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Rescue and patchwork relationship.B Book 3 in 18 parts, y FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.Loving your enemy is easy, you know precisely where both of you stand(Right where we left off)The closest Marine had been waiting for me to finish my bonding moment with Menner before speaking. He walked and talked like an officer."You are certainly Mr. Cáel Nyilas," he nodded. "I'm Lt. Robeson, United States Marine Corps. I would like to take you and your party home. What is the situation?""Lieutenant, this young lady is Aya Ruger. She was kidnapped along-side me and managed to kill over twenty of our enemies, so be careful around her." I was deadly serious about what I said. Aya should get proper credit for all the people she sedated then drowned. Dead was dead, even if it was accidental."These two," I pointed to Zhen and Mu, "are Lúsìla ninda and Amar, Taiwanese nationals suffering some shock from the abrupt crash landing of the aircraft. They don't seem to know why they were kidnapped, but they were instrumental in aiding Aya and me making it to shore during the typhoon.""If you say so, Sir," he nodded. He did believe me, yet a soldier was taught to be skeptical of anything a civilian told him about a military situation. "The bodies?""Those are the corpses we found after the storm. I decided we should attempt to place them in your custody so you can figure out who they are," I suggested."Sir, I don't think we can let civilians keep their weapons aboard the flight," the Marine Lt. stated since I had both a pistol and submachine gun, Aya had her pistol and Zhen had her and Mu's blades. A Marine NCO sent a party to gather the dead."Marine, I am Cáel Nyilas, Irish diplomat, freebooter and Champion of the worst possible causes," I began my spiel."You probably have some orders concerning bringing me in alive. I am not so constrained and am more than willing to steal this aircraft and fly back to Hawaii without you. My team keeps their weapons, or you give me your best shot, right now," I met his gaze. He mulled over his options. Two Romanians and two Marines were starting to load the ad hoc body bags aboard the C-37B."Normally I don't take that kind of crap from a civilian and I don't want you to think I'm making an exception because of your Security Clearance. I'll let your people keep your weapons, but if something goes wrong, I'm shooting you first," he assured me."Done deal," I offered my hand and he shook it."Oh and Happy Tibetan Independence Day," he congratulated me."What?" I gasped. Rescue and patchwork relationships{6 pm, Sunday, August 17th ~ 22 Days to go}{11 pm Sunday, Aug. 17th (Havenstone Time)}{And just this once, 11am Monday, Aug. 18th Beijing Time}"Oh and Happy Tibetan Independence Day;, nice work.," the Marine congratulated me."What?""How is that possible?" muttered Mu."Yippee!! No more burning monks," Aya fist-pumped. Personally, I think she did that for the enjoyment of our guardians and to piss off Zhen and Mu just a tiny bit more.(Mandarin) "Brother," Zhen studied her brother's pained expression. "What has gone wrong?"(Mandarin) "The province of Tibet apparently has broken away," he groused. In English, to the Marine Lieutenant he repeated, "How is this possible?""I take it you didn't know Peace Talks had broken out?" he grinned. I doubted the Lt. bought my 'these are my two Taiwanese cobelligerents' story, but belief was above his pay grade, so he didn't give a shit."Yes," Mu mumbled, "we knew of the proposed cease-fire.""Yes, you mean both sides actually honored it?" I added. I really had been out things for a while."Nearly two days ago, noon, Peking Time, the People's Republic of China and the Khanate put a six month cease-fire into effect which has remained intact for forty-one," he looked at his watch, "forty-one and a half hours." He was being a cock to the petulant Mu. No one called Beijing 'Peking' anymore. I had even ordered Beijing Duck on several menus. Peking was the height of Western Imperialist thinking, or so it looked to Mu.(Mandarin) "He is yanking your chain, Mu," I explained. "You are looking pissed off at being rescued, which isn't doing my alibi for you much good.""My apology," Mu nodded to the lieutenant. "Is there any news from the Republic of China? Are they free as well?" That was nice of Mu to call Taiwan by its pet name, the ROC."Not yet," he patted Mu's unwounded leg, "but with the utter shellacking the Khanate put on the People's Navy (really the People's Liberation Army Navy, but the Marine was getting his shots in) it is only a matter of time."I had been translating in a low voice to the V nători de munte in order for them to keep up with the conversation. They all started laughing. The Marines joined in. There was a huge joke here that we had missed out on while stranded.(Romanian) "So, ask them if they know where their aircraft carrier is," Menner chuckled. Most Romanians had grown up knowing of only one China.Me: (Romanian) "What!"A Naval Corpsman who didn't know Romanian, but knew 'aircraft carrier' just fine jumped in: "Oh yeah, the missing Chinese Aircraft carrier," she chortled.Mu: "What!"I'd only been gone two and a half days. What the hell had been going on?(What had transpired in my absence and the subsequent consequences)(Notes:P R C = People's Republic of China; PLA = People's Liberation Army;P L A N = People's Liberation Army Navy;P L A A F = People's Liberation Army Air Force;R O C = the Republic of China {aka Taiwan, aka Chinese Taipei, aka the "other China"};The First Unification War {aka what the Khanate did to China in 2014};Truce lasts from August 16th 2014 until February 15th, 2015 = 183 days)There are several classic blunders grownups should know to avoid: never fight a land war in Asia, never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line, and, if you are going to cross a master thief, first make sure you have nothing of value. For the land war in Asia, check with my partner, the Khanate. Substituting Black Hand for Sicilian ~ check with Ajax, use an Ouija board. So far, destiny was batting .500.The last blunder I created entirely on my own, but I felt it was the true and right response for the circumstances. So witness the Six Families of the Ninja and the greatest theft in all of recorded history.In the closing hours of the First Unification War, as in many wars, some serious theft was going on; mainly it was the People's Republic getting fleeced.The most obvious and immediate blows came in the Spratlys and Parcel Islands where Khanate forces (actually, elements from all the JIKIT players) seized the key island in the Parcel chain, Woody Island, and secured the P L A N base the Chinese had created there, including the 2,700 meter runway built there in the 1990's. The 1,443 Chinese civilians and 600 military inhabitants in the area were incidental complications and the survivors were about to be 'repatriated' to the mainland anyway; the Khanate didn't want them hanging around as they prepared for the inevitable end of the six-month truce.Yes, the Khanate had stolen the most important island airfield ~ an unsinkable carrier really ~ in the South China Sea. It was also the northern end of the potential People's Republic of China's stranglehold on the east-west sea lanes between East Asia and the rest of the World, i.e., roughly 25% of all global trade.The southern end? That would be the Spratlys. There are few 'real' islands in that 'island group' and only two worth having: the artificial one the P L A N was building and the one the ROC has a 1200 meter airfield on. That artificial island and every other PRC/P L A N outpost in the region was also stolen by the Khanate between 4 a.m. and noon of that final day of active conflict.Every geological feature that had been the basis for the PRC's claims to all of the South China Sea was now in Khanate hands. Considering how much the P L A N had bullied everyone else in that portion of the globe, the Khanate taking over their geopolitical position was incredibly awkward. It was going to get worse.Technically, the Khanate hadn't stolen the P L A N 'South Sea Fleet' (SSF); they'd blown the fuck out of it, including sinking the sole fully-functioning P L A N carrier Liaoning as well as five of the nine destroyers and six of the nineteen frigates in her battle group. The Liaoning and one destroyer had died in those last few hours as the SSF was racing for the relative safety of Philippine waters ~ so close, but no cigar.So the Khanate had stolen the ability of the P L A N to project power in the South China Sea until February 15th, 2015 when the U N brokered truce ended. But that was not the epic theft, though. That distinction went to the Ninja. What did they steal? A semi-functional Chinese nuclear powered super-aircraft carrier still under construction.The beast had no official name yet, but she was a 75,000 ton engine of Global Domination laid down in 2011 and clearly complete enough to float and to be steered under her own power. (To be on the safe side, the Ninja included stealing four tugboats to help in their getaway.) So, you may be asking yourself, how does one 'steal' a nuclear-powered, 1000 foot long, 275 foot wide and ten-story tall vessel?For starters, you need a plan to get on board the sucker. We had begun with the Black Lotus. They wanted to sneak onboard, exit the dockyard the ship was being built in, then sink it off the coast so it couldn't be easily salvaged. That was plan A.Enter the Khanate and their plans; they too wanted to sink this vessel, and destroy the dry docks while they were at it. That was plan B. Actually, the Khanate desire was to contaminate that whole section of the port city with fallout from shattered reactors. They knew they would have to apply overkill when they smashed that bitch of a ship because the PLAN had hurriedly put on board its defensive weaponry ~ ensuring that the Khanate couldn't easily destroy it. For their approach, Temujin's people wanted the Black Lotus' help with the on-the-ground intelligence work. But the Black Lotus didn't want to help anyone irradiate Chinese soil.Enter JIKIT as referee. All those islands the 'Khanate' was busy stealing were actually part of a larger JIKIT mission called Operation Prism. Another object that was a part of the overall plan was Operation Wo Fat, the sinking of the Liaoning ~ again GPS direction and distance to be courtesy of the Black Lotus.JIKIT absolutely needed the Black Lotus. The Black Lotus wouldn't help anyone planning on poisoning any part of China for the next thousand years. Sinking the unnamed and incomplete vessel off the coast in deep waters meant no nuclear leakage and plenty of post-war time to salvage the wreck before it did start to hemorrhage. The Khanate wanted to kill this potential strategic nightmare no matter what it cost the Chinese ecology.JIKIT went to the Ninja to help them adjudicate the issue. All the lights flared brightly in Ninja-Town when they heard of that delicate dilemma. They could make everybody happy and send a clear message to the Seven Pillars expressing how unhappy the six surviving families were about the 7P's trying to annihilate them when all of this 'unpleasantness' began.The Khanate was already going to blast the shipyards and docks, the Black Lotus was already going to sail the ship into deep waters, so why not take it one step further, sail the ship into Japanese waters and declare it Khanate property as a colossal Fuck You! to the PRC, PLAN and specifically the Seven Pillars, all at the same time?Now normally, you can't steal a ship that big. The owners will notice it is missing and come looking for it. And you can't sell or hide the damn thing. So, you steal it at the tail end of a war before the players can capture, or sink it. It just so happened the Ninja had access to a war and such a time table.The next problem: where do you put it? The Khanate's closest safe haven was 8,000 km away at the Eastern Mediterranean Seaport of Izmir.But wait!The Khanate was about to steal an island airbase with its own (albeit small) harbor. The Khanate was confident that a few weeks after the truce, an alternate port, or two, would become available for the two-to-three year process it would require to prepare the vessel so it could be commissioned as the true warship it was meant to be.So, how do you steal a well-guarded, humongous ship with its skeleton crew of 500? You need a distraction ~ a big one. Remember those Khanate airstrikes? They intended to destroy the dockyards anyway. Now all they had to do was 'miss' the carrier.They could do that. If you recall, to dissuade the Khanate from sinking the ship in the final days of the war, the PLAN had hastily put teeth on the thing by giving it all its pre-designed defensive weaponry and added jury-rigged radar and sonar systems. The carrier could defend itself if needed. With the new plan (C), the airstrikes could avoid those teeth, thus reducing the risk of losing their precious planes and pilots.A series of bombing runs and missile hits near the carrier would convince the PLAN admiral in charge to hurriedly put some distance between the ship and shore, Not out to sea. That would be stupid. Within the harbor, his weaponry could adequately defend his ship. And if she took serious damage, he could run her aground, so the vessel wouldn't really sink.The only problem was that out in the harbor, with everything exploding, he was away from the only ground security support available. That was when the Amazons, Black Lotus, Ninja and JIKIT mercenaries would make their move. How could they sneak up on such a big, important ship? By using the submarines the US Navy, the British Royal Navy and Japanese Defense Force were providing, of course.Note: As I stated earlier, Lady Fathom, Addison and Riki had wandered way off the reservation . By this time, if you were a Japanese, British, or American submarine commander in the Yellow Sea and you weren't part of this madness, you were insanely jealous of those who were.The missions JIKIT was sending them on were:-definitely Acts of War if they were ever discovered,-far more dangerous than any war game exercise they'd ever been part of, and-the ultimate test of their crews and equipment.These people weren't suicidal. They believed they were the best sneaks under the Seven Seas and now they could prove it ~ in 50 years when this stuff was declassified (if it ever was).For the one American, two British and four Japanese submarines inserting the assault teams, this whole mission had a surreal feel to it. They were transporting a packed assortment of women of Indian, Malaysian and Indonesian descent along with some very lithe Japanese ladies and gents, none of who talked a whole lot.There was a third group with the spooky women and spookier Japanese teams, and that group was scared shitless about the sudden turn their lives had taken. They were all former American and British servicewomen (to not tick off the Amazons too much) with carrier and/or nuclear reactor experience who had been RIFed (Reduction in Force, aka fired) in the past five years from their respective national navies.Around a week ago, they had all answered an advertisement by a logistics support corporation that was going to do a 'force modernization' in an unnamed country. They all knew that mean the Khanate. The job had been laid out as 'basically your old job with the addition of training the natives' and it included the promise of no combat.It was a guaranteed five year contract with an option for a year-to-year extensions for another five years if you desired to stick around. For that, you received your 'pay grade upon retirement + 20%', free room and board, private security, judicial protections and a $10,000 to $10,900 signing bonus. For many struggling military families, it was manna from Heaven and thousands were signing up.Then 72 hours ago, a different group from the same company came knocking on the women's doors. If you could come with them right then and there, they had a satchel of money, $100,000 to $109,000, tax free, and a Non-disclosure Agreement for you to sign. Sure, the deal sounded shady, but the money was very real.Twenty-four hours later those who accepted the money found themselves in a small fishing village on Ko Island, Japan. There some rather fiercely intense people outlined the job they were needed for. From a submarine, the assault teams would sneak aboard the carrier, neutralize the crew and then the new crew (them) would sail it to Jeju, Jeju Island, South Korea.At that point they would be allowed to stay with the vessel (preferred), or depart for a non-war zone of their choice. Both options came with another $100,000 to $109,000 payment. Anyone who declined this particular job would remain incognito on Ko Island for another 48 hours then be allowed to leave without the need to return their initial payment.Of the 312 job applicants, 293 volunteered for both the first and second parts of the assignment. With the technical and linguistic expertise of the Amazons and 9 Clan members that would be enough to get their prize to Jeju Island's temporary safety and then make the last leg to Woody Island and a more permanent anchorage.Besides the airstrikes to goad the carrier away from the wharves, all the Khanate had to do with the carrier was put three or four clearly Mongolian faces onboard when the various nations of the world came calling. After all, what was the public going to believe:, the Khanate had pulled off yet another daring (i.e., mostly JIKIT) Special Forces coup, just as they'd managed to do throughout this short war, or that 'Ninjas stole my Battleship, umm, carrier' stuff some PRC leaders were claiming? Forty-eight hours later the whole globe was able to watch the newly named Khanate supercarrier, the  z Beg Khan, passing through Japanese territorial waters while being escorted by South Korean and Japanese warships.The PRC did complain to the United Nations over the 'theft' of both the carrier and 'their' islands, but the Security Council, led by the UK, could and would do nothing about the 'latest round of injustices heaped upon the People of China'. By the time the UN got around to doing nothing, the next round of JIKIT diplomacy was causing the PRC even greater headaches.That greatest theft, while remarkable in its own right, was really a sideshow to the reordering of the political order in Southeast Asia. The big winner wasn't the Khanate. And it certainly wasn't the mainland Chinese. No, the nations to immediately prosper were an unlikely pair, the Republic of India and the People's Republic of Vietnam (PRV). The Republic of China (R O C) was also getting its own small boost as well.By gambling their precious navy, India had become the largest power broker in the South China Sea's resource bonanza. She went from a minimal presence to being the critical ally of the Khanate and the 'big stick' (naval-wise) of Asia's new dynamic duo. The Indians had the only two functional aircraft carriers in the region and the Khanate had Woody Island with a mega-carrier number of planes sitting on it.Their combined naval aviation was not something any of the others powers wanted to mess with. The duo then sealed their supremacy by making the duo a trio. That third member was the PRV. Vietnam was the land-based logistical anchor of the three regional powers.Not only did Vietnam gain the prestige denied it for over two centuries, it redressed the P L A N humiliating treatment of their own navy for the past thirty years. The Khanate's naval aviation would shield Vietnam's economic exploitation of the Parcel Islands. The Indian Navy could counter anything the P L A N South China fleet could come at them with.Yes, the P L A N had two other fleets, the Northern and Eastern, but both had been put through their own 1001 levels of Hell by the Khanate's air power, plus they had to protect the Chinese heartland from Russia and North Korean ambitions. The South Koreans and Japanese were suddenly a very real threat from the East too. But for the time being, the Indians had the decisive edge.The final location for the  z Beg Khan was an old familiar haunt for some Americans, Da Nang, PRV. It had the facilities, courtesy of the US military from the 1960's and 70's, to be the new base for the Khanate's Eastern Fleet and logistical hub for their naval aviation forces in the Parcel Islands.The Vietnamese were thinking with more than their testicles, as were the Indians. Sure, geopolitical clout was nice, yet that was only the icing on the economic cake that was the Parcel Island Accords. That hasty bit of JIKIT backroom dealings gave a 50% stake in the Parcels to the PRV.India got 20% of something she had 0% in a month ago. The Khanate gained a 20% stake for their audacity and the ROC gained 10% because the other three would protect its share from the PRC. Something was better than nothing and the three legitimate powers agreed to the deal because in less than six months, the PRC would be back in the game.The Indians and Vietnamese wanted the Khanate to stay interested in the region and the Taiwanese wanted to forge closer ties to the Khanate. That treaty was a 'no-brainer'. Within one week, the Vietnamese were strutting like peacocks and internal political opposition to the Indian intervention into the South China Sea in the Indian parliament was silent.The Spratly Islands was a tougher deal to work out within the six month timetable. There were more players ~ the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Thailand (who had a non-functional carrier). The JIKIT deal gave everyone but the Indians a 10% piece of the huge natural gas, oil and fisheries pie and the Indians got 20% once more.The Philippines and Malaysia were both very opposed to this treaty; they believed they deserved a far larger portion of those regional resources. Indonesia and Thailand also felt they could hold out for a bigger slice and weren't happy with India getting so much for basically having a double handful of ships (34 actually) sailing about.That 'handful of ships' was the point JIKIT was trying to make. If the PRC beat the Khanate next year, did any of the players think the PRC would give them anything, even if they promised them more right now? Really? When the PLAN had the biggest guns, they hadn't respected any other claims to the region. Why would that change in the future?The reality was this: India would only stick around if they had the economic incentive to remain. Vietnam, the Khanate and the ROC were watching the clock and realized this was the best deal they would get. Brunei and the Philippines were also coming to that understanding. Brunei was tiny (thus easy to defend), very rich already and a good ally of the British.The Philippines had a very weak navy and a non-existent naval air force. They couldn't even enforce their current claims versus Brunei, much less confront the PLAN, or any other nation's current military. The Philippines was, sadly, relatively big and very poor. Its big traditional ally was the United States, and the US was currently busy doing 'not much' about the South China Sea situation.The world's biggest navy was partially taking up its traditional (and treaty bound) role of interposing itself between the North Koreans, PLAN/PLAAF and Russians arrayed near Japan and South Korea, or busily not 'ratcheting up tensions' in the region by sending more forces into the front lines.President Obama was urging dialogue and 'stepping back from the brink' even though every country in Southeast Asia felt the brink had already dissipated the moment the PRC was forced to accept the cease-fire. In this context, the Philippines had good reason to be feeling lonely at the moment.Bizarrely, both New Delhi and Hanoi were singing the praises of US Secretary of State John Kerry and the Rt. Honorable Phillip Hammond, Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for the UK, for their deft handling of the crisis, thank you, Riki Martin and Lady Yum-Yum.Riki wasn't expecting any thanks. She was certain she'd be fired and imprisoned for the rest of her life. Lady Fathom Worthington-Burke was sure she'd get two additional knighthoods out of the deal, which would look very nice engraved on her tombstone. Javiera had long ago decided to face the music and go down with the ship, so to speak.The CIA's Addison Stuart already had her exit strategy. She was going to go work for the Khanate, building up their clandestine service when this whole mad scheme collapsed into recriminations and 'extreme sanctions'. Mehmet, Air Force Sr. Master Sgt. Billings and Agent-86 had all decided to go with her. Katrina had their escape plane on standby. Mehmet's family was already 'vacationing' in Canada.Anyway, the Republic of India, the Khanate, the Republic of China, the People's Republic of Vietnam (the Vietnamese were happy to already be getting half of the Parcel Island windfall), the Sultanate Brunei (Lady Fathom 'knew' some people and the Sultan was an autocratic Muslim ruler, just like the Great Khan) and the Philippines (because they had no other true choice) were all coming around to signing the Spratly Accords.Indonesia and Thailand were kind of waiting for a better deal. Malaysia was downright hostile, having gravitated toward the PRC over the past decade and been assured by the PRC a better apportionment would be their reward for upsetting the treaty process.The Great Khan's answer was simple. He publically threatened the Malaysian Federation in general and both the King (Sultan Abdul Halim of Kedah) and Prime Minister of Malay (Dato' Sri Najib Tun Razak) in particular with military action if they kept dragging their feet.He even told them how he'd do it. He'd butcher or expel every living thing in the states of Perlis and Kedah (~ 2.1 million people) and give those empty lands to Thailand to settle along with the added sweetener of Malaysia's 10% of the Spratlys. He would also invade Eastern Malaysia, taking the island state of Labuan for himself while giving Sarawak to Indonesia and Sabah to the Philippines if those to states agreed to the split.He'd also decimate their navy & air force before devastating every port city, just like he'd done to China. He'd already killed more than two million Chinese. What was another two million Malays to him? Also, Indonesia wanted Sarawak and the Philippines had claims on Sabah. While they were openly and publically defying the Great Khan's plan, could Malaysia really take the chance?What would India and Thailand do while this was going on? Thailand stated that it would protect its territorial integrity, whatever that meant. India wasn't returning Malaysia's phone calls while showing their populace re-runs of Malaysian violence against their Hindu minority, the bastards!To the world, the Indian Navy proclaimed it would 'defend itself and its supply lines' which was a subtle hint that they would shepherd any Khanate invasion force to their destination. Why would the Indians be so insensitive? The Malaysians were screwing up their deal to get 20% of both the Parcel and Spratlys wealth, that's why.If the Khanate went down, there was no way India could defend their claims (which they'd won by doing nothing up until now). Oh yeah, Vietnam began gathering up warplanes, warships, transport ships and troops for the quick (710 km) jaunt across the Gulf of Thailand to north-eastern Malaysia to kill Malaysians because Vietnam needed the Khanate to ensure their own economic future as well.That military prospect had a cascade effect, especially among the Indonesian military. If the Indian Navy remained active, the vastly more populous Western Malaysia couldn't reinforce the state of Sarawak. Sure, the Philippines was unlikely to conquer Sabah on their own, but all the Indonesians needed was for Sabah to be kept pre-occupied while their army took their promised territory, fulfilling a fifty year old dream of conquest/unification.The United Nations blustered. It wasn't that they didn't care, they did. They also cared about the deteriorating situations in Libya, Nigeria, Syria and Ukraine. The situation was complicated by the unwillingness of the permanent members of the Security Council, namely the PRC and Russia, to recognize the Khanate.In reverse, when those two tried to stick it to the Khanate, the UK stoically vetoed them. Why? Well, more on that later. Let's just say the Khanate was good for business in the European Union in general and the United Kingdom in particular because the Khanate was prepared to economically befriend the British. Ireland was being treated in a promising manner too. The United States,the United Nations?Let's just say that in the two months following the cease-fire, the Khanate bloodily and brutally solved the ISIS conundrum and the Donbass Crisis. When the smoke cleared, the Khanate had reintroduced the practice of impalement to the modern battlefield, driven the separatists from the Ukraine and was on the border with Israel and Jordan.Sure, the Ukrainians were stun-fucked by the Khanate's 'peace-keepers' going on a bloody rampage through the eastern rebellious regions, but they had delivered up peace by mid-September. Yes, the Russians were in an uproar about the impalements.As the Khanate spokesperson said, 'if they aren't your people, then it is not your problem' and 'there are no more Russians left alive in the Ukraine'. In fact, fewer than a thousand people, all armed insurgents, were executed in such a manner, but the terror created by the highly publicized killings had the effect of sending a hundred thousand people stampeding over the frontier into Russia proper.Next, the Khanate said it wanted to 'reexamine' the Crimean situation. There were Turcoman in that area and they weren't being treated well, or so it was claimed.Even as Russia and the Khanate were posturing in the Donbass, the Khanate struck in the Middle East. By the end of September, Syria and Lebanon had ceased to exist as organized entities. Most of those two countries as well as portions of western Iraq became Turkish provinces in the Khanate infrastructure. Northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq became the Khanate state of Kurdistan.It was a campaign reminiscent of the 13th century Mongol conquest, not a modern military struggle. Whole villages were eradicated. The entire Arab population of Mosul was exiled to the new territories in the East. The city was repopulated with Kurds from Turkey. Back in Turkey, those Kurds were replaced by Armenians from Azerbaijan, cauterizing another internal issue within the Khanate.Jordan was cautiously hopeful. Israel? "We don't seem to be having problems with Hezbollah anymore," with a shrug and "it could be worse." As for ISIS; there really was an Islamic State controlling more than half of Iraq and all of Syria now and it allowed no other pretenders to that distinction. By the time the world woke up to that reality though, the Great Hunt had happened and I was dealing with the consequences of that.A larger ideological and political matter was occurring in the United States, the United Kingdom (and to a limited extent Australia and Canada). The Ramshackle Empire (aka the Khanate) was just that ~ a Frankenstein nation fueled more by nationalistic pride and nostalgia for a Super-State (that only two living people had firsthand experience with) than an integrated armed forces and infrastructure.It may have been built upon more than a 13th century creation and two hundred years of real and imagined oppression. It did have long term planning and real genius driving it forward. Having throttled the PRC into giving them six precious months of peace to 'tidy up the backyard' (aka the Middle East and Russia) and forge a true nation, the Khanate was now hiring experts to aid them in the task.First and foremost, Temujin and the Earth & Sky had envisioned an armed state built upon military principles and discipline. Fate had delivered to them the means of their own salvation in the form of NATO's policy of disarmament and 'Reduction-In-Force' levels (RIFed).The US and UK had trained tens of thousands of male and female volunteers in their Armed Forces in infrastructure creation and management for the Afghanistan and Iraq campaigns. From 2010, those militaries had informed those experts that their services were no longer required. Unlike the shrinking militaries of the 1990's, there was no private sector to 'soak up' the majority of those personnel.The Earth & Sky had been working on the problem of nation-building on a time table and they kept coming up short. They had to fight to create their state first, so the all-important after-battle had been something their leaders dreaded. Temujin had been understanding about not everything being 100% ready. Few wars were fought that way.Then a young male Amazon of mixed Magyar ancestry talked history with the Earth & Sky representative to a seemingly inconsequential personage's funeral. A few critical E&S leaders (a minority, to be sure) immediately sought ways to cultivate this man into what was a ten year plan to open doors to the Amazons. Then that man saved the Great Khan's life and everything changed.Before the E&S had even remotely considered directly approaching the Amazons for help, the Amazons came knocking on their door. The Seven Pillars of Heaven had tried to kidnap a camp full of Amazon children ~ an assault on their future. The two secret societies were bound by one unique, fortunate idiot and a mutual thirst for vengeance.They were also directed by two incredibly foresighted, ambitious and brilliant people. In Katrina of Epona, the E&S elders found someone who equaled their hope to see the Seven Pillars humbled and humbled immediately. Moreover, these were the Amazons they were dealing with. Amazons always sought both lightning decisions and long term solutions.From the moment Iskender left his third meeting with Cáel Nyilas, Katrina put the fruits of the First Directive (the Amazons efforts to recruit militant outsider women) into overdrive. Havenstone had the apparatus in place to screen potential inductees. All they had to do was add a "can you suggest any other people who might be interested in this line of work" box to their employment forms.That brought men into the process in surprising numbers. The market was flush with military veterans having trouble readjusting to the civilian community. The Khanate wasn't hiring killers. They wanted ex-military and civilian police officers to create a national police force.They also wanted engineers and builders, cadres for their cadet corps and a whole range of specialist in jobs most of the Western World took for granted. The money came from off-shore accounts funded by Havenstone International. The employment opportunities came from Earth & Sky front companies operating in the UK and the US (and Israel, but that was another matter).They had already started hiring scores of civilian English-speaking experts to help build their newborn nation's infrastructure before the first blow landed. English hadn't been chosen out of any cultural bias. Relying on Russian and Chinese sources wasn't feasible, the Khanate wasn't overly linguistically gifted where distant tongues were concerned and, as pointed out, the English-speaking world had a glut of applicants.Now to the problem, there were people in the US and UK who weren't happy with their citizenry going to the Khanate and helping them to survive and thrive. These power groups wanted the Mongol-Turkish Empire to keep the resources flowing to the West, without any reciprocal commitment on their part.Imagine their surprise when some wonks at the State Department and Foreign Ministries found bundles of expedited passport requests to the (former) nations of Turkmenistan, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Mongolia (and later Afghanistan and Iraq). The Department of Defense  Ministry of Defense were discovering their former military personnel and civilian contractors with Security Clearances were heading the same way.Of all those destinations, only Mongolia and Kazakhstan were under any kind of 'Restricted Travel' advisories. Barring any coherent anti-Khanate strategy from their administrations, the bureaucracies were doing their jobs, with Havenstone exerting just enough influence to get the job done while flying beneath the radar.After JIKIT was created, the group had a US Senator greasing the wheels to get the requests expedited. In England, Lady Worthington-Burke shamelessly used the people at the other end of the O'Shea hotline to get the job done overseas. She did have to sell out a teammate, but that was what good boys were for ~ taking one for the team. (That would be me, if there was any misunderstanding.)When Cáel Nyilas was kidnapped under the watchful eye of the FBI (I wasn't sure how they got that bum-wrap), the whole situation exploded. The PRC didn't have me, yet promised they might produce me if certain concessions were made. According to Addison, I was worth 5,000 barrels a day of refined fuel oil and 50 tons of coal a month, and the Great Khan agreed to pay! Woot! I was loved by somebody who was a somebody.All that attention drove home some salient points. I was a noble scion of Ireland, Romania, Georgia and Armenia (in no particular order) and they all wanted to know why the US had let me be kidnapped. Didn't my president know I was a sacred national treasure? After JIKIT tracked down the bribes and clandestine activities to Chinese shell corporations, those powers wanted to know what sanctions would be applied.'But wait, wasn't I a private citizen?' my national leaders pleaded. Then the PRC made a case which boiled down to 'I had it coming for being a fiancé to Hana Sulkanen and a brother to the Great Khan', while ignoring me being snatched in the territorial US of A. Of course, they didn't claim to have actually done the kidnapping.Javiera was waiting on that one; 'What was their excuse for kidnapping a little US girl to force my compliance?' The furious Federal authorities even found two dead adult bodies and two digits from said child to add to the media frenzy. To prove I had migrated to fantasy land, the CNN journalist got it right ~ they had tortured the girl and I had killed two of them for it. Just ask the Romanian Army how lethal I could be.In a rare comment, Temujin informed the international press that he believed I was still alive. Why did he believe that? If I wasn't, they would have been able to spot the pile of dead enemy around me and my 'boon companion' (go Aya!) from orbit. Until they discovered this carnal pit from Hell, I was surely still alive.Just at the cusp of turning publically against the Mongol barbarians, the world suddenly got angry with their enemy, the PRC. The principal two Western regimes were paralyzed with indecision until my miraculous cry for help from the middle of the Pacific showed the world I was alive, had punished my enemies and rescued others from under the opponent's cruel thumb.Clearly if I started ranting against the People's Republic of China, my government would be rather peeved with me. I hadn't screwed a dozen poli-sci majors to miss out on that obvious situation. I behaved and hoped they wouldn't make me die from an embolism, or some other equally implausible cause.(DC is a marvel. 9 pm, Monday, August 18th. 21 days)I'd been dragged to DC, to honor promises made in Rome a week ago. I had another choice; I could have justifiably said I was still getting over my kidnapping ordeal. But that choice fucked over Javiera Castello, my boss at JIKIT (Joint International Khanate Interim Task force).That was how I ended up in a 'secret and secure' meeting with Tony Blinken, Deputy National Security Advisor (DNSA) and his experts. He was someone I didn't know. The rest, I'd had a verbal run-in with them after the Romanian bloodbath. I'd been cranky. I would hardly consider us to be on good terms now.All four experts were from the US State Department. They were foregoing their usual group of flunkies because this meeting wasn't really happening. All the participants were officially somewhere else, mostly not even in D.C. Had this soiree 'really happened', the Congressional sub-committees would have been able to request the minutes of Tony's meeting with members of JIKIT and:·         Victoria Nuland, Ass. Sec. of State for European & Eurasian Affairs (ASSEEA)·         Robert O. Blake Jr., Ass. Sec. of State for S & C Asian Affairs (ASSCAA)·         Daniel R. Russel, Ass. Sec. of State for E. Asian and Pacific Affairs (ASSEAP)·         Bill A. Miller, Director of the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) (aka Big Willy)We made stiff, formal introductions (which signaled the utter lack of trust in the room.) Javiera hadn't wanted to put me through an interrogation this soon after my near-death experience, considering my snarky nature when stressed. The White House was putting the squeeze on her. The main player was Tony, who talked with the Leader of the Free World on a weekly, if not daily, basis.The Diplomatic Security Service people had successfully peeled off Pamela and my SD Amazons only after they agreed I could keep Aya. They tolerated me keeping the nine-year old girl despite the obvious fact she had gone through worse hardships than I had endured and was still packing her Chinese QSW-06 suppressed pistol.I had already fabricated and submitted my report on how I'd overcome a plane-full of rogue delinquents from the Forumi i Rinis  Eurosocialiste t  Shqip ris  (Euro-socialist Youth Forum of Albania) bent on recruiting impressionable European socialites by accessing my Twitter account.That's right, the Albanians had it out for me. I reiterated that critical bit of data to the Department of Homeland Security when they questioned me on the veracity of my memories. The two ethnic Chinese I was found with? I thought they were from Taiwan, and they both appeared to be suffering from amnesia.I was already suffering repercussions from my pathological refusal to take life seriously. Javiera believed I was about to get a formal apology from Ferit Hoxha, Permanent Representative of Albania to the United Nations. Damn it! Now I had to do something nice for the Albanians. Maybe I'd offer them membership in the Khanate, full-statehood with an economic package to sweeten the deal.Yes, that was how Albania and Kosovo joined the Khanate, a product of my love for exaggeration and a little post-Ottoman solidarity over Tarator (cold soup made of yoghurt, garlic, parsley, cucumber, salt and olive oil with a side of fried squids), Tav  Kosi (lamb meatballs) and Flia & Kaymak (a dessert I highly recommend).We had toasted the Pillars of Kanun (Albanian oral law and tradition): ~ Nderi (honor), Mikpritja (hospitality), Sjellja (Right Conduct) and Fis (Kin Loyalty), ~ and he promised to tell his people that I had Besa which was an Albanian-ism for being a man who would honor his word of honor (despite us being brought together by my lie). The shit-ton of financial and military aid I asked the Great Khan to sweeten the pot with might have helped as well.Later, Lady Yum-Yum told me that the military leaders of NATO called it a 'master-stroke' in neutralizing Comrade Putin's Russian-backed 'Greek threat

Energy and climate change are becoming ever more central to America's national security. It used to be that foreign policy and national security discussions related to energy focused primarily on oil prices and Middle East relations. Now, these conversations also include topics like critical mineral supply chains, clean energy competition with China, climate instability, and more. The Biden administration navigated this increasingly complex terrain for four years. It confronted Russia's weaponization of energy following its invasion of Ukraine; managed climate negotiations with difficult diplomatic relationships; and reshaped America's approach to energy security in a warming world. So how should we think about the intersection of energy, climate, and national security going forward? And what lessons can we draw from the Biden administration's experience? This week host Jason Bordoff talks with Jon Finer about the intersection of energy, climate change, and national security. Jon is a distinguished visiting fellow at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA. He recently served as deputy national security advisor in the Biden administration, where he was a key architect of the administration's foreign policy. Prior to that role, Jon served in the Obama administration for seven and a half years in various positions, including chief of staff to Secretary of State John Kerry. Jon began his career in journalism, first covering Major League Baseball before moving to the security beat, covering conflicts in Iraq and other regions for the Washington Post. Credits: Hosted by Jason Bordoff and Bill Loveless. Produced by Erin Hardick, Mary Catherine O'Connor, Caroline Pitman, and Kyu Lee. Additional support from Caroline Pitman, Jon Elkind, Kevin Brennan, Luisa Palacios and Kyu Lee. Engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is executive producer.

Interview with Edward Fishman on Ukarine & Russia - 40:50 This week, Kelly introduces our new co-host, Tristen Naylor, a non-resident fellow at ISD. Read more about Tristen on our website: https://isd.georgetown.edu/profile/tristen-naylor/ Kelly and Tristen analyze recent developments in German and Syrian politics and the recent G20 summit in South Africa. Kelly then turns to Edward Fishman for an update on Ukraine and Russia.  Edward is the author of the new book, Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare, which focuses on the evolution of sanctions as a tool of US foreign policy. He served in the Treasury, Defense, and State departments from 2011 to 2017, including in the Office of Economic Sanctions Policy and Implementation, and on Secretary of State John Kerry's policy planning staff. Find his book here: https://www.amazon.com/Chokepoints-American-Power-Economic-Warfare/dp/0593712978  The opinions expressed in this conversation are strictly those of the participants and do not represent the views of Georgetown University or any government entity. Produced by Theo Malhotra and Freddie Mallinson.  Recorded on March 4, 2025. Diplomatic Immunity, a podcast from the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, brings you frank and candid conversations with experts on the issues facing diplomats and national security decision-makers around the world. Funding support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. For more, visit our website, and follow us on Linkedin, Twitter @GUDiplomacy, and Instagram @isd.georgetown

From the U.S. lead negotiator on climate change, an inside account of the seven-year negotiation that culminated in the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015—and where the international climate effort needs to go from here. The 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change was one of the most difficult and hopeful achievements of the twenty-first century: 195 nations finally agreed, after 20 years of trying, to establish an ambitious, operational regime to address one of the greatest civilizational challenges of our time.  In Landing the Paris Climate Agreement: How It Happened, Why It Matters, and What Comes Next (MIT Press, 2024), Todd Stern, the chief US negotiator on climate change, provides an engaging account from inside the rooms where it happened: the full, charged, seven-year story of how the Paris Agreement came to be, following an arc from Copenhagen, to Durban, to the secret U.S.-China climate deal in 2014, to Paris itself. With a storyteller's gift for character, suspense, and detail, Stern crafts a high-stakes narrative that illuminates the strategy, policy, politics, and diplomacy that made Paris possible. Introducing readers to a vivid cast of characters, including Xie Zenhua, Vice Minister of China's National Development and Reform Commission, Bo Lidegaard, chief strategist for Denmark's Prime Minster, and Indian minister Jairam Ramesh, Stern, who worked alongside President Barack Obama and Secretaries of State John Kerry and Hillary Clinton, depicts the pitfalls and challenges overcome, the shifting alliances, the last-minute maneuvering, and the ultimate historic success. The book concludes with a final chapter that describes key developments since 2015 and the author's reflections on what needs to be done going forward to contain the climate threat. A unique peek behind the curtain of one of the most important international agreements of our time, Landing the Paris Climate Agreement is a vital and fascinating read for anyone who cares about the future of our one shared home. Todd Stern is a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a nonresident distinguished fellow at the Asia Society, concentrating on climate change. He served from January 2009 until April 2016 as the Special Envoy for Climate Change at the Department of State, where he was President Barack Obama's chief climate negotiator. Caleb Zakarin is editor at the New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

From the U.S. lead negotiator on climate change, an inside account of the seven-year negotiation that culminated in the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015—and where the international climate effort needs to go from here. The 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change was one of the most difficult and hopeful achievements of the twenty-first century: 195 nations finally agreed, after 20 years of trying, to establish an ambitious, operational regime to address one of the greatest civilizational challenges of our time.  In Landing the Paris Climate Agreement: How It Happened, Why It Matters, and What Comes Next (MIT Press, 2024), Todd Stern, the chief US negotiator on climate change, provides an engaging account from inside the rooms where it happened: the full, charged, seven-year story of how the Paris Agreement came to be, following an arc from Copenhagen, to Durban, to the secret U.S.-China climate deal in 2014, to Paris itself. With a storyteller's gift for character, suspense, and detail, Stern crafts a high-stakes narrative that illuminates the strategy, policy, politics, and diplomacy that made Paris possible. Introducing readers to a vivid cast of characters, including Xie Zenhua, Vice Minister of China's National Development and Reform Commission, Bo Lidegaard, chief strategist for Denmark's Prime Minster, and Indian minister Jairam Ramesh, Stern, who worked alongside President Barack Obama and Secretaries of State John Kerry and Hillary Clinton, depicts the pitfalls and challenges overcome, the shifting alliances, the last-minute maneuvering, and the ultimate historic success. The book concludes with a final chapter that describes key developments since 2015 and the author's reflections on what needs to be done going forward to contain the climate threat. A unique peek behind the curtain of one of the most important international agreements of our time, Landing the Paris Climate Agreement is a vital and fascinating read for anyone who cares about the future of our one shared home. Todd Stern is a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a nonresident distinguished fellow at the Asia Society, concentrating on climate change. He served from January 2009 until April 2016 as the Special Envoy for Climate Change at the Department of State, where he was President Barack Obama's chief climate negotiator. Caleb Zakarin is editor at the New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

From the U.S. lead negotiator on climate change, an inside account of the seven-year negotiation that culminated in the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015—and where the international climate effort needs to go from here. The 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change was one of the most difficult and hopeful achievements of the twenty-first century: 195 nations finally agreed, after 20 years of trying, to establish an ambitious, operational regime to address one of the greatest civilizational challenges of our time.  In Landing the Paris Climate Agreement: How It Happened, Why It Matters, and What Comes Next (MIT Press, 2024), Todd Stern, the chief US negotiator on climate change, provides an engaging account from inside the rooms where it happened: the full, charged, seven-year story of how the Paris Agreement came to be, following an arc from Copenhagen, to Durban, to the secret U.S.-China climate deal in 2014, to Paris itself. With a storyteller's gift for character, suspense, and detail, Stern crafts a high-stakes narrative that illuminates the strategy, policy, politics, and diplomacy that made Paris possible. Introducing readers to a vivid cast of characters, including Xie Zenhua, Vice Minister of China's National Development and Reform Commission, Bo Lidegaard, chief strategist for Denmark's Prime Minster, and Indian minister Jairam Ramesh, Stern, who worked alongside President Barack Obama and Secretaries of State John Kerry and Hillary Clinton, depicts the pitfalls and challenges overcome, the shifting alliances, the last-minute maneuvering, and the ultimate historic success. The book concludes with a final chapter that describes key developments since 2015 and the author's reflections on what needs to be done going forward to contain the climate threat. A unique peek behind the curtain of one of the most important international agreements of our time, Landing the Paris Climate Agreement is a vital and fascinating read for anyone who cares about the future of our one shared home. Todd Stern is a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a nonresident distinguished fellow at the Asia Society, concentrating on climate change. He served from January 2009 until April 2016 as the Special Envoy for Climate Change at the Department of State, where he was President Barack Obama's chief climate negotiator. Caleb Zakarin is editor at the New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/world-affairs

From the U.S. lead negotiator on climate change, an inside account of the seven-year negotiation that culminated in the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015—and where the international climate effort needs to go from here. The 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change was one of the most difficult and hopeful achievements of the twenty-first century: 195 nations finally agreed, after 20 years of trying, to establish an ambitious, operational regime to address one of the greatest civilizational challenges of our time.  In Landing the Paris Climate Agreement: How It Happened, Why It Matters, and What Comes Next (MIT Press, 2024), Todd Stern, the chief US negotiator on climate change, provides an engaging account from inside the rooms where it happened: the full, charged, seven-year story of how the Paris Agreement came to be, following an arc from Copenhagen, to Durban, to the secret U.S.-China climate deal in 2014, to Paris itself. With a storyteller's gift for character, suspense, and detail, Stern crafts a high-stakes narrative that illuminates the strategy, policy, politics, and diplomacy that made Paris possible. Introducing readers to a vivid cast of characters, including Xie Zenhua, Vice Minister of China's National Development and Reform Commission, Bo Lidegaard, chief strategist for Denmark's Prime Minster, and Indian minister Jairam Ramesh, Stern, who worked alongside President Barack Obama and Secretaries of State John Kerry and Hillary Clinton, depicts the pitfalls and challenges overcome, the shifting alliances, the last-minute maneuvering, and the ultimate historic success. The book concludes with a final chapter that describes key developments since 2015 and the author's reflections on what needs to be done going forward to contain the climate threat. A unique peek behind the curtain of one of the most important international agreements of our time, Landing the Paris Climate Agreement is a vital and fascinating read for anyone who cares about the future of our one shared home. Todd Stern is a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a nonresident distinguished fellow at the Asia Society, concentrating on climate change. He served from January 2009 until April 2016 as the Special Envoy for Climate Change at the Department of State, where he was President Barack Obama's chief climate negotiator. Caleb Zakarin is editor at the New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/environmental-studies

From the U.S. lead negotiator on climate change, an inside account of the seven-year negotiation that culminated in the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015—and where the international climate effort needs to go from here. The 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change was one of the most difficult and hopeful achievements of the twenty-first century: 195 nations finally agreed, after 20 years of trying, to establish an ambitious, operational regime to address one of the greatest civilizational challenges of our time.  In Landing the Paris Climate Agreement: How It Happened, Why It Matters, and What Comes Next (MIT Press, 2024), Todd Stern, the chief US negotiator on climate change, provides an engaging account from inside the rooms where it happened: the full, charged, seven-year story of how the Paris Agreement came to be, following an arc from Copenhagen, to Durban, to the secret U.S.-China climate deal in 2014, to Paris itself. With a storyteller's gift for character, suspense, and detail, Stern crafts a high-stakes narrative that illuminates the strategy, policy, politics, and diplomacy that made Paris possible. Introducing readers to a vivid cast of characters, including Xie Zenhua, Vice Minister of China's National Development and Reform Commission, Bo Lidegaard, chief strategist for Denmark's Prime Minster, and Indian minister Jairam Ramesh, Stern, who worked alongside President Barack Obama and Secretaries of State John Kerry and Hillary Clinton, depicts the pitfalls and challenges overcome, the shifting alliances, the last-minute maneuvering, and the ultimate historic success. The book concludes with a final chapter that describes key developments since 2015 and the author's reflections on what needs to be done going forward to contain the climate threat. A unique peek behind the curtain of one of the most important international agreements of our time, Landing the Paris Climate Agreement is a vital and fascinating read for anyone who cares about the future of our one shared home. Todd Stern is a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a nonresident distinguished fellow at the Asia Society, concentrating on climate change. He served from January 2009 until April 2016 as the Special Envoy for Climate Change at the Department of State, where he was President Barack Obama's chief climate negotiator. Caleb Zakarin is editor at the New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/public-policy

From the U.S. lead negotiator on climate change, an inside account of the seven-year negotiation that culminated in the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015—and where the international climate effort needs to go from here. The 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change was one of the most difficult and hopeful achievements of the twenty-first century: 195 nations finally agreed, after 20 years of trying, to establish an ambitious, operational regime to address one of the greatest civilizational challenges of our time.  In Landing the Paris Climate Agreement: How It Happened, Why It Matters, and What Comes Next (MIT Press, 2024), Todd Stern, the chief US negotiator on climate change, provides an engaging account from inside the rooms where it happened: the full, charged, seven-year story of how the Paris Agreement came to be, following an arc from Copenhagen, to Durban, to the secret U.S.-China climate deal in 2014, to Paris itself. With a storyteller's gift for character, suspense, and detail, Stern crafts a high-stakes narrative that illuminates the strategy, policy, politics, and diplomacy that made Paris possible. Introducing readers to a vivid cast of characters, including Xie Zenhua, Vice Minister of China's National Development and Reform Commission, Bo Lidegaard, chief strategist for Denmark's Prime Minster, and Indian minister Jairam Ramesh, Stern, who worked alongside President Barack Obama and Secretaries of State John Kerry and Hillary Clinton, depicts the pitfalls and challenges overcome, the shifting alliances, the last-minute maneuvering, and the ultimate historic success. The book concludes with a final chapter that describes key developments since 2015 and the author's reflections on what needs to be done going forward to contain the climate threat. A unique peek behind the curtain of one of the most important international agreements of our time, Landing the Paris Climate Agreement is a vital and fascinating read for anyone who cares about the future of our one shared home. Todd Stern is a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a nonresident distinguished fellow at the Asia Society, concentrating on climate change. He served from January 2009 until April 2016 as the Special Envoy for Climate Change at the Department of State, where he was President Barack Obama's chief climate negotiator. Caleb Zakarin is editor at the New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/politics-and-polemics

From the U.S. lead negotiator on climate change, an inside account of the seven-year negotiation that culminated in the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015—and where the international climate effort needs to go from here. The 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change was one of the most difficult and hopeful achievements of the twenty-first century: 195 nations finally agreed, after 20 years of trying, to establish an ambitious, operational regime to address one of the greatest civilizational challenges of our time.  In Landing the Paris Climate Agreement: How It Happened, Why It Matters, and What Comes Next (MIT Press, 2024), Todd Stern, the chief US negotiator on climate change, provides an engaging account from inside the rooms where it happened: the full, charged, seven-year story of how the Paris Agreement came to be, following an arc from Copenhagen, to Durban, to the secret U.S.-China climate deal in 2014, to Paris itself. With a storyteller's gift for character, suspense, and detail, Stern crafts a high-stakes narrative that illuminates the strategy, policy, politics, and diplomacy that made Paris possible. Introducing readers to a vivid cast of characters, including Xie Zenhua, Vice Minister of China's National Development and Reform Commission, Bo Lidegaard, chief strategist for Denmark's Prime Minster, and Indian minister Jairam Ramesh, Stern, who worked alongside President Barack Obama and Secretaries of State John Kerry and Hillary Clinton, depicts the pitfalls and challenges overcome, the shifting alliances, the last-minute maneuvering, and the ultimate historic success. The book concludes with a final chapter that describes key developments since 2015 and the author's reflections on what needs to be done going forward to contain the climate threat. A unique peek behind the curtain of one of the most important international agreements of our time, Landing the Paris Climate Agreement is a vital and fascinating read for anyone who cares about the future of our one shared home. Todd Stern is a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a nonresident distinguished fellow at the Asia Society, concentrating on climate change. He served from January 2009 until April 2016 as the Special Envoy for Climate Change at the Department of State, where he was President Barack Obama's chief climate negotiator. Caleb Zakarin is editor at the New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the U.S. lead negotiator on climate change, an inside account of the seven-year negotiation that culminated in the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015—and where the international climate effort needs to go from here. The 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change was one of the most difficult and hopeful achievements of the twenty-first century: 195 nations finally agreed, after 20 years of trying, to establish an ambitious, operational regime to address one of the greatest civilizational challenges of our time.  In Landing the Paris Climate Agreement: How It Happened, Why It Matters, and What Comes Next (MIT Press, 2024), Todd Stern, the chief US negotiator on climate change, provides an engaging account from inside the rooms where it happened: the full, charged, seven-year story of how the Paris Agreement came to be, following an arc from Copenhagen, to Durban, to the secret U.S.-China climate deal in 2014, to Paris itself. With a storyteller's gift for character, suspense, and detail, Stern crafts a high-stakes narrative that illuminates the strategy, policy, politics, and diplomacy that made Paris possible. Introducing readers to a vivid cast of characters, including Xie Zenhua, Vice Minister of China's National Development and Reform Commission, Bo Lidegaard, chief strategist for Denmark's Prime Minster, and Indian minister Jairam Ramesh, Stern, who worked alongside President Barack Obama and Secretaries of State John Kerry and Hillary Clinton, depicts the pitfalls and challenges overcome, the shifting alliances, the last-minute maneuvering, and the ultimate historic success. The book concludes with a final chapter that describes key developments since 2015 and the author's reflections on what needs to be done going forward to contain the climate threat. A unique peek behind the curtain of one of the most important international agreements of our time, Landing the Paris Climate Agreement is a vital and fascinating read for anyone who cares about the future of our one shared home. Todd Stern is a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a nonresident distinguished fellow at the Asia Society, concentrating on climate change. He served from January 2009 until April 2016 as the Special Envoy for Climate Change at the Department of State, where he was President Barack Obama's chief climate negotiator. Caleb Zakarin is editor at the New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the U.S. lead negotiator on climate change, an inside account of the seven-year negotiation that culminated in the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015—and where the international climate effort needs to go from here. The 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change was one of the most difficult and hopeful achievements of the twenty-first century: 195 nations finally agreed, after 20 years of trying, to establish an ambitious, operational regime to address one of the greatest civilizational challenges of our time.  In Landing the Paris Climate Agreement: How It Happened, Why It Matters, and What Comes Next (MIT Press, 2024), Todd Stern, the chief US negotiator on climate change, provides an engaging account from inside the rooms where it happened: the full, charged, seven-year story of how the Paris Agreement came to be, following an arc from Copenhagen, to Durban, to the secret U.S.-China climate deal in 2014, to Paris itself. With a storyteller's gift for character, suspense, and detail, Stern crafts a high-stakes narrative that illuminates the strategy, policy, politics, and diplomacy that made Paris possible. Introducing readers to a vivid cast of characters, including Xie Zenhua, Vice Minister of China's National Development and Reform Commission, Bo Lidegaard, chief strategist for Denmark's Prime Minster, and Indian minister Jairam Ramesh, Stern, who worked alongside President Barack Obama and Secretaries of State John Kerry and Hillary Clinton, depicts the pitfalls and challenges overcome, the shifting alliances, the last-minute maneuvering, and the ultimate historic success. The book concludes with a final chapter that describes key developments since 2015 and the author's reflections on what needs to be done going forward to contain the climate threat. A unique peek behind the curtain of one of the most important international agreements of our time, Landing the Paris Climate Agreement is a vital and fascinating read for anyone who cares about the future of our one shared home. Todd Stern is a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a nonresident distinguished fellow at the Asia Society, concentrating on climate change. He served from January 2009 until April 2016 as the Special Envoy for Climate Change at the Department of State, where he was President Barack Obama's chief climate negotiator. Caleb Zakarin is editor at the New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/book-of-the-day

Our guest in this episode is a scholar and peacebuilder who knows the world of peacebuilding intimately, and offers a critique from the inside. Qamar-ul Huda is the author of Reenvisioning Peacebuilding and Conflict Resolution in Islam, published in April 2024. He's worked for major players like the US Institute of Peace and the UN Development Program. He served in the Obama Administration as Senior Policy Advisor to Secretary of State John Kerry, and is now a professor of International Affairs at the US Naval Academy.In this conversation, Huda shares a refreshingly positive perspective on the possibility of peace in Islamic countries, rooted in his deep understanding of Islamic religion and cultures. In his book, he reflects on some of the mistakes made in the early years of the War on Terror, by the US government, and other international actors.  He says many of these mistakes were rooted in seeing peacebuilding as a secular project, which failed to acknowledge the conflict resolution tools and ethics that exist in Islamic tradition. And he says this thinking continues to influence foreign policy to this day. He also highlights more constructive examples of conflict resolution in the Muslim world.   ABOUT THE SHOW The Making Peace Visible podcast is hosted by Jamil Simon and produced by Andrea Muraskin, with help from Faith McClure. Steven Youngblood is Director of Education for Making Peace Visible. Learn more at makingpeacevisible.org Support this podcast Connect on social:Instagram @makingpeacevisibleLinkedIn @makingpeacevisibleX (formerly Twitter) @makingpeaceviz We want to learn more about our listeners. Take this 3-minute survey to help us improve the show!

The gender gap continues to grow in American politics, contributing to the nation's partisan divide. The latest FOX News poll shows a 20-point difference between preferred candidates, with women favoring Vice President Kamala Harris and men favoring former President Donald Trump. Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley joined to discuss former President Trump's recent all-women town hall with FOX's Harris Faulkner and detailed their playbook for the last few weeks of the campaign.  Vice President Kamala Harris' recent media appearances may seem scattered at first glance, with her interviews ranging from a sit down with Alex Cooper on the 'Call Her Daddy' podcast to a heated exchange with FOX News Chief Political Correspondent Bret Baier on 'Special Report'. However, despite their differences, the Democratic presidential nominee's goal is the same with them all: winning over key demographics she'll need for an election victory. Democratic Strategist & former spokesperson for Secretary of State John Kerry, Marie Harf, weighs in on whether this strategy is effective with less than three weeks until Election Day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The gender gap continues to grow in American politics, contributing to the nation's partisan divide. The latest FOX News poll shows a 20-point difference between preferred candidates, with women favoring Vice President Kamala Harris and men favoring former President Donald Trump. Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley joined to discuss former President Trump's recent all-women town hall with FOX's Harris Faulkner and detailed their playbook for the last few weeks of the campaign.  Vice President Kamala Harris' recent media appearances may seem scattered at first glance, with her interviews ranging from a sit down with Alex Cooper on the 'Call Her Daddy' podcast to a heated exchange with FOX News Chief Political Correspondent Bret Baier on 'Special Report'. However, despite their differences, the Democratic presidential nominee's goal is the same with them all: winning over key demographics she'll need for an election victory. Democratic Strategist & former spokesperson for Secretary of State John Kerry, Marie Harf, weighs in on whether this strategy is effective with less than three weeks until Election Day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The gender gap continues to grow in American politics, contributing to the nation's partisan divide. The latest FOX News poll shows a 20-point difference between preferred candidates, with women favoring Vice President Kamala Harris and men favoring former President Donald Trump. Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley joined to discuss former President Trump's recent all-women town hall with FOX's Harris Faulkner and detailed their playbook for the last few weeks of the campaign.  Vice President Kamala Harris' recent media appearances may seem scattered at first glance, with her interviews ranging from a sit down with Alex Cooper on the 'Call Her Daddy' podcast to a heated exchange with FOX News Chief Political Correspondent Bret Baier on 'Special Report'. However, despite their differences, the Democratic presidential nominee's goal is the same with them all: winning over key demographics she'll need for an election victory. Democratic Strategist & former spokesperson for Secretary of State John Kerry, Marie Harf, weighs in on whether this strategy is effective with less than three weeks until Election Day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Pastor Paul Blair and David Hanan, Ph.D., dive into the controversial territory of free speech and misinformation. We begin by examining former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's striking statement from the World Economic Forum panel on Green Energy. Kerry recently called the First Amendment a "major block" to combatting misinformation, sparking debates about freedom of speech, government control, and the role of media in society. Is the freedom of speech now an obstacle, or is it more critical than ever in the age of disinformation?   We also analyze President Joe Biden's baffling comment about Americans affected by recent hurricanes. During a press conference, Biden suggested that those impacted by these devastating events were universally "happy," leaving many wondering about his grasp on the reality of the situation. What does this reveal about leadership during crises, and how do these missteps fuel the very misinformation leaders claim to fight against? Join us for this critical conversation on the clash between free speech and the growing efforts to control narratives. We'll explore the implications of these remarks and what they mean for the future of democracy, media, and individual freedoms.

The gang discusses the VP debate. Vance fact-checked the fact-checkers, and Walz accidentally says he's made friends with school shooters. Last Wednesday, former Secretary of State John Kerry spoke at a World Economic Forum panel on green energy. October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and to celebrate that, we'll be discussing Kamala's husband, Doug Emhoff, allegedly slapping his girlfriend. Guests: Kathleen Dunbar & Derek Richards Go to TryMiracle.com/NORMAL and use the code NORMAL to claim your FREE THREE-PIECE TOWEL SET and SAVE over 40%. Get $5 off your next order at MagicSpoon.com/NORMAL. If you're ready to take the next step in this fight, go to BlazeUnlimited.com/NORMAL to claim your spot. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Rich Zeoli Show- Hour 4: 6:05pm- Dockworkers Launch Massive Strike. Paul Berger of The Wall Street Journal writes: “Dockworkers at dozens of U.S. ports are digging in for a massive pay increase, seeking to flex their power in a strike that aims to strangle the flow of trade across much of the country…About 60% of containerized trade moves through the East Coast and Gulf Coast ports where ILA dockworkers last year unloaded about $588 billion of imports, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence…J.P. Morgan equity analysts estimate a ports strike would cost the U.S. economy between $3.8 billion and $4.5 billion a day, some of which would be recovered once normal operations resume.” You can read the full article here: https://www.wsj.com/articles/dockworkers-launch-strike-at-ports-from-maine-to-texas-dbbeec39?mod=hp_lead_pos8 6:20pm- Where is President Joe Biden? On Tuesday, Iran launched at least two waves of ballistic missiles at Israel—amounting to roughly 200 missiles in total. Initial reports indicate that the missiles were intercepted by Israeli defense systems—with one casualty, a Palestinian man who was killed by shrapnel. In a statement, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) noted that “10 million civilians” were ultimately targeted by the “Iranian projectiles.” 6:40pm- While speaking at the World Economic Forum, former Secretary of State John Kerry said that free speech prevents consensus in a Democracy—shockingly concluding that free speech should be squashed in favor of unanimity.

In this episode of the Three Martini Lunch, Greg and Jim have trouble separating the good, the bad, and the crazy from each martini as more details come out about John Kerry blocking the FBI from arresting terrorists, the NIH evading FOIA requests during the pandemic, and Hunter Biden lying under oath three separate times.First, they slam former Secretary of State John Kerry for running interference for Iranian terrorists, as FBI whistleblowers have brought to light. They also note the positive aspects of having a Republican House which can investigate such shady dealings in the State Department.Next, they are exasperated with the testimony of former NIH official Dr. David Morens, as he plays dumb about what it means to delete federal records and insists that his references to communicating with Dr. Anthony Fauci through "back channels" were intended as jokes. They observe that you know the situation is dire when even Democratic Rep. Kweisi Mfume takes Morens to task for his behavior during the testimony.Finally, they find themselves not so shocked to learn that Hunter Biden has lied under oath three separate times about matters such as his communications with a Chinese Communist Party official and his involvement with procuring visas for foreign nationals. They wonder whether Hunter will face jail time for his refusal to cooperate with the subpoena, the way that former Trump advisor Peter Navarro did.Please visit our great sponsors:Lumenhttps://lumen.meTake the next step in improving your health. Use code 3ML at checkout for $100 off.ZBioticshttps://zbiotics.com/3MLVisit today and save 15% at checkout with code 3ML.  

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In conversation with Annie Duke An ''unflappable and genial point-person'' (The New York Times), Jen Psaki served as the thirty-fourth White House Press Secretary under President Biden until May 2022. Currently the host of MSNBC's Sunday afternoon and Monday evening program, Inside with Jen Psaki, she spent the previous twenty years in public service. This includes stints as White House Communications Director under President Obama, as the spokesperson for the State Department under then Secretary of State John Kerry, work on three presidential campaigns, and numerous other campaign and communication roles. In Say More, Psaki employs her trademark wit and clearheaded analysis to reveal the surprising lessons she learned in the press room and from America's top leaders. Annie Duke is the bestselling author of Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away and Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts. A former professional poker player, she won a World Series of Poker bracelet and is the only woman to have won the World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions. She currently works with First Round Capital Partners, a seed stage venture fund, and teaches executive education at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2023 she completed her PhD in cognitive psychology. Duke is also the co-founder of The Alliance for Decision Education, a nonprofit whose mission is to improve lives by empowering students through decision skills education. Because you love Author Events, please make a donation to keep our podcasts free for everyone. THANK YOU! (recorded 5/10/2024)

Olivia Pérez-Collellmir is a solo pianist, bandleader, and composer from Barcelona, Spain. Noted in Arts Fuse as a “Spanish virtuoso” who adds “a flamenco touch to her chamber jazz,” Collellmir's performance highlights include playing on the soundtrack of Isla Bonita by renowned director Fernando Colomo, a solo performance at the 25th anniversary gala of the six-time Grammy nominated Boston Baroque Orchestra, touring with Spanish Grammy nominee Rosana Arbelo, performing an honorary concert at Berklee for the legendary Rita Moreno, and performances for United States Secretary of State John Kerry, opera star Renée Fleming, and Metropolitan Opera General Manager Peter Gelb.  Peréz-Collellmir started playing piano at the age of five and began studying under Núria Bonells, a disciple of Alicia de Larrocha, and entered The Superior Conservatory of Music in Barcelona at the age of 8. As a young scholar pianist, Collellmir toured performing Faure's Nocturnes and Bach's Partitas and alsorecorded for the National Radio of Spain. In addition, she was selected to play at the Centre de Musique Hindemith in Switzerland on the international performance piano stage. After receiving bachelor's degrees in classical performance from the Conservatori Superior de Música de Barcelona and philosophy from the University of Barcelona, Collellmir became a head of music for the Department of Education of Catalonia where she conducted, recorded, toured, and performed. In 2014, she received a full scholarship from Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she moved, to expand her studies within the idioms of jazz and multicultural music, arrangements, orchestrations and conducting. An honors graduate of Berklee with a dual major in Performance and Professional Music, Collellmir is the composer and performer of the award-winning compositions “Barcelona” and “Together,” which she premiered at the Berklee Performance Center. She is a winner of the Berklee Piano Department's prestigious Chair Award, as well as a Piano Achievement Award. Currently, Pérez-Collellmir is a member of the faculty in the Berklee piano department. ] Her first full album featuring her original music “Olivia” has been recorded in the fall of 2021 (Boston) and in the Summer of 2022 (New York). Her recording has been awarded with the "Berklee Faculty Fellowship Grant 2021-2022”. The album was released on September 15, 2023 produced by Gonzalo Grau. The first album 'Olivia' (Adhyâropa Records) was released on September 15th. A collection of songs representative of the eclecticism and musical fusion that Pérez-Collellmir professes, exploring jazz, flamenco, classical music and Spanish folk traditions to create a universal sound without borders. 'Olivia' captures the native sounds of Barcelona, her hometown. Original songs composed by the Catalan artist and arrangements of pieces by Maurice Ravel and Frederic Mompou with 'Barcelona' as the centerpiece of the project. She also takes some exotic approaches to India and the Middle East. 'Olivia' features 18 stellar collaborations such as Catalan singer Judit Neddermann, percussionist Aleix Tobias, flamenco artists Sonia Olla and Ismael Fernández, bassist John Lockwood (legendary bassist who played with Dizzy Gillespie, Gary Burton, Pat Metheny and Gonzalo Rubalcaba) and cellist Naseem Alatrash (member of the Turtle Island Quartet and 2023 Grammy nominee) For more on Olivia Perez https://www.oliviaperezcollellmir.com/welcome https://open.spotify.com/album/1jXWZWRnCPN2RnLsOOQYOP?si=d38EdcLhQBybbszXUZGCcw

In Diplomatic Immunity's new format, Headlines and History, we take listeners through a roundup of the most important headlines you may have missed in foreign policy and diplomacy, and take a deep dive into our most pressing topic with an expert conversation. Each week, we will alternate between Headlines and History and our regular Diplomatic Immunity format. In our second episode, we discuss Gavin Newson's subnational diplomacy in China, the US-China nuclear talks, the Biden administration's efforts to court island nations in the South Pacific, and talk with Professor Andrew Imbrie for an update on recent AI policy developments. Andrew Imbrie is an associate professor of the practice and the Gracias Chair in security and emerging technology at Georgetown's Center for Security and Emerging Technology. He previously served as senior advisor on cyber policy to the US ambassador to the UN, and as Secretary of State John Kerry's speechwriter. We strongly recommend listeners check out his latest book, The New Fire: War, Peace, and Democracy in the Age of AI, co-authored with Ben Buchanan. The opinions expressed in this conversation are strictly those of the participants and do not represent the views of Georgetown University or any government entity. Episode recorded: November 6, 2023. Produced by Jarrett Dang and Freddie Mallinson. Diplomatic Immunity, a podcast from the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, brings you frank and candid conversations with experts on the issues facing diplomats and national security decision-makers around the world.  Funding support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.  For more, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter @GUDiplomacy. Send any feedback to diplomacy@georgetown.edu.

After Russia invaded Ukraine, hundreds of scientists fled the country and hundreds more remained behind. Those scientists who stayed are trying to continue their research and engage with the global scientific community under often difficult circumstances, with the ultimate goal of being able to help rebuild Ukraine when the war ends.  Since the early days of the war, Vaughan Turekian, the director of the Policy and Global Affairs Division of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, has been leading efforts to support Ukrainian scientists and their research, enlisting the help of international science academies and philanthropic partners. Turekian has spent much of his career in science diplomacy. Before joining the Academies, he served as the fifth science and technology advisor to US Secretary of State John Kerry and was also the founding director of the Center for Science Diplomacy at the American Association for the Advancement of Science.  In this episode, recorded on October 5, Turekian joins host Molly Galvin to discuss efforts to support Ukrainian scientists and why such efforts are important for the future of Ukraine.  Resources National Academies, “Supporting Ukraine's Scientists, Engineers, and Health Care Workers.” Interview with the president of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Jerzy Duszyński, “What I'm Mostly Afraid of Is That There Will Be Two Sciences—Democratic Science and Autocratic Science,” (Issues, Summer 2022). Daniel Armanios, Jonas Skovrup Christensen, and Andriy Tymoshenko, “What Ukraine can Teach the World About Resilience and Civil Engineering” (Issues, Fall 2023).

In today's episode, Andy & DJ talk about the Dollar General shooter who killed 3 black Americans in Jacksonville Florida, Trump to be arraigned next week on charges that he unlawfully tried to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia, and Devon Archer's meetings with then-Secretary of State John Kerry weeks before Shokin was fired.

Thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request, a damning, unredacted email shows Hunter Biden's Burisma business partner Devon Archer met with then Secretary of State John Kerry weeks before Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin (who was investigating Burisma) was fired. WHAT? Well son of a b****!! Plus - how corruption and suppression reign supreme in the world of "peer-reviewed climate science." *HINT: It's all a scam. Podcast Production: Bob Slone Audio Productions 

Today opens with an interview with former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin. He was the prosecutor who was investigating corruption within Burisma and Joe Biden demanded he be fired. The interview really isn't new for those of us who looked at it back during the first Trump impeachment. The details were all plain to see. It's a shame it's taken so long for others to finally see the truth. At the same time Viktor Shokin's story is in the news, we also just learned that Devon Archer had a meeting with then-Secretary of State John Kerry just weeks before Shokin was fired. It's yet another named individual in the Obama administration who is connected with Hunter Biden's business dealings and the influence peddling operations involving Joe Biden. While on the subject of secret meetings in the White House, we are also learning that Bidden staffers met with Special Counsel Jack Smith's aides before the Trump indictment around Mar-a-Lago were issued. George Washington University Law Professor and Constitutional Scholar Jonathan Turley says that meeting is particularly troublesome and “raises obvious concerns about visits to the White House” while Smith and his staff were conduction their investigation. There is no legitimate purpose for the DOJ staffer to be meeting at the White House unless it's to coordinate their attack strategies. I remind everyone that the House Judiciary Committee has sent a letter regarding the big Fani Willis indictment, concerned about elements of collusion. It seems they are all willing to break whatever laws they want to achieve their ends. Attorney Lawrence Caplan has filed a challenge in federal court to have Donald Trump removed form the 2024 race, citing the 14th Amendment as the reason. As my friend Wendy Patterson says, “In the old United States of America, people were innocent until proven guilty. Trump has never been charged let alone convicted for starting an insurrection. If the judge uses the Rule of Law, this will be dismissed.” Let's hope so, but I'm not encouraged given all that we've seen to-date. Mollie Hemingway says that America can no longer say we do not prosecute political opponents of the ruling regime. No matter what happens in the coming weeks or months, the Biden regime has forever stained what had been a pristine record of having never done that before. As if we need more examples of a regime that is completely at odds with the Rule of Law, we spend a moment reminding you of who Professor Pamela Karlan is, how she was at Facebook to help censor the Hunter Biden laptop story and then got a plum job in the DOJ. She is now behind the lawsuit being brought on Elon Musk and Space-X for not hiring illegals. You can't make this up. A government contract that states all employees must be citizens is being pushed aside because Musk embarrassed them when he revealed their Censorship Industrial Complex. Because of that, he must be punished. There is a push to bring back masks and the Covid fear porn is on the rise. Don't fall for it. We all need to push back as hard as we can against this. Be ready to quote the latest study from the NIH stating the highly touted N95 masks may expose wearers to dangerous levels of toxic compounds and are linked to seizures and cancer. Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo just recently slammed the mask mandates as “terrible policies” and also encouraged people to not comply. Eco-terrorists are the ones to blame for almost all of the wild fires around the world. Greece has arrested 79 so far of these arsonist scum who want to convince you that man is causing climate change and they are willing to destroy nature, pollute the air and kill animals and people to prove it's true. If any movement has to resort to terrorism to win, they are worthy of destroying. So, we end with some facts and knowledge from our good friend, Professor Ian Plimer. He once again reminds us that carbon-dioxide is not the cause of warming. The climate has always been fluctuating and human emissions have nothing to do with it. Take a moment to rate and review the show and then share the episode on social media. You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, GETTR and TRUTH Social by searching for The Alan Sanders Show. You can also support the show by visiting my Patreon page!

Former US Secretary of State John Kerry was sent out by the tone-deaf Biden Administration to shore up condemnation of Putin over the Russian invasion of Ukraine. One French journalist dared to ask the obvious question: what about when the US did it? Also today: Constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley wonders why the US House is not asking "who lied" about the Hunter Biden investigation.

Last month we learned from the International Energy Agency (IEA) that investment in clean energy is now significantly outpacing investment in fossil fuels. But as the IEA's top man told us, the scales need to tip much farther toward renewables, and around 90% of spending is currently being done by richer nations and China. What's needed is some kind of global financing pact perhaps to ramp up investment in poorer parts of the world which need support to mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis, while ensuring they also have access to cleaner energy in the future. Right now, more than 100 heads of state and government leaders, policy makers, and institutions -- including the UN, the IMF and the World Bank -- are meeting in Paris to talk about just that. Immersed in these critical discussions is former Secretary of State John Kerry, the US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate. He joins Julia to discuss. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy

5 (Simple) Questions About the Biden Crime FamilyDo we have the elements of a crime? 1 - Do we have evidence of a crime?2 - Do we have a victim?3 - Do we have suspects?4 - Do we have a motive?5 - Do we have opportunity?And, a bonus: how MANY suspects are there Joe Biden's obvious bribery and money-laundering scheme? Did John Kerry get a piece when he pressured Ukraine to fire their prosecutor? Rep. Dan Goldman from Levis-Strauss suggested Barack Obama's team made firing the prosecutor official government policy--did Obama get paid? This leads to another layer: why are FBI bosses so clearly committed to protecting the FigureHead and his cartel? What does God's Word say? Deuteronomy 16:19You shall not distort justice; you shall not be partial, and you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous.Proverbs 6:16-19 There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.Episode 906 Links:Facts Of Biden Bribery Investigation Expose Old NYT Reporting As FBI-Fueled Fake NewsThis is the video where Joe Biden exposes what he did for a $5 million bribe. He got a Ukrainian prosecutor fired who was investigating Burisma. And who paid Joe & Hunter? A Burisma executive who kept secret recordings of their deal. Insane corruptionA few weeks after Burisma's chairman of the board, Vadym Pozhasrkyi, demanded from Hunter Biden that the cases against Burisma be shut down, then Secretary of State John Kerry gave Ukrainian president Poroshenko a heads up that Joe Biden really needed the prosecutor to be fired.Rep. Dan Goldman, D-Levis Strauss trust-fund, pretends Joe Biden got the Ukrainian prosecutor fired as official government business, NOT after accepting a $5 million bribePresident Biden turned and grinned — without saying a word — tonight when I asked about @ChuckGrassley saying alleged Ukrainian bribe-giver claims to have tapes A reporter asked Biden, “Why did the Ukraine and FBI informant file refer to you as the Big Guy?” His cowardly response: “Why'd you ask such a dumb question?" When will the GOP impeach this clown???Burisma founder Mykola Zlochevsky wasn't far from the mark when he said it would take 10 years to unravel the complex payment path that led to Joe Biden.Top Republican James Comer says new Biden bank records will show family accepted between $20-30 MILLION from foreign nationalsFBI Asks Judge to Delay Seth Rich Laptop Release for 66 YearsSenator Mike Lee: Why should we ever trust the @FBI & @TheJusticeDept to fix its own problems internally?Listen to this FBI Director Paul Abbate. Sen. Marsha Blackburn: "I am going to talk about Sen. Grassley's information from yesterday because when the FBI produced the document that you referred to earlier uhh relating to the Biden bribery allegations and you gave that to House Oversight you all redacted any reference to the fact that the Foreign National who allegedly bribed Joe and Hunter Biden had those 17 audio voice recordings. So first of all, why did you redact that part of the information?" 4Patriots https://4patriots.com Protect your family with Food kits, solar generators and more at 4Patriots. Use code TODD for 10% off your first purchase. Alan's Soaps https://alanssoaps.com/TODD Use coupon code ‘TODD' to save an additional 10% off the bundle price. BiOptimizers https://magbreakthrough.com/todd Use promo code TODD for 10% off your order. Bonefrog https://bonefrog.us Enter promo code TODD at checkout to receive 10% off your subscription. Bulwark Capital http://KnowYourRiskRadio.com Find out how Bulwark Capital Actively Manages risk. Call 866-779-RISK or visit KnowYourRiskRadio.com Patriot Mobile https://patriotmobile.com/herman Get free activation today with offer code HERMAN. Visit or call 878-PATRIOT. RuffGreens https://ruffgreens.com/todd Get your FREE Jumpstart Trial Bag of Ruff Greens, simply cover shipping. Visit or call 877-MYDOG-64. SOTA Weight Loss https://sotaweightloss.com SOTA Weight Loss is, say it with me now, STATE OF THE ART! Sound of Freedom https://angel.com/freedom Join the two million and see Sound of Freedom in theaters July 4th. GreenHaven Interactive https://greenhaveninteractive.com Digital Marketing including search engine optimization and website design.This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5674544/advertisement

OPINION It's hard to know where to start. But I had no shortage of time to work it out given I was seated in Westminster Abbey by 7.30am. I wondered how badly time would drag given it didn't start until 11am. By 9am, the choir and orchestra began to play, and that was your first treat of the day. The sound in the Abbey is astonishing. I was seated with members of the House of Lords and various judges who were wearing their wigs, which made me wonder whether that was the reason the King chose May for the coronation. Because despite the weather, which started out mild and fine but turned to a bit of rain, the Abbey is warm and I am assuming by mid-June it could well be hot. There was a lot of heavy cloaking, and that's before we get to the crowns. King Charles III kneels during the coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey, London. The odd thing about the Abbey is for most people you can't actually see a thing. Between the walls and pillars and various religious paraphernalia, it's really a collection of nooks and crannies. I was lucky. I was seated directly next to where some of history's greatest names are buried - Newton, Darwin, Dickens, Chaucer. My eyeline met the Royal Family on the other side. At its closest point the King and Queen were no more than 30 metres from me. Those like UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak who had major parts walked directly in front of me (he is even smaller than you thought). British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Ashkata Murthy. Photo / AP In a sense it seemed unfair, as I wandered off to the toilet after about three hours of waiting inside. I walked past the good and the great who had seats at the entrance to the Abbey. I couldn't believe how close our little media group were and how small a contingent it was - just 27 of us. For those further back, once they'd watched the heavyweight arrivals walk past them, that would be the end of being able to see anything. That is until it was all over and those same people walked out. That was the overarching mood of the day. Everyone knew viewing in some way, shape or form would be restricted. But it was the “being there” that counted. You were a witness to history, and unlike so many events these days this one was rare. Mike Hosking in his Savile Row suit on his way to the King's Coronation at Westminster Abbey. Photo / Supplied Virtually no one would have seen or been at the last one, so it had a character of uniqueness to it. We all felt privileged. There were so many famous people, spotting them ran the risk of being boring. There was a buzz when Prince Harry arrived. I thought he looked sort of lost. He was with other family but in that ‘we put him with the cousins' sort of way. His seat was not as bad as some media had suggested, but even he spent a decent chunk of the ceremony looking at the screen given the viewing restrictions, not to mention Princess Anne's hat in front of him. Britain's Prince Harry, centre, arrives at Westminster Abbey for the coronation ceremony of Britain's King Charles III, in London, Saturday. Photo / AP Prince William is tall, way taller than the rest of them. If I were to pick a highlight, his oath on bended knee in front of his father was very touching. I am probably being unfair, but musically the Ascension Choir brought not just diversity but an amazing life to the Abbey. TV hosts Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly, who are known in New Zealand but amazingly popular in Britain, got a cheer and a lot of clapping when they arrived. They won the prize for the biggest reaction, although the Royal Family received applause as they left. We had seen Dec in Savile Row earlier in the week. He was going into the same place we were coming out of, having bought a pocket square. It's a place called Drakes which is for the “edgier dresser”, I am told. At the Abbey we got given a ticket to enter and a copy of the order of service. Strict instructions came with that - one copy per person, no excuses. Apparently something went awry at the Queen's funeral so they'd tightened up on that. Both mementos of this major occasion. Britain's Prince William and Kate, Princess of Wales, followed by Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, arrive at the coronation of King Charles III at Westminster Abbey, London. Photo / AP The odd thing about being inside the event is that you miss the outside action. The King, I was told, was on his way, but we wouldn't have known that sitting in the Abbey. The first we saw was when the carriage pulled up. The bells that were tolling could barely be heard inside, and part way through when the crown was placed on the royal head (I thought the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby gave it a bit too much pressure, and did it twice, plus it's not light) cannon fire was let off from various parts of Britain. We couldn't hear that either. People were impeccably dressed and impeccably polite, it seemed everyone knew how lucky they were. No matter who you were or where you came from, you were all equal for a couple of hours. I thought that again as I wandered out a side door at the end. Former US Secretary of State John Kerry was standing next to me. He was by himself for a while we exchanged pleasantries, before he took a phone call. Actor Joanna Lumley wandered out. I shook her hand and told her who I was given we've talked a number of times for interviews. She said she remembered (regardless whether she did) but like everyone else she was astonishingly lovely. Newly crowned King Charles III and Queen Camilla have emerged from Westminster Abbey for a grand procession returning to Buckingham Palace after his coronation. Photo / Supplied Standing outside the Abbey, I then turned and realised the gold carriage the King and Queen were leaving in was just across the lawn, beyond the small fence that surrounds the church. I had a spectacular view inside. I had an even better one outside. The carriage went past, off to the Palace for the balcony wave. Just like that it was over. We filed out, through the security tent that had been abandoned, across Lambeth Bridge where several hours earlier I had said hello to Stephen Fry waiting in line, and into a taxi whose driver told me I didn't have a hope in hell of getting back to the hotel because every central road was shut. I just made it back in time to see live pictures of the Mall, the royal wave and the fly by. It's one of those moments you think “how long would you walk for, how long would you wait for, how much security can you endure, how many crowds do you want to battle?”. A crowd gathers at Whitehall ahead of the coronation ceremony for Britain's King Charles III in London. Photo / AP The answer is all of it and more. I love the royals so I'm a paid-up member. But even the most hardened republican would have had trouble in the Abbey not seeing the overwhelming history, power, influence and consistency of the monarchy. Two hours that live forever.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Season 5, episode 5. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has posed an existential crisis for numerous multilateral institutions, worsening several ongoing global issues such as food insecurity while also upending the architecture of European Security. Few organizations understand that or deal with that more than the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. For this week's episode, we chatted with Allison Hart, Senior Advisor and Chief of Staff to the OSCE Secretary General, Helga Maria Schmid. She shared how the organization operates, the unique challenge of having one of its member states upend the issue they are most focused on, how they worked to ease tensions between Russia and Ukraine before the invasion, and how they can be part of the solution to the current crisis.    Allison Hart is the Senior Advisor and Chief of Staff to the OSCE Secretary General, Helga Maria Schmid. She took up this role in Vienna in February 2022. Prior to joining the OSCE, Allison served in a number of roles at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, including as Special Advisor to the Deputy Secretary General, Executive Officer of NATO's Public Diplomacy Division, and most recently as Head of the Human Security Unit. Allison began her career as an entrepreneur in Chicago where she launched and managed two successful businesses before pursuing international relations. In Washington, she coordinated a foreign policy team for a major political campaign and spent several years at The Brookings Institution on projects related to national security and transatlantic relations.    Allison holds a Bachelor of Arts in Middle East Language & Civilization from Northwestern University and a Master of Arts in European Studies & International Economics from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.   NOTE: Any views expressed are strictly her own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the OSCE or any member state.   And as a special treat for this episode, the interview was conducted by ISD Dean and Virginia Rusk Fellow Nathanial Haft. Nate Haft is a career Foreign Service Officer. He most recently served as a senior policy advisor on the U.S. delegation to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague. Nate's prior overseas assignments include covering rule of law and counternarcotics issues in Pakistan, human rights in Albania, and consular affairs in Taiwan. In Washington, he served as a multilateral affairs officer in the Bureau of International Organization Affairs. Nate is a recipient of the Thomas R. Pickering Fellowship in Foreign Affairs. Prior to joining the State Department, he was a Peace Corps volunteer in Peru as well as a research assistant at the Brookings Institution. Mr. Haft graduated summa cum laude from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and earned an MPP from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.   NOTE: While Nate is a career U.S. diplomat, his views are also his own and do not reflect the view of the U.S. State Department or the U.S. government.   Episode recorded: March 3, 2023   Produced by Daniel Henderson   Episode Image: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry sits among his counterparts on December 8, 2016, as he attends a meeting of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. U.S. State Department on Wikimedia Commons   Diplomatic Immunity: Frank and candid conversations about diplomacy and foreign affairs   Diplomatic Immunity, a podcast from the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, brings you frank and candid conversations with experts on the issues facing diplomats and national security decision-makers around the world.    Funding support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.    For more, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter @GUDiplomacy. Send any feedback to diplomacy@georgetown.edu.

An interesting mix this week (and sometimes with just TOO much information) as James and Toby discuss whether 2022 saw higher-than average mortality in Britain and elsewhere and, if it did, whether the mRNA vaccines are responsible; Charles III's forthcoming coronation (which the King intends to dedicate to refugees and NHS workers); the prostitution boom in Davos; and most disturbingly, what James would do if faced with a choice between having sex with Klaus Schwab or getting vaccinated. Finally, Toby takes up the Free Speech Union's petition to save Jeremy Clarkson, which currently has over 40,000 signatures. In Culture Corner it's The Last of Us (HBO Max, Sky Atlantic's NOW), Echo 3 (AppleTV+), Peacemaker (HBO Max, Sky Atlantic's NOW), the tennis documentary Break Point (Netflix) and "Flashman," which Toby is currently reading. Opening sound this week is former US Secretary of State John Kerry summarising Davos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Shaun Casey's work explores the overlapping concerns among religion, diplomacy, and public life. Trained as a theologian with an interest in public policy, Shaun held many academic positions before he was called to set up the Office of Religion and Global Affairs at the U.S. State Department by Secretary of State John Kerry. In this conversation, Shaun offers us ways to think about vocations that have a public face and to consider how we might contribute to the major issues of contemporary life. He reflects on the importance of sitting down and talking together to find common ground. He also shares stories from his time at the State Department, some of which he chronicles in his new book, Chasing the Devil at Foggy Bottom: The Future of Religion in American Diplomacy. A common theme emerges as Shaun discusses his career in higher education, government, and public affairs: hope. 

Today, Les, Jess, and Jamil discuss a moment that many may have missed at COP27 summit, and which has caused an uproar: photos of U.S. Climate Envoy and former Secretary of State John Kerry shaking hands with the disputed president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro.Does this interaction at COP indicate a change in U.S. policy towards Venezuela? Why does the contested Venezuelan presidential election from 3 years ago matter? Is Congress doing enough to steer U.S. relations with Venezuela vis-a-vis Maduro? Hear our experts provide their analysis on our latest episode of Fault Lines!Want to learn more about this topic? Check out this article that our experts used to frame our discussion:https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-plans-to-ease-venezuela-sanctions-enabling-chevron-to-pump-oil-11665005719https://www.npr.org/2022/11/03/1133615222/us-venezuela-diplomacy-oil-sanctions-negotiationsLike what we're doing here? Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“You cannot imagine the pressure that came to bear on President Trump to not follow through with the decision,” recalls Jason Greenblatt, special envoy to the Middle East under Trump. Greenblatt reflects on Trump's historic decision to move Israel's U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem. “He was getting calls from world leaders all over, essentially saying, ‘Blood is going to be spilled in the streets. You're going to cause World War III. You're going to alienate all of our allies.' And what happened? Nothing.” Greenblatt, author of “In the Path of Abraham,” was one of the chief architects of the Abraham Accords, a set of historic normalization agreements between Israel and a number of its Arab neighbors. “Before the Abraham Accords were signed, you had former Secretary of State John Kerry actually say that peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors will never happen unless you solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” he says. Greenblatt discusses the breadth of what the Abraham Accords accomplished, the threat of a nuclear Iran, and some of the many myths surrounding the Arab-Israeli conflict. Follow EpochTV on social media: Twitter: https://twitter.com/EpochTVus Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/EpochTV Truth Social: https://truthsocial.com/@EpochTV Gettr: https://gettr.com/user/epochtv Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EpochTVus Gab: https://gab.com/EpochTV Telegram: https://t.me/EpochTV

King Charles III has addressed the United Kingdom as it mourns the loss of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. Before the address, he met with the British prime minister and the public today, shaking hands and even being kissed on the cheek by one woman. It is the first full day of his reign and a new era for Great Britain. Church bells rang out across a nation in mourning and gun salutes were fired to honor the Queen's 96 years. Across the world, national monuments have been lit up in tribute to Queen Elizabeth and newspapers have dedicated their front pages to mark her passing.  Joining the show today are the Queen's former Communications Director Simon Lewis; former British PM Tony Blair; former US Secretary of State John Kerry; US presidential historian and biographer Jon Meacham.To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy

We can still fight the worst of climate change, former Secretary of State John Kerry says. At an event sponsored by the Center for Global Development, anchor Judy Woodruff spoke with Kerry, the first presidential envoy on climate, about the cost of climate change, U.S. progress on climate goals and whether Congress will give money to help poorer countries adapt to the changing planet. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

We can still fight the worst of climate change, former Secretary of State John Kerry says. At an event sponsored by the Center for Global Development, anchor Judy Woodruff spoke with Kerry, the first presidential envoy on climate, about the cost of climate change, U.S. progress on climate goals and whether Congress will give money to help poorer countries adapt to the changing planet. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

We can still fight the worst of climate change, former Secretary of State John Kerry says. At an event sponsored by the Center for Global Development, anchor Judy Woodruff spoke with Kerry, the first presidential envoy on climate, about the cost of climate change, U.S. progress on climate goals and whether Congress will give money to help poorer countries adapt to the changing planet. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

Sect of State John Kerry 9/3/2013 Deceitful Testimony: Are US Government Foreign Policy Misrepresentations the Rule Rather than the Exception? When introducing his new Environmental Czar, Joe Biden described former Secretary of State John Kerry with a number of accolades including “there is no one I trust more.” On 9/3/2013 John Kerry testified in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was arguing for the authorization of US Military action against the Syrian government because he argued that with absolute certainty the Assad government had gassed his own people on 8/21/2013. Bringing Light Into Darkness challenged the US government claims of certainty and later were vindicated, by among other things a June 2021 finding by rootclaim.org that it was our allies fighting the Assad government and not the Assad government that wit 96 % certainty were the parties responsible for the horrific war crime. This show recounts not one, not two major, but a half dozen falsehoods that John Kerry promoted during his 9/3/13 testimony under oath. This show presents the evidence for this claim and invites you to critically evaluate its merit. Yet Kerry and mainstream media have never publicly taken accountability for these false claims to this day. Think about it the Pentagon Papers proves we were lied to about Vietnam. The Afghan Papers prove we were lied to for 20 years in Afghanistan. You know about the Iraqi lies that took us to war there and we could go on. But tonight, we take a deep dive into government lies followed by no accountability and suggest we be careful in believing everything we think about Russia regarding the Russian invasion based on a long track record of misrepresenting the truth to the good Us public citizenry. So, this week we switch to trying to determine who and what to believe in these informational wars. And in that vein, we visit the integrity, or the lack thereof, of what we are told by our government and what history has consistently revealed. Don't Be Late! and siempre fieles, Pgatos 3/28/2022 pgatos00@gmail.com If you are not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed and loving the people who are doing the oppressing. Malcolm X

Sect of State John Kerry 9/3/2013 Deceitful Testimony: Are US Government Foreign Policy Misrepresentations the Rule Rather than the Exception? When introducing his new Environmental Czar, Joe Biden described former Secretary of State John Kerry with a number of accolades including “there is no one I trust more.” On 9/3/2013 John Kerry testified in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was arguing for the authorization of US Military action against the Syrian government because he argued that with absolute certainty the Assad government had gassed his own people on 8/21/2013. Bringing Light Into Darkness challenged the US government claims of certainty and later were vindicated, by among other things a June 2021 finding by rootclaim.org that it was our allies fighting the Assad government and not the Assad government that wit 96 % certainty were the parties responsible for the horrific war crime. This show recounts not one, not two major, but a half dozen falsehoods that John Kerry promoted during his 9/3/13 testimony under oath. This show presents the evidence for this claim and invites you to critically evaluate its merit. Yet Kerry and mainstream media have never publicly taken accountability for these false claims to this day. Think about it the Pentagon Papers proves we were lied to about Vietnam. The Afghan Papers prove we were lied to for 20 years in Afghanistan. You know about the Iraqi lies that took us to war there and we could go on. But tonight, we take a deep dive into government lies followed by no accountability and suggest we be careful in believing everything we think about Russia regarding the Russian invasion based on a long track record of misrepresenting the truth to the good Us public citizenry. So, this week we switch to trying to determine who and what to believe in these informational wars. And in that vein, we visit the integrity, or the lack thereof, of what we are told by our government and what history has consistently revealed. Don't Be Late! and siempre fieles, Pgatos 3/28/2022 pgatos00@gmail.com If you are not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed and loving the people who are doing the oppressing. Malcolm X

[00:30] Joe Biden: ‘There's Going to Be a New World Order' (12 minutes)Yesterday, Joe Biden announced, “[W]e are at an inflection point, I believe, in the world economy. … There's going to be a new world order out there, and we've got to lead it.” But with the rise of Russia, China and Germany, will America be the one to lead this “new world order”? [12:50] Vladimir Putin and Human Nature (14 minutes)During Russia's first invasion of Ukraine in 2014, then Secretary of State John Kerry said Vladimir Putin was behaving “in a 19th-century fashion,” as though we've progressed beyond the age of dictators and large-scale wars. The National Review writes about Kerry's statement, “The truth is that Putin is behaving in a 19th-century, 20th-century and a 21st-century fashion.” [26:25] Out-of-Control Crime and Violence in America (4 minutes)Over the weekend, at least eight people were killed and more than 60 were hurt in nine mass shootings across the United States, reported CNN. According to the Gun Violence Archive, at least 107 mass shootings have occurred in the U.S. so far this year. Why has there been such a spike in violent crimes and mass shootings in America this year, and where is it leading? [30:40] Update on the Biden Crime Family (12 minutes)The Biden crime family, as Outkick founder Clay Travis put it, is “everything that the Democrats told us the Trump family was for five years.” The media spent those five years covering up Biden crimes, but now, many talking heads are beginning to wonder if we're about to see the indictment of Hunter Biden. [42:30] Bible Study: Seek the Kingdom First (12 minutes)Jesus Christ implores His disciples in Matthew 6:33 to seek first, above all else, the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. In this world of gadgets and technological distractions, focusing on God and His righteousness has never been more important.

Matt Kaczmarek, Director, is head of sustainable investing and macro policy research for the global credit investment team at BlackRock. He also serves as a senior member of the firm's external affairs team and is co-chair of BlackRock's Los Angeles leadership team. He is a member of the firm's geopolitical risk and inclusion and diversity committees. Matt teaches public policy analysis as adjunct assistant professor of public service at NYU's Wagner School. He serves on the board of directors of the UCLA Alumni Association, the campaign board of the national LGBT Victory Fund, and is a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy and the Council on Foreign Relations. Prior to joining BlackRock, Matt held senior appointments in the administration of former U.S. President Barack Obama, including as senior advisor to the Deputy National Security Advisor for international economic policy in the White House. He served in the international finance division of the U.S. Treasury Department during the global financial crisis and later as Secretary of State John Kerry's White House liaison. Matt has managed or advised eight federal, state, and local candidate and issue campaigns, including as chief economic policy advisor to a leading presidential campaign in the 2020 cycle. Matt received his BA from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he was president of the University of California Student Association, and MA from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), where he was editor-in-chief of the SAIS Review of International Affairs.

In this crossover episode that appeared on the Beyond Politics Podcast, with the eyes of the world on Ukraine, we look at why Russia has pushed the world to the brink of war. Max Bergmann is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, where he focuses on Europe, Russia, and U.S. security cooperation. From 2011 to 2017, he served in the U.S. Department of State in a number of different positions, including as a member of the secretary of state's policy planning staff, where he focused on political-military affairs and nonproliferation; special assistant to the undersecretary for arms control and international security; speechwriter to then-Secretary of State John Kerry; and senior adviser to the assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs.He helps us understand why there is a brewing conflict, what the options are, and what the path ahead should be.

With the eyes of the world on Ukraine, we look today at why Russia has pushed the world to the brink of war. Max Bergmann is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, where he focuses on Europe, Russia, and U.S. security cooperation. From 2011 to 2017, he served in the U.S. Department of State in a number of different positions, including as a member of the secretary of state's policy planning staff, where he focused on political-military affairs and nonproliferation; special assistant to the undersecretary for arms control and international security; speechwriter to then-Secretary of State John Kerry; and senior adviser to the assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs. He helps us understand why there is a brewing conflict, what the options are, and what the path ahead should be. Photo by Snowscat on Unsplash

The public effort to get Jason out gains new life with #FreeJason and some famous supporters, including Muhammad Ali and Anthony Bourdain. Meanwhile, the U.S. government pivots to a secret backchannel to negotiate his release as the true reason for Jason's imprisonment becomes clear. Featuring interviews with former Secretary of State John Kerry and Obama Administration officials Brett McGurk, Ben Rhodes and Wendy Sherman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Stephanie Shepherd is an entrepreneur, environmental advocate, and tastemaker who educates her dedicated fanbase on how to blend luxury lifestyle and conscious consumerism. Formerly the Chief Operating Officer of Kardashian West Brands, Steph has since established her own platform and partnered with several prominent lifestyle brands including American Express and Google.  Most recently, Steph has lent her expertise to Elle Magazine as a monthly contributor and is the host and an executive producer on Facebook's “StephShepSays”.  In 2019, Steph co-founded the climate education platform @FutureEarth.  She is an active Board Member for Former Vice President Al Gore's The Climate Reality Project, a strategic advisor for Khana, and has recently joined former Secretary of State John Kerry's new climate initiative called “World War Zero”. In this 9th episode of The Know, Steph and Nikki cover a whole host of topics.  This unique episode is light-hearted, inspiring, and moving. Topics range from Steph's early career as a dancer, how she moved into other careers, and how saying yes, being self-competitive, and staying humble and right-sized has pivoted her into numerous unforeseeable career and life paths.  Steph and Nikki also discuss the fact that most young people do not actually know what they want to do when they grow up, how hard work and a positive attitude can take you anywhere, following your intuition, the climate crises, racial and social injustice and how they are directly impacted by the climate crises, and so much more! More topics covered in this episode: Working for strong, powerful females and how empowering that can be The beauty of not comparing yourself to others and the challenge presented by social media Starting your career with no “agenda” Working hard while cultivating relationships and how that can open up the world It is ok to not have a specific path Learning to trust yourself more and how to follow your “know” through trial and error Growing up non-caucasian in America Connect with Steph: Instagram: @steph_shep / @futureearth Connect with Nikki: Instagram: @NikkiSappSpo / @TheKnowWithNikkiSpo Website: www.nikkispo.com For information on sponsorships and collaborations, please email brands@nikkispo.com --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nikki-spo/support