time in 15 years. And in my late 30s, that was scary. Things had changed quite a bit. Now there was online dating, and I tried that. And that didn’t go so well, because on these apps, it’s like 70 % men and 30 % women. So the odds are really stacked against you. So I also had my own business, so I wasn’t going to date my employees nor my insurance clients. so I started saying, realizing that I needed, if I saw an attractive woman, I was going to have to go and just talk to her, you know, and that was really difficult to do. And also wanted that choice because I was kept slipping in the relationships, even some of the rebound relationships that I went through, kept slipping in the relationships where the women would turn out to be very passive aggressive and playing a lot of games and really trying to control and manipulate me. And I remember coming to like a choice point thinking, wait, Nick McGowan (25:16.247)Mm. Damon Cart (25:23.126)Is this all women are all women like this or is this just the women I’m attracting? And so I had to be really like honest with myself and I was like, you know what? I’m going to take this on. This is my responsibility. I know that there are good women out there. And so there’s something I’m doing that’s attracting this type of woman. And I want to figure out what that is. And so I just decided I was going to just date and date and date for an entire year. And at the end of that year, if I found someone that I was going to settle down with them. And I did find someone and it was coming up to that year and then the red flag went up and I saw she was doing the same thing. And I was like, oh man, I spent a year doing this and I almost missed it again, almost got slipped into this relationship with this person who was basically going to, it was going to be a rerun of all my relationships. And so was like, I need another year. And so I went another year and I dated a lot. could catch these red flags very quickly. Nick McGowan (26:01.954)Hmm. Damon Cart (26:16.366)And I started realizing that I was putting a certain kind of vulnerability out too early and certain women, was attracting certain women because they thought that they could control me. But once I made it clear that I understood what they were doing, because the last thing a passive aggressive person wants is to be called out. That’s why it’s passive aggressive, right? So I would start calling out what they were doing. They would disappear very quickly. And then I started to develop myself along that way and started attracting much better women. But I do remember like, I was getting to the end of like, Nick McGowan (26:24.066)Yeah. Nick McGowan (26:30.517)Yeah. Damon Cart (26:46.178)I was getting into the third year and I was like, I’m not really finding anyone. was just, I was really getting a bit cynical about it. And I just thought maybe I’m not gonna find someone to share the rest of my life with. And so I quit dating for six months. Like I quit approaching, quit dating. And I was just like, I really needed to focus on my business. Cause that was something that was lacking as well. And I had another big failure in that. Nick McGowan (26:51.243)Hmm. Damon Cart (27:11.756)that I was able to overcome. I was like, you know, less dating, more attention on my business. And that started to work out well for me. And six months later, I had like zero social life. I hadn’t been on a date in, you know, six months. And I was like, OK, I was just finishing up this online training that I had created. I was like, I really need to get out. I need some sunlight. I need some fresh air and I need to see people. And I’m walking down the street downtown here in Santa Cruz. And I just see this really attractive. really young woman and I was trying to talk myself out of talking to her but I was like you know actually no I’m gonna go do this and I just walked up to her and told her I thought you know she was really cute and that I wanted to know her name and possibly go out on a date with her now I’m married to her and you think about those times where you know you almost didn’t do something but you did and then how that changes the trajectory of your life And then that opened a whole new can of worms because she’s from a different country and we got separated by COVID. And she also got her visa taken away. we basically, we eloped in Istanbul, Turkey. The media picked it up and so it was broadcast live in Turkey, our wedding. And then we still couldn’t be together. And so it went on for two more years where the only way we could be together is if I traveled to Romania or we traveled to a country where we could both enter. It was a… Nick McGowan (28:37.42)Mm. Damon Cart (28:38.508)That was another dark time, but with a light at the end of the tunnel. but yeah, that’s, I threw a lot in there all at once. And I also, another dark time was a time that, I, my, business that I have now, had a major failure. And I just thought that was the end of it. All this work that I had done on YouTube for, you a year of doing videos. did a video every single day for eight months straight. And that was a lot of work. And I, that’s how I started to build. Nick McGowan (28:45.366)pain. Damon Cart (29:07.232)my following and then I put out my first training after doing youtube and it just was a spectacular failure and I thought that’s the end of it all this work that I had done and six weeks of I didn’t publish a single video and for six weeks and then suddenly I started getting all these emails and these messages hey we haven’t seen you put a video out in a while we’re worried about you are you sick are you dead let us know you’re okay and I was like you wouldn’t come to my Nick McGowan (29:30.154)Thank What? Yeah. Damon Cart (29:35.235)fucking training and you just want me to keep putting free videos out there. Is that what this is about? So was a little resentful, but then I started making videos again. And then I realized what that was all about. It was, I was promoting a live in-person workshop for a different trainer. And it was like, they, my following didn’t know who he was and didn’t want to see him and didn’t want to show up to a live workshop. They wanted on, they found me on a screen. They wanted me and they wanted me on a screen. And that’s when I realized. Nick McGowan (29:41.654)Yeah. Damon Cart (30:02.734)that they wanted digital products, digital trainings. And so I didn’t know that at the time, but I just thought nobody really wants to know what I have to say and that’s the end of it and it’s time to go move on to a different business. It was quite a relief when I realized the mistakes that I’d made and that actually people did want what I was offering. yeah, so it was a interesting learning curve and very frustrating at the time, but it all ended up being really good. Nick McGowan (30:31.084)So in what was that five minutes seven minutes, maybe you’ve just chunked all this stuff in and I I laugh at times because I think it’s funny how we can we can look in like history books and they’re like from this period to this period like 600 years these three things happened. What the fuck do you mean? Like there were so many other things that happened. You had all these dark times even the six weeks off. I’m sure you still had the body feeling of like why I got to sit down. I could do the video. Wait a minute. And then people come back, be like, are you all right? Are you dead? And be like, what the fuck do you mean? Where have you been? And you’re like… Damon Cart (31:04.15)No, and was so cliche, like whenever that failure happened, had trouble getting out of bed. I stayed in my pajamas most of the day. All the blinds were closed. They had very little light in my apartment. it’s like, because it was so weird. Like, I look back on it now, but it was like, that’s what you would see in a movie because you have to like show, you know, what’s going on inside the character by lighting it the right way and all that. And it was like, that’s what I was actually living through. And I didn’t even realize it at the time, but I was like, yeah, it was a Nick McGowan (31:24.479)Yeah. Damon Cart (31:33.773)It was a dark time and it was literally dark in my home. And that’s the way that it all felt. And finally, I remember just kind of emerging from that. And it was almost like opening the blinds and letting the sunlight in. it was like, you know what, I’m going to pick up my camera. And, yeah, I was just like, you know what? I’m a teacher. This is what I do. So I’m going to put that camera back up and start teaching again. And then eventually shortly thereafter, it led to one of the biggest successes that I had that still creating a training that I’m. Nick McGowan (31:37.685)Yeah. Nick McGowan (31:45.215)Bird singing. Damon Cart (32:02.956)you know, still selling to this day because I put so much effort into it. And, but if it hadn’t been for that failure, I would have never discovered that. And so, you know, it’s how these things often work. Nick McGowan (32:14.994)It’s how life works. Like you have to fail through things. You have to fuck around and find out. You also have to bash your head into the wall, the wrong wall sometimes to go, well, shit, that’s the wrong direction. Let me go back. And you still can learn things from it. I think, I think we can sometimes understand, from an intellectual perspective, like, yes, I get that you need to fail. You need to do this to do that. But then when people get into it can be really, it can be hurtful in a way that isn’t just to the timing that they’re in, but there are so many other things that they haven’t worked through or processed through that it feels like they’re just stacking it on. Like, and now this, and now that, and my God, and now my shoes, and now this. It’s like, you’re just adding things to it. But it can be really easy to do that when you’re in that dark spot. Now, obviously you’ve been through these different things. You’ve fucked around, found out, but you’ve also learned through all this stuff. And I joke with the like, well, here was this short little thing. Like how they even do it in movies. Like all this chaos and craziness happened and like 15 minutes later, it’s like, no, there was a lot of dark times, but there’s still that momentum and that movement. Even if you’re slowing down and you’re resting, you’re still moving in that direction. So the fact that you just didn’t give up, like, let’s be real, man, you had a lot of different times you could have just totally checked out. You could have been like, no, this is too much. I’m not doing it. And now, like, have you thought about that? Like, what have you checked out? You wouldn’t be where you’re at. You wouldn’t be doing what you’re doing. You know, maybe you’re selling insurance again and like, fuck this, I can’t. Damon Cart (33:47.039)And I, you know, when I had that major failure, that’s what I thought. I was like, okay, do I have to go back into insurance? And I was seriously considering that. And, man, it was so painful to just even think about that. what I see with a lot of people, the real difference between people who are living the life that they want to live and really fulfilled by that and experiencing the kind of freedom they want is… They stuck with what they were doing, even if that like evolved, you know, because you try things, they fail, you keep trying new things. And so it evolves, but you’re still sticking with it. And what I would say is, you know, the really important thing is not to be so fixated on how you’re going to get there because I, if I had actually gotten what I wanted the way that I thought I wanted it, it would have been a lot more restrictive. I would have been having to show up, you know, just to keep my money going out, to actually physically show up in many different places and be teaching constantly, which is, you know, that’s what my teachers were doing. So I thought, well, that’s how it’s done. But they hadn’t really tapped into the Internet and YouTube and all that. So now I get the choice if I want to do that. I don’t have to like do that all the time. So I learned enough about, you know, business and everything to make it work the way that I make it work now. But that only came because the way that I thought I was going to do it failed miserably. So had to try to had to find a new way. Nick McGowan (35:06.633)Hmm. Damon Cart (35:08.192)When I think about like, had this weird experience earlier this year, was, so my wife and I, also my wife’s Romanian and we have a home in Romania. So we always go there in January and then we went to Cambodia and then we went to Vietnam. And I remember just like it really hitting me how much I was driven by freedom. And this is another thing that I think is really important to understand is when you, when you focus on values, then you’re not so focused on how you think it has to happen. You become more flexible and you know what. the values are that you’re after. And for a long time, freedom was such an important thing to me. And I remember earlier this year being in Vietnam and just being like, more freedom is not going to make me happier. More freedom is not going to make me more fulfilled. I have really hit that level of freedom that was far more than I expected to ever achieve. I can travel anywhere and go anywhere because I can run my business off of a laptop. And also have a great team of people who I work with who, you know, I don’t have to do everything. Nick McGowan (35:50.761)you Damon Cart (36:07.598)They’re there for that as well. So I have the money I need and I have all the freedom to travel and do whatever. And that was both a victory in that moment that I realized that, but it was also like, okay, so where do I go from here? And it was like a real question for me to sort of contemplate. And that’s, I that might sound a little arrogant, like you achieve all that you want and then you’re kind of like, okay, well, what do I do now? Like that’s a… a first world problem that most people would want to have that don’t even get to that point to have. it’s be prepared for that. Like if you really believe you’re going to be successful and you’re not going to stop until you become successful, be prepared for those moments that you have where you go, wow, OK, I really have it now. What now? And so I thought about all these different things that I could do from that point on. And I was like, well, wait a minute. It’s not about doing something different. I’m so happy with what I’m doing now. I don’t need to do anything different. I just want to do more of what I’m already doing. Nick McGowan (37:05.094)Yeah. Damon Cart (37:05.26)and I don’t need more freedom to do that. And it was a realization of I don’t need to be pursuing freedom so hard anymore because more of it actually can, at this point in my life, would probably be more nihilistic or more escapism. And it’s like, that’s not worth that either because that’s not gonna fulfill me more. So it was an interesting realization to come to that. And it’s like, yeah, okay, freedom doesn’t have to be the main thing here anymore. Nick McGowan (37:22.481)Mm-hmm Nick McGowan (37:33.874)Well, I think we’re also taught in this world with all the systems we have that you have to have a destination. Like think about even being like in high school and they’re like, we, need a five or you need a 10 year plan. That was always so difficult. I remember somebody even years ago was like, well, what’s your five or 10 year plan from now? It’s like, fuck if I know, because anything I come up with is going to be like half-hearted and like what I kind of want right now. But as you’ve moved through things and you do things, you start to see, well, I really want this. I want that. Like freedom is a big thing. I think a lot of people want freedom. I. Damon Cart (37:43.822)Hmm. Hmm. Nick McGowan (38:03.706)I love the freedom that I have. I’m right there with you where it’s like one of those things where you go, well, cool, I have it. Well, that’s cool. But like what’s really fulfilling inside is the thing that actually just drives us and pulls us from basically our chest. So for the people that are on their path towards self mastery and with everything you’ve gone through and especially with NLP, what’s your advice for those folks? Damon Cart (38:26.318)Keep your attention on what’s most important and what’s most important is your values. A value is a generalization about an experience that is important to you. So if happiness is important to you, success is important to you, authenticity is important to you, always keep your eyes on that. And then any goals you set need to be aligned with those values. Most of the time people have no idea what their values are in a particular context and they will be different from context to context. And they just set a goal because they think, okay, like you said, You have to have a destination, right? So here I’m going to set this goal, but they don’t really understand what’s driving the motivation to have that goal. And a lot of times it’s more external values. Well, other people value achieving this, so it must be valuable. Or if I achieve it, then these people will think very highly of me and respect me. Those are, you know, if you’re accomplishing something that does those things, there’s nothing wrong with that. But if that’s why you’re doing it, you’re probably not going to be fulfilled. by accomplishing that. And so a lot of people are chasing goals that are not even fulfilling to them. And whenever they fail at that, because really there’s that inner wisdom that is holding them back, like the inner wisdom that helped me back from succeeding as an insurance agent, because that would have been the golden handcuffs. It would have been really hard to walk away from a very successful business with a lot of money. And I would have probably tolerated that misery. you want to be careful. know, like when you quit at something because you run out of motivation for it. Nick McGowan (39:45.318)Hmm. Damon Cart (39:52.345)Check in with that is that a deeper wisdom that knows better that that’s not really going to fulfill you. But what most people do is they beat themselves up and they say, I should have had more discipline or I should have had more willpower. I’m just not good enough. And they go into this whole self-worth thing, which is not real by the way. It’s something that holds a lot of people back. And then the people who do succeed at it and they get there and they go, wow, this isn’t fulfilling. This feels rather empty. thought it would be great if when I finally Nick McGowan (40:03.791)Yeah. Nick McGowan (40:08.454)the Damon Cart (40:21.39)Achieve this but again, it wasn’t aligned with their values. So no, it’s not going to be fulfilling and Because they feel lost without a goal They set another goal and get back on that treadmill and they do the whole thing over and over again and people come to me for coaching now who are very very successful on paper you would think they would be extremely happy and fulfilled they have all the money they have the family they have the cars the house and everything and they’re coming to me because they feel like imposters or they’re coming to me because they feel so unfulfilled and they can’t understand it because they’ve accomplished everything they’ve ever wanted to accomplish yet they feel so empty inside. And it’s like, yeah, you’re good at accomplishing. The problem was you never really got in touch with what do you truly value? What is really important to you? And so that’s the most important thing is what’s most important to you. And the better you understand that, the more clarity you have around that, the more you’re naturally going to be drawn to that and motivated to do that. The other thing I would say is There is no such thing as self-worth. How this problem comes up is feeling like you’re not good enough, feeling like you deserve it or don’t deserve it. It goes both ways. And so what most people are feeling is a low sense of self-worth. And they feel like if I go and try to achieve something and I fail at it, I will lower my self-worth and I’m already clinging to what little I have. So most of the time people won’t do something and they’ll sit back and say, well, I’m waiting for the right opportunity. what they’re waiting is to feel of higher self-worth so that they feel like they can go do something and if they lose some self-worth, they’ll still be okay. Well, here’s the thing, there is no such thing as self-worth. There is no way to measure your value, which is what worth is. It’s really a metaphor and there’s a lot of problems that happen when we try to apply metaphors literally. And we see this in the Bible. Fundamentalists are people who are trying to apply metaphors in the Bible literally and it causes a lot of problems. So what people do is they have this idea of self-worth. And so they think, well, how do I measure my worth? Well, first of all, there’s no way to do it. There’s no objective scale or person who can be objective and measure people’s worth. So what do we do? We compare ourselves to others and that will destroy you every time. If you compare yourself to others to make yourself feel better about yourself because you think they’re less than you. Now you’re engaging in the superiority that’s going to bring you down. And if you play that game, you can’t only play it in one direction. Damon Cart (42:45.87)when you encounter someone you think is of higher worth than you, now you’re gonna feel bad about yourself. The whole thing, you can kill the whole thing just by stop comparing yourself to others. Now this idea of self-worth, it usually comes about very early in life and we just pile more and more beliefs on top of that whole idea. So the two things that I would recommend is get clear and clear about your values, basically what’s important to you. What does that actually look like to you? And you’re not going have it all figured out. And you’re definitely not going to figure it out all out on paper. You need to take action. And action is the best way to get that clarity, experience. And then the other thing is to dismantle the whole concept of self-worth entirely. When you do that, when you do those two things together, you’re just on the path to living a very fulfilling life, a life of being who you want to be and therefore creating the life you want to live. Nick McGowan (43:38.213)That’s awesome. And I think a lot of people can anchor into like the understanding of action and motivation too. Like you have to take action to be motivated, continue to do the thing. It’s likewise with what you’re saying where you have to take those actions, but you have to understand why you’re doing those things. And it is interesting how a lot of people don’t know what their principles are or they are somebody else’s principles. Like, well, my wife and I, or my partner and I, or my family and I, have these principles. Like, well, where did those come from? Well, you know, they just kind of came up and like, we don’t really think about that or don’t think about it throughout their day to day life of like, well, how do I move about this? And why do I want to do such a thing? I’m really glad that you touched on those two things, man. It’s been great having you on. So I appreciate your time. Before I let you go, where can people find you and where can they connect with you? Damon Cart (44:27.852)Yeah, the easiest place is my YouTube channel. It’s just Damon Cart, Damon Cart NLP. And we’ve got a lot of videos been doing this for quite a while, almost 10 years. So that’s, you’ll find not only my videos, but in my videos, I give a lot of free resources so that you can get started usually on the topic that I’m giving you or the solution to a problem. You can access like free PDFs and things like that. so also I have my website is selfconcept.com. Like I said, I do general NLP, but I also really focus on this one model because your beliefs about yourself determine your beliefs about everything else, you the world around you. And if you haven’t realized already, it’s your beliefs that govern your reality. So what you believe is possible, what you believe is true. lot of, most of our beliefs are deeply unconscious. So when you can understand what the beliefs are, especially the deeply unconscious ones about who you are, when you understand what those are, you understand their limitations and then you transform them so they don’t have those limitations. Then you become that person you value. Your self-esteem goes up, your confidence goes up and you naturally gravitate toward creating that life that you want to live that’s reflective of the value that you are. Nick McGowan (45:45.38)So wait, you putting worth to that? No, I’m just kidding. I’m only kidding. Awesome, man. Well, again, I appreciate your time. Thank you so much for being with us today. Damon Cart (45:48.052)It’s different, worse than the measurement. Damon Cart (45:55.246)Thank you for having me on.

    The Road to Accountable AI
    Alexandru Voica: Responsible AI Video

    The Road to Accountable AI

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 18, 2025 38:23


    Alexandru Voica, Head of Corporate Affairs and Policy at Synthesia, discusses how the world's largest enterprise AI video platform has approached trust and safety from day one. He explains Synthesia's "three C's" framework—consent, control, and collaboration: never creating digital replicas without explicit permission, moderating every video before rendering, and engaging with policymakers to shape practical regulation. Voica acknowledges these safeguards have cost some business, but argues that for enterprise sales, trust is competitively essential. The company's content moderation has evolved from simple keyword detection to sophisticated LLM-based analysis, recently withstanding a rigorous public red team test organized by NIST and Humane Intelligence. Voica criticizes the EU AI Act's approach of regulating how AI systems are built rather than focusing on harmful outcomes, noting that smaller models can now match frontier capabilities while evading compute-threshold regulations. He points to the UK's outcome-focused approach—like criminalizing non-consensual deepfake pornography—as more effective. On adoption, Voica argues that AI companies should submit to rigorous third-party audits using ISO standards rather than publishing philosophical position papers—the thesis of his essay "Audits, Not Essays." The conversation closes personally: growing up in 1990s Romania with rare access to English tutoring, Voica sees AI-powered personalized education as a transformative opportunity to democratize learning. Alexandru Voica is the Head of Corporate Affairs and Policy at Synthesia, the UK's largest generative AI company and the world's leading AI video platform. He has worked in the technology industry for over 15 years, holding public affairs and engineering roles at Meta, NetEase, Ocado, and Arm. Voica holds an MSc in Computer Science from the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies and serves as an advisor to MBZUAI, the world's first AI university. Transcript Audits, Not Essays: How to Win Trust for Enterprise AI (Transformer) Synthesia's Content Moderation Systems Withstand Rigorous NIST, Humane Intelligence Red Team Test (Synthesia) Computerspeak Newsletter

    Deejay Chiama Italia
    Stanno per costruire in Romania Dracula land

    Deejay Chiama Italia

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 18, 2025 5:49


    Deejay Chiama Italia
    Puntata del 18/12/2025

    Deejay Chiama Italia

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 18, 2025 92:36


    I Backstreet Boys rifanno il video di I want it that way. Dal 2029 gli Oscar saranno in diretta su YouTube. La galleria degli ex Presidenti di Trump. In Romania vogliono creare Dracula Land. Ospite in studio Pietro Sermonti.

    The Jedburgh Podcast
    #183: Defending Eastern Europe - Romanian Special Operations Forces Commander Major General Claudiu Dobocan

    The Jedburgh Podcast

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 17, 2025 31:28


    Romania is one of America's key allies in the fight for Eastern Europe. Romanian Special Forces are critical to the success of that mission; and the partnership between United States Special Operations and our Romanian counterparts sits at the center of that strategy.From the Global Special Operations Symposium in Athens, Greece, Fran Racioppi sat down with Major General Claudiu Dobocan, Commander of the Romanian Special Operations Forces, to discuss how Romanian Special Operations are combatting Russian aggression and holding the line in Europe.General Dobocan shared his perspective on strengthening SOF partnerships, advancing interoperability, and building modern capabilities that allow allied forces to operate seamlessly together. He spoke about Romania's place within NATO, the importance of trust and shared mission across borders, and the need for Special Operations units to remain agile and prepared for the full spectrum of emerging threats.From combating hybrid threats to maintaining readiness alongside allied SOF elements, General Dobocan emphasized that success today depends on relationships, shared understanding, and the willingness to stand together in the face of uncertainty.Highlights0:00 Introduction1:26 Welcome to GSOF Europe 20253:21 Mission of Romanian Special Operations Forces8:45 Evolution of technology in SOF10:45 Eliminating Human-in-the-Loop?13:35 Changes in military tactics16:57 Romanian Special Forces Mission18:44 Why Join the Romanian Army?20:06 NATO Alliance Importance25:24 Leading against a Global ThreatQuotes“We were created by cooperation between Romanian Ministry of Defense and US SOCEUR.” “Interoperability, no one really talks about what that really means.” “Words carrying value carry meaning.”“Industry defines the speed of technological development.”“The strategic game changer is generative AI.”“I'm scared of the moment when everything is passed to AI.”“I don't think swarming is going to be the next way of doing battle.”“Our mission is to be a strategic level instrument that helps with reaction to crisis and building partnerships and capabilities in the region.”“10th Group and 20th Group came around and showed us what right looks like so I signed up.”“It's a tool that kind of prevents conflict.”“NATO is the umbrella under which we share a lot of things that otherwise we cannot discuss about.”“When you talk about the good work NATO has done, you have to talk about the standards.”“We have to be deterrent on our part, but capable to move from military assistance type of missions into a very kinetic one.”Special thanks to the Global Special Operations Foundation for hosting us in Athens. Follow the Jedburgh Podcast and the Green Beret Foundation on social media. Listen on your favorite podcast platform, read on our website, and watch the full video version on YouTube as we show why America must continue to lead from the front, no matter the challenge.

    Veterans Chronicles
    Sami Steigmann, Holocaust Survivor

    Veterans Chronicles

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 17, 2025 35:11 Transcription Available


    Sami Steigmann was born in Romanian controlled territory in December 1939. Before he turned two years old, he was a prisoner at the Mogilev-Podolski concentration camp. He was five when the war ended, but the impact of the Holocaust on his family and his own life carry on to this day. In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Steigmann, shares the horrible conditions of his father's childhood, how Romania started as a Soviet ally but then aligned with Nazi Germany, and what life was like under both.Steigmann then explains the brutal conditions at Mogilev-Podolski and the desperate effort to find food. He shares what his father gave up for bread and tells us about the mysterious stranger who saved his own life. He was also subjected to medical experiments by the Nazis.We'll also learn about the nightmares Steigmann suffered after the war, why Steigmann's family moved to Israel in 1961, and about his service in the Israeli Air Force before he came to the United States.Now a public speaker about the Holocaust, Steigmann shares why it is vital for all generations to understand what happened and how and why is happened.

    The Daily Beans
    Tina Peter's FIFA Pardon

    The Daily Beans

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 15, 2025 42:35


    Monday, December 15th, 2025Today, a mass shooting at Brown University leaves multiple dead and wounded; another 15 people were killed at Bondi Beach in Sidney Australia in a mass shooting; TSA is providing air passenger data to ICE; a gun toting Border Patrol thug is exposed as a racist online troll; the House Oversight committee has released a new batch of photos from the Epstein Estate; Trump allies pressured Romania into lifting travel restrictions on the Tate brothers; the deeply personal reasons Indiana Republicans pushed back against Trump; Colorado rejects the President's pardon of election thief Tina Peters; Marjorie Taylor Greene is trying to oust Mike Johnson as Speaker; Republicans in the House defy Trump and vote with Democrats to restore bargaining rights for federal workers; Abrego Garcia remains a free man after the Trump administration tried to issue a retroactive deportation order; Trump judges have once again blocked Judge Boasberg's contempt proceedings; a judge orders Dan Richman's emails at the core of the Comey case be returned to him; House Democrats will ask for the release of Volume II of Jack Smith's final report; and Allison and Dana deliver and your Good News.Thank You, DeleteMeGet 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to http://joindeleteme.com/DAILYBEANS and use promo code DAILYBEANS at checkout.Thank You, Naked WinesTo get 6 bottles of wine for $39.99, head to http://nakedwines.com/DAILYBEANS and use code DAILYBEANS for both the code and password.Trump Issues SHOCK RESPONSE to MY REQUEST About THE FILES|Allison Gill|Midas Touch|The Breakdownhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EUjaptr9kUSubscribe to the MSW YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@MSWMediaPodsStoriesBrown University shooting live updates: Person of interest to be released from custody|NBC Newshttps://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/live-blog/brown-university-shooting-live-updates-rcna249097Bondi Beach shooting live updates: 15 dead at Hanukkah event, including children|NBC https://www.nbcnews.com/world/australia/live-blog/bondi-beach-australia-live-updates-rcna249083Colorado Officials Reject Trump's ‘Pardon' of a Convicted Election Denier|NYThttps://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/13/us/politics/trump-tina-peters.htmlThe deeply personal reasons why many Indiana Senate Republicans said no to Trump|MSNhttps://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-deeply-personal-reasons-why-many-indiana-senate-republicans-said-no-to-trump/ar-AA1SbWjAHouse votes to nullify Trump order and restore bargaining rights for federal workers|APhttps://apnews.com/article/democrats-trump-federal-worker-union-rights-republicans-1bbd71bb6236aa2ff2c3b816e54327a1Marjorie Taylor Greene's farewell gift to Mike Johnson: a longshot plot to oust him|MSNOWhttps://www.ms.now/news/marjorie-taylor-greene-mike-johnson-motion-to-vacateHouse Democrats release more photos from Jeffrey Epstein's estate|NBChttps://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/new-epstein-photos-show-trump-clinton-bill-gates-woody-allen-steve-ban-rcna248819House Democrats to ask for release of Jack Smith classified documents report|Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/12/house-democrats-aileen-cannon-jack-smithImmigration Agents Are Using Air Passenger Data for Deportation Effort|NYThttps://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/us/politics/immigration-tsa-passenger-data.htmlGun-Toting Border Patrol Goon Unmasked as Racist Online Troll|Daily Beasthttps://www.thedailybeast.com/gun-toting-border-patrol-goon-unmasked-as-racist-online-troll/How a Manosphere Star Accused of Rape and Trafficking Was Freed|NYThttps://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/us/andrew-tate-barron-trump-romania.htmlUS federal judge orders ICE not to rearrest Kilmar Abrego Garcia|JURIST NEWShttps://www.jurist.org/news/2025/12/us-federal-judge-orders-ice-not-to-rearrest-kilmar-abrego-garcia/Good Trouble - https://near.tl/sm/ik-ZushRaThis is a call for Good Trouble and is time sensitive.Project 2025 implementation has progressed to gut the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA Act).The public comment period ends at 11:59pm ET on December 15th.https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/CFPB-2025-0039-0001From The Good Newshttps://humanesocietyofmacomb.orgPup in Tucson form - https://near.tl/sm/aySLYhb9Rhttps://rachelcorriefoundation.orghttps://www.instagram.com/dlnvnsDirect questions to - goldcard@doc.gov→Go To https://DailyBeansPod.com Click on ‘Good News and Good Trouble' to Share YoursOur Donation Linkshttps://www.nationalsecuritylaw.org/donate, https://secure.actblue.com/donate/msw-bwc, http://WhistleblowerAid.org/beansJoin Dana and The Daily Beans and support on Giving Tuesdayhttp://onecau.se/_ekes71Federal workers - email AG at fedoath@pm.me and let me know what you're going to do, or just vent. I'm always here to listen.Dr. Allison Gill - https://www.muellershewrote.com, https://bsky.app/profile/muellershewrote.com, https://instagram.com/muellershewrote, https://www.youtube.com/@MSWMediaPodsDana Goldberg - https://bsky.app/profile/dgcomedy.bsky.social, https://www.instagram.com/dgcomedy, https://www.facebook.com/dgcomedy, https://danagoldberg.comMore from MSW Media - https://mswmedia.com/shows, Cleanup On Aisle 45 pod, https://www.muellershewrote.comReminder - you can see the pod pics if you become a Patron. The good news pics are at the bottom of the show notes of each Patreon episode! That's just one of the perks of subscribing! patreon.com/muellershewrote Listener Survey:http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=BffJOlI7qQcF&ver=shortFollow the Podcast on Apple:https://apple.co/3XNx7ckWant to support the show and get it ad-free and early?https://patreon.com/thedailybeanshttps://dailybeans.supercast.com/https://apple.co/3UKzKt0 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Good Morning BSS World
    Top CX destinations revealed - inside the Offshore CX Confidence Index 2025

    Good Morning BSS World

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 15, 2025 28:54 Transcription Available


    In this episode of Good Morning BSS World, I invite you to listen to the talk I had with two independent CX analysts I truly value – Peter Ryan and Matt Kendall. Our conversation revolves around the freshly released Offshore CX Confidence Index 2025, now celebrating its fifth edition.We discuss how the index has evolved over the years, including important methodological changes in data collection and a significant increase in respondent volume. Peter and Matt explain why maturity and consistency are now key characteristics of the global CX outsourcing market, rather than dramatic year-to-year shifts.Together, we analyse regional trends across Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean, highlighting notable movers such as Jamaica, Guatemala, South Africa, Romania, and Colombia. We also reveal the Top 5 global CX destinations, discussing why, for example Poland continues to strengthen its position, why the Dominican Republic remains a nearshore favorite, and why India still stands unchallenged at number one.This episode is a must-listen for anyone involved in CX strategy, outsourcing decisions, or location analysis. If you want to understand where confidence, stability, and long-term CX potential truly lie in 2025, this conversation provides both data-driven insights and real-world perspective.Key points of the podcast:The CX Confidence Index reveals significant growth in countries like Jamaica, Guatemala, and South Africa, reflecting improvements in their customer service sectors.India maintains its dominance as the top destination for customer experience outsourcing, driven by high confidence in its labor market, infrastructure, and economic stability.Poland and Romania emerge as strong European contenders, with Poland showing notable gains in economic stability and Romania leading in multilingual talent availability.  Links:Peter Ryan on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-ryan-montreal/Matt Kendall on Linkedin – https://www.linkedin.com/in/cognitivematt/Cognitive Copy – https://www.cognitivecopy.com/ and https://www.cognitivecopy.com/offshore-cx-confidence-index-2025Ryan Strategic Advisory – https://ryanadvisory.com/ and https://ryanadvisory.com/offshore-cx-confidence-index-2025/Talk to AI about this episode – https://gmbw.onpodcastai.com/episodes/852Yf3D4q7H/chat  ****************************  My name is Wiktor Doktór and on daily basis I run Pro Progressio Club - https://proprogressio.com/en/activity/pro-progressio-club/1 - it's a community of many private companies and public sector organizations that care about the development of business relations in the B2B model. In the Good Morning BSS World podcast, apart from solo episodes, I share interviews with experts and specialists from global BPO/GBS industry.If you want to learn more about me, please visit my social media channels:YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/wiktordoktorHere is also link to the English podcasts Playlist - https://bit.ly/GoodMorningBSSWorldPodcastYTLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/wiktordoktorYou can also write to me. My email address is - kontakt(@) wiktordoktor.pl  ****************************  This Podcast is supported by Patrons:Marzena Sawicka https://www.linkedin.com/in/marzena-sawicka-a9644a23/Przemysław Sławiński https://www.linkedin.com/in/przemys%C5%82aw-s%C5%82awi%C5%84ski-155a4426/Damian Ruciński https://www.linkedin.com/in/damian-ruci%C5%84ski/Szymon Kryczka https://www.linkedin.com/in/szymonkryczka/Grzegorz Ludwin https://www.linkedin.com/in/gludwin/Adam Furmańczuk https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-agilino/Anna Czyż - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-czyz-%F0%9F%94%B5%F0%9F%94%B4%F0%9F%9F%A2-68597813/Igor Tkach - https://www.linkedin.com/in/igortkach/Damian Wróblewski – https://www.linkedin.com/in/damianwroblewski/Paweł Łopatka - https://www.linkedin.com/in/pawellopatka/Ewelina Szindler – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ewelina-szindler-zarz%C4%85dzanie-mark%C4%85-osobist%C4%85-0497a0212/Wiktor Doktór Jr - https://www.linkedin.com/in/wiktor-dokt%C3%B3r-jr-916297188/  Once you listen, give a like, subscribe and join Patrons of Good Morning BSS World as well. Here are two links to do so:Patronite - https://patronite.pl/wiktordoktor  Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/wiktordoktor Or if you liked this episode and would like to buy me virtual coffee, you can use this link https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wiktordoktor - by doing so you support the growth and distribution of this podcast.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/good-morning-bss-world--4131868/support.

    Presa internaţională
    R.Moldova: Începe săptămâna în care UE decide în ce format va continua negocierile de aderare

    Presa internaţională

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 15, 2025 38:21


    Autoritățile de la Chișinău planifică să separe procesul de reintegrare a regiunii transnistrene și parcursul de integrare europeană al Republicii Moldova. Anunțul a fost făcut în cadrul unei conferințe care a avut loc la Chișinău și la care a participat și invitata de astăzi a Moldova Zoom, Angela Grămadă, președinta Asociației Experți pentru Securitate și Afaceri Globale. Am discutat și despre ce se știe despre noul plan de reglementare despre care se vorbește foarte puțin la Chișinău, dar și despre viitoarea decizie a Consiliului European privind formatul de continuare a negocierilor de aderae a Republicii Moldova la UE. Iată temele ediției: - Dificultățile energetice prin care trece Republica Moldova din cauza atacurilor Rusiei asupra sistemului energetic al Ucrainei au devenit subiect de știri false în Romania. Cui servește aceasta dezinformare? Explică Ecaterina Tanasiiciuc. - Ce se va întâmpla cu aderarea Republicii Moldova la UE dacă Rusia nu va fi de acord cu asta? Îngrijorarea este în creștere în contextul discuției despre planul de pace între Rusia și Ucraina. De ce? Ne explică jurnalistul Euronews România Vitalie Cojocari în ”Cronica lui Vitalie”. - Republica Moldova trebuie să continue reformele și pregătirea internă pentru integrarea europeană, indiferent de ritmul sau deblocarea deciziilor politice la nivelul Uniunii Europene. - O alarmă falsă cu bombă a vizat în acest weekend trenul de pe ruta București – Kiev. - Ministerul de Externe de la Chișinău avertizează cetățenii Republicii Moldova aflați în Federația Rusă că autoritățile ruse ar putea cere să semneze un contract de serviciu militar străinilor care solicită permis de ședere sau cetățenie rusă. - Încep plățile compensatorii pentru consumul de energie oferite populației vulnerabile de Guvernul de la Chișinău. Știrile zilei: Republica Moldova trebuie să continue reformele și pregătirea internă pentru integrarea europeană, indiferent de ritmul sau deblocarea deciziilor politice la nivelul Uniunii Europene, afirmă Marcel Spătari, președintele Comisiei parlamentare pentru integrare europeană. „Trebuie să pregătim țara ca să fie eligibilă pentru aderare, indiferent de cum progresează negocierile”, a declarat Marcel Spătari într-un interviu la RFI. Săptămâna aceasta are loc ședința Consiliului European, ultima în acest an, în cadrul căreia vom afla în ce format vor continua negocierile de aderare cu Republica Moldova, în pofida opoziției pe care o are Ungaria față de avansarea discuțiilor cu Ucraina. Marcel Spătari spune însă că, deși deschiderea negocierilor de aderare este o decizie politică ce urmează să fie luată de statele membre ale UE, responsabilitatea autorităților de la Chișinău este să mențină ritmul reformelor interne, pe linia deciziei ambițioase de a avea finalizate toate reformele necesare aderării către 2028. *** O alarmă falsă cu bombă a vizat  în acest weekend trenul de pe ruta București – Kiev, care a fost oprit pentru verificări la ieșire din Republica Moldova în direcția Ucrainei. Un apel anonim la linia verde a căilor ferate ucrainene a anunțat că trenul din patru vagoane ar fi minat. Verificările au arătat că alarma a fost una falsă. *** Tot în weekend Rusia a bombardat din nou sistemul energetic al Ucrainei, iar  regiunea Odesa a rămas fără electricitate, apă și încălzire, după cel mai masiv atac de la începutul agresiunii ruse. Peste un milion de consumatori din Ucraina au rămas fără energie electrică. În urma acestor atacuri, are de suferit și Republica Moldova, care fără suportul infrastructurii ucrainene resimte o presiune crescândă asupra rețelelor liniilor electric din care importă curent electric din România. *** Ministerul de Externe de la Chișinău avertizează cetățenii Republicii Moldova aflați în Federația Rusă asupra unor schimbări importante în legislația rusă care impun străinii care solicită permis de ședere sau cetățenie rusă să semneze un contract de serviciu militar. Ministerul de Externe subliniază că există riscul ca solicitanții să fie presați să accepte obligații militare și recomandă cetățenilor moldoveni să manifeste maximă prudență și să nu semneze niciun document cu caracter militar fără consultare juridică. În cazul presiunilor sau al situațiilor abuzive, aceștia sunt sfătuiți să solicite imediat asistență consulară. *** Încep plățile compensatorii pentru consumul de energie oferite populației vulnerabile de Guvernul de la Chișinău. Peste 600 de mii de gospodării în care locuiesc peste 1,2 milioane de persoane, vor beneficia de compensații la energie, valaorea cărora este între 25 și 50 de euro. Compensațiile vor fi acordate pe durata întregului sezon de încălzire. Programul „Ajutor la contor” oferă, pentru al patrulea an consecutiv, compensații la energie gospodăriilor vulnerabile.

    MONEY FM 89.3 - Prime Time with Howie Lim, Bernard Lim & Finance Presenter JP Ong
    What's Trending: Taylor Swift gave away millions, Dracula wants your money & someone on SQ is mad about cake

    MONEY FM 89.3 - Prime Time with Howie Lim, Bernard Lim & Finance Presenter JP Ong

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 15, 2025 16:55


    Welcome to the return of What’s Trending! In this episode, Hongbin Jeong, Nadiah Koh and Alexandra Parada spoke all about Taylor Swift’s jaw-dropping $254 million tour bonuses, Dracula Land — a billion-euro vampire-themed park and tech hub in Romania — and a fiery debate over airline birthday cakes. From generosity and mega-bonuses to blockchain bats and in-flight dessert drama on Singapore Airlines, we unpack the stories, the reactions, and the surprises behind the headlines. Which story shocked you the most: Swift’s generosity, Dracula Land’s rise from the grave, or the birthday cake controversy?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    The Clive Barker Podcast
    518 : Hellraiser 2022 Physical Release

    The Clive Barker Podcast

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 14, 2025 22:53


    In Episode 518, Ryan and Jose discuss the recent phsical release of Hellraiser 2022, plus some other Hellraiser-related news and a chance to win an autographed Clive Barker Book. .  This is the Clive Barker Podcast, where long-time fans Ryan and Jose interview guests, bring you the news, and take deep dives into Barker-related stuff. Sponsor : Don Bertram's Celebrate Imagination | Pinterest | ETSY Store Check out his recent paintings, "Self Acceptance",  Fireflies,  The Waiting Room II, Sponsor : Ed Martinez YouTube Channel 1992 Fangoria Weenend of Horrors, Chicago Costume Contest Sponsor : The Now Playing Podcast Catching Up News From The Reef Booksweeps: Enter to Win 10 Books Hellraiser 2022 4K Blu-Ray set : Order Here Prop Dude replicas of the Hellraiser 2022 Lament Configurations on Etsy Simon Bamford on Scream Princess Podcast Coming Next Book Club of Blood: Rawhead Rex Portrait Study 2025 In Review Patreon Members Shout-Out (Become a Patron) David Anderson Erik Van T' Holt Daniel Elven Amanda Stewart Bradley Gartz Matthew Batten Bennett Jesse Clara Leslie Timothy Ramakers Terry Murdock Sponsor: Don Bertram's Celebrate Imagination Sponsor, Ed Martinez YouTube Channel Sponsor : The Now Playing Podcast New from Patreon Extended interview with Peter Atkins Texas Frightmare Memories The Lost World of the EctoSphere And this podcast, having no beginning will have no end.  web www.clivebarkercast.com Apple Podcasts,  Android,  Amazon Music, Spotify, Pandora, Libsyn, Tunein, iHeart Radio, Pocket Casts, Radio.com, and YouTube and Facebook: | BarkerCast Listeners Group | Occupy Midian  BlueSky | Reddit | Discord Community Support the show Buy Our Book: The BarkerCast Interviews Occupy Midian  Hardcover | Kindle | Apple Become a Patreon Patron | Buy a T-Shirt Music is by Ray Norrish All Links and show notes in their Entirety can be found at https://www.clivebarkercast.com AI Summary Summary Hellraiser News Page Updates Ryan and José discussed updates to a news page, including a book sweep promotion and details about a Hellraiser release. They explored a website for a Turbine release and discovered Etsy listings for 3D-printed Hellraiser prop replicas. José planned to add a link to the Etsy shop to the news page. Hellraiser Lament and Podcast Updates The team discussed the Hellraiser 2022 lament configurations and a potential impact on a shop owner. They reviewed updates on Simon Vanford and Nicholas Vince, including an upcoming podcast appearance. José and Ryan expressed frustration about the complexity of coordinating with various platforms and people for episode planning. They also discussed an Ultra HD Blu-ray release, noting its region-free status and the challenges of international shipping. The conversation concluded with a brief mention of starting to record episode 518 of the Clive Barker Podcast. Clive Barker Book and Blu-ray News Ryan and José discussed two main topics: a book sweep contest offering autographed Clive Barker books, and the announcement of Hellraiser 2022 on Blu-ray. They noted that Book Sweeps was running a contest to win 10 autographed books, including one by Clive Barker, and shared their own experiences with collecting signed editions. Regarding Hellraiser, they reported that a German website was offering a steelbook Blu-ray edition priced at 34.99 euros, which included Ultra HD and bonus features, though they expressed uncertainty about international shipping and customs costs. Hellraiser 4K Release Discussion Ryan and José discussed the upcoming 4K Ultra HD release of Hellraiser, which will include multiple covers, a 56-page booklet, and exclusive bonus materials. They admired the artwork and discussed the different versions available, including steelbooks and media books. José mentioned receiving a private commission poster for Hellbound and expressed interest in obtaining a copy of the Hellraiser release. They also briefly touched on the recent merger of Shout Factory and Filmrise, and discussed the lack of a physical release for Hellraiser in the United States. Etsy Puzzle Boxes and Podcast José shared information about a vendor on Etsy selling various geometric puzzle box configurations, including the Leviathan, Lament, and other shapes, with prices ranging from $65. Ryan and José discussed the different shapes and sizes of the boxes. José also mentioned that Simon Bamford would be appearing on the Scream Princess Podcast on Christmas Eve, where he would discuss his role in the upcoming movie and potentially share new stories from his time in Romania. Rawhead Rex Project Updates Ryan and José discussed upcoming projects related to Rawhead Rex, including a short story, graphic novel, and audio commentary, scheduled for release in 2025 and 2026. They expressed gratitude to Patreon members and sponsors and confirmed that Bennett had responded to the questionnaire. José mentioned a call from Michael Plumities about his upcoming book release and potential podcast appearance, which Ryan approved. They also noted the completion of Kickstarter rewards and the need to finalize details for the second printing of the book. Book Adaptation Project Discussion José and Ryan discussed a book project that started as a TV show script, became a novel, then a graphic novel, and is now returning to being a novel. José mentioned that the author is working on a second book and plans to adapt the first book into a graphic novel. They agreed to schedule an interview with the author around January or February, allowing Ryan time to read the book first. José noted that the author is open to discussing the connection between his work and "Nightbreed," though they want to avoid making it seem too derivative. Rawhead Rex Episode Postponed Ryan and José discussed that they would inform Ed that they would not be doing a Rawhead Rex episode this week due to David's absence, opting instead to produce a news episode. They also talked about how the movie adaptation of Rawhead Rex significantly changed the story, including altering the city's name and the characters' backgrounds. José mentioned finding some interesting information about the original art sketches and the reasons behind Eclipse Comics' closure, and planned to share these findings with Ryan. Rawhead Rex Artwork Analysis José and Ryan discussed the artwork for Rawhead Rex, including a fan-made poster for $25 and the challenges of finding certain websites. They analyzed the movie's design choices, noting the unnecessary armor and boots that obscured the character's human shape. José shared a blog post explaining why the Rawhead Rex graphic novel was never made, involving Neil Gaiman and a contract issue. They also briefly touched on José's work on the Barcocast book. Second Printing ISBN and Barcode Discussion José and Ryan discussed a second printing for multiple formats of a book, including Apple Books, Kindle, paperback, and hardcover, each requiring specific ISBNs and barcodes. They agreed on a cost of around $350 for the ISBNs and barcodes. José mentioned needing to save a document and continue working on the second print, while Ryan planned to have dinner and address malware issues on the website. They agreed to continue discussions later in the week about further steps. Book Second Edition Planning Meeting José and Ryan discussed the second edition of a book, including corrections and distribution across various platforms. They reviewed recent sales data from KDP and considered the financial implications of the second printing. They agreed to reschedule a meeting with David to the 17th and planned to review additional information about ISPNs.

    MissTrial
    Trump's Entire Family Gets Implicated in NYT Bombshell

    MissTrial

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 13, 2025 15:51


    A New York Times investigation reveals the Trump family's involvement with the Tate brothers and details how MAGA influencers embraced them while U.S. officials pushed Romania to ease restrictions. Dina Doll reports as scrutiny grows over Trump's ties to another notorious figure, Jeffrey Epstein. Leesa: Go to https://Leesa.com for 20% OFF PLUS get an extra $50 OFF with promo code: MISSTRIAL Visit https://meidasplus.com for more! Remember to subscribe to ALL the MeidasTouch Network Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/meidastouch-podcast Legal AF: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/legal-af MissTrial: https://meidasnews.com/tag/miss-trial The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-politicsgirl-podcast The Influence Continuum: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-influence-continuum-with-dr-steven-hassan Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/mea-culpa-with-michael-cohen The Weekend Show: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-weekend-show Burn the Boats: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/burn-the-boats Majority 54: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/majority-54 Political Beatdown: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/political-beatdown On Democracy with FP Wellman: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/on-democracy-with-fpwellman Uncovered: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/maga-uncovered

    CiTR -- The Saturday Edge
    Desert Blues to Winter Snows

    CiTR -- The Saturday Edge

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 13, 2025 240:01


    New music from Africa to start the show, featuring Putumayo's excellent latest release - Desert Blues. Lots more from across the "dark continent", then music from Iran, Romania, and Cuba before paying respect to Raul Malo, who died this week. Great lead singer with The Mavericks. Some stirring instrumentals from across Canada, some wonderful new topical songs, and then another RIP - this time to Quebec's amazing bass player / composer Simon Lepage (Les Grands Hurleurs) - followed by some great new Quebecois trad. The big Celtic finale featured some powerful tunes and a few poignant songs.

    MinistryWatch Podcast
    Ep. 539: DOJ Sues Life Surge, Lawsuits Against Greg Laurie and Harvest, Missionary Plane Crash Report

    MinistryWatch Podcast

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 12, 2025 28:02


    On today's program, the Department of Justice is suing the founder of Life Surge, Joe Johnson, for his alleged part in a scheme to cheat the government out of over $46 million in taxes through abusive bargain sale transactions. We'll take a look. And, a new report reveals the final moments of missionaries Alex and Serena Wurm before their plane crashed on a trip to deliver aid to Jamaica. We'll have details. Plus, two reports that detail reasons for cautious optimism. One shows that the decline of religion in America has stalled. Another, that Christian giving in America is on the rebound. But first, abuse lawsuits are piling up against Pastor Greg Laurie and his Harvest Christian Fellowship, bringing the total number of lawsuits to 12. The original lawsuit was filed in September by two men claiming that Paul Havsgaard abused them at a children's shelter in Bucharest, Romania. Allegations include children being tied to radiators, being made to kneel down on walnut shells, being touched inappropriately, and being “pimped out” for sex. The number of litigants has now risen to 12. The law firm representing the survivors said in a news release in September that it expects 23 former residents of the children's home to bring complaints. The producer for today's program is Jeff McIntosh. We get database and other technical support from Stephen DuBarry, Rod Pitzer, and Casey Sudduth. Writers who contributed to today's program include Kim Roberts, Tony Mator, Daniel Ritchie, Isaac Wood, Bob Smietana, Jessica Eturralde, and Makella Knowles. Until next time, may God bless you.

    The Texas Hemp Show
    HEMP DISCLOSURE WITH ERIC STEENSTRA

    The Texas Hemp Show

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 12, 2025 59:41


     HEMP disclosure with Eric Steenstra  Eric Believed that hemp had the potential to save the planet and that all people who were unjustly imprisoned for Cannabis needed to be released. He dug up countless facts about how Cannabis was demonized and prohibited starting in the 1930's.  Jack shared his vision for a Cannabis revival by self publishing and distributing hundreds of thousands of copies of his book worldwide.Trump rescheduling cannabis imminently?Jack's research and passion inspired me to cofound hemp fashion and lifestyle brand Ecolution along with Steve DeAngelo in 1992. Steve and I created a line of 100% hemp clothing including jeans, shirts, hats and accessories made in Hungary and Romania. Our jeans were the first to be made from 100% hemp since Levi Strauss made the original jeans from hemp canvas used to cover the Conestoga wagons. The jeans were popular and we added hemp shirts and a line of hemp hats and accessories. We had customers across the U.S. and Europe. We also worked with Adidas to design a hemp Supermodified skater sneaker that was a huge commercial hit. After Steve and I sold the company in 1999, I continued to do business in Hungary brokering hemp twines, cordage and textiles for Elso Magyar Kenderfono.

    Club Sabroso Radio Network
    TECH HOUSE | ANDRE RIZO | CSRS#156

    Club Sabroso Radio Network

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 12, 2025 59:57


    Send us a text→ Club Sabroso Radio Presents exclusive set by: DJ ANDRE RIZO Andre Rizo has Over 1.5M streams on Spotify; named "Best DJ of 2019" in Romania; ranked in the Top 20 Tech House Beatport Worldwide alongside artists like Solardo and Martin Ikin.  This week he takes command of the decks with a sizzling tech house set. Powered by the Club Sabroso Radio NetworkFollow IG/FB: @CLUBSABROSORADIO24/7 Live Stream at: WWW.CLUBSABROSORADIO.COM

    Talking Europe
    'We'll concentrate on European military equipment and improve our defence': Romanian president

    Talking Europe

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 12, 2025 11:57


    Romania is on NATO's eastern flank, and it is feeling the heat from drone incursions attributed to Russia, and from the Trump administration's strategic shift away from Europe. We speak to Romanian President Nicușor Dan about how his country is faring with these headwinds, and also about tough economic reforms that have put pressure on his fragile coalition government.

    Eurovangelists
    Episode 97: EBU Winter General Assembly 2025

    Eurovangelists

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 11, 2025 55:34


    The European Broadcasting Union held their Winter General Assembly with two consequential votes promised, and somehow, only one vote happened. We discuss the countries that are returning this year, the countries who have dropped out as a response to the vote, and what exactly happened with regards to this year's General Assembly.This week's companion playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/22ZrVhSGLJLYUqDzLxCF8SIsrael's delegation lobbying against expulsion: https://www.ynetnews.com/culture/article/rjx22d1mwgKnesset advances vote to privatize KAN: https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-next-threat-to-israel-at-eurovision-is-coming-from-inside-the-house/ The Eurovangelists are Jeremy Bent, Oscar Montoya and Dimitry Pompée.The theme was arranged and recorded by Cody McCorry and Faye Fadem, and the logo was designed by Tom Deja.Production support for this show was provided by the Maximum Fun network.The show is edited by Jeremy Bent with audio mixing help was courtesy of Shane O'Connell.Find Eurovangelists on social media as @eurovangelists on Instagram and @eurovangelists.com on Bluesky, or send us an email at eurovangelists@gmail.com. Head to https://maxfunstore.com/collections/eurovangelists for Eurovangelists merch. Also follow the Eurovangelists account on Spotify and check out our playlists of Eurovision hits, competitors in upcoming national finals, and companion playlists to every single episode, including this one!

    Church History
    The Christmas Miracle: Romania's Fight for Freedom in 1989

    Church History

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 10, 2025


    MedicalMissions.com Podcast
    Security Contingencies for International Missions

    MedicalMissions.com Podcast

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 10, 2025


    This session will examine key considerations for leaders, senders, and international travelers/workers in the areas of duty of care, risk assessment, contingency planning, security, and common pitfalls ("lessons learned") in international mission work.

    united states canada australia europe israel china france japan mexico germany africa russia italy ukraine ireland spain north america new zealand united kingdom brazil south africa afghanistan turkey security argentina iran portugal vietnam sweden thailand colombia netherlands iraq singapore chile switzerland greece cuba nigeria venezuela philippines poland indonesia reunions kenya peru south america taiwan norway costa rica south korea denmark finland belgium pakistan saudi arabia austria jamaica syria haiti qatar ghana iceland uganda guatemala north korea ecuador lebanon malaysia nepal romania panama el salvador congo bahamas ethiopia sri lanka hungary morocco zimbabwe dominican republic honduras bangladesh rwanda bolivia uruguay cambodia nicaragua tanzania sudan malta monaco croatia serbia yemen bulgaria mali czech republic greenland senegal belarus estonia somalia madagascar libya fiji cyprus zambia mongolia kazakhstan barbados paraguay kuwait angola lithuania armenia luxembourg slovenia oman bahrain slovakia belize namibia macedonia sierra leone albania united arab emirates tunisia mozambique laos malawi liberia cameroon azerbaijan latvia niger botswana papua new guinea guyana south pacific burkina faso algeria south sudan tonga togo guinea moldova bhutan maldives uzbekistan mauritius andorra gambia benin burundi grenada eritrea contingencies gabon vanuatu suriname kyrgyzstan san marino palau liechtenstein solomon islands brunei tajikistan seychelles lesotho djibouti turkmenistan mauritania timor leste central african republic cape verde nauru new caledonia marshall islands tuvalu kiribati guinea bissau french polynesia equatorial guinea saint lucia trinidad and tobago french guiana international missions comoros bosnia and herzegovina western samoa democratic republic of the congo
    The Mobility Standard
    Romania Pulls Plug on Golden Visa Proposal After National Security Review

    The Mobility Standard

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 10, 2025 4:47


    CSAT: Golden Visa threatens Romania's Schengen, Visa Waiver, OECD goals by undermining institutional credibility.View the full article here.Subscribe to the IMI Daily newsletter here. 

    Courageous Leadership with Virginia Prodan
    #377 - Christmas wishes- Virginia Prodan

    Courageous Leadership with Virginia Prodan

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 10, 2025 22:39


    Christmas wishes - Welcome back to Courageous Leadership with Virginia Prodan  Podcast. On this podcast - Virginia has a message - Christmas Wishes - a new and a special way to look at Christmas Wishes. We love to train You to be a winner, lead with Courage; and to live a life of Significance and Success - and this message will help you.   Her message will encourage you and motivate you . Virginia has very helpful examples and suggestions for you. So following them you will build a new and significant Christmas and Christmas WISHES - for you and your family. Virginia Prodan  is - A Socialist dissident from former #socialist #Romania in #America - an International Human Rights Attorney, Author at Tyndale House Publishers, International Key Note Speaker, Allied Attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom; and Host of Courageous Leadership with Virginia Prodan   #Podcast. Watch the message on Youtube here: https://youtu.be/Qaqm5hJcMZQ To apply for our training and coaching sessions - go to: https://www.virginiaprodanbooks.com/freedom-coaching Follow Courageous Leadership with Virginia Prodan   #Podcast on: On Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7kHPeoAgbkAHCg2C6RApEZ - to hear encouraging & inspiring messages. We love to hear your comments, questions or share what you have learned from this podcast.     Order your autographed copy(s) of #SavingMyAssassin by Virginia Prodan    - directly here: https://virginiaprodanbooks.com/product/book/      Invite Virginia Prodan   to #speak at your events -: https://virginiaprodanbooks.com/invite-virginia/      Follow Virginia Prodan   on: Twitter : https://twitter.com/VirginiaProdan Face Book: https://www.facebook.com/virginia.prodan.1 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/virginia-prodan-0244581b/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/virginiaprodan/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/VirginiaProd Courageous Leadership with  Virginia Prodan    #Podcast on:  Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/7kHPeoAgbkAHCg2C6RApEZ Donate to Virginia Prodan   #Ministries - here: https://www.virginiaprodan.com/donate/

    The John Batchelor Show
    S8 Ep176: Hunter Biden, Chinese Spies, and the Monetization of Political Connections: Colleague Kenneth P. Vogel reports that following his father's departure from the vice presidency, Hunter Biden faced financial pressure and sought lucrative foreign cl

    The John Batchelor Show

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 9, 2025 14:40


    Hunter Biden, Chinese Spies, and the Monetization of Political Connections: Colleague Kenneth P. Vogel reports that following his father's departure from the vice presidency, Hunter Biden faced financial pressure and sought lucrative foreign clients, leading to risky entanglements; one venture involved a corrupt Romanian real estate magnate who hired Hunter along with former FBI Director Louis Freeh and Rudy Giuliani to resolve his legal troubles, with the proposed solution involving selling land including the site of the U.S. Embassy in Romania to a Chinese state-linked fund, and Hunter Biden was aware of the nature of his associates, referring to one as the "spy chief of China." OCTOBER 1, 1949

    The John Batchelor Show
    S8 Ep177: SHOW 12-8-2025 CBS EYE ON THE WORLD WITH JOHN BATCHELOR THE SHOW BEGINS IN THE DOUBTS ABOUT the federal reserve board of governors. FIRST HOUR 9-915 The DC Shooter, the Zero Units, and the Tragedy of the Afghan Withdrawal: Colleagues Husai

    The John Batchelor Show

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 9, 2025 6:51


    SHOW 12-8-2025 CBS EYE ON THE WORLD WITH JOHN BATCHELOR 1895 KHYBER PASS THE SHOW BEGINS IN THE DOUBTS ABOUT THE FEDERAL RESERVE  BOARD OF GOVERNORS. FIRST HOUR 9-915 The DC Shooter, the Zero Units, and the Tragedy of the Afghan Withdrawal: Colleagues Husain Haqqani and Bill Roggio discuss recent violence in Washington, D.C. involving an Afghan immigrant that has drawn attention back to the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021; the shooter, Ramanula Lakanal, was a member of the elite "Zero Units" of the Afghan National Army, a force that demanded priority evacuation for their families in exchange for providing security at the Kabul airport during the U.S. retreat, and while these units were stalwart allies against enemies like al-Qaeda and ISIS, they fought a "dirty war" and were accused of human rights violations, highlighting the broader failure of the withdrawal which occurred because political will faded across multiple administrations. 915-930 The Vetting Failure and the Lack of an Exit Strategy in Afghanistan: Colleagues Husain Haqqani and Bill Roggioexplain that the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan was exacerbated by the lack of a methodical exit strategy, unlike the British who organized their departure and evacuation lists well in advance; critics argue that the U.S. imported significant security risks by rushing the evacuation, bringing in over 100,000 Afghans without adequate vetting, and while there was a moral obligation to help those who served, experts suggest that wholesale importation of citizens from a war-torn country was not the only solution and that better vetting or resettlement in third countries should have been considered. 930-945 Martial Law in South Korea and the Shadow of the North: Colleagues Morse Tan and Gordon Chang discuss South Korea facing severe political turmoil following President Yoon's declaration of martial law, a move his supporters argue was a constitutional response to obstructionist anti-state forces; the opposition, led by figures previously sympathetic to North Korea, has been accused of attempting to paralyze the government, while accusations of "insurrection" against President Yoon are dismissed as nonsensical, with the political infighting fracturing the conservative party and leaving South Korea vulnerable to the North Korean regime in a way not seen since the Korean War. 945-1000 Japan Stands Up for Taiwan While Canada Demurs: Colleagues Charles Burton and Gordon Chang report that Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi recently declared that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be a "survival threatening situation" for Japan, authorizing the mobilization of self-defense forces; this statement has triggered a massive propaganda campaign from Beijing demanding a retraction, as a successful invasion of Taiwan would likely require violating Japanese sovereignty, while in contrast Canada remains reluctant to support Tokyo or criticize Beijing, hoping to secure trade benefits and diversify exports away from the U.S., leaving Japan isolated by its allies. SECOND HOUR 10-1015 The Survival of UNRWA and the Flow of Terror Finance: Colleagues Malcolm Hoenlein and Thaddeus McCotterreport that despite investigations revealing corruption and ties to terrorism, the UN has renewed the mandate for UNRWA for another three years; the organization's facilities have been used by Hamas and its schools have been implicated in radicalizing children, yet international efforts to replace it have stalled, while Hamas leadership refuses to disarm or accept international oversight, demanding a Palestinian state as a precondition for any change, with financial support for terror groups continuing to flow through networks in Europe and the Middle East. 1015-1030 Greece's "Achilles Shield" and Israel's Iron Beam Laser Defense: Colleagues Malcolm Hoenlein and Thaddeus McCotter report that Greece is undertaking a historic modernization of its armed forces, unveiling a new national defense strategy focused on long-range missiles and a modernized air defense system dubbed "Achilles Shield," allowing Greece to project power more flexibly in the Eastern Mediterranean and counter threats from Turkey; in Israel, a major defensive breakthrough is imminent with the deployment of the "Iron Beam," a laser defense system capable of intercepting threats at approximately $50 per shot, expected to rewrite the rules of air defense by effectively countering drone swarms and missiles. 1030-1045 Hezbollah's Quiet Regeneration Under Naim Qassem: Colleagues David Daoud and Bill Roggio report that since the ceasefire began, Hezbollah has received at least $2 billion from Iran and is actively rearming and regenerating its forces in Lebanon; the terror group is focusing on acquiring drone swarms and other asymmetrical weapons that are cheap to produce and difficult for Israel to counter, while Hezbollah's new leader Naim Qassem is leveraging his "bookish" and underestimated persona to lower the temperature and allow the group to rebuild without attracting the same level of scrutiny as his predecessor. 1045-1100 Fragmentation in Yemen: The Southern Transitional Council Advances: Colleagues Bridget Tumi and Bill Roggio report that the civil war in Yemen is fracturing further as the Southern Transitional Council, which advocates for southern secession, advances into eastern governorates to secure territory and combat smuggling; this move has heightened tensions within the anti-Houthi coalition, as the STC is backed by the UAE while other government factions are supported by Saudi Arabia, weakening the collective effort against the Houthis who control the capital Sanaa and maintain ambitions to conquer the entire country. THIRD HOUR 1100-1115 The Druze National Guard and Internal Strife in Southern Syria: Colleagues Ahmad Sharawi and Bill Roggio report that instability is growing in Syria's Druze-majority Suwayda province, where a newly formed "National Guard" militia has begun arresting and killing political opponents; the militia is spiritually guided by Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, who has consolidated power by sidelining other Druze leaders who were open to reconciliation with the Assad regime, with Turkey expressing support for the anti-Assad Druze factions against both the Syrian government and Kurdish forces, while recent violence suggests a hardening of anti-regime sentiment. 1115-1130 The "Variable Geometry" of the Muslim Brotherhood and Its Global Affiliates: Colleagues Edmund Fitton-Brown and Bill Roggio explain that the Muslim Brotherhood operates as a "mothership" for various Islamist movements, utilizing a strategy of "variable geometry" to adapt to local political environments while aiming for a global caliphate; Hamas functions as the Palestinian branch of the Brotherhood and despite being severely damaged by the war with Israel remains the dominant force in Gaza, with the Brotherhood finding state sponsorship primarily in Qatar, which provides funding and media support via Al Jazeera, and Turkey, where President Erdogan acts as a leader for the organization. 1130-1145 Ukraine Negotiations Hit a Cul-de-Sac Amidst Infiltration Tactics: Colleagues John Hardie and Bill Roggio report that peace talks regarding Ukraine are currently at a standstill, with the U.S. and Ukraine at odds over Russia's demands for territory in the Donbas versus Ukraine's need for meaningful security guarantees; while the U.S. has pressured Ukraine to concede territory, the security assurances offered are viewed skeptically by Kyiv, and Russia refuses to accept any Western military presence in Ukraine, while on the battlefield Russia employs infiltration tactics using small groups, sometimes single soldiers, to penetrate deep into Ukrainian positions. 1145-1200 The Trump Corollary: Reviving the Monroe Doctrine in Latin America: Colleague Ernesto Araújo discusses a new "Trump corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine reshaping U.S. policy in the Americas, signaling a more assertive stance against foreign influence and authoritarian regimes; this shift is evident in Venezuela, where President Maduro appears to be negotiating his exit in the face of U.S. pressure, while in Brazil the administration of Lula da Silva faces significant instability due to a massive banking scandal linking the government to money laundering and organized crime, with the new application of the Monroe Doctrine suggesting the U.S. will favor political figures aligned with its security strategy. FOURTH HOUR 12-1215 Devil's Advocates: Robert Stryk, Rudy Giuliani, and the Business of Influence: Colleague Kenneth P. Vogel discusses how in the power vacuum created by Donald Trump's arrival in Washington, unconventional lobbyists like Robert Stryk rose to prominence by marketing access to the new administration; Stryk, described as an "anti-hero" with a checkered business past, hosted a lavish event at the Hay-Adams Hotel to legitimize the regime of Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo, successfully delivering Rudy Giuliani as Trump's personal attorney, signaling a new informal channel for foreign diplomacy and highlighting how foreign regimes utilized large sums of money and unconventional intermediaries to seek favor. 1215-1230 The Accidental Diplomat: Robert Stryk and the New Zealand Connection: Colleague Kenneth P. Vogel explains that Robert Stryk's rise in the lobbying world was fueled by serendipity and bold bluffs, exemplified by a chance encounter with a New Zealand diplomat at a cafe; the diplomat revealed that New Zealand, having prepared for a Clinton victory, had no contacts within the incoming Trump team and could not arrange a congratulatory call between their Prime Minister and the President-elect, and Stryk, leveraging a connection to a former Trump campaign field director, provided a phone number that successfully connected the embassy to Trump's team, establishing his credibility and launching his career in high-stakes foreign lobbying. 1230-1245 Hunter Biden, Chinese Spies, and the Monetization of Political Connections: Colleague Kenneth P. Vogel reports that following his father's departure from the vice presidency, Hunter Biden faced financial pressure and sought lucrative foreign clients, leading to risky entanglements; one venture involved a corrupt Romanian real estate magnate who hired Hunter along with former FBI Director Louis Freeh and Rudy Giuliani to resolve his legal troubles, with the proposed solution involving selling land including the site of the U.S. Embassy in Romania to a Chinese state-linked fund, and Hunter Biden was aware of the nature of his associates, referring to one as the "spy chief of China." 1245-100 AM FARA: From Fighting Nazi Propaganda to Modern Transparency: Colleague Kenneth P. Vogel explains that the Foreign Agents Registration Act was originally enacted in 1938 to counter Nazi propaganda in the United States before World War II; at the time, the Third Reich was paying well-connected American consultants to whitewash Hitler's image and keep the U.S. out of the war, operating without public knowledge, and Congress passed FARA to create transparency, requiring those paid by foreign principals to influence the U.S. government or media to register their activities, with the law remaining today the primary vehicle for accountability in foreign lobbying

    GymCastic: The Gymnastics Podcast
    Yellow Cards, New NCAA Rules and Mélanie DJDS Tells Jessica She's Not in Crisis

    GymCastic: The Gymnastics Podcast

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 9, 2025 97:26


    LIVE SHOW: Featuring Cecile Landi and Levi Jung-Ruivivar is this Sunday, December 14th at 3 Pacific/6 Eastern. Get your tickets now to ask questions live! The NCAA unveils major rule changes for 2026, and coaches are going to get so many more yellow cards. We break down the new NQS math, the Georgia Collective's NIL lawsuit, Romania's latest retaliation crisis,  Mélanie De Jesus Dos Santos clarifying exclusively to Jessica that she is not in financial distress, plus more info on the American Cup's new mixed-team format. HEADLINES Simone demonstrating why all of us should do gymnastics Five Romanian gymnasts have submitted formal complaints against the Romanian Federation and the Federation is retaliating against their own coaches and athletes What are the conditions the coaches and athletes are facing? How can the FIG continue to allow such a federation to be certified? Thanks to Uncle Tim and his PhD-level gymnastics history research, we know many past Romanian World and Olympic medalists, some with current leadership positions in the Romanian federation, competed with underage or with false birthdays A Melanie de Jesus Dos Santos update. What happened post-Paris Olympics? 2025 World All-Around Champion, Angelina Melnikova, is out of Bundesliga after her club  severed ties with her The American Cup is back! This time as a mixed-team competition When and where will the event be held? How is the format different compared to the European Championships mixed-pairs event? Who are our dream international teams? GYMTERNET NEWS NEW ELEMENT ALERT! The piked full-twisting Jaeger is now the Minamino The Georgia Collective is suing athletes who transferred which could have big implications for the future Athletes.org released a collective bargaining agreement you can see here Max Whitlock has announced his return to gymnastics with the hopes of making it to the Los Angeles Olympics Oksana Chusovitina is training for 2026 World Cups Jayla Hang announced on Instagram she had surgery on her wrist Giovanni Maria Fares, a lawyer formerly at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, is the new head of the Gymnastics Ethics Foundation Lawsuits and Dumpster Fire News Chows is being sued after an investigative piece by Eddie Pells of the AP Former Rutgers coach Umme Salim-Beasley is suing the school for wrongful termination The Trump administration is refusing to administer visas to athletes from Caribbean countries, preventing them from participating in LA28 qualifying events NCAA photo shoot drama Two top schools are using horses as their photo theme... (1) (2) Kaylia Nemour has released a book, ''The Shadow of Gold'' The University of Minnesota Men's Gymnastics Club has a new facility European Gymnastics will allow Russians to participate in competitions as neutral athletes, opening up Olympic qualification paths for artistic and rhythmic gymnasts  Ashikawa Urara has retired after years of battling worsening scoliosis Claire Pease commits to Utah! Dulcy Caylor is deferring her NCAA start at Florida to focus on LA28 GYM NERD SCHOOL - College Gymnastics Rule Changes in 2026 What are updates to the National Qualifying Score? What are the differences between the new and old versions? Do we think the changes are positive? Controversy radar activated: some teams will have to drop 2 high scores and some teams will have to drop 1 The Yellow Card Game - becasue these caoches are going to get yellow cards constantly INTERVIEW Gymnastics Medicine interview: pain myths & better injury care with Dr. Elspeth (Elly) Hart DScPAS and Dr. Ezara Greene DPT SUPPORT THE SHOW: Join Club Gym Nerd: https://gymcastic.com/club/ Merch: https://gymcastic.com/shop/ Headstand Game: https://gymcastic.com/headstand-plugin/ Forum: https://gymcastic.com/community/ UP NEXT: Behind The Scenes: Live Q&A podcast Friday this week only at noon Pacific/8 GMT NEWSLETTERS Sign up for all three GymCastic newsletters  RESOURCES Spencer's essential website The Balance Beam Situation  GIFs of the Week and Meet schedule with links. Gymnastics History and Code of Points Archive from Uncle Tim The Balance: My Years Coaching Simone Biles by Aimee Boorman with Fact Checker. Aimee coached Simone from day one in gymnastics to three back to back World All Around titles, 14 world medals and an unprecedented 5 medals at the Rio Olympics. Get your copy now. And if you loved it, please leave a review

    For the Glory KC
    KC World Cup News, SKC Rumors and KC Current Disappointments

    For the Glory KC

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 9, 2025 82:28


    For the Glory KC is back with the 156th episode of the show!The headline for Kansas City soccer this week is the World Cup! The FIFA World Cup draw went down last Friday with games announced on Saturday. Kansas City get six games in the 2026 World Cup, and the first four matchups are now known:1st: Argentina vs. Algeria on June 16th at 8PM 2nd: Ecuador vs Curacao, June 20th at 7PM3rd: Tunisia vs. Netherlands, June 25th at 6PM4th: Algeria vs. Austria, June 27th at 9PMKC also host a July 3rd round of 32 game and a July 11th quarterfinal, that could feature Messi vs. Ronaldo. If Argentina and Portugal win their groups and their first two knockout games then the biggest game in the world (before the final) will be in Kansas City. That's all assuming Messi even plays. And that they are both healthy. It's a long-shot, but it could happen!The United States Men's National team also found out their group, and it's quite winnable. They start off against Paraguay and also play Australia and the winner of the UEFA playoff between Turkiye, Slovakia, Romania and Kosovo. The USMNT could even play in Kansas City if everything falls the right way, but part of that is them ending up third in their group, which would be a disappointment. Sporting Kansas City are still top of mind with a few big moments this week. First, Kerry Zavagnin officially parted ways with the club after 26 years. Sheena and I give our thoughts and then we share the rumor of two potential replacement coaching candidates. Raphael Wicky, who is a rumored finalist, is who we know the most about after this time with the Chicago Fire.In other Sporting KC news, they have a rumored goalkeeper trade. It'll be the team's fourth keeper if Stefan Cleveland officially arrives from Austin FC. He's never been a long-term starter, but at 31-years-old he can push John Pulskamp and share what he's learned behind some of the best keepers in the league while playing for the Seattle Sounders and Austin FC.In KC Current news, the team signed new two-year contracts with Mary Long and Katie Scott, officially said goodbye to goalkeeper Laurel Ivory and saw their former star defender, Hailie Mace, sign with the Orlando Pride.They also had a less than stellar showing in the World Sevens Football competition over the weekend.In the Digital Crawl, we hit on a few more topics, including:Trinity Rodman possible leaving the NWSLMLS Cup between Inter Miami and the Vancouver WhitecapsKS Astras win their MASLW openerFormer Swope Park Rangers coach, Marc dos Santos, gets a big upgradeHere is a rundown of topics and start times:World Cup and Kansas City - Sporting KC Coaching Update - SKC Round-Up including a rumored trade - KC Current World Sevens and more - She Scores - Digital Crawl - Upcoming GameKS Astras vs. Iowa Raptors, Sat. Dec. 13th @ 4:00PMAs a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.

    neue musik leben
    277 - Interview with Gabriel Mălăncioiu

    neue musik leben

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 9, 2025 43:19


    Gabriel Mălăncioiu speaks about the new music scene in Romania, his way into new music, teaching and curating. He talks about composing, pressure and non-pressure and that he also erases music to continue.

    Speaking Out of Place
    Erin McElroy: Hacking in “Postsocialist” Times—Unbecoming Silicon ValleyEpisode

    Speaking Out of Place

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 8, 2025 46:20


    Today I am delighted to welcome activist and scholar Erin McElroy to the podcast. She is the author of a remarkable book, Silicon Valley Imperialism: Techno Fantasies in Postsocialist Times. At the center of this rich and provocative study is the Romanian city of Cluj, which has been dubbed the “Silicon Valley of Eastern Europe.”  McElroy untangles this notion by going back to the socialist period, whose technological advances made Romania a particularly attractive site for foreign tech investment after the fall of Communism. Erin explains how the arrival of what were called “digital nomads” into Cluj was first made possible by the brutal eviction of its Roma population.  As enticing as it is to map these evictions to similar displacements of racial minorities and the poor in the San Francisco Bay Area, Erin explores the fissures and disconnects between the two cases, as well as their eerie convergences. We end by, as McElroy writes, “reflecting on what bringing abolitionist and ant- imperial geographies together in post-socialist contexts can do. Just as global capital connections mapped the Siliconizing moment, other connections scaffold the very possibilities of unbecoming Silicon Valley.”Erin McElroy is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Washington, where their work focuses upon intersections of gentrification, technology, empire, fascism, and racial capitalism, alongside housing justice organizing and transnational solidarities. McElroy is author of Silicon Valley Imperialism: Techno Fantasies and Frictions in Postsocialist Times (Duke University Press, 2024) and coeditor of Counterpoints: A San Francisco Bay Area Atlas of Displacement and Resistance (PM Press, 2021). Additionally, McElroy is cofounder of the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project—a data visualization, counter-cartography, and digital media collective that produces tools, maps, reports, murals, zines, oral histories, and more to further the work of housing justice. At UW, McElroy runs Landlord Tech Watch and the Anti-Eviction Lab which produce collaborative research and collective knowledge focused on intersections of property, surveillance, technocapitalism, and technolibertarianism. 

    Guarani Vision
    GUARANI VISION'S REACTION TO PARAGUAY'S 2026 FIFA WORLD CUP GROUP!

    Guarani Vision

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 8, 2025 41:57


    Welcome to this special live stream of Guarani Vision, the first-ever podcast dedicated to Paraguayan football in English!  With Roberto Rojas, he is joined by his trustworthy co-hosts Fede Perez and Ralph Hannah.In this live stream, we immediately give our reaction to Paraguay's 2026 World Cup group, where they will take on co-hosts the United States, Australia, and a team from Europe that could be either Turkey, Romania, Slovakia or Kosovo.Be sure to like, comment, and subscribe!  Twitter Accounts: Roberto Rojas- https://twitter.com/RobertoRojas97Federico Perez- https://twitter.com/FedeGolPerezMaria Britos- https://twitter.com/CeciiBritosRalph Hannah- https://twitter.com/paraguayralphAlso donate at: https://buymeacoffee.com/guaranivision

    Finanțe FM cu Daniel Tănase
    30 de moduri prin care poți să devii din ce în ce mai bun

    Finanțe FM cu Daniel Tănase

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 8, 2025 26:54


    Progresul nu apare dintr-un singur gest mare, ci din lucruri mici, repetate zilnic. Din decizii conștiente. Din obiceiuri care te ajută să crești — nu să stai pe loc. În episodul acesta vorbim despre 30 de direcții concrete prin care îți poți îmbunătăți viața, felul în care gândești, relația cu banii, cu timpul tău și cu tine însuți.Nu sunt teorii. Nu sunt clișee. Sunt lucruri practice.De la obiceiuri de bază cum ar fi să-ți începi ziua mai devreme, să citești, să planifici și să îți respecți obiectivele, până la acțiuni care țin de disciplină financiară, dezvoltare personală, investiții, gândire strategică și gestionarea vieții într-un mod intențional.Unele dintre idei sunt simple. Altele vor cere curaj, luciditate și, poate, renunțări.Dar toate au același scop:să te ducă mai departe decât unde ești azi.Dacă ai simțit că vrei mai mult: mai mult sens, mai multă direcție, mai mult control, mai multă claritate, atunci episodul ăsta e pentru tine.Ascultă-l cu sinceritate.Și apoi alege cel puțin un lucru pe care îl pui în practică astăzi.Progresul începe cu o decizie.Restul vine din repetiție.---Ți-a plăcut? Te rog, dă mai departe!► SUBSCRIBE!Urmărește-mă Online Aici:WebsiteLinkedINFacebookInstagramTikTok

    Irish Tech News Audio Articles
    Minister Niamh Smyth launches National Problem-Solving Competition in Cavan

    Irish Tech News Audio Articles

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 8, 2025 2:18


    Students from four Cavan secondary schools gathered in Briefne College for the launch of the 2025/26 All Ireland Linguistics Olympiad (AILO) workshop series by Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transformation, and TD for Cavan-Monaghan, Niamh Smyth. Students and teachers from St Patrick's College, Loreto Cavan and Royal School Cavan joined their counterparts in Breifne College for an interactive AILO workshop run by Dr Cara Greene from the Research Ireland ADAPT Centre at Dublin City University. Breifne College teacher, Alma Hitillambeau, has hosted local schools for the last number of years helping increase participation across the county. Speaking at the launch, Minister Smyth said: "Across government, we are working to ensure that current and future generations are in a position to explore and understand the world around us, to be engaged and informed, to embrace opportunities and make their own decisions. We must inspire todays young people to become lifelong learners, and provide them with the skills and opportunity to identify and solve the challenges that lie ahead." Dr Cara Greene, Head of AILO at ADAPT, said: "It is wonderful to celebrate that more than 50,000 students across the island of Ireland have taken part in AILO since 2009. Workshops like today's introduce students to the logic, structure and pattern-matching at the heart of language and these are the same principles that underpin modern AI systems. We are grateful to schools like Breifne College for championing these workshops, and for their ongoing leadership and enthusiasm." The workshop series runs until mid-January. The Preliminary Round will take place in schools across Ireland during the week of 26th January 2026, with 100 top-scoring students advancing to the National Final in Dublin City University in March. Finalists will compete for a place to represent Ireland at the International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL) in Romania in July 2026. Schools can register for AILO at https://ailo.adaptcentre.ie/enter/ See more stories here.

    Irish Tech News Audio Articles
    ATU and Vodafone Ireland secure €4.6 million EU fund to develop digital technologies for online apprenticeship courses?

    Irish Tech News Audio Articles

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 8, 2025 6:59


    Atlantic Technological University (ATU) and Vodafone Ireland have successfully secured €4.6 million in funding from the EU's Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Digital Fund to develop digital technologies for new online and on campus apprenticeship courses for engineering and construction students. In addition to the CEF funding, both ATU and Vodafone Ireland are investing in the initiative, bringing the total investment in Irish education to €6.25 million. The fund will be used to develop cutting-edge Extended Reality (XR) labs powered by a private 5G standalone network and on-campus edge computing delivered by Vodafone Ireland. Italian technology company FifthIngenium, part of the consortium, will leverage its expertise in designing cutting-edge educational applications to support the development of the XR experience. The project was launched by Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science James Lawless earlier today (Monday). The programme application process was supported by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport. The initiative will be piloted at ATU Donegal, where students will gain access to immersive virtual and augmented reality environments that replicate physical labs and workshops. This funding will allow students to learn in new and flexible ways, combining classroom teaching with remote and virtual training - making education more accessible, especially for people living in rural areas or those balancing work, study and apprenticeship programmes. Specifically, the new training tools will include: Virtual construction labs where students can practice building using digital models. Immersive learning platforms that simulate real building and construction environments. 3D video streaming to help students learn technical skills through realistic simulations. The initiative is part of a wider €12.3 million European programme called 5G-SHARE, which encourages universities to work together and share knowledge across borders. ATU and Vodafone will collaborate with universities in Romania and the Czech Republic to test new ways of teaching using 5G. The fund was secured with the support of Vodafone's Connected Education programme - a major global Vodafone initiative designed to transform learning experiences through advanced technology and connectivity, creating a more inclusive digital society. Why this matters for Ireland The Government's renewed action plan published in November included a commitment to promote careers in construction including expanding apprenticeships and a 5-year action plan to boost recruitment, improve training opportunities, and build capacity across the construction sector. Welcoming the announcement, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science James Lawless said: "The Government's investment to more than double apprenticeship funding since 2020 reflects our ambition to build a stronger, more sustainable Ireland. To realise this vision, we need skilled talent in construction and engineering. "Innovations and the use of advanced technologies, such as digital learning and connectivity, will accelerate progress and support us in achieving these ambitions across infrastructure, housing, and beyond. By enabling access to high-quality training nationwide, we are ensuring that Ireland is equipped to deliver the projects that will shape our future. We commend ATU, Vodafone Ireland and consortium partners in driving digital innovation in Irish education for the benefit of our students, workforce and our economy." Sheila Kavanagh, Network Director, Vodafone Ireland said, "This fund was secured following a shared vision and strong collaboration between ATU, Vodafone and Government and we're proud to be part of it. This initiative will give us the ability to train people faster and smarter. Access to skills depends on strong digital infrastructure and by leveraging advanced connectivity, remote learning, and the power of 5G, we're ...

    International report
    Turkey fears Ukraine conflict will spill over on its Black Sea shores

    International report

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 8, 2025 5:20


    Ankara is voicing alarm over a spate of attacks on Russian tankers in the Black Sea, with fears that strikes on ships carrying oil and other key commodities could threaten global trade and pose environmental dangers to Turkey, which has the longest coastline in the strategic sea. The Turkish government on Thursday summoned both Russian and Ukrainian envoys, warning them to desist from escalating the conflict in the Black Sea. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the past week's attacks on three Russian tankers as "unjustifiable". Kyiv said its drones targeted two of the vessels, and Moscow has warned it may consider striking the ships of countries supporting Ukraine if such attacks continue. "This escalation is very dangerous; no one can estimate what will happen," warns international relations expert and former Turkish presidential advisor Mesut Casin. "Putin says he will use reciprocity rights. This means some of the [Russian] submarines could attack not only Ukraine but also some of the Western NATO allies' tanker ships," he explains, a possibility that raises the threat of "a very big environmental disaster". Shadow fleet Kyiv has claimed responsibility for the drone attacks on two empty Russian-flagged tankers but denied involvement in the strike on a ship carrying sunflower oil to Georgia. The Russian tankers belong to Moscow's so-called "shadow fleet", which is used to circumvent international sanctions by carrying oil and other exports aboard ships not officially registered to the government.  Given Turkey's long Black Sea coast, fears of an environmental catastrophe are foremost for Ankara. "These shadow fleet tankers are not modern and are not in good condition," observes former Turkish diplomat Selim Kuneralp. "The Russians provide their own domestic insurance for these ships," he says. "But how useful and how valid these insurances will be [...] remains a question mark." How one man's ship-spotting hobby is helping thwart Russian sanction-busting Trade implications With Ukrainian forces destroying much of Russia's navy in the Black Sea, Moscow has limited capacities to protect its tankers. Ukraine has so far targeted only empty Russian tankers, but alarm bells are ringing on the potential implications for global trade. "Both Ukraine and Russia are leading exporters of basic food and agricultural commodities," notes analyst Atilla Yesilada of GlobalSource Partners. "Despite massive bombing, Ukraine's grain export capacity is largely intact and is taking the coastal route. So any impairment of that is bad for the world at a time when we are not certain of crop yields because of the ongoing drought elsewhere." Insurance premiums for cargo ships using the Black Sea have already spiked amidst the escalating conflict. Ankara wary of escalation Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with his NATO counterparts this week, broaching the topic of ensuring safe navigation of the vital sea trade route. Turkey is already cooperating with its partners in the alliance that share the Black Sea coast, Romania and Bulgaria, to clear sea mines. Fidan said that cooperation could be expanded to enhance shipping security.  However, any increased NATO involvement in the Black Sea would be borne mainly by the Turkish navy, given that the Romanian and Bulgarian navies are largely coastal forces. Ships belonging to navies outside the Black Sea have been shut out by Ankara since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, along with Russian warships. Turkey, under the 1936 Montreux Convention, regulates access to the sea and is only allowing warships to enter to return to their home ports. Turkey's mediator role in the Ukraine war faces growing US pressure Former diplomat Kuneralp claims Ankara will be cautious of getting drawn into any conflict in the Black Sea. "It would put all the burden on Turkey alone. What would it do? Would it try to intervene in a dispute between Russia and Ukraine? That's unlikely. I would not want that to happen because it would be too risky," he says. "And that's perhaps why there have not been any concrete actions since the start of the war other than talk." For now, Turkey – one of the few countries with good relations with both Kyiv and Moscow – is relying on diplomacy, and hoping that Washington's ongoing peace efforts will succeed.

    RevDem Podcast
    Social Media, AI-Chatbots and the Death of the Evening News: How to Restore Trust in a Fragmented Media World - A Conversation with Raluca Radu

    RevDem Podcast

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 8, 2025 42:00


    "We care witnessing in the digital news reports a major shift since the COVID-19 crisis. (…). During the COVID crisis, the main information source became social media. With social media, you have many, many difficulties in finding the rightinformation or the correct information”, stated Raluca Radu, a Professor of Journalism and Communication Studies at the University of Bucharest, speaker for the Budapest Forum and contributor to the Reuters Institute Digital Report.  In a conversation for the Review of Democracy, she explains how social platforms like TikTok, WhatsApp groups, and AI-driven chatbots reconfigure the trust towards information. As Raluca Radu clearly emphasizes, COVID-19 marked a shiftin media consumption. During the pandemic, the main source of information became the short-form video content on platforms such as TikTok. Some newsrooms recognized that their audiences migrated elsewhere and rushed to follow. They tried to adapt to this changing landscape by establishing social media presence. By now, social media is not only an additional channel of dissemination but, in some cases, the only way to reach citizens who do not read traditional websites or watch TV. Thus, social media and algorithmsredefine the public sphere worldwide. This poses new problems. Whilst seemingly the AI data appears to be neutral, it might often be biased. Thus, this shift might need new conceptual approaches. Throughout her research, Raluca Radu puts a strong emphasis on the topic of trust. As she explains, this concept can be extremely valuable. For instance,  trust in media tends to decrease duringpolitical crises, particularly when politicians attack media companies. Economic divides complicate this already fragile situation. The misinformation and radicalization is also created by the lack of access to good quality information. Whilst the Nordic countries show high subscription rates and mediatrust, the Romanian model follows a different model. Here, the audiences expect free and high-quality information. In this context, investigative journalism relies more often on crowdfunding than on paywalls. Consequences are visible. Romania's 2024 elections showed that the rise of fringe political figures such as Călin Georgescu was driven less by overt campaigning (grassroots) than coordinated comment networks and WhatsApp chains (known as astroturfing). The comments on the posts were often AI-generated. Such tactics were much more difficult to spot by researchers and electoral regulators. Raluca Radu is not merely diagnosing the problem. Instead, as a researcher in PROMPT, she is contributing to developingan AI-assisted tool that tracks harmful narratives across languages and platforms. Throughout the podcast, Raluca Radu's emphasis is that the public sphere seems to be fragmented, but not beyond repair. Understanding the newframeworks of information consumption is the first step towards building strong, trustworthy content.

    This May Hurt a Bit
    Fright Night 2: New Blood (2013)

    This May Hurt a Bit

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 6, 2025 44:47


    We finish the franchise by talking about this very much related, very much a sequel... er, remake of the first one? Shot in Romania and taking place in Romania (!), this new version follows Charlie and Evil Ed taking on Elizabeth Bathory. 

    The Greek Current
    Cyprus and Lebanon's "historic" maritime deal

    The Greek Current

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 5, 2025 10:58


    Last week Cyprus and Lebanon signed a long-awaited maritime demarcation deal, an agreement that not only paves the way for potential exploration and energy cooperation, but also checks Turkey's revisionist “Blue Homeland” doctrine in the Eastern Mediterranean. Constantinos Filis, the director of the Institute of Global Affairs and a professor of international relations at the American College of Greece, joins Thanos Davelis as we look into what's being called a “historic” deal that also serves to bridge the EU with the Middle East.You can read the articles we discuss on our podcast here:Cyprus–Lebanon deal sets new legal line in the Eastern Med, and Ankara isn't loving itLebanon, Cyprus sign maritime deal, paving way for possible energy explorationGreece, Bulgaria and Romania sign agreement on Aegean-Black Sea corridorCyprus pledges Ukraine will be ''front and center” during EU presidency

    Whiskey Tangent
    Episode #89: Spirits of the Austro-Hungarian Empire! | Hungary v. Austria v. Slovakia v. Romania v. Poland

    Whiskey Tangent

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 5, 2025 54:51


    Support us at https://buymeacoffee.com/whiskeytangent Whiskeys (mostly): Zwack's Unicum • Uuahouua Pinot Noir Austrian Single Malt Whisky • Nestville Hit & Run Slovakian Blended Whisky • Carpathian Romanian Wine Cask Collection Single Malt Whisky • The Stranger Polish Rye Whisky Tangents: Brian the Whiskey Explorer joins us once again for some whiskey, some history, and some whiskey history! • Ed regales us with the dual monarchy of Austro-Hungarian Empire • F**k the Astros • Stop trying to make Czechia a thing, Gretchen • Unicum ruined Ed's nose (but might be good in cocktails) • #liquidpotpourri • The Austrian whisky smells like a flower shop (and the color is Heather) • Apparently “Licking the top of a pile of Skittles” is a tasting note now • Brian gives a shout-out to an injured friend • Does anyone live in Europe? • The Slovakian whiskey comes in a baseball bat • Chat, is Ed the serious one? • Scott's meth dealer lives in Delaware • Ed gets trolled by a Transylvanian • Zwack's Hoagie Shack Smack of the Game! • 36 million Polish people are now mad at us • Is the Polish whisky really a Polish whisky? • #phillyjokes • Is Bulleit Rye a Polish-American whisky? • Scott has enough material to put Ed in prison • HR shut off Ed's mic • Scott has a different definition of “The Stanger” • Brian's wife might not let him come back Music Credits: Whiskey on the Mississippi, Tenebrous Brothers Carnival Act Two, and Waltz of Treachery by Kevin MacLeod from https://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/music.html • Eine kleine Nachtmusik by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at https://commons.wikimedia.org

    Holding the Ladder in Sport and Leadership
    Episode #94- Daniel Nelson, long-time professional basketball coach, Anorthosis Famagusta, Larnaca, Cyprus

    Holding the Ladder in Sport and Leadership

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 5, 2025 59:28


    Our guest for this episode is Daniel Nelson. Nelson has over 20 years of international basketball coaching experience. Beginning his career in Ireland with Templeogue, DCU St Vincent's, Trinity College Dublin and Irish national youth programs, he quickly built a reputation for technical teaching and player development. Since 2011, Nelson has coached across Australia, Europe and beyond, including roles with the Perth Wildcats, where he was part of a national championship-winning team, MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg, Parma Basket Perm and the Taylor Hawks. He has also served as Video Scout for the Australian Men's National Team, coached West Australian state teams, and worked in national talent identification programs in both Ireland and Australia. His career includes head and assistant coach positions in Cyprus, Romania, the UK, Kosovo, Belgium and the Netherlands, leading teams to competitive success. Nelson is the founder of Daniel Nelson Coaching, delivering clinics, workshops and consulting for coaches and clubs internationally. Known for his tactical precision, use of advanced analytics and commitment to building strong team cultures, he blends structure with adaptability to develop players and programs. He is the current Head Coach of Anorthosis Famagusta in Cyprus, leading the team into the FIBA Europe Cup for the 2025–26 season. Holding multiple coaching licenses, he continues his record as one of Ireland's most globally experienced basketball coaches. Holding multiple coaching licenses, he continues to build on a career that has taken an Irish coach to professional leagues and national teams across the world.

    Eurovangelists
    Episode 96: Eurovision 2006 Recap

    Eurovangelists

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 4, 2025 86:56


    We've talked a lot about Lordi and their 2006 win in Athens, and with the 20th anniversary rapidly approaching next year, we wanted our listeners to be up on one of the best contests of the otherwise not-so-great '00s era. And who better to join us in Athens than Greek pop expert and comedian Mano Agapion to talk about all the high and lowlights of the Grand Final? Jeremy taps the sign with his one rule of rock, Dimitry imagines a young Alexander Rybak getting inspired, Mano has OPINIONS about Anna Vissi, and Oscar's duty freeeeeeeee.Listen to Oscar & Mano's podcast, Drag Her: https://headgum.com/drag-her-a-rupauls-drag-race-podcastWatch the unbroadcast HD version of 2006: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqxXIq5xEWkgermThis week's companion playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5oxMmEDitWpE4PAnk5WOI0 The Eurovangelists are Jeremy Bent, Oscar Montoya and Dimitry Pompée.The theme was arranged and recorded by Cody McCorry and Faye Fadem, and the logo was designed by Tom Deja.Production support for this show was provided by the Maximum Fun network.The show is edited by Jeremy Bent with audio mixing help was courtesy of Shane O'Connell.Find Eurovangelists on social media as @eurovangelists on Instagram and @eurovangelists.com on Bluesky, or send us an email at eurovangelists@gmail.com. Head to https://maxfunstore.com/collections/eurovangelists for Eurovangelists merch. Also follow the Eurovangelists account on Spotify and check out our playlists of Eurovision hits, competitors in upcoming national finals, and companion playlists to every single episode, including this one!

    Team Deakins
    CRISTIAN MUNGIU - Director

    Team Deakins

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 3, 2025 97:20


    SEASON 2 - EPISODE 170 - Cristian Mungiu - Director In this extended episode of the Team Deakins Podcast, we speak with director Cristian Mungiu (R.M.N., GRADUATION, BEYOND THE HILLS). Cristian's films—which we deeply admire—largely focus on social issues in his native country of Romania, and though they are told in his own unique voice, his films explore problems many in the world face today. We learn how the fall of communism and Ceaușescu's regime in Cristian's youth enabled him to become a filmmaker, and he reflects on the lingering effects of the country's cinematic culture before and after the Romanian Revolution. We spend much of our conversation discovering how Cristian approaches filmmaking and cinematic storytelling, and he shares how he works on any given day in production. Cristian also reveals how his films are received by Romanian audiences, and we discuss our commitment as filmmakers to presenting the truth as we see it. Plus, Cristian lets us know what to expect in his upcoming feature, FJORD. - Recommended Viewing: R.M.N., GRADUATION, BEYOND THE HILLS - This episode is sponsored by Aputure

    GymCastic: The Gymnastics Podcast
    The 90s International Team Championships: Fingerpainting, Vault Chaos & Olympic Legends in the Making

    GymCastic: The Gymnastics Podcast

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 2, 2025 92:25


    Relive the ridiculous wonderful, and deeply influential 1997–1999 International Team Championships, the friendly meets that defined pre-Sydney Olympics quad. We break down the biggest moments from Vanessa Atler, Dominique Moceanu, Simona Amanar, Ling Jie, Maria Olaru, Kristen Maloney, Elise Ray, and more—plus China's bars innovation, Romania's beam dominance, and the USA's rising queens. From NBC's fingerpainting fluff pieces to vault disasters, age-rule drama, and iconic routines, we revisit the meets that shaped an Olympic generation.  RELATED: Jakarta Worlds Debrief: The Romanian Drama Explained With Coaches Daymon Jones & Patrick Kiens Trouble in Romania The History of Romanian Gymnastics (Commissioned) 80's Fight! The great Soviet Romanian Rivalry (Commissioned) The Fluff Cast: Deva isn't a castle?! World Championships Headquarters Videos, Interviews, Podcasts, Fantasy, Guides from Jakarta World Championships Behind the Scenes - all episodes SUPPORT THE SHOW: Join Club Gym Nerd: https://gymcastic.com/club/ Merch: https://gymcastic.com/shop/ Headstand Game: https://gymcastic.com/headstand-plugin/ Forum: https://gymcastic.com/community/ UP NEXT: Behind The Scenes: Live Q&A podcast Friday this week only at noon Pacific/8 GMT NEWSLETTERS Sign up for all three GymCastic newsletters  RESOURCES Spencer's essential website The Balance Beam Situation  GIFs of the Week and Meet schedule with links. Gymnastics History and Code of Points Archive from Uncle Tim The Balance: My Years Coaching Simone Biles by Aimee Boorman with Fact Checker. Aimee coached Simone from day one in gymnastics to three back to back World All Around titles, 14 world medals and an unprecedented 5 medals at the Rio Olympics. Get your copy

    The Patriotically Correct Radio Show with Stew Peters | #PCRadio
    LEAKED: Trump's Zionist Genocide Pact – Slaughtering Palestinians for Prime Gaza Beach Resorts

    The Patriotically Correct Radio Show with Stew Peters | #PCRadio

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 2, 2025 64:17


    Marjorie Taylor Greene just dropped the mother of all red pills and resigned from Congress, admitting Trump is a total fraud, both parties are owned by the same Jewish billionaires, and there is NO PLAN to save America. Tonight we go full nuclear on the AIPAC stranglehold, the Epstein blackmail tapes they're hiding, and the child-trafficking orphanages their networks run from Romania to Tel Aviv.   Donald Trump Jr. was caught red-handed in a secret Romanian backroom deal with Israel's ex-intelligence minister whose family built the Hezbollah exploding pagers, while America's children are trafficked and Gaza is bulldozed for Jewish luxury resorts bearing the Trump name. The same Zionist cabal that murdered Charlie Kirk and tried to silence Candace Owens is now running the White House through cocaine-fueled Shabbos goys and their Israeli handlers, proving once again that every road of treason leads straight back to Tel Aviv.   Tonight we rip the mask off the Military Industrial Complex's Zionist pipeline running straight through the University of Cincinnati and right into Charlie Kirk's own bedroom through his handler wife Erika and her Raytheon connected, geofencing spook mother Lori Frantzve.

    Holmberg's Morning Sickness
    12-02-25 - Charorism Reacts/Emails - Medical Breakthrough As Japanese Man Has Developed Butt Breathing - Man Nearing Completion Of 27yr Goliath Expedition From S.America To Romania - Megan 911 She Needs DirecTV Password

    Holmberg's Morning Sickness

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 2, 2025 54:53


    12-02-25 - Charorism Reacts/Emails - Medical Breakthrough As Japanese Man Has Developed Butt Breathing - Man Nearing Completion Of 27yr Goliath Expedition From S.America To Romania - Megan 911 She Needs DirecTV PasswordSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    Stories from Real Life: A Storytelling Podcast
    Ep. 174 - Scott Martin: How a Coach Lost His Identity -- and Found His Mission

    Stories from Real Life: A Storytelling Podcast

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 2, 2025 49:43


    Guest: Scott Martin — Author, Coach, AdvocateEpisode DescriptionIn this deeply moving episode of Stories from Real Life, we sit down with Scott Martin — former elite soccer coach, author of Play From Your Heart, and living example of resilience in its rawest form.Scott shares the moment his life changed forever after being diagnosed with Group A Strep and Necrotizing Fasciitis — an illness that left him without his hands and feet and forced him into the most difficult season of his life. He opens up about depression, identity loss, and what it meant to transition from the privilege of athletic achievement to life labeled as “disabled.”But this story doesn't end in tragedy.From adopting five children from Romania and Ethiopia to returning to coach his beloved “Soccer Rats,” Scott reveals what rebuilding really looks like — not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually. He explains the meaning behind his life philosophy, the role of music in healing, and why the final chapter of his book remains intentionally redacted.This conversation is raw, honest, and ultimately hopeful — a reminder that even when life strips everything away, the heart still knows how to lead.In This Episode, You'll Hear:* Scott's battle with Necrotizing Fasciitis and the trauma that followed* The emotional impact of suddenly becoming “disabled”* His journey through depression and back to purpose* The story behind Play From Your Heart* Why he chose adoption, coaching, and rebuilding over retreat* What real resilience looks like when no one is watchingConnect with Scott Martin:* Book: Play From Your Heart* Scott Martin Get full access to Melvin E. Edwards at storiesfromreallife.substack.com/subscribe

    Holmberg's Morning Sickness - Arizona
    12-02-25 - Charorism Reacts/Emails - Medical Breakthrough As Japanese Man Has Developed Butt Breathing - Man Nearing Completion Of 27yr Goliath Expedition From S.America To Romania - Megan 911 She Needs DirecTV Password

    Holmberg's Morning Sickness - Arizona

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 2, 2025 54:53


    12-02-25 - Charorism Reacts/Emails - Medical Breakthrough As Japanese Man Has Developed Butt Breathing - Man Nearing Completion Of 27yr Goliath Expedition From S.America To Romania - Megan 911 She Needs DirecTV PasswordSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    Crossroads with Jenny Bushkell
    A Story of Healing, Forgiveness and Hope with Adriana Zoder and Melanie Azarcon

    Crossroads with Jenny Bushkell

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 1, 2025 49:34


    Her mother attempted to abort her, but God intervened in a miraculous way. The Lord has touched her life in so many ways and it's amazing how my two guests met!  Today, Adriana's testimony is one of forgiveness, redemption, and hope—and it's incredible how her path crossed with Jenny's second guest, Melanie Azarcon, Partner & Church Liaison for Health Bridge Global. They are partnering to help build "Life Medical Hospital", a women's hospital in Romania so women don't have to resort to abortion for birth control. The plan is to care for women from conception to post birth. How do you forgive your mother who tried to abort you, reminded you of it throughout her life, and aborted your siblings? How do you forgive? Only JESUS!  And now Adriana and her husband have two beautiful children of their own! Her story also reaches beyond her own family: She shares a heart-wrenching story of how an abortion 30 years ago affected a family here in the States and how God used Adriana to help them heal and break those lies of the enemy. This conversation is raw, inspiring, and filled with hope—a powerful reminder of God's ability to transform pain into purpose. If you or someone you know needs emotional healing after abortion, Deeper Still Ministries can help. (deeperstill.org) - Find freedom from your abortion wounded heart.  Hope Resource is a pregnancy resource center who will walk beside you to empower you to choose life. (knoxvillehope.com). Both of these organizations bring hope and the love of Jesus Christ. You can find more about Health Bridge Global at healthbridgeglobal.org.

    VOMRadio
    MISSIONS: Emerging Technology Key to Spreading Gospel

    VOMRadio

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 29, 2025 36:13


    There are more cell phones in the world than cars, toilets, or people. What if each of those phones could be turned into a Bible? Using their backgrounds in electrical engineering and software development, David and Josiah Palusky have developed technology tools to help Christian workers spread the gospel in places where people are unreached and there is often Christian persecution. David is the founder and president of Renew Outreach. He will share how the ministry began and tools they've developed to help provide unreached people in remote places with access God's Word. Josiah, Director of Strategic Initiatives at Renew, explains efforts to help persecuted Christians around the world share the gospel using emerging technology. They will share stories of camels preaching the gospel using LightStream devices, leading an entire family to meet Christ, how AI disguised a Christian brother's voice, and how Christians in restricted nations and hostile areas can revolutionize communities for Jesus. David also recounts the story of he and his sister hearing Pastor Richard Wurmbrand, the founder of The Voice of the Martyrs, share Richard's story of persecution in Romania at a remote Christian camp in Minnesota. That one sermon deeply impacted the lives of both David and his sister—an impact they still feel almost 40 years later. Today, the Lord has put on their hearts to further the Great Commission among the deaf community, one of the least-reached groups in the world. Using Visual Vernacular to tell the Bible story from creation to Christ, Renew is hearing of new believers and baptisms among the deaf community weekly! The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians in nations like North Korea, Nigeria and Bangladesh, as well as provide free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS or Android device today.

    The Strange and Unusual Podcast
    The Night of the Strigoi: St. Andrew's Eve in Romania

    The Strange and Unusual Podcast

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 26, 2025 51:10


    Between garlands of garlic on doorways, wolves finding their voice in the dark, and the undead rising from their graves,  Romania's celebration of St. Andrew's Eve (November 29th-30th) blurs the line between the living and the dead. Join Alyson in exploring this magical and uncanny Romanian holiday. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.